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| 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
