RBL Presents!
Leslie Kelly




       



Leslie Kelly has been an autobuy for me since NIGHT WHISPERS. Category length stories are not usually my favorite reads because they leave me feeling I want more. Leslie's stories don't give me the "something is missing" feeling at all. She has recently moved into the full-length novels. I know I'd miss the Temptation-size stories and I'm glad she'll continue to do both.

Leslie has been a member and a lurker at RBL Romantica for many years and I love when she pops in to say hi. She surprised me with her response to my Hildy (which is a name for one of my favorite of her characters) post on the board. So I know she's out there! *G* Welcome to RBL (again), Leslie!



Beaty: Obviously, the first question has to be, "Who's Leslie Kelly?" Please tell us a bit about yourself - family, pets, hobbies. We're a nosey bunch, so don't be shy. *G*

Leslie: Hey Beaty, what a great way to word the first question. On my Website, instead of "bio" there's a link to a page called "Leslie Who?" Because honestly, after six years in the biz and about sixteen books, I don't feel like a lot of people know who I am. That might be because I have focused so much of my attention on the Temptation line (boo hoo ... more on that below.) But I have to say there are days when I feel like the invisible author.

Who I am is: a 40-year-old stay-at-home mom, living in Florida with Bruce, my hubby of almost 19 years, and our three daughters, Caitlin (16), Lauren (13) and Megan (9). And Cassie, our canine daughter, who's 4. She's a brat this morning and I'm mad at her because she stole Megan's Pop Tart while Megan was reclining on the couch, adjusting her blanket over herself (because, of course, it's sooooo cold here in Florida) while she whined about it being a school day. I've been home with the girls for almost 13 years now and I have to say it's been wonderful. We have a very close-knit family and we have a lot in common (mainly that we're all a bunch of lazy slugs who'd much rather watch movies or play Life or Masterpiece or Scene It than actually go out and do anything ... other than go to Disney World. We do that a lot, too.)

I have a few interests beyond writing ... I love to read, first of all. But my favorite genre isn't romance, it's actually horror. Stephen King and Peter Straub are two of my favorite authors (go figure), and I also love John Irving, who writes such wonderfully quirky - oftentimes bizarre - stories. A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY is my favorite book of all time and is one of my "comfort reads" that I'll pull off the shelf and dive into whenever I'm in the mood for some wonderful fiction. I also love theater - I'm a complete Broadway baby and I'm raising three of them. My girls are wonderful for belting out songs while they clean the kitchen. (YES ... they clean the kitchen after dinner. WAHOO - that giving birth thing has really paid off!)

Beaty: What made you decide writing was going to be your future? Did you pick it or did it pick you?

Leslie: I guess it picked me. It was what I was really good at from a young age - that and drama, and since I have about a one-octave singing range, I knew being a Broadway star was right out.

I started writing in earnest in first grade, and had my first brush with celebrity when the principal of my high school read one of my stories over the loudspeaker. The story was about an Indian princess blown away in a windstorm ... aptly titled Gone With the Wind ... what an original little booger I was.

In fourth grade, I wrote a 1301 word short story, of which I was enormously proud, about a scary house on Halloween. I turned it in and was out sick for two days afterward. When I came back to school I discovered that my teacher, who loved my writing but was always on me about my handwriting, grammar, and punctuation (my handwriting still totally sucks) had mimeographed copies of my story for the entire class and used it as a grammar lesson! Everyone had to edit all the mistakes in my story. I still have the mimeograph in my scrapbook and use it to remind myself of the need for good self-editing. (It's also good to use as something the teacher touched whenever I get out my voodoo doll ...)

Anyway, after two near-brushes with fame, I found myself quite enamored by the idea of people enjoying words I'd put on paper (despite having to edit them to get them to the point of being readable), so I kept on writing all the way through my school years and as an adult. But I never really had the time/energy to sit down and try to write a book until my youngest daughter was little. I was an at-home mom with three kids and I was slowly losing my mind. (Or rapidly, depending on whether or not Lauren and her demon friend, Brianna, were feeding Shark Bites to the goldfish, or playing mermaids by stripping naked and "swimming" in the garage, or making enormous clouds in the bathroom by jumping up and down while holding open containers of baby powder until I literally had to reach my arm in and grab them because I couldn't see the little wretches. FYI: Baby powder turns into FLOUR when you try to wash two inches of it off every surface in your bathroom.)

