Ask the Author: Leah Marie Brown
Answered Questions (20)
Leah Marie Brown
First, thank you for reading Winter Wishes and downloading all of my books. What a fab compliment! Grace Murphy was a bit character in the It Girls. She was Vivia's college roommate. The more I wrote about Grace, the more I wanted to give her her own book. I decided the only way I could write a story about someone tracking Colin Farrell, was for me to track Colin Farrell. Yes, I did meet him. I tell more about my Colin encounter at the back of Winter Wishes. All the best, Leah
Leah Marie Brown
Hello Ash and Happy New Year! Jett Jericho is Johnny Depp's double ;) No, I did not meet Johnny Depp in Cannes. I did "have lunch with" Robert Redford and I took a drive to track down Johnny's house (score). I can't confirm or deny that Vivia's wild antics are based on my real life antics ;)
Leah Marie Brown
On the beach in Cannes, with a champagne cocktail sitting beside my MacBook and David Gandy walking out of the sea (slowly, like Daniel Craig in Casino Royale).
Leah Marie Brown
Hmm. This is a tough one. I don't have many mysteries left in my life to solve, except maybe how to consume loads of Belgian chocolate without gaining a single pound.
Once, I would have said I would write about a girl who goes in search of the biological father she never knew.
Thanks for the question. You got me thinking.
Once, I would have said I would write about a girl who goes in search of the biological father she never knew.
Thanks for the question. You got me thinking.
Leah Marie Brown
Thanks for your question, Tava.
I went on a trip with one of my best friends to San Francisco several years ago. We had so much fun shopping, eating, and people watching. We went to Chinatown and bought crazy colored wigs. We rode electric bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco is always a fun destination.
As you might be able to tell from my books, girls trips are my fave. I have several friends I would like to travel with. My friends, Lori, told me about this convent in Colorado Springs where you spend a weekend in contemplation and silence (though I doubt I would make the silence vow). I would love to drive through New England in the fall and go on ghost walks. I am up for almost anything - I just don't have the time to do everything I would like to do.
What about you? Where would you like to go?
I went on a trip with one of my best friends to San Francisco several years ago. We had so much fun shopping, eating, and people watching. We went to Chinatown and bought crazy colored wigs. We rode electric bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco is always a fun destination.
As you might be able to tell from my books, girls trips are my fave. I have several friends I would like to travel with. My friends, Lori, told me about this convent in Colorado Springs where you spend a weekend in contemplation and silence (though I doubt I would make the silence vow). I would love to drive through New England in the fall and go on ghost walks. I am up for almost anything - I just don't have the time to do everything I would like to do.
What about you? Where would you like to go?
Leah Marie Brown
Thanks for your question, Tava. Historicals allow me to escape this crazy-ass modern era and mentally transport myself to a time period I have been fascinated with for as long as I can remember: 18th Century France.
However, my chick lit novels are just so fun and involve several of the things I value: friendships, romance, travel, personal empowerment, and pop culture.
It's a tie.
However, my chick lit novels are just so fun and involve several of the things I value: friendships, romance, travel, personal empowerment, and pop culture.
It's a tie.
Leah Marie Brown
Hello Tava,
First, a million enthusiastic MERCI BEAUCOUPS. I am so glad you picked up on how important the theme of friendships are in my IT GIRLS books. I wanted that sense of empowerment and improvement through friendship to be front and center because my female friendships have been the most defining and refining relationships in my life.
Yes, I definitely could see myself writing a literary book about female friendships.
Thank you.
First, a million enthusiastic MERCI BEAUCOUPS. I am so glad you picked up on how important the theme of friendships are in my IT GIRLS books. I wanted that sense of empowerment and improvement through friendship to be front and center because my female friendships have been the most defining and refining relationships in my life.
Yes, I definitely could see myself writing a literary book about female friendships.
Thank you.
Leah Marie Brown
Hello Stephanie.
Thank you for your question. The hardest part of being a writer is keeping inner balance. There are so many highs and lows in this business. It's easy to burn out. Early in my novel writing career, I heard someone say, "Don't let your failures go to your head or your successes go to your heart." I have made that my mantra and repeat it to myself often.
It's tough when you read a particularly vituperative review. It's like a maggot wriggling into an apple. It can really get into your brain and your ego and make it hard to write.
In those moments, I try to remind myself why I write: because I can't imagine not writing.
Thank you for your question. The hardest part of being a writer is keeping inner balance. There are so many highs and lows in this business. It's easy to burn out. Early in my novel writing career, I heard someone say, "Don't let your failures go to your head or your successes go to your heart." I have made that my mantra and repeat it to myself often.
It's tough when you read a particularly vituperative review. It's like a maggot wriggling into an apple. It can really get into your brain and your ego and make it hard to write.
In those moments, I try to remind myself why I write: because I can't imagine not writing.
Leah Marie Brown
This answer contains spoilers…
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Leah Marie Brown
Gee thanks, Tava! I didn't know there was anyone still alive who has read my historical novels (joking...sorta).
