Monday, February 5, 2018

Writer Interview - Shadow Leitner

Shadow Leitner - Beautifully Haunted Writer
I'm honored to present a blog interview with Haunted writer Shadow Leitner!  She graciously posted an interview with me on her excellent blog Dark Inklings, and I'm so happy to have her here today - so read on to learn about Shadow, her haunted writing, and what really scares her :)
Shadow Leitner spent over a decade in the performing arts but left the stage for the page to write Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Gothic Romance novels for Young and New Adults, and thoroughly enjoys torturing her imaginary characters with love and other peculiar things.  She also creates beautifully haunting art with her iPhone, consumes absurd amounts of coffee, and is enchanted by all things vintage, old world and macabre. She’s also quite fond of nonsense literature. Well, all sorts of nonsense really.  Shadow haunts from Maryland, with her husband, their two spawn, and a menagerie of mostly domesticated creatures.
1.  You have only three minutes to convince a stranger to read your latest work.  What do you tell them about your writing, and about yourself, to get them interested?
I am Beautifully Haunted. Eventually, the voices in my head make it to the page where they can haunt you, too.
 
2.  Your spaceship can travel to any world, real or imagined.  Where do you go?
I travel to a steampunk world where the cities and towns float in the air. There I own a Victorian mansion which I open-up as bread & breakfast for other airship travelers.
3.  What was your favorite book you that read as a child?  What have you read recently that you can recommend?
I was a bookworm growing up, so I have many, many favorites, but the first book I remember having a real impact on me was Shadow Castle by Marian Cockrell. It’s about a fairy prince who marries a human princess and trouble ensues.
Where to start, I’ve read so many great books lately. I just finished The Mara Dyer Trilogy and started the first book of its companion series The Noah Shaw Confessions by Michelle Hodkins.  They are YA and deliciously dark. I’m in love and dying for the next one to be released. In the adult, more ghostly realm, I’ve recently finished and highly recommend The Haunting of Maddy Clare and Silence for the Dead by Simone St. James.
4.  How do you meet and stay engaged with other writers?
Well, it works like this, I stalk my favorite authors, wrestle them to the ground, chain them in my basement and like that we are besties. Okay, not really, that would be creepy. Don’t do that.
The real answer is I belong to author organizations and attend meetings, conferences, etc.  I write a blog for Dark & Gothic Writers called Dark Inklings where I get to hang out with other cool Night Writers. And yes, I do totally stalk other authors, but in the nice, safe (for them) environment of the internet and social media.
5.  What is a quote that resonates with you - either from yourself or someone else?
So the darkness shall be the light. – T.S. Elliot
6.  Do you have a personal symbol or icon with which you identify?
White spiders. Though I’ve never really thought of them as a personal symbol or icon and I’m not particularly fond of them, either. However, they seem to have an affinity for me and show up often. I certainly sit up to take notice when they do. I’ve come to accept them, seeing them as messengers, who let me know when I’m on the right track.
I’m also very fond of black hearts.
7.  How do you find good new reads in your genres of choice?
Well, there is this place where all the available space is covered in books and all of them are free. FREE. Maybe you’ve heard of it. It is called the Library, and while I could literally set up a cot and live there, I don’t have to, because I can take the books home with me. I promise this place is not a figment of my imagination. It’s real. One should really check it out. ;)
I refer to Goodreads a good bit, as well. Come friend me and we can share all the books. Muahaha.
8.  What is one thing that really scares you?
Being eaten alive by zombies and tornadoes, but then that would be two things. So let’s stick with zombies because they really freak me the f**k out.
9.  You can create the perfect one-week writing retreat - describe what makes it ideal for you.
The perfect retreat would to be holed up in a historical place, such as a Victorian mansion or castle with roaring fires and plenty of coffee. Being in such a surrounding the stories almost vibrate out of me and reverberate off the walls, but then that might be coffee. It’s hard to tell.
10.  Which conferences/book fairs/meetings do you try to never miss each year?
A new one for me, but one I don’t plan on missing is HallowReads. There are many others I haven’t been to but would love to attend.
11.  You have a magic wand that can cast only one kind of spell.  What does your wand do?
My wand transports me where ever and whenever I want.
12.  Where can fans find you and your work online?
ShadowLeitner.com is my main haunt, but I can also be found creeping around on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest.
13.  What is the question I should have asked?  Answer in the form of a haiku or limerick.
How reliable of narrator are you?

When you've bats in your belfry that flut,
When your comprenez-vous rope is cut,
When there's nobody home
In the top of your dome --
Then your head's not a head; it's a nut
-        “The Nut” by Anthony Euwer

Image Credits:  All images provided by and used with permission of Shadow Leitner.

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