Tina Leonard

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DH: Please tell us about a little bit about yourself, and what led you to writing, and writing romance specifically?

TINA: I'm forty-one, bottle-blond (gotta call the hairdresser)!, short, with lots of energy! Probably due to have two kids who have lots of energy. The mania feeds off it itself. Got a hound, two guinea pigs, and two barn swallows who insist my ficus tree is their perch. (They accidentally sat one two many times on the thermometer and it fell down--I'm going to have to buy them a new one). Okay, that's a little bit about myself. I've always written. From the time I was a child, I was writing doggerel on shoe box lids. Romance is the brainchild of my grandmother, Mimi, who always had me reading it, so then decided I should write it. Honestly! Maybe she was afraid she'd run out of reading material and might as well tap the fount in her own house. I'm related to Willa Cather, but . . . somehow I don't think the same H20 was in both our family founts because she's a classic and I'm . . . well, a classic-in-the-make, hopefully! LOL!

DH: Could you describe your writing process? Are you a detailed outliner or do you write as you go? What's your daily writing schedule like?

TINA: My writing process can only be described as ugly! I write nothing ahead and ignore everything that may be required of me in advance. My process has brought great editors to their knees, to get a better shot at smacking me upside my little blond head. Honestly, I wish I weren't so spastic! But my brain is weirdly organized and it knows good stuff's gonna happen at some point if I relax and let it flow REALLY FAST, so I try not to get in the way of it. I have no daily writing schedule, except to write. When I'm on a deadline, I sit down and do the thing all in one piece. I DO NOT like stringing something out for months. It's annoying, and I lose my thought process. My reader friend says I thrive under pressure, and I guess it's true. Mania!!

DH: What's the best thing about writing romance? The worst?

TINA: What's not to love about romance? I can't even think of what would be a worst! The best thing are the readers. They know what they want, they demand it, and want to be satisfied. Romance Readers Do It Better, I always say!! That's a true Tina Leonard witticism, I don't think anyone else has ever said it, so no one can copy it!! :)

DH: Who and/or what inspires you as a writer? As a person?

TINA: It's the evil genie that makes me write, she says with a slur and a sly grin. No, actually, the inspiration comes from some sleepy wellspring inside me that won't let me forget what it was like to work at the Dairy Queen for $2.15/hour. Inspiration as a person comes, of course, from my grandmother. She's always been so funny! So able to find the fun in every situation! Of course, I was mildly traumatized when a few bees flew up my grandfather's golf shorts (and they might actually have been wasps, but I'm trying not to embellish just because my memory's short) and grandma sat there, cigarette in hand, laughing hysterically as my grandfather jumped around beating at his shorts, getting stung like crazy! Now that I think about it, they were bees.

DH: Tell us about your new mini-series, Cowboys By The Dozen. I so enjoyed the first book, FRISCO JOE'S FIANCEE, and can't wait for each of the brother's stories.

TINA: Thank you. I must admit to being very excited. I've always wanted to do a series! But I worked up to it, until I felt that I had a family and ideas that I wanted to live with for a long time. I love families with issues, who love each other, who lean on each other. I love friends who hang around to pull each other through! Women who understand sisterhood; men who understand brotherhood. Okay, and maybe those men don't completely understand the female species, but they can be brought around to the dark side! I think the readers will understand what's driving the Jefferson men of Malfunction Junction ranch, and why both laughter and tears are sometimes essential to real growth. Even if that growth occurs from being tossed from a bull!

DH: You have quite a sense of humor! There were times I was laughing out loud while read FRISCO JOE'S FIANCEE. Who or what makes you laugh?

TINA: I practice at finding the humor in everything! As I've said, my grandmother has quite the wry wit. My mother, also, had the sly humor. I love movies and books that make me chuckle. I remember reading in school that Zig Ziglar and his wife used to get up in the morning and stand in front of the mirror and laugh at themselves, just so they'd start their day with a laugh. Well, maybe I'm not going THAT far, but I got the picture. Start the day with a laugh, go to bed with a smile, and at noon, give my significant other an erotic giggle over the phone. That's the plan, and it's the best one I've got.

DH: If you weren't a writer, what would you to do?

TINA: Ugh. I don't even want to think about it! Explode from creative stoppage. Oh, a career! Well, I've always said I'd either have been a doctor or a beach bum. Yeah, that's it! A beach bum. And in that alter-world, I'd FIT into my short-shorts as I roller-blade through life. Actually, I used to be a makeup artist for Estee Lauder, and I was an assistant buyer on the east coast. All that was good for growth, but writing is in my soul. You know? Like those subliminal messages? Except instead of "Drink Coke" being embedded in my commercials, I see flashing neon messages (WRITE, WRITE, WRITE, DAMN IT)! It's probably my mom. She was really proud of my writing career, and I couldn't write fast enough to suit her while she was alive, and probably less so now that's she's able to fundamentally disturb my psyche from upstairs. I swear. That would draw a snicker from my mom!

DH: Who are your favorite authors, in both romance and other genres?

TINA: Janet Evanovich, Jennifer Crusie, Bailey White, Jill Churchill, actually, just about anything in print. Except authors who write scary stuff. I stay on my side of the fence when it comes to reading books that will give me bad dreams or make me cry. I'm such a chicken!

DH: If you could invite anyone to dinner (dead or alive) who would it be?

TINA: This question always unnerves me, because I'm always afraid I'll leave someone out of the party who should be invited! You know? And I think dead people are probably real sensitive about that, okay? I can't just invite one person because then it's one-on-one and I'd rather have a party, like . . . I wouldn't invite a sandpit volleyball player, I'd have to invite the whole team. Like what fun would it be if you just invited Tom Cruise and left out Goose and Iceman? The whole visual will be thrown off, right?

So there's the usual suspects: Jesus, Mary, Pontius Pilate (gotta have some angst at the table or it's not an artsy-fartsy gathering.) Marie Curie, Flo Nightingale, Jack the Ripper (gotta know what was going on his head, you know?) Ma Ingalls, 'cause I don't think we got the full deal on her, Jane Austen (you know she'd chronicle our party with her sly wit and it'd make a helluva book), my editor because she makes me laugh and Lord, I need it, Tina Turner because she's really the only dancing queen on the planet and I wanna know how many squats she does to get those legs and if she's using a stepboard or not, all the Scandalous Ladies (an e-mail group)'cause they're on fire, Jennifer Crusie because I think she's really bitchin', Audrey Hepburn, Sean Connery, and Cary Grant to give the 'do some class, my kids 'cause they'd be freaking out if I left them to go anywhere, and Minnie Mouse, because I'm pretty sure she gets bummed not being able to figure out if she's a wife or a girlfriend, and I can relate to that sometimes. Plus I really dig polka dots.

DH: Last, but not least, is there anything you'd like to say to your readers?

TINA: Yes, please tell my readers that they're the reason I stay up at night. They are the reason I bought a new office chair yesterday, and a new computer last month. It's this symbiotic relationship thing: they write me, keep me going, slap me around when I need it, lift me up when I'm down, kick me in the pants when I'm writing too slow, and best of all, make me give them my best. It's a relationship I love. Tell my readers thank you from the bottom of my heart. Romance readers rock!

DH: Thanks for stopping by, Tina, and best wishes with your career! You can visit Tina's website at: http://www.tinaleonard.com

(Click here for a review of FRISCO JOES FIANCEE)

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