Author Spotlight Saturday: Garrett Leigh *Interview and Giveaway*

If you've ever read a Garrett Leigh book then you know was I mean when I say "Angstly Beautiful" Yeah I know that's not a real word but it's what I think of when I read her books.

Back in February I finished reading her Roads Series and wrote up a review here on my blog. You can click this link to read it. Review of Roads Series . That was the first time I ever read Garrett Leigh. I became an instant fan and had to get my hands on more of her books.

She has a way of drawing you in with realism and captivating characters. A great example is Only Love:

Blurb:
The diagnosis of a chronic stomach condition leaves thirty-two-year-old Sergeant Jed Cooper with little choice but to call time on his Army career. Then on the dusty streets of Kirkuk, an ambush gone tragically wrong decimates his team, and he returns to the US with a shattered leg and the memory of his best friend dying in his arms.

Life in his sleepy hometown proves intolerable until he finds solace in a lakeside cabin with vivacious young carpenter, Max O’Dair. In the shadow of the epilepsy that periodically plagues Max, he and Jed form an unspoken bond. After a late night episode, Jed realizes how much Max means to him, and life has taught him not to waste time.

But the lines between contentment and complacency are blurred. Things left hidden resurface to tear through their world, and before they can repair the damage, death comes to call again. Faces, past and present, rally around them to weather the storm, but before long, they are left with only love.

There are so many facets in this book. Each character had a struggle that was real and knowing that real people inspired a lot of this book really drove it home.

So if a series is something you dread beginning I suggest you give Only Love a shot. It shows you the depth of the writer and understanding her style. I have faith that after you read this you will want more. Also Awake and Alive is a novella attached to Only Love, ,so check it out too:

Blurb:
A Missing Moment from Only Love

After a successful surgery relieves Jed of the illness that nearly killed him, he returns home to slowly recover with Max. With time to reconnect, Max shows him a new way to love. Now at a crossroads and facing a new life, Jed must listen to his friends and family to learn how to move forward.


Other books by Garrett Leigh:

Blurb:
Cornish fudge maker Seb Wright is anticipating and dreading the upcoming tourist season with equal measure. The cash injection is more than welcome, the long hours in the sticky, vanilla scented kitchen less so.

A few days into the first tentative sparks of summer a shadowy Good Samaritan catches his eye. Vagrant Dex is a new face in town…a beautiful, sullen enigma, and yet with each busy day that passes, Seb finds himself becoming more and more attracted to the mysterious, young man.

A young man who seems destined to become the heartbeat of a summer he'll never forget

Roads isn't the only series by Garrett Leigh there is also her Blue Boy Series... 

You can get more information on that series on Goodreads : Blue Boy Series

Something amazing and beautiful I would also like to announce for those who don't already know. Garrett Leigh took part in a most extraordinary collaboration.  Dreamspinner Press put together a fabulous collection of stories by many talent authors and Garrett is one of them.

It's called Grand Adventures:

On September 1, 2011, TJ Klune wrote, "...it's not about the ending, it's about the journey..." in a review of Eric Arvin's Woke Up in a Strange Place. With those words, two men began a journey of love and invited us to ride along. TJ and Eric have shared so much with us: their wonderful books, their smiles, their humor, their lives, and their inspiring devotion to each other. In December of 2013, their journey took a detour when Eric was taken to the emergency room. He survived the surgery to remove a cavernous hemangioma from his brain stem, but the challenges TJ and Eric face are far from over.

The authors in this anthology donated their talent as a way to support Eric's continued recovery, to help bring strength to TJ, and to show both of them just how much love surrounds them. Grand Adventures is a diverse range of stories about the journey of love. We’re going on some grand adventures for a great cause. Thank you for joining us.

One hundred percent of the income from this volume goes directly to TJ and Eric.

I seriously recommend you all grab your copy and help out 2 outstanding authors, all the while enjoying amazing stories and more of Garrett Leigh's talent. 

***Interview*** 

1.           Your Roads Series is so beautifully written. Ash touched so many people's hearts. You created a powerful character in him. Did you do research, how did he come to be?

Ash is very special to me. A lot of his nuances ARE me, but that’s a story for another day. As far as researching him went, some things I knew well, like tattoos and his art, but with his background, I had to do a lot of research into the American foster care system and repressed memory syndrome.

2. In Only Love you explain that this book is based on true stories from extraordinary men. I couldn't help but feel that in many of Jed's flashbacks... how did you mold so many stories into one?

I took the most emotive parts of many stories and used them as inspiration. Jed’s flashbacks were written long before the actual book for some reason, but I felt they were very important to his character development within the book.

3. Did you ever think you'd ever become an author? 

No. I became an author entirely by accident.

4. How long did it take you to publish your first book, after you started trying?

A few months. I was very lucky to land with Dreamspinner Press. They are an awesome publisher to work for.

5. How do you come up with the titles for your books?

I try and pick a word that resonates with the emotion of the book. I like simple, one word titles, but that stems from laziness more than anything else. I design my own covers so one word titles are easier to handle!

6. Are there any occupational hazards to being a writer, have you ever faced any?

Hand strain and headaches! The thumb of my right hand is buggered. I swear it’s got a life of its own these days.

7. Do you have inspirations or a muse that gets you through your writing?

Music, food and people watching. Music is the main one, but I also work in the restaurant industry, so food is creeping more and more into my books. It helps that I’m a total foodie. I have to be quite careful about what I eat, but I’m a pretty mean cook, so I have a lot of fun weaving that into my work.

8.  Are you currently working on a project and can you maybe PLEEEEEEEASE tell us a bit about it?

My current WIP is about a graphic artist and a DJ. I’m not settled on the names yet, but it’s my first attempt at a kind of ‘gay-for-you’ trope. Might yet prove a disaster, but I’m having a lot of fun with it.

After that, I need to write the fourth book in the Blue Boy series and knuckle down into a long planned, never started project. A top secret project. LOL.

9. Often time writers love to challenge themselves. Have you ever had the urge to veer off and write something different like a comedy or children's book?

Eh, not really, though I do have an unfinished MF romance novel hanging around my laptop. One day, I’d love to try a YA novel, but I reckon I need to train my dirty mind first. Other than that, comedy isn’t for me. My husband tells me every day how distinctly unfunny I am J and I’m an angst hoor at heart.

I’d also like to try my hand at supernatural. I have a short piece I’m thinking of expanding. As ever…watch this space!

  
10. How can your readers find your work? A website or author's page? 

I can be found at all these places, procrastinating and generally wasting time…
Garrett Leigh on Goodreads  

Garrett Leigh on Amazon 

Garrett Leigh on Twitter 

Garrett Leigh's Fangroup on Facebook 

Garrett Leigh on Instagram 

Truly a wonderful interview and now you know all the ways to follow her work. NOW! Garrett Leigh has agreed to do a Reader's Choice Giveaway for all of you today. (( MINUS GRAND ADVENTURES)) Since proceeds go to Eric and TJ it doesn't seem right to make that free, sorry. BUT ANY other Garrett  Leigh Book CAN BE YOURS!!!! Simply enter the giveaway below. 

Giveaway ends April 25th. Winner will be notified via email, so keep that in mind. You will have 48 hours to respond and after that I will draw another winner. 

***GIVEAWAY***
 




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