Leslie Colleen “L.C.” Ireland is an arts specialist in Ogden, UT.
By day, she works as an arts advocate and teacher for public schools. By night,
she writes children’s plays and fantasy novels. She loves playing Just Dance,
Pokemon Go, and any Zelda game. Her novella Shatter the Sky appears in the Magic Rising boxed set of paranormal
romances, published today. Connect with L.C. on:
On her website.
What
does LC stand for and why did you decide to use that for your byline? I was
named after two of my aunts, one on my mother’s side and one on my father’s
side. One aunt is named Leslie, the other’s middle name is Colleen, thus my
full name is Leslie Colleen. But I’ve always gone by “L.C.” My parents brought
me home from the hospital calling me L.C.
You
began your writing life as a playwright. What drew you to novels? I was
that kid who dreamed about writing books before I could even read. One day I
realized I was already writing and publishing my own plays, so why not books?
So I sat down and made myself start writing.
You
write and direct plays. Have you ever acted?
I did act in grade school and a little in high school.
Unfortunately, I had an “undesirable” body type and found that getting roles
was really difficult no matter how hard I worked or how well I sang or acted. I
found a lot more success in directing. I started directing when I was 15 and
knew that was what I wanted to do for a living.
How did
your play Because of Darin (co-written with elementary school students) come
about? I always thought I would teach junior high or middle school. But
when a job came up across the country for an elementary school drama teacher, I
thought I’d apply even though I wasn’t qualified. I was asked in the phone
interview if I thought it would be possible to build a drama program from
scratch with very young actors.
I said, yes - it sounded like fun! I
was hired an hour later. Since then, I have built quite a great program (if I
do say so myself), which incorporates many opportunities for creative writing.
One year, I decided to work with a fourth-grade class to write their own play.
We worked together and had a fantastic time. Since then, it’s become a tradition.
This year I co-wrote and published six one-act plays in cooperation with six
fourth-grade classes in my district. It is a ton of work, but some much fun.
These kids come up with the craziest
ideas. Because of Darin (a play about everything going wrong) is one of the
wildest plays I’ve co-written with my elementary-aged co-writers.
Why
fantasy? When I was a little girl, my mother would tell me and my sister a
story every night about the epic adventures of “Princess L.C. and Princess
CallyAnn.” She encouraged our creativity from a young age. One of my
favorite books was The Paperbag Princess.
I found fantasy exciting and fresh. I was a
little daydreamer with my head lost in the clouds, imagining I was a mermaid every
time I went swimming, pretending I saw fairies out of the corner of my eye.
When I was about 8 years old, my parents bought us a Nintendo 64 and the game The
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I adored that game. I played it so many
times the cartridge wore out. I loved the freedom to explore this fantasy world
and spent much of my time wandering around the map, making up stories.
Who are
your favorite fantasy writers? Anne
McCaffrey’s Harper Hall trilogy is one of my favorites. Shannon Hale is
another author whose works I have really enjoyed. I love Brandon Sanderson’s
writing style, but his books tend to be a little darker than I care for. I am
most certainly a fan of noblebright fantasy, the kind of stories where goodness
triumphs in the end.
Tell me
about your story in MAGIC RISING. In a nutshell, what’s it about? Shatter
the Sky tells the story of an important event in the history of the world
that many of my other books take place in. Edith is a human who was sold to a
frightening man to be his bride. She dreams of escaping and travelling the
world, but fears for her life if she tries and fails.
Vadahm is a fae who is the child of
an affair. He grew up with his parents resenting everything he stood for and
fled his home when his mother arranged to have him killed. These two broken
lives collide and change the trajectory of their world as they fight for their
love that not even the gods support.
How did
you learn about the boxed set? I worked with Kenya (the organizer)
on a previous box set and enjoyed the experience.
How
important is your newsletter in your marketing efforts? How did you “grow” it? My
marketing efforts were horribly unsuccessful before I started a newsletter. Now
my newsletter is my main marketing tool. I held off on starting a newsletter
for a long while because I don’t enjoy receiving mass emails. But I decided to
give it a try and found some success having a newsletter. I enjoy having
direct access to my readers without the filters of social media. And I really
love when readers respond with questions or feedback. Feedback from readers
makes my heart sing.
Do you
read other authors’ newsletters? Who do you “follow?” I don’t
usually. I tend to get easily overwhelmed by the constant influx of
information. To preserve my sanity, I refrain from signing up to
newsletters, not even for local businesses I frequent.
How
well do you balance work/life? Do you have a set routine for writing or do you
grab writing time where you can? I’m a workaholic. If it weren’t for
my husband cooking and feeding me, I wouldn’t eat most days. I tend to get
hyper focused about work and sometimes need to be reminded that other things
exist.
As for writing routine, that varies
depending on the time of year. I get more writing done during the summer when
I’m not teaching. During the school year, my energy is consumed by my
creatively-demanding day job, as well as writing and editing up to ten plays a
year. During the school year, I often feel like I’m teetering on the edge of
burn-out. My husband keeps me sane.
As for writing goals, I try to write
500 words a day. Sometimes I far surpass that and sometimes I fall short. On
average, I write about 10k words a month.
How
easy is coming up with titles for you? Ugh! I hate this part. I’m always
second-guessing myself. Fortunately, I have beta readers who are happy to weigh
in and some writer friends who will help me narrow it down.
Do you
listen to music while you work? Or do you need silence? I
definitely need silence to write. Even the sound of the dishwasher can distract
me. I will listen to music as a warm-up and just let my mind wander and
daydream before I write, but when I’m actually writing, silence is best. If the
music has lyrics, I won’t get anything written at all (except maybe a
transcription of the lyrics).
What’s
next? I have a new series launching in April that I am really excited
about. This series is inspired by fairy tales and features strong female leads.
The first book, Horrid, has already received rave reviews from advanced
readers. I am so excited to launch it!
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