Please welcome Kathy-Diane Leveill, author of Let the Shadows Fall Behind You. Kathy-Diane will be chatting on LibraryThing until June 29th.

I love having a place to talk about books, being an avid reader, so am pleased to be a guest on Author's chat at Library Thing as an author too. For those of you who haven't read my new suspense novel LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU, you can read an excerpt here from Chapter One:

http://kathydiane.wordpress.com/excerpt-...

I'm a former broadcast journalist with CBC radio, but after my father passed away some years ago I decided to pursue the dream I've always had about writing fiction. I consider myself extremely lucky to have a second book published.

Hi, Kathy-Diane, and welcome! I wanted to let you know; I love the way you painted the Canadian countryside in Let The Shadows Fall Behind You, and the natural ease of past and present. Poetic and engaging. I wanted to ask, where did find your inspiration?

I'm inspired by the Kennebecasis River on the east coast that I live beside. I usually walk by it at least once a day. I don't know why its ever changing surface reverberates with something creative inside me, but it does. Parts of LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU also take place up north where I once lived. I think NATURE inspires me period, it's where I find my spirituality so it always comes into play when I'm developing a character. This novel definitely reflects my love of the landscape, water, trees and rock. It was very satisfying being able to put it on page and nail down the right words to try to describe it. I'm thrilled that you enjoyed it too.

Kathy-Diane
http://kathy-dianeleveille.com

Hi Kathy-Diane!

Well it's not news to you how much I loved your book. How much time did you spend on research for this one and how did you go about it?

best,

Michele

Hi Michele,

Always good to hear from you. Some writers don't like research, but I love it. It probably has something to do with the fact that I love libraries (they were my sanctuary growing up). I do most of my research in 'paper/hardcover' books and not on the Internet, i.e. Googling; though it is fantastic to have that at your fingertips to get started and narrow things down.

The Irish history is rich on the Canadian east coast as it was the earliest settled area, and during the famine in Ireland we had a huge influx of Irish immigrants. Our local libraries hold a ton of diaries, letters and maps that twig the imagination. Life was tough. I also went to a few different libraries in Toronto when researching the bird count. The story is completely fictional but I do belong to the Saint John Naturalist Club and love going on bird ventures (my husband and I took part in the local bird count in January)...but, truthfully, I'm a bit like Brannagh, I'm too much of a daydreamer to ever make it hard core.

FInally, I also did some interviews with law enforcement and international birder, Jim Wilson, when I was close to the final draft. As I say, I love the research because I learn so much and also, there are many moments of syncrhonicity that occur, that blow me away; bumping into just the right person or tuning into the TLC show that just happens to be featuring 'bird calls' as you're writing that passage. Having said that though, I never research until I have my first draft blocked out...even if its very rough, like stage directions in a play. I give the characters lots of room to experiment as I explore the story's possibilities, before I tackle fact finding, because there's a danger of getting bogged down in it before I've tapped into the heart of the narrative.

Great question, Michele. Almost doing our blog interview all over again. Obviously I love talking writing! That was fun by the way. Let's do it again with my next book. Cheers!

Kathy-Diane

By the way, for those of you who love blogs here's my links:

KATHY-DIANE LEVEILLE's author blog is:

http://kathydiane.wordpress.com

SHADOWS FALL N FRIENDS, my interview blog where I chat with other authors every Thursday, is:

http://lettheshadowsfallbehindyou.blogsp...

MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCES, my blog where I explore the disappearances that twig my imagination and fuel my novel writing, is:

http://unsolveddisappearances.wordpress....

Drop by anytime and say hello.
Kathy-Diane
http://kathy-dianeleveille.com