Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Authors Not-So-Anonymous Week #5

Welcome everyone to the fifth Authors Not-So-Anonymous weekly meeting!! This weekly series is about authors from Twitter and Facebook!  This week, I would like to introduce M.A. Leslie into Authors Not-So-Anonymous!

M.A. Leslie is a married writing team comprised of M (Mike) and A (Amy) Leslie.  "We thrive when we are together more then when
we are apart.  We work well together and enjoy planning the books."  They are YA, MG and Adult authors who have two children and live in New Jersey.  "We’ve known each other and been friends since we were 8 years old.  When we were ten, Mike’s family moved away and we weren’t reunited until we were 18.  From there, we started dating, got married, and had 2 great kids."  From childhood friends to an unstoppable married team, these two have a passion for writing that started at young age.
  • A. -  I have been writing for 21 years.  Writing has been something that I’ve always loved.   I started when I was eight, I’ve taken a couple of creative writing classes, but mainly I’ve learned by just writing.
  • M. - I would say that I have been writing since I was about thirteen.  I didn’t start as young, but I also didn’t love reading till I got a little older.
The duo began writing novels together when M was struck with a neurological illness in 2010.  They used the time M was on temporary disability from his job to work on their life-long dream of writing novels together.  "Writing is more of a way of escaping daily life for me.  If I don’t like a situation, I can always write it the way I would like it to go." - A  "The idea that we are creating something, something that will last forever.  Just the thought is amazing." - M

They may be a writing duo, but they are still two different people.  Some of M & A.'s favorite novels are:
  • A. - Nora Roberts (JD Robb), JK Rowling, Greg Isles, and Kay Hooper.
  • M. - JK Rowling, JD Robb, JRR Tolkien.
With the recent release of Tristen & the Whining of the Winds (book 2 - Tristen Series), M.A. Leslie have co-written and published four novels - LIBERTY, The Missing, Tristen & the Magic Shop (vol.1 Tristen Series), and Tristen & the Whining of the Wind (vol. 2 Tristen Series).
Click here to read my review of The Missing AND Click here to read more about the Tristen Series! Review on Liberty coming soon!

The characters and plots for their novels come from the best place to let your imagination run wild - dreams that A has.  "She will wake up in the morning and tell me about the dream, at that point we will determine if it is book worthy.  (She has some scary weird dreams!)  If it is book worthy, we talk it out, work through it together, build a general outline, create characters, and so on and so on." - M.
I've had the privilage of becoming friends with M.A. Leslie. They are phenomenal authors and people.  I highly recommend their novels to anyone who loves YA and MG ebooks/books.  Visit them at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Twitter (@maleslie11), Goodreads, and their blog.
Have an author to nominate?  Send me a message via Twitter or leave a comment with the author(s) name and Twitter name.  I'd love to add new members!  Happy Reading!

4 comments:

M.A. Leslie said...

Thanks Hilary for having us on your Not-So-Anonymous!

We really enjoyed the questions and being a part of your blog.

HilyBee said...

The pleasure is all mine! Loved interviewing both of you! :D

Rick G said...

A very insightful interview, much more interesting than the typical Q&A ones you see. Always a pleasure to read about fellow New Jersey-ites. :)

HilyBee said...

Thank you Rick! :D