Welcome, Leanne!

Tell us about what you write.

Both my debut novel and work in progress have legal issues as their focal point (divorce and sexual assault respectively).  Though these topics can be tough, I try to balance out the more difficult parts of the narrative with humor (not related to the legal issues) and romance.  My tagline is:  legal dramas with a touch of romance. 

When did your writing journey begin?

I have wanted to be a writer since I was eight years old!  My third grade teacher gave out special prizes for creative pieces.  I wrote so many she had to change the rules -- only one prize per week!   I won several awards for creative writing in college including The Comic Spirit Award.  After college and law school, I got married, worked as a lawyer, and had three kids.  There was no time and I put writing on the back burner.  Two years before my 50th birthday, I made it a goal to finally write a book.  That book ended up being my debut novel, The Language of Divorce. 

What was your inspiration for The Language of Divorce?

I worked as a family lawyer for over twenty years.  I observed how frequently cases got out of control, even where the parties started out being civil.  I wanted to write a story about how that happens BUT it was very important to me that the story not be totally heart-wrenching (like the Netflix movie, Marriage Story).  My blog post, which compares my book to Marriage Story, explains how I went about writing a book about divorce that's not  depressing.

Find the book online: Amazon, Filles Vertes Publishing.

Tell us about your experience with the publishing process: 

After I finished my novel, I queried a number of agents.  I received a few rejections but, mostly, no one responded.  I heard an agent interviewed and she said she might have as many as 800 emails in her inbox!  She said that the emails she reads first are those that she requested, i.e. from a writer's conference or from #pitmad (a Twitter event).   Once I learned that, I decided to do the #pitmad Twitter event.  I didn't even have a Twitter account at the time and had to create one!  Anyway, long story short, I got my publisher, Filles Vertes Publishing, through the PitMad competition.   It has been a good fit so far. 

Any new projects on the horizon? 

My work in progress, Mother of the Accused,  is 80% done!  It is about the experience of a mother whose high school aged son is accused of sexually assaulting the daughter of a prominent lawyer.