Interview - March2006

I started writing contemporary women’s fiction and then began to delve into historic women’s fiction. I enjoy reading stories of strong women who face life’s adversities head on and that’s what I make my heroines do. Of course, that also means that I have to come up with plenty of problems for my heroines to face. But, I also included a liberal amount of romance--I just make my heroines work for a happy ending.

2) What are your other favorite genres and authors to read?

When I read “for fun” I usually read mysteries and thrillers. I enjoy John Grisham, Patricia Cornwell, Jonathan Kellerman and Jeffrey Deaver. I also read a decent amount of true crime, because “truth is stranger than fiction”.

3) Did those other genres or authors influence you and your work?

I like to add a little intrigue. There is some major deception in Stormy View and the resulting problems. My historic novel has an inquisition to determine who is responsible for a shipwreck that killed three men. I have written one mystery novella and hope to delve into mysteries more in the future.

4) Were people always supportive of your writing?

My biggest supporter was my 2^nd grade teacher. She always knew I could succeed. It was great to call her about a month ago to tell her about my first book being published. Family members have forgotten that they did not encourage my writing, but they are firmly behind me now and looking forward to my personal appearances in March.

5) If you had a book optioned into a movie script, and could choose the cast, who would play your main characters and why?

I was actually discussing this with a friend the other day. We were picking local celebrities, but I haven’t thought about who would play the parts.

6) What is the favorite story of yours that you had written so far?

My favorite is my historic novel which is the beginning of a series. This is great because there will be at least 3 books and a number of short stories that are centered around these characters. Although Stormy View will always have a special place in my heart, since it was my first story and I thought about the characters and the story for 15 years before I actually began writing the story. I spent a lot of years with the characters in my sub conscious and now I can share their story with others.

7) When you write, do you do character sketches of your main characters?

I do detailed interviews about each of my characters. Over the last couple of years, I’ve tweaked the questions to help me develop my characters more completely and this also helps me add more dimension to my stories.

8) Do you just jump into writing a story, or do you plot it out first?

With my third book, I had the story pretty firmly in mind, so I sat down and wrote a 4 page synopsis. From this I wrote a detailed outline which includes each chapter, time frame for the chapter to take place, and 5-10 things that will happen in each chapter. This doesn’t mean that I can’t alter the story or add new info. But this helps me ensure that I include the critical elements to tie together my series. Unexpected and interesting new things still come into the story, but this helps give me direction. I didn’t do any of this with Stormy View and wrote the first 57,000 words before I realized the story needed to start at a different place. Spending all that time in the wrong part of the story taught me to evaluate and plan better in order to save time.

9) From where do most of your ideas come from? Do you research them first, or do you brainstorm for ideas?

That really depends on the idea. My series came from a picture in my living room. Some ideas come to me when I’m riding around or on the rare vacation. Once I started really thinking about developing characters, the book ideas just started to flow--actually far more than I will have time to write.

10) What would you like most for people to know about writing in your genre?

Don’t be afraid to break a few rules. Don’t be afraid to create a strong willed heroine, even in a historic novel. My first heroine wasn’t as strong as she could’ve been, but I’ve learned that lesson.

Postal Address - P O Box 711, Fishersville, VA 22939

Nikki's Email Address - nikki@nikkileigh.com

Last modified: 08/06/10