Hello.
Hi.
Hey there.
My name is Christian Leigh and I love to write, read, create and consume stories, and this is my blog.
I have been married to my husband, Derek, for 11 and a half years. We have three young children - Conner is 8, Dean is 6, and Olivia is 3. We have two dogs, KC, our German Shepard mix, and Henry, our beagle/dachshund mix, and a cat named Sophie. Needless to say, our house is full to bursting with chaotic energy.
I am a full-time mom, part-time college student, and write in between all of that. I am also an author, though I have nothing published… yet. I am editing the first book I finished writing and have plans to self-publish in the spring of 2022.
My love for reading was born when I was in high school. I don’t remember when (you will soon learn that I have the worst memory) but I went to the school library and picked up a book for fun.
I don’t know why I did that. I had never done that before.
The book I picked up was “Sweet Revenge” by Nora Roberts - if you haven’t read it and you enjoy heist books that include glitzy celebrity galas, jewel thieves, steamy romance, and princesses, then this book is for you. I was hooked, and I needed to read more.
I don’t remember what I read after that, but this was also around the time I picked up Harry Potter (this was back before the entire series was published). I got hung up on the Order of the Pheonix. I disliked Umbridge so much I couldn’t stand to read about her anymore. There are also some pacing problems in that book, too. But that is the book that made me stop reading for a couple of years.
Eventually, I decided to try reading for fun once again.
I bet you can guess which book turned me into the avid reader I am today.
Picture this: it is 2008, a recent high school graduate is going to church camp and wanted a new book for the bus ride to Hume Lake. She walks into Border’s (yes, Border’s) and sees this book with a simple cover is being turned into a movie. She picks it up and reads the first chapter on the bus. Then forgets about it until the fall.
Have you guessed which book it is, yet?
Yeah, it was “Twilight” by Stephanie Meyer.
The fourth book, “Breaking Dawn,” had not yet been published, but I read the first three books in three days after I picked it up again.
Three days.
That experience will always stay with me.
Regardless of all the problems with that series, it turned me into a lover of words. A connoisseur of plot devices. A sommelier of character arcs.
Basically, I became obsessed.
Not just with “Twilight,” (because, yes, I was obsessed with the Cullens) but with books, with stories. I was obsessed with characters I could see myself in as I watched them grow throughout the book.
My love of reading began when I was 17. Now that I am in my 30s, I read 50 books a year - and yes, I read books with more substance and better crafted characters than Bella - and now I create stories.
I write young adult fantasy novels because that is what I read. All the greats tell you to write what you know. Write what you love. That is what I did. It took me five tries to finish writing a first draft.
Five.
So, don’t despair if you can’t seem to ever finish writing that first draft.
You will.
You just have to find that story that is clawing its way to the surface.
I spent at least a year on all of my failed, half written manuscripts until one day, I started plotting my debut novel.
I plotted it in a day. One day.
That was when I knew that this was the one. This was the story that I was going to put out into the world.
It took me a little over one month to finish writing the first draft, and then I sent it over to my editor. But it took four abandoned manuscripts and four years to get to this point. Now that I am here, I am serious about this new life path I am about to embark on. I am 31 years old, and I am on the cusp of published author hood, so here I am, and here you are.
So, this blog, this website, was born.
Now, I know you should have a niche for blogs, but, like my TBR pile (to be read), I have trouble sticking to one topic, no matter how broad the topic is. So, I am going to write about whatever I feel like. Because that is what I am. A writer.
It took me a while to come to terms with that title. I always felt like a fraud (impostor syndrome, anyone?). Since the day I accepted it as my truth, I proudly wear it for all to see. And why shouldn’t I?
I was afraid to call myself a writer because I am not published. Like at all. That doesn’t define a writer, though. Writing defines a writer. A writer writes. Typically, every day. And that is what I do. That is who I am.
So, this blog is just another tool for me. Another outlet. And because it is mine, I will write about anything and everything that interests me. Publishing, reading wrap ups, book reviews, and any other bookish related topics as well as things like, what it’s like to go back to college in my 30s and marriage advice after ten years of marriage. I am sure I will have a story or two about the antics of my children as well.
Essentially, I plan on writing about my life and sharing it with whoever wants to read it.
I am a writer, and I am in the business of words.
Welcome to my world.
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