Anyway, my hubby spotted an ad in the paper for a class on romance writing being taught at a local book store, and he literally pushed me out the door to attend one night a week if only to get the heck out of the house. I started writing a book in that class, as a writing exercise, and it ended up being the first book I sold - NIGHT WHISPERS - published by Temptation in 1999.

Beaty: I noticed in one of your other interviews that you use critique partners. Can you tell us how that works and what they do for you?

Leslie: Actually, I don't work with critique partners anymore. I did through the first several books, but honestly, my schedule became so ridiculous that I felt I couldn't ask anyone to keep up with what I was doing. And I couldn't slow down to wait for feedback. So I stopped doing that.

I do, however, always like to bounce ideas off a few friends. And I have a plotting group, called the Plot Monkeys. The four of us (Janelle Denison, Carly Phillips, Julie Elizabeth Leto and I) go away once a year and we plot out our books for the coming year. We laugh a lot and eat a lot and three of the four of us drink a lot. ;-) Last month we met in Vegas, at the Bellagio, and were the most lazy, boring women to ever hit that town because we stayed in our room and had delicious room service throughout most of the four days. It was heaven.

Beaty: What type of book do you prefer writing(if you have a preference)? Do you enjoy writing a series or a stand-alone story better? Is one harder than the other?

Leslie: Well, I guess it depends on whether or not the series is my series alone or is with other authors. If I'm writing a series myself, I find them really easy because the minute I sit down to start a book, I already have the story "world" fully established in my mind. I know the secondary characters, I know the setting, it's already real and alive and breathing to me. KILLING TIME was an absolute joy to write because ,in my mind, Derryville was this perfect little representative of a small town, seething and full of secrets, and I already knew so many of the people there. Plus, of course, I'd already met my hero and had fallen in love with him when writing TRICK ME, TREAT ME. So that book just flew.

Multi-author series are a bit more challenging. Don't get me wrong - I love doing them - but it requires a lot of effort. From making sure your characters aren't one place in your story and someplace else in another book, to making sure the weather is the same on any particular day, there's just a lot that goes into it. I've done several projects with other authors (BAD GIRLS CLUB, BARE ESSENTIALS, GETTING REAL and more ...) and I can honestly say they've all been wonderful experiences.

Beaty: Oh oh oh! I LOVE your sex scenes. *VEG* The window scene, the stair scene, the panties at the party scene - they all have just turned up the heat for me. Do you have trouble writing such descriptive scenes? Does knowing that others will read them ever embarrass you?

Leslie: Lolol - does it make me sound totally weird that I really enjoy writing the sex scenes? Whew, I love sex scene days because I can almost hands-down guarantee I'll write twenty pages. Not all my love scenes are twenty pages, but adding in the build-up and the aftermath, they can come pretty close. I don't have a problem turning up the heat, as long as it's right for the characters ... and I try to make the major love scenes in my books distinctive and unique, and matching the "tone" of the book. For example, in my June book, HER LAST TEMPTATION, there are two really evocative, sensual scenes - one on top of a bar, where the h/h are dancing, the other is in the garden in the moonlight, when the hero literally drenches the heroine in creamy liqueur. Both scenes are very moody and sensually charged, not the pounding, wild, hot rocking beat that some of my sex scenes (on the stairs in KILLING TIME, on the stage in NATURALLY NAUGHTY) have.

I don't have a problem with people reading the hot stuff - my dad reads everything I write and is a big fan. I sometimes get a little twinge when someone who doesn't really read romance, but knows that I'm a writer, decides to read one of my books. They, uh, might get a little more than they bargained for. *G*

Beaty: I heard that the Temptation series is finishing! GASP! What are they going to do to fill the hole that will create? You've always been a Temptation writer. What are you going to do now?