I love writing historical novels because I can be more dramatic and pull out the purple prose -- which I haven't figured out how to do in writing chicklits without sounding like a modern-day Sarah Bernhardt (pressing hand to forehead and sighing).
I don't know if I would ever write a historical set in America. If I did, it would have to be the 18th century, because that is the time period of I have studied for thirty years. I am a stickler for detail and would want to know I got every detail -- from the paniers to the powdered wig -- right.
As far as time travel - I actually wrote one about a woman who buys an old fan at an auction and is transported back to 18th century France, just before the revolution. It won a few minor contests and no sits in the dusty file on my hard-drive titled, "She Shoots, She Misses."
I love writing historical novels because I can be more dramatic and pull out the purple prose -- which I haven't figured out how to do in writing chicklits without sounding like a modern-day Sarah Bernhardt (pressing hand to forehead and sighing).
I don't know if I would ever write a historical set in America. If I did, it would have to be the 18th century, because that is the time period of I have studied for thirty years. I am a stickler for detail and would want to know I got every detail -- from the paniers to the powdered wig -- right.
As far as time travel - I actually wrote one about a woman who buys an old fan at an auction and is transported back to 18th century France, just before the revolution. It won a few minor contests and no sits in the dusty file on my hard-drive titled, "She Shoots, She Misses."
Leah Marie Brown
Hello Kristi! It depends on the book and the deadline. My historical novels took a year or more. However, my chicklit novels have tighter deadlines (because, it seems, people actually want to read them...LOL).
I try not to go more than a day without writing, but I have several challenging life demands that often pull me away. The longest I will go without actually writing is when I travel with my friends - sometimes two weeks and as much as a month. During those times, I am brainstorming and stumbling on those serendipitous encounters that charge my writing.
I try not to go more than a day without writing, but I have several challenging life demands that often pull me away. The longest I will go without actually writing is when I travel with my friends - sometimes two weeks and as much as a month. During those times, I am brainstorming and stumbling on those serendipitous encounters that charge my writing.
Leah Marie Brown
I was going to say Maynard G. Krebs and Dobie Gillis, but was afraid most people wouldn't get that super obscure cultural reference. I do so love my pop cultural references. LOL
So, I would have to say Mr. Knightley and Emma Woodhouse from Jane Austen's Emma, because they have an easy, playful banter while still encouraging each other to be more than they appear to be.
Thanks for the question!
So, I would have to say Mr. Knightley and Emma Woodhouse from Jane Austen's Emma, because they have an easy, playful banter while still encouraging each other to be more than they appear to be.
Thanks for the question!
Leah Marie Brown
First, thank you for reading my books and for your lovely praise.
My next series of books will be out next year. The first book, Dreaming of Manderley, is set in France. The story opens in the south of France, during the Cannes Film Festival, and moves to a crumbling estate on the coast in the north of France.
The second novel in the series, You'll Always Have Tara, opens in Charleston, South Carolina, but primarily takes place in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland.
The third novel in the series, Badly Done, Emma Lee, is set in a fictitious village in Surrey, England.
It's funny you ask if I see myself writing a novel set in locations outside of Europe because I am working on a synopsis for a new series of books that would have multiple protagonists and multiple settings - Seoul, South Korea is one of the locations I am considering.
Are there any particular settings you would like to read about?
Thank you!
My next series of books will be out next year. The first book, Dreaming of Manderley, is set in France. The story opens in the south of France, during the Cannes Film Festival, and moves to a crumbling estate on the coast in the north of France.
The second novel in the series, You'll Always Have Tara, opens in Charleston, South Carolina, but primarily takes place in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland.
The third novel in the series, Badly Done, Emma Lee, is set in a fictitious village in Surrey, England.
It's funny you ask if I see myself writing a novel set in locations outside of Europe because I am working on a synopsis for a new series of books that would have multiple protagonists and multiple settings - Seoul, South Korea is one of the locations I am considering.
Are there any particular settings you would like to read about?
Thank you!
Leah Marie Brown
I couldn't possibly narrow it down to one! I love Alexandre Dumas for his ability to craft stories with thrilling plots and intrigue. I lose myself in the beauty of his words and the seeming simplicity of his complex plots.
I admire Ernest Hemingway for his economical use of words because I struggle with limits (as clearly shown with this answer - LOL).
I love Jane Austen's ability to convey the ridiculousness of class politics and the "pop culture" of her era. I admire Dickens for a similar reason - he turned his pen into a weapon to combat the hypocrisy and class injustices of his time.
Stepping away from the classics aisle - I loved Rosalind Laker's novels and was fortunate enough to maintain a correspondence with her several years before her death. She was a brilliant world builder and wrote about empowered heroines before it was en vogue.
Thank you for your question.
I admire Ernest Hemingway for his economical use of words because I struggle with limits (as clearly shown with this answer - LOL).
