Leslie Swartz: “I want readers to feel something” – Birutė Mo

- Leslie Swartz: “I want readers to feel something” -Leslie Swartz from the USA is the author of unique urban fantasy series “The Seventh Day” – the story she has been creating almost all her life. Leslie started her writing career as a poet, but then she turned to novels and fulfilled an idea which occupied her mind for a long period of time. In addition to this, she is a beloved wife and a mother of three. I invited Leslie Swartz for a conversation about her series, writing career and other topics that seemed interesting at the very moment.

When and in what circumstances did you catch the writing bug?

I started writing short stories when I was four years old but it wasn’t until I saw the movie, Legend (1985, Tim Curry, Tom Cruise) that it became clear to me that writing was what I wanted to do as a career. I was five or six and I watched it over and over on cable every day for a week. I decided then that my goal in life would be to write something Sir Ridley Scott would want to direct. That’s still the dream.

You started your writing with poetry. What certain changes led your career to novels?

I wrote very personal poetry as a teenager that seemed to resonate with people my age. There was a lot of angst, anger, and romantic idealism in what I wrote then that people could relate to. As I got older, I had bigger stories to tell and universes to create but the premise is still the same. I write to evoke emotion. Readers are meant to be disgusted or angered by “Lilith”, laugh at “Lucifer” and “Gabriel’s” banter, cry with “Wyatt”, and remember the feeling of first falling in love reading the early “Will” and “Michelle” scenes. They’re meant to “hear” the story as if it really happened. I want readers to feel something.

Tell me a bit more about your series “The Seventh Day“. How did you come up with the idea? What does this story mean to you personally?

When I was fifteen back in 1996, I had a vision of “Wyatt”, the main character in the series. He was very clear to me. I knew exactly what kind of character he was. So, I read as much as I could about religious lore, mythology, history. I read the Bible twice, cover-to-cover. I researched angels and demons and monsters of every sort. But, every time I started to write, no story seemed good enough for “Wyatt”. In my twenties, I saw an actor on an episode of “Guiding Light” named Tom Pelphrey who looked exactly like the character I had in my head. So, he became the inspiration for a lot of “Wyatt’s” facial expressions and mannerisms and his sort of precise way of speaking. After twenty years of developing characters and throwing out several drafts, I saw an episode of Iron Fist where Tom Pelphrey’s character has to cremate his father and it broke me. I was hysterical sobbing for forty-five minutes. It felt too real, like for a second, I wasn’t looking at “Ward” anymore but Tom Pelphrey, the actual man, conjuring up real emotion. And, I know that’s what actors do. It’s a normal part of their job. I do the same thing to get in the right head-space to write certain scenes. But, when he took that little, sharp breath, I felt that in my soul. Once I got myself together, I was sure that he would start winning Oscars and become way too famous to play a character a no one like me could write so there was an odd sense of urgency to get “Wyatt’s” story written as soon as possible. So, I had all these ideas for the story and for epic battle scenes but none of it made sense if “God” was who I said he was. I was stuck until my husband said the five words that changed everything and brought the entire story together. He said, “What if God was asleep?” It was like all the lightbulbs in the world turned on in my head. I could see everything, the entire series. It all fit together. That day, I wrote character bios, outlines for the first four books, and a few scenes. On a personal level, I put way too much of myself into “Gabriel”. She’s me if I was promiscuous and had superpowers. All of the characters have bits of my personality. When faced with danger, “Wyatt” doesn’t feel fear, he gets angry. “Valerie” is set on creating for herself a safe, stable, calm home life with kids even though that might not fit with who she is. “Lucifer” is snarky, carries a lot of guilt, and has a strong sense of social justice. Those are all things I have in common with the characters that make them feel more real to me. More broadly, the series has been a passion project for me since I was fifteen and I’m so thrilled now to have it complete and out in the world. I feel a little bit like a proud parent.

You write about angels, devils, vampires and Apocalypse. Would you agree that the choice of the characters kind of reflects writer’s inner world?

Oh, definitely. It’s very dark in my brain. I have a lot of inner demons, guilt, and issues but also the desire to always do the right thing even if it hurts. The need to do what’s right for everyone even if it means sacrificing something. And, I think most of us struggle with some kind of inner demon. We all have something in us that’s preventing us from being the people we wish to be, right? Whether it’s something as serious as addiction, childhood trauma, or even just a fear of public speaking. We all have things about ourselves we’d like to change or wish we could overcome and that inner struggle between what we perceive to be good and bad is absolutely reflected in my work.

I know you incorporate music into your writing process. How does the music change your writing? What are your musical choices for writing?

I make playlists for every book I write before I start writing, usually in the outlining phase. I add songs that remind me of particular scenes or characters so that later, if I’m having a touch of writer’s block, I can listen to them and just scribble any ideas I have on a notebook and that usually unblocks me. My taste in music is pretty eclectic. It’s a lot of Queen, Elton John, Don McLean, The Beatles, Otis Redding, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, The Pretty Reckless, and Counting Crows. My favorite newer artist is Monique. Her song “Ne Geta Jaust” breaks my heart in the most beautiful way. She’s amazing.