Leslie: Yes, it is and that totally bites. I am so sad that it's ending, but I have to say it wasn't a total surprise. I think the problem was that there were just too many category books filling that "hot and sexy" niche. With Temptation, Desire, Presents and Blaze all targeting the same readership, it wasn't surprising that one of them had to go. Just too bad it had to be Temptation, but, again, it was just business. It certainly wasn't reflective of the line, which has, quite honestly, had an astronomical run. The authors who came out of Temptation simply boggle the mind. (Look for an article I wrote on this in the July RT.)

Anyway, I was fortunate enough to have a book slotted for June 05, the final month. My editor originally figured I'd want to just move it to Blaze, rather than write for a dead line. But I absolutely wanted to finish out with Temptation - to go down with the ship. So I went back to her with an idea for the final month that would tie all four books together in one bigger storyline. It would be about four friends saying goodbye and going in separate directions after the closing of the bar they all loved. The miniseries was called LAST CALL, and I'd suggested titles such as SAY GOODNIGHT, GRACIE, THAT'S ALL FOLKS, ONE FOR THE ROAD, and THE LAST TEMPTATION. She loved the idea and told me who the three other authors were for the month - Heather MacAllister, Kristin Gabriel and Wendy Etherington - all of whom agreed to change their stories to fit this theme, which was wonderful of them. Two of the titles were kept (pretty much). THE LAST CALL concept was there, but the title doesn't appear on the covers because there were already two "flashes" on each - the typical Temptation flash (i.e., THE WRONG BED, HEAT) plus a "Collector's Edition" flash which appears on the last twelve books.

The books turned out better than I could ever have dreamed. The four of us had a great time going all out with our stories. I believe this will be the first time Harlequin has had every book in a single line - in a single month - connected. We went for lots of inside jokes. (Wait til you see Kristin's cover, which shows the h/h in the heroine's room, with a bookshelf laden with Harlequin Temptation books in the background!) There are also definitely some tears. It was very emotional for all of us, and for all the rest of the Temptresses. We've been mourning together and are planning a wake in Reno. Knowing the Temptresses, it'll be a raucous one.

As for me, I'm writing single titles for HQN and will hopefully continue to do so. And I'm writing for Blaze - I have three Blazes coming out in the next 18 months. So I'm still staying busy, but honestly, Temptation will always be my first love.

Beaty: Tell us one of your favorite fan stories. Humor is good! *G*

Leslie: Ack - don't really have a lot of those! I guess the one thing that struck me as most funny was my oldest daughter coming home one day in ninth grade, totally freaked out because a lot of her friends - including guys - read my books. She was shocked and appalled - lol! She's never read one of them, though I did give her one. It just grosses her out too much - lol! But her friends sure do. By the way: I informed her that she is NEVER going out with one of the teenage guys who reads my books.

Beaty: I loved Mick and Caroline! Their story was fabulously funny and I never figured out the bad guy til the end. My favorite kind! Are Jacey and Digg going to get their own story? Maybe they already did and I missed it?

Leslie: Oh, thank you! I really loved that book, too. Like I said earlier, it was one of the easiest ones I've ever written - everything was just right there waiting for me to tap into it. I loved getting to write my first murder (sort of) and just had tons of fun with the humor and the whole reality show thing.

Jacey and Digg did get more exposure, though not in their own book. They both make an appearance in my December Temptation, MAKE ME OVER, which was tied to the January Signature anthology GETTING REAL (by Vicki Lewis Thompson, Julie E. Leto and Jennifer Labrecque). Their relationship is fleshed out in my Temptation, and in every novella in the anthology, and finishes up in Jen's February Temptation, TOTALLY HOT.

It was really interesting having other writers work on characters I'd created and felt so very close to. But they all did a magnificent job, staying true to their voices, their appearances, dialogue, clothes. Everything. I was thrilled to read Jen's Temptation and find out Jacey was pregnant - what a fun surprise!

Beaty: Tell us a little about your writing day. Do you have a schedule - and do you keep to it? Do you write from an outline or just wing it?

