Author Interview with Leeann Betts

Today we have a special treat! It's sorta a double-header interview today with a two-in-one author!

Leeann Betts writes contemporary suspense, while her real-life persona, Donna Schlachter, pens historical suspense. No Accounting for Murder and There Was a Crooked Man, books 1 and 2 in her By the Numbers series, released in the fall of 2015 Book 3, Unbalanced, released in January. Book 4, Five and Twenty Blackbirds, is due in April, with more planned for later dates Leeann and Donna have penned a book on writing, Nuggets of Writing Gold, and Donna has published a book of short stories, Second Chances and Second Cups. You can follow Leeann at www.AllBettsAreOff.wordpress.com All books are available on Amazon.com in digital and print, and at Smashwords.com in digital.

Welcome, Leeann! We're so glad you could visit us today. 

Thanks, Amber. Glad to be here.

What made you decide to become a writer?

I have always liked telling stories. When I was a child, I was often accused of telling fibs, so I learned how to change the names of the innocent, and toss in a few things that made it obvious this was a story and not a true event.

Where did the inspiration for your latest book come from? 

My latest book, Five and Twenty Blackbirds, is the continuing sage of Carly Turnquist. As a forensic accountant with a nose for mystery, she is a fount of story possibilities. This particular story was ignited when I visited the town where my father and my step-mother, who I dearly loved, were married. I wanted to go back there again and again, so I decided to set a story there.

Your website tagline is All Betts are Off. Can you tell us about this?

My real-life persona. Donna Schlachter, says that I am cute and perky and all the things she isn’t. What she really means is she gets to live vicariously through me, saying things and doing things she wouldn’t normally do. My tagline is a play on my last name, and I want to let readers know that this isn’t just another blog about another author. That exciting things will happen here, so stay tuned.

How does your faith and spirituality work in with your writing? 

I prefer to incorporate my faith into my writing the same way I incorporate it into my life—as a worldview that colors and fashions everything I do. My faith isn’t a Sunday morning faith, where I act one way for a couple of hours on Sunday while I’m in church, and a different way the rest of the week. I am very involved in an international ministry that seeks to win the lost for Christ everywhere we go, so I’m learning how to live my faith “on the go”.

  

What are you working on next? 

Next I’m working on my first email newsletter that will go out in May, and then I’ll start on the next book in Carly’s series, Broke, Busted, and Disgusted, that will release in November.

Anything else you'd like to share with us?

I really want to thank your readers for stopping by today and investing their precious time in this blog. I don’t take that lightly, because I know how fast time flies by. I’d also like to invite you to go to my website and subscribe for my quarterly newsletter. In it you will receive a devotional, a book review, perhaps a short piece on writing tips or markets, and publishing updates.

Very interesting. Looks like you have some great stuff going on. Thank you so much for being with us!