Interview

Hi Kathy-Diane, and welcome. I am so glad you could join us here at RomanceJunkies. To start, will you please tell us a little bit about your current projects?

 

My new romantic suspense novel was just released this spring. LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU is about a woman who goes on an unexpected journey and finds love at the end of it.

When Brannagh’s boyfriend, Nikki, disappears, she reluctantly returns home for a reunion of the childhood club Tuatha-de-Dananns. Brannagh hides at her Grandmother’s cottage next to the dark woods where her mother was murdered fifteen years ago. As Brannagh struggles to solve the mystery of Nikki’s vanishing, she is haunted by the secrets behind the most startling disappearance of all.

 

Nothing can change the past, but the love of friends holds the power to transform the future.

 

I loved writing this book. It's Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood meets Tammi Hoag. I was able to combine the ingredients I crave in fiction: a dark hero, a broken and brave heroine, loyal sidekicks; and the shifting, persistent threat of evil that must be conquered. It’s a multi-layered plot, sharpened by elements of romance, suspense and comedy. I love anything Irish and grew extremely fond of these women friends - Brannagh, Annie, Tish and Diane - and was sad to write the last page. I hope you enjoy them every bit as much!

 

How do you approach a new project? Name your characters first? Know their general situation?

 

I think every story starts with an image, something I see on a walk or people watching that resonates. I very quickly begin visualizing the protagonist and see them presented with a dilemma or question or puzzle that is born from the image. Solving this 'problem' means the character can no longer go on living their life the way they were before. In LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU, the dilemma is Nikki's disappearance. Brannagh didn't want to fall in love with him and tried hard not to, but she did; and his vanishing throws her carefully controlled determination to live a quiet life, far away from the home she grew up in, off the rails. She doesn't want to admit how much she cares.

 

The image that got me working on this story was a little girl coming out of a heritage house in west Saint John that was 4 stories high. There was an air of 'story' being held within the walls of that house. If the house could talk it would have told me that too many people within it had disappeared. The child climbed a oak tree as if determined to look beyond the house to the wide, shimmering ocean far below. I wondered what would it be like to grow up in that house and have people disappear?

 

Do you have the ending worked out when you begin, or does it evolve along the way?

 

I can usually visualize the character at the beginning, middle and the end of the novel; even if it is a bit hazy. But how exactly everything is going to unfold, and how the 'mystery' element of the novel is going to be solved isn't clear. It comes into focus as I write and the characters come to life.

 

All writers ask for advice on how to succeed, and get plenty of it! What was the one bit you wish you had just ignored?

 

Almost everything writers I've met along the way have told me has helped. I may not have followed their advice (take what you like and leave the rest is a good motto), but I always benefit. Maybe I was lucky in that a lot of writers told me about their mistakes, so I avoided a lot of pitfalls. Seriously, writers, especially romance writers, are the most generous, giving bunch of people I know.

 

After turning on your computer do you begin writing right away, or do you burn a bit of time by checking email, playing computer games, or employing other dawdling techniques?

 

I work at a paying job everyday from my computer so I have to set boundaries around its use, and rules to make sure I get my writing done. When I'm ready to write on the computer, I rarely let anything distract me. My reward afterwards is checking e-mails and going on MySpace or FaceBook to chat with friends. That's my playing in the sand box time!

 

Is your desk organized or complete chaos?

 

I have a desk upstairs with a computer that I use strictly for word processing. Then I transfer my manuscript onto my work computer downstairs when I'm ready to do the final write, edit and start sending it out. My desk upstairs is pretty neat, but the one downstairs is always a mess. Everything collects here. In the heat of the moment, I'll grab books, articles, whatever, looking for some small detail I need (the name of the famous forensic anthropologist who extracts DNA from mummies' teeth). When I finally come up for air, there's a pile touching the ceiling.

 

What grows in Kathy-Diane’s garden? What is the one thing that just won’t grow no matter what?

 

You should have given me a word count for this answer. Ha! First of all, I have a lot of gardens. My main garden started out as a bathtub-sized plot, that quickly became 2, which eventually were joined together into one large oval. I kept digging up more (like trimming the edges of a half-eaten cake to keep it 'neat', before you know it, the pan's empty). Today this garden is 40 x 60 feet. What grows in it? Astibe, golden feverfew, purple catmint, pink and scarlet poppies, geraniums, climbing roses, golden oregano, sweet william, a variety of ornamental grasses, bee balm, red and pink knotweed, columbine, lady's mantle. The things that won't grow are the things the deer gobble. There's a family that passes through our yard regularly. I used to have beautiful hostas, but they considered it their salad bar so I gave up. I grow a lot of herbs because the deer don't like the smell of basil, oregano, thyme or tarragon. My homemade pesto pizza is to die for!

 

Birds are so much fun to watch…and they really don’t have a very easy life! Do you have a favorite bird-watching story?