Leslie: My writing days really vary depending on just how close I am to a deadline. For instance, throughout most of February I sat on my fat butt and played Spider Solitaire and fiddled around with e-mail and did a ton of promotional stuff for SHE DRIVES ME CRAZY (my March book). Then come mid-March, when I had a book to deliver, I became insane maniac woman and wrote until my fingers bled. The day before I turned that book in, I wrote 48 pages - which is not my all-time record. And no, I never outline. I'm a total and complete pantser. If it's something I sold on proposal, I usually have some sort of synopsis, which is, quite often, total bullshit. Of course, my editor knows it's total bullshit, but it does give her an idea of the characters and story overview, so she's cool with that.

Beaty: You've just moved into full-length novels. Do you enjoy the challenge of the longer format or do you prefer category story length?

Leslie: Actually, I loved writing Temptation, but I always felt like I didn't have enough room. My books always came in way long. So when I started doing single title, I absolutely loved it. Lots of room to really flesh things out and go into these interesting side-stories that amused me. My second HQN book, coming in September, ended up at 450 manuscript pages, and that was after I did the big margin switcheroo to give myself an extra 20 or so pages. I was just having such fun with the hero and heroine, as well as the bodies falling all over the place, that I couldn't wrap it up.

Beaty: Your characters are always fun and full of life. Does that cause you problems during the writing process? Do they "run away" from you or do you use a strong hand on them? *G*

Leslie: In the books that are good, the characters totally run away and almost "lead" me through the story. The ones where I have to sit and think and figure out where they're going and what's happening next are my worst books. Both to write, and, in my opinion, to read. It hasn't happened often, but there have been a few that have been painful to get through.

Beaty: I always ask a character question with my interviews. I always want to know "MORE"! *G* If I could, I'd like to ask Mick how he likes California and whether Caroline ever got that cat tattoo. Oh - and if she did - is it in the same place as yours? *VBG*

Leslie: Caroline did get her tattoo, but it's on the small of her back because she has the kind of figure where it would be sexy to have a tattoo on the small of her back, rather than pathetic - which is why mine is on my ankle. ;-) "Killing Time in a Small Town" was a huge success, so Caro got her studio job producing "Law and Order 8: Just For The Money," and she's blissfully happy in her professional life as well as her private one.

And Mick - ahh, Mick - he did get his real estate license and immediately set up shop selling mansions to the rich and decadent in L.A. He fits right in and when he's not working or seducing Caro into lots of wicked encounters, that man is on the beach with surfboard under his arm. When Brad and Jen split, Jen of course came to Mick to find a new house, and she fell under his spell, but Mick's a one-woman-man these days, and he resisted temptation. When he's in an especially wicked mood (which is often), he lures Caro with him to some of the homes he's got listed. They've had hot, sexy encounters in homes once owned by George Clooney, Melanie Griffith, Reese Witherspoon and Fatty Arbuckle.

Mick and Caro have gone back to Derryville a couple of times, most recently for Halloween, for Sophie and Daniel's wedding. All the guests came in costume, including Aunt Hildy, who was dressed as a gangster's moll (she dug out some of her old clothes). The ceremony was held at the Little Bohemie Inn, which was immaculately decked out in eerie Halloween décor. The only interruption was when Gwen Winchester had to run out to throw up, since she's in the early months of her pregnancy. Louise Flanagan, standing with her boyfriend, Pastor Bob, was ready to pound whoever had pinched her butt during the reception, but when she swung around, no-one was there. Hildy, being the only one who can see Six Fingers Moe and Lou Bones, chased the ghosts out before returning to the side of her fiancée - Samuel Winchester, Mick & Jared's grandfather.

And life in Derryville goes on ...

Beaty, thanks so much for inviting me to chat with you. This was lots of fun and I'm getting all misty-eyed wishing I could go to Derryville for a little while. I might have to come up with another Winchester somewhere ...

I love stopping by to see what the RBLers are up to, or to at least drool over the wallpaper. Hope you're all well and happy and reading tons of marvelous books!

Take care



Thanks for taking time for us, Leslie! It really shows when our authors enjoy chatting with us. I'll be watching (and reading) as your career continues to grow. Thanks!

~Beaty~



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