Q&A with Leslie McAdam

[LeAnn]

Happy Sunday, NABC! This week we have the lovely Leslie McAdam visiting and answering your questions! Leslie is the author of The Ground Beneath Our Feet (Giving You . . .), Lumbersexual, All the Waters of the Earth, The Sun and the Moon, Sol, and many others. Please leave her your questions below! <3

[Katrina]

What are you doing for the holidays?

[Leslie]

Christmas is at my house, because we’ve got the youngest kids. So I imagine it will be the usual madhouse of waking up wayyyy too early, throwing wrapping paper at each other, wearing pajamas until noon, and eating fresh from scratch cinnamon rolls. We made a gingerbread house from a kit, which ended up better than any of us imagined. We watched Elf
and A Christmas Story and Charlie Brown Christmas, but there are a lot of holiday movies still to watch. I always cry about three times at It’s a Wonderful Life, because I’m the biggest sap, and I don’t care.

Last night we went to Universal Studios Hollywood and saw the lights on Hogwarts, which was really beautiful. We had dinner at The Three Broomsticks. I didn’t want to leave.

[[deleted user]]

What exciting things can we expect from you in 2018?

[Leslie]

Sol is the first in a series, so look for the other two in 2018.

My idea for the 3 books is that one (Sol) is student-teacher. The other two will be student-student and teacher-teacher, all set at the same translation school in Spain.

I’m currently working on the next one, Sombra, which is about Tavo and an exchange student named Kim.

I’m also working with Lex Martin on the sequel to All About the D.

So that’s minimum in 2018. If I can write faster, I have plenty of ideas after that.

[Elena]

Hi Leslie, what was your hardest scene to write?

[Siddhi]

Hi Leslie, I wanted to ask how do you manage to write so many books in a year?

[Judy]

Hi Leslie, what does your writing process look like? Thanks!

[Emily]

Leslie, do you like to snack while your write? If so, what's you're favorite?

[Leslie]

Siddhi wrote: "Hi Leslie, I wanted to ask how do you manage to write so many books in a year?"

I love to write! I barely watch TV. My house isn't as clean as I'd like it to be. And I probably sleep less than is healthy. But I can't go too long without writing. If I do, I feel incomplete. So I guess it's just that writing is my dream, and I make the time to do it.

[Leslie]

Lisla wrote: "Hi Leslie, what was your hardest scene to write?"
Hi, Lisla!

It's actually easier to say what WASN'T the hardest scene to write. My writing process is to write the fun part first. What I mean by fun is that whatever I'm really excited about, that's what I write first. So it might be the middle of the book. It isn't necessarily funny, it could be sexy or sad or whatever. But I write the book in the order of how I'm excited. I find that if I'm struggling to write, it's usually because what I want to write is boring and doesn't need to be there anyway.

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[Leslie]

Judy wrote: "Hi Leslie, what does your writing process look like? Thanks!"

I have this incredibly ugly pink easy chair that was my husband's grandma's. But it fits me just right. So I'm usually sitting in that or a couch downstairs. I have my laptop and a lap desk thingie my husband bought me. I have little twinkle lights in my bedroom. And I just try to write as much as I can.

When I drive to and from my day job, which is about 20 minutes away, I try to work out the next scene I want to write. So when I open up my laptop, I'm ready to go!

I also get a lot of help. I have some very wonderful friends who read my work and aren't afraid to critique it. I'm very much into getting feedback and improving my writing as much as I can.

[Leslie]

Emily wrote: "Leslie, do you like to snack while your write? If so, what's you're favorite?"

Not always, because it's often late at night. But my favorites are pistachios and sparkling water. <3

[Sophie's Reading Corner]

Hey Leslie! I wanted to ask where do you usually draw inspiration from? :)

[Leslie]

Sophie wrote: "Hey Leslie! I wanted to ask where do you usually draw inspiration from? :)"

Hi Sophie!

My inspiration is always from my life and the people in it or places I've been.

My first published novel, The Sun and the Moon, is about recovery from depression (and it's a romance lol). I wrote it after I had gone through a dark spell of depression and wanted to help people know that there was life after depression.

Another one of my books, Lumbersexual, is set in Yosemite National Park, where I worked in college. While it's fictional, the places are real, and I know them intimately.

My latest book, Sol, is set in Spain, where I worked. The hero is inspired by my cover model and friend, Taylor Lotre, who is a military veteran that served in Afghanistan. While what happens to Trent is fictional, some of the things are pulled from Taylor's life (like Trent's addiction to fruit punch mentos, some of the places, and even his last name). Taylor is wearing his actual army gear on the cover and wearing his own dog tags, which we digitally altered to make it fit the story.

Generally I have something I want to explore: trust, forgiveness, learning to love each other despite the labels, addiction, and so on, and I have characters that reflect those issues.

[Whitney]

Which character was your favorite to write about?

[Carolina]

Have you ever considered on writing a different genre? Maybe PNR?

[Leslie]

Whitney wrote: "Which character was your favorite to write about?"

Hands down, Drew, in All About the D. He's a total ass, but I don't know, I just love him. Lex Martin and I talk about him like he's real. (He is real, I swear.) He's kind of the one who can do all the naughty things that no one else can get away with.

He's getting his own book next.

[Leslie]

Carolina wrote: "Have you ever considered on writing a different genre? Maybe PNR?"

Sort of.

I've written plenty of unpublished stuff that's nonfiction, screenplays, poetry, even children's books.

I'm kind of drawn to writing romance in every trope, but, like, messed up. In other words, whatever you expect, do the opposite of it. Like a naughty secretary book, but the dude is the naughty secretary. That sort of thing.

That said, I'm not opposed to writing PNR. So many books to write!