 

The street we live on is known in the area by local birders as being one that contains a huge population of bird species. I'm not sure why. When I was writing this book, every time I took a break and went to sit on the deck, I felt as if the birds knew I was writing about them. Yes, I know it sounds bizarre. But they acted different. A hummingbird kept hovering close by for no reason I could figure out, a Merlin perched on a wire watching intently, a family of cardinals stayed glued to the trellis instead of taking off the second they spotted me which is their usual habit. I've heard other writers talk about these synchronous episodes unfolding in the thick of creativity. Call it synchronicity or insanity, but when you unleash creative energy, anything can happen.

 

How did you and your husband meet? Was it “love-at-first-sight”?

 

I met my husband at a wedding. We'd both went with other people. My mother instantly liked my husband and picked him as the kind of guy I should be with , as opposed to my scruffy, unemployed date. Of course, I immediately disliked my husband for that very reason. But as the night wore on, I had to grudgingly admit he was awfully tall, dark and handsome. And French to boot! Something happens when people speak in French...oh my! When my date left, I did spend the rest of the night getting to know him and we got together the next day for a walk. But it wasn't until we went on a fishing trip together, tenting in the great north that I fell head over heels. When summer ended, even though we were going to schools in different provinces, we kept in touch by phone, writing and tapes. I still have all the letters we exchanged in a file folder with serviettes we wrote on, book marks, jokes, cards containing nicknames and endearments - which my kids think is goofy and cause for much eye rolling.

 

What is your idea of the perfect romantic vacation?

 

Camping. (If you read LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU and come to the big love scene between Brannagh and Nikki while they're on the bird count in the woods, you'll know it's true.)  I just love sitting by the camp fire at night talking, looking at the stars and feeling small. I do my best thinking when hiking, especially by water. There is something inside me that loosens up and lets go. It's a spiritual thing. I'm like the native shamans who found the mystical in nature. Luckily, living on the east coast we have plenty of spots right outside our door to choose from. My husband and I will be hopping on the motorcycle this summer (as soon as all the book promotion dies down) with a tent, a bottle of wine and a couple of thick steaks.

 

How do you describe Kathy-Diane Leveille? How does Kathy-Diane Leveille’s husband describe her?

 

I'm a card-carrying introvert and very shy. I love my friends and value their company because I always discover something new about life, often myself, within those connections. I'm a good listener, with a goofy sense of humour; who cries easily when certain hymns are sung at church or The Women's Network runs a Saturday night marathon of chick flicks. I love my husband and kids and would do anything to protect them. But, it's true, if I skunk them at crib, I always gloat.

 

MORE FUN…

 

Who is the person who has had the biggest influence on your life? Whom will you pass this “influence” on to?

 

My husband. Seriously. He has a great attitude towards life and views it as an adventure. We figured out the other day that having been married 27 years, we've spent more time together than we've spent with anyone else in our lives. I'm not saying there aren't days when he drives me bugs and I wonder what planet he flew in from. But I know irrefutably that he has a good heart and I'd like to take more risks and jump head first into life like he does.

 

What is the one appliance that you could not live without; that if it broke down in the morning a new one would be in its place by late afternoon? Which one should have stayed at the store?

 

The slow cooker. Being a writer, it's great being able to throw a bunch of ingredients into the pot and let them simmer all day. (Analogy to the creative process involved in novel writing, of course.)  If I try to cook while I'm writing, disaster strikes. I've burned more pots than you can imagine. Besides, with all the herbs I freeze and dry from the garden, you can bet I dream up some interesting concoctions. There's nothing better than coming up for air and catching a sharp whiff of rosemary chicken.

 

What is your favorite season? What do you love about it?

 

I crave spring. The winters are so long here, I start looking at my seed catalogues in January. I plant begonias in March, and pot my geraniums and dahlias in April. As soon as the snow recedes I start watching the ground for slim green shoots. There is something cheering about the crocuses' peach and purple blooms. If they can survive the cold and dark, then I will too.

 

Name your one culinary specialty―the one that never fails and everyone always asks for.

 

Home made pizza with fresh basil, oregano, thyme and a pinch of tarragon is a winner. It really doesn't matter what you put on it, as long as the fresh herbs are thrown on.

 

And lastly, no interview of a writer would be complete without this question: what is your favorite comfort food?

 

Hot dogs. It's true. Oh, I don't mean those piddly pale pink things the kiddies like and we all ate at our birthday parties growing up. I like the large, greasy, spicy Oktoberfest or cheese sausages in fat buns, the kind of dogs that split when you cook them on the grill, and spit when you take that first ginormous bite. Honestly, I would rather eat a Schneider's sausage than a hunk of Godiva dark chocolate any day. (Though mixing and matching is encouraged, it's true.)

 

Thank you for spending time with us at RJ, and continued success with your writing.

By Brooke Wills

Romance Junkies Publishing Editor

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