I love Jane Austen's ability to convey the ridiculousness of class politics and the "pop culture" of her era. I admire Dickens for a similar reason - he turned his pen into a weapon to combat the hypocrisy and class injustices of his time.
Stepping away from the classics aisle - I loved Rosalind Laker's novels and was fortunate enough to maintain a correspondence with her several years before her death. She was a brilliant world builder and wrote about empowered heroines before it was en vogue.
Thank you for your question.
Leah Marie Brown
It came to me in a haze of Champagne Cocktails while lounging on the beach in the south of France.
Leah Marie Brown
Being a writer allows me to breathe life into my fantasies. It's quite potent and addictive to give legitimacy to events that never really happen. I live vicariously through my characters - empowering them in ways I might not be empowered and having them say outrageous things I only wish I could say out loud. Also, my heroines get sexy time with tall, dark, handsome men who murmur seductive French words in their ears. How great is that?
Leah Marie Brown
Many things inspire me to write: reading a great book, chatting with my best writer pal, Cindy Miles, visiting museums, and traveling. I get loads of ideas and inspiration from my annual Girls Only Trips with my two best friends. i write about those trips on my blog, On Life, Love, and Accidental Adventures. http://leahmariebrown.blogspot.com
Many of Vivia's misadventures (the heroine in Faking It and Finding It) are actually my misadventures. I don't want to spoil anything for you, but when you come to the part on the beach in Cannes and the other part with the Buckingham Palace Guards...Um, yeah, that might have happened to me, in a less fictionalized way. :)
Many of Vivia's misadventures (the heroine in Faking It and Finding It) are actually my misadventures. I don't want to spoil anything for you, but when you come to the part on the beach in Cannes and the other part with the Buckingham Palace Guards...Um, yeah, that might have happened to me, in a less fictionalized way. :)
Leah Marie Brown
Write. Write. Write.
Write from the heart. Don't worry about the rejections. Don't worry about the trends. Just write.
Write from the heart. Don't worry about the rejections. Don't worry about the trends. Just write.
Leah Marie Brown
What a great question. Several years ago, I was suffering a crippling bout of writer's block, so I interviewed several popular authors like Janet Evanovich and Diana Gabaldon. I asked them how they dealt with writer's block, then I wrote an article on the subject for Writer's Digest magazine.
Most of the authors I interviewed confessed to having suffered from a creative block at sometime throughout their career. One, however, said, "A true writer never suffers writers block."
I thought that answer rather harsh. Now, years later, I sorta get it - even if I don't completely agree with it.
The times I have struggled with a block have been because I haven't properly prepared. That is, I haven't given myself a road map for where I want to go with my story. First, I start with my character. Who is she/he? What are their goals and motivations? Conflict comes later, for me. I then boil my character down to two descriptive words: scarred orphan (Arabella, my heroine in Redemption). I do this with each of my characters. Then, each time I am going to write a scene, I think of those two words. How would a scarred orphan react in this scene?
Finally, I like to have a rough outline of where I am going - chapter by chapter. I try to follow it.
If I don't have those things, I really struggle. So, to avoid the dreaded block, I work out my characters first and my scenes second.
I hope that helps.
Most of the authors I interviewed confessed to having suffered from a creative block at sometime throughout their career. One, however, said, "A true writer never suffers writers block."
I thought that answer rather harsh. Now, years later, I sorta get it - even if I don't completely agree with it.
The times I have struggled with a block have been because I haven't properly prepared. That is, I haven't given myself a road map for where I want to go with my story. First, I start with my character. Who is she/he? What are their goals and motivations? Conflict comes later, for me. I then boil my character down to two descriptive words: scarred orphan (Arabella, my heroine in Redemption). I do this with each of my characters. Then, each time I am going to write a scene, I think of those two words. How would a scarred orphan react in this scene?
Finally, I like to have a rough outline of where I am going - chapter by chapter. I try to follow it.
If I don't have those things, I really struggle. So, to avoid the dreaded block, I work out my characters first and my scenes second.
I hope that helps.
Leah Marie Brown
I am working on Working It, book three of the It Girls series. In books one and two, we get to know Vivia Perpetua Grant, a verbally free, slightly neurotic young woman obsessed with rock music, the color pink, and Chinese take-out. Vivia struggles with an age old dilemma: should she be the person others expect her to be or become the woman she is meant to be. She's in her head a lot and often gets caught up in her stream of consciousness.
Unlike books one and two, book three features Vivia's best friend as the heroine. Fanny is fashion-forward, Type A, and uber-competitive. In many ways, she's the polar opposite of Vivia. I tend to be a bit more like Vivia - a bit out there and perhaps too free with my thoughts, at times - so Fanny is proving a fun challenge.
Thank you for your question.
Unlike books one and two, book three features Vivia's best friend as the heroine. Fanny is fashion-forward, Type A, and uber-competitive. In many ways, she's the polar opposite of Vivia. I tend to be a bit more like Vivia - a bit out there and perhaps too free with my thoughts, at times - so Fanny is proving a fun challenge.
Thank you for your question.
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