Interview with Leigh-Anne Kidwell

http://www.leighannekidwell.com

First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com! My name is Jen, and I’ll be your server toda…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.

Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?

When I was a child I wrote like crazy in my diary. I also loved writing poems and short stories, but I never “knew” I wanted to be a writer. I was unaware this was a career I could choose. That is why it is so important for me to teach the young teens they “can” make it a career. And the earlier they get started, the more practice they will have. I didn’t actually start writing as an adult until I was thirty-two.

Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?

It is a very long and scary road, but one that is reachable with the right people in your corner. When I set out to publish my book I did not know much about the business. I never dreamed it was such a dog eat dog world out there. I wish I would have researched more and had more time before I actually published something. This way I would be sure to go in the right direction. Now I know a little more (I am still learning) and am seeking an agent to help me along the road.

For the younger writers I would try and find a mentor or someone in the business already to help you travel in the right direction.

Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?

Let me speak about both my novels: “The Year I Lost My Popularity!” Is a book about a 13 year old girl named Elizabeth who has to move away from her friends and the only school she has ever attended. She leaves behind her popularity to go where everyone knows each other and treats the new girl, well like the new girl. It is the story of her first year in a new town trying to fit in and all the challenges she goes through.

“Summer Vineyard” is about two sisters who do not always get along. They are 11 and 16 and have very different personalities. They end up spending the entire summer in California on their aunt and uncle’s vineyard. Mary the youngest loves it! She is a tomboy and thrives to work there one day. Samantha would rather be spending her summer on the beach or shopping, so she does not like the work and being away from everything. The twist comes when someone is destroying things around the vineyard and Mary spends her time trying to figure out the mystery. Who would want to ruin her uncle’s land? Samantha keeps herself busy by getting to know one of the work hands personally. In the end, the two realize they need each other a little more than they ever thought and that family is the most important thing to cherish.

I am currently working on a new book, not yet finished. I can give you the title (it may change; (“The year I lost my popularity!” was first called “The New Kid In Town!”) My next book is called “The Power of Three”. It is about three young girls who are best friends yet they don’t always get along at the same time. It visits them as young girls making the best out of life situations with all the ups and downs of growing up. And then again we meet them as adults. They meet up again at a time when they each need a shoulder to cry on. It is a book about true friends and how much you need them in life.

What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?

To be honest it has to be my own life. When I began the process of writing, I remembered myself as a young teen. Life was hard. Day to day living and getting along with everyone was a challenge. I look back to that time and use things I went through or other people I knew went through. I also listen and watch the teenagers today interact with life. I get great joy recreating things that already have happened, just in a slightly different way.

Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!

If you ask my five year old son what does his mommy do, he would answer “she is an author.” He knows and understands. For his entire life that is all I have done. When I set out to begin my third novel he made the comment, “not another book, mommy. You already have two.” I laughed telling him and there will be a lot more to come. I tell him I am shooting for his daddy to retire early and he likes that idea. My husband has been a trooper. Even though this business is not lucrative at the moment, he still believes in me and gives me the space to do what I need to do. He doesn’t understand it all, he says he could never sit down and write anything, but he encourages me when I am down and listens when I need to vent and the best thing, takes the kids when I need to write.

Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?

Pizza and Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. I am working on minimizing them in my life though.

What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?

Take a walk to clear my head, drink a cup of coffee and sit down at my desk to write.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

Clutter free…you asked me about this on our first interview and I am still very much clutter free. We have moved to a smaller house in New Jersey and our closets are a lot smaller, yet I still make sure they are clutter free. The problem is I throw away important things that we need later. I have to work on that.

Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?

Blue. It is my favorite color and I feel happy when I am around it. I love wearing blue, lots of the rooms in my house have blue in it and I love the water (which is mostly blue).

Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?

Road Runner. Is this showing my age? I love the road runner, he’s classic. I love the fact he could jump off mountain tops and in the next scene be intact. I feel like that on many occasions. That I have been thrown from a tall building, yet I still get up fighting the next day.

If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?

On the water front, in a cottage sitting on my front porch, alone and writing. I love to be alone. With two crazy kids it is nice to have solitude at times. I want to live by the water one day…my dream home you might say.

So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

Country is my favorite. It’s so diverse these days. Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw could come over for dinner any night! And no, I do not listen to music while writing, I would get up and dance and not get any work done!

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you saw at the theater?

I am a writer, therefore I love the stories. I watch Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Idol, Big Brother (currently, it’s the only thing on during the summer), Desperate Housewives and a few others when I have the time. Movies I only like to see once, my husband can watch a movie a hundred times, it kills me. Once is enough for me. Unless you are talking about Grease (again, I am showing my age). I will and have watched Grease many times!

The last movie I saw in the theater was Ratatouille with my son. I do not go to the movies much unless it is a kid movie, sad I know.

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?

The ever popular…Read! Read everything. Enjoy life to the fullest. Follow your dreams, forget about the paycheck and do what you want to do with your life. There are too many people who work so hard and make a good living, but are just plain unhappy. Life is too short to wait for the moment, let someone else do that. You need to work from your heart. Live it to the ultimate. If you find a niche, that is a bonus!

One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?

I told you about “The Power of Three”, I would love to finish that one and move on. I am working slowing on a memoir; The Journal through Life’s Emotions. I would love to write a Creative Writing Book for Teens. One day I hope to revisit Mary in “Summer Vineyard”. I enjoyed her company too much not to ever see what happens to her. Other than that I am working on magazine/newspaper articles and personal essays. Look me up occasionally on my web site; maybe I will have had the time to update it.

Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!

Thank you Jen for inviting me and believing in the cause. Keep Reading Teens!