Writer Laura Dzubay expressed an interesting idea about writing: “...it’s hard to get away from betrayal in writing, in part because writing, after all, is spending time with the things you cherish and telling the secrets of them.” Would you agree with this idea? Do you find it easy to be open-hearted in your stories?

Yes. I think there’s a freedom in writing fiction, fantasy in particular, that allows a writer to express deep truths about who we are. We might not all want to say out loud that we have this phobia or love that thing or have some issue but we can give those traits to a character. There’s something wonderfully cathartic and insightful about putting a piece of yourself on paper and reading it back with an observer’s eye.

Do you believe that writers play an important role in our daily life? How do you perceive writing? As some kind of a mission? As a way to express yourself?

Writers are incredibly important, I think. Every television show, movie, or song was written. Every book or magazine. And, it’s not just entertainment. Every speech was written. Every press release. Every news report. Every textbook. Every history lesson. Nearly everything we know we learned because someone thought to write it down. So, writers do important work. As for me, I write because I don’t know how not to. “Writer” is just who I’ve always been. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t write. The poetry was to express certain feelings I was having at the time. What I write now just kind of comes to me and I can’t shake it. It just feels like I HAVE to write it.

I quote from your “Goodreads“ profile: “Biggest fears include failure of gravity and "The Wizard of Oz"“. I do understand the first one, but could you comment the second one?

I have an irrational fear of The Wizard of Oz (the 1939 film starring Judy Garland. I never read the books.) It’s terrified me since I was a tiny child. It’s not the witch or the flying monkeys that most kids were scared of. It’s the mean neighbor lady who kidnaps the dog. That human cruelty devastated me as a kid and it still gives me anxiety. Also, “Glinda’s” voice is creepy and gives me nightmares.

You have three daughters. How do you manage to control your writing and family life at the same time? Are your daughters demonstrating any signs of desire to follow mom’s path?

I only write on the weekends so that through the week while my husband is at work, I can devote my time to the kids. It ends up resulting in sixteen-hour writing sessions sometimes, but it works. My oldest draws anime and makes up characters that she draws and gives backstories to. She’s written a few comics. The younger two make up stories, but don’t write anything down, yet.

What is your husband’s approach towards your writing? Does he read your books?

He does read them. He’s given me a handful of great insights like, “needs more peril”, and “make that battle bigger”. He’s always my first beta reader because I know he’ll tell me the truth about anything that needs to be changed or improved.

It is popular to say nowadays that “People read less and less“. Do you agree with this idea?

I think that may have been true before Covid but when people were quarantined, they took it up again and it seems like they’ve stuck with it. The first two books in my series came out in 2019, the rest in 2020. It seems like if they buy/read the first one, they read through the whole series, so I think people have gotten in the habit again. I know that’s anecdotal but other writers in Facebook groups have reported the same thing. I don’t know it to be true, but I think books are making a comeback, not that they ever really went anywhere.

What kind of literature do you prefer yourself? Who are your favourite authors? What kind of novels do you miss in today’s bookstores?

My favorite current authors are Evelyn Chartles and J. Edward Niell. They’re indie, so I don’t see them in stores but they’re fantastic. I love to read those kinds of creepy, character-based horror stories. Poe and Shakespeare are huge influences for me as well as Anne Rice and Stephen King. I love anything scary or unexpected.

Are you working on any big writing project at the moment? Maybe we could already expect new series?

I’m working on another urban fantasy story right now. It’s a stand-alone novel, not a series, at least, not yet. I have an outline done for a horror novel but the UF is keeping my interest.

What three pieces of advice would you give to someone who would like to start writing career?

Don’t worry about anything else until your manuscript is done. The cover, getting an agent or going indie, how your story will be received. None of it matters if you don’t have the book written and those things can drive you crazy and steal your focus. Write first.
Don’t stifle yourself. An agent or publisher may want you to make changes and you’ll have to decide then if it’s worth it, and it may very well be. But, don’t muzzle your own voice before anyone else has had a chance to hear it.

Most importantly, edit. Edit, edit again, then edit some more. Leave your manuscript for two weeks, come back to it, and edit it again. Of course, if you can afford to hire an editor, you absolutely should but even professionals miss things. Go over it until you’re sure it’s as perfect as it can be. And, vet your editor. I made the mistake of hiring an editor that turned out to be a con artist. He butchered Seraphim, put a bunch of periods where commas should have been, changed words. It was a mess. Hundreds of people bought it looking like trash. I’ve fixed it since then, hired a new editor, but it haunts me. Edit like your career depends on it because it does.

Thank you for the conversation.

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Leslie Swartz

2021-05-05 | Pokalbis