Author Spotlight ✨
Leslie Hooton
Award-winning novelist. Storyteller since age five. Dictating every word.
Welcome back, story lovers! Today we’re turning the spotlight on the unforgettable voice behind Before Anyone Else, The Secret of Rainy Days, and the Indie Book Award–winning After Everyone Else. Grab your favorite drink, settle in, and get ready to drift into the wildly warm, witty, and big-hearted world of Leslie Hooton.
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Meet the Author
Leslie Hooton, in her own words
Leslie Hooton’s most recent novel After Everyone Else, the sequel to Before Everyone Else, won an Indie Book Award and was published by Turner in June 2022. Her second novel, The Secret of Rainy Days, also garnered an Indie Book Award for Southern Fiction (Turner Publishing, 2021), and her debut, Before Anyone Else (Turner Publishing, 2020), received a Zibby nomination.
Her essays have appeared in Newsweek, Zibby Magazine, and Women Writers, Women’s Books, and her novels have been featured in Brit + Co, The Mary Reader, and more. She’s chatted books on PBS’s By the River, Friends & Fiction, Zibby Owens’s podcast, and a whole constellation of bookish shows, as well as attending the prestigious Sewanee Writers’ Conference for many years.
Kevin Wilson, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Jane Rosen, Patti Callahan, Lisa Barr, and other beloved authors have sung the praises of her work. And behind every book is a remarkable origin story: Leslie often remarks that while some people have a stroke of luck, she had a stroke at birth. The limited use of her right side and numerous surgeries have given her a singular perspective she pours into every page—along with the fact that she dictates all of her books and loves to joke, “I haven’t typed a single word.”
In Conversation
How did your writing journey start?
Like many things in life, it just HAPPENED. It was an organic thing really. I started reading at an early age and started thinking about my own imaginary characters and stories about them. I thought that was all perfectly normal. I started writing stories when I was about five years old. My mother was an English teacher and librarian, and she humored all my stories and made suggestions. We all need someone in our lives to foster our love of stories if we are going to be writers.
What inspired your latest novel?
My most recent novel, After Everyone Else, is a standalone sequel to my debut novel, Before Anyone Else. It takes those characters on a journey of marriage, motherhood and murder. It explores the dynamics and difficulties of a working mother and the sometimes-tense relationship between a mother and her daughter. After Everyone Else explores the lengths, a mother would go to protect her child.
Can you share a moment where you felt stuck?
Ironically that is where I was a few months ago. I had some good ideas and yet they did not culminate in a full-fledged story. Then one night I had a good night’s sleep and woke up thinking about the place. I wanted to know more about that place and who the people are that would go there so I started writing. Maybe sleep is a great creative tool in my repertoire. Ha ha
How do you immerse yourself in your writing?
In many ways that is the easy part. Once the idea comes to mind, I live, breathe and sleep the story. I wake up thinking about the characters in their place. I think about what they would say to each other over breakfast or what they might think about the situation.
What techniques do you use to ensure the story resonates?
The quick answer is I have people who read the story. They are very opinionated and vary in ages. They often tell me what is or is not working and what parts are confusing.
If you could drift to any literary world, which would you choose?
This answer is a hard one. I could answer this in so many ways by way of so many novels. Part of my answer involves a new story idea I have so I’ll have to keep that to myself. I would love to live in the literary world my mother occupied when she was a young woman and have a book club with her. She was so smart and well read. I would like to share opinions on books and authors she read and loved. We could have some animated conversations.
So… what are you working on now?
If I am going to hedge on the previous question, I certainly am going to hedge on this last question. I’m very superstitious. My agent and I have tossed around a couple of ideas. I have the outlines and beginnings of a couple of works in progress, so stay tuned!
Maybe sleep is a great creative tool in my repertoire.
Leslie Hooton
Once the idea comes to mind, I live, breathe and sleep the story.
Leslie Hooton
I would love to live in the literary world my mother occupied when she was a young woman and have a book club with her.
Leslie Hooton
Ready to follow the twists of marriage, motherhood, and murder? Dive into After Everyone Else and meet the characters readers can’t stop talking about.
Connect with Leslie
Facebook: Leslie Hooton
Instagram: @lesliehooton
Live. Love. Laugh.
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