Leigh Landry

Many Decembers ago, I started picking a word for the year ahead instead of making resolutions. I'm pretty goal oriented, but I enjoyed setting a single word or phrase as a guiding intention for the year. It's easy to hold that as a feeling or value I want to hold tightly and help make decisions through the upcoming months. Then I hit The Spring of 2018. Phew. Let's just say it's been a ride since then, ok? Coming out of that now, my decision-making process is shaky, and I feel like I've hit a lot of transitions on a lot of different fronts in my life. Every month, every week, every DAY brought new challenges, and I was exhausted and ill-equipped to roll with the changes. So I went back to what I knew. I picked a word, not for the year, but for the week. I started with Breathe , because yes, I needed to get that fucking basic. And it helped. That week, I focused on my breath. I would breathe through rough moments. I took deep breaths before I had to make decision...

This will be the first in my series of monthly roundups. I won't list all  the media and stories I've consumed or even all those I've enjoyed. Just a few highlights or things I really want to share or talk about. Give me a shout in the comments if you want to rec something similar to what you see in my list, or if you just want to share your own love for anything here! What I've been reading : So many last minute passes through Rim Shot Rebound . So. Many. (That counts, yes?) A Princess in Theory  by Alyssa Cole - This was the book that pulled me out of my full-length novel reading slump. So much fun, and I can't wait for the next book. Hard to Find  by Chase Verity - This collection of friendship stories features LGBTQIA+ characters, and I swear to you reading this felt exactly like a warm, comforting book hug.<3 What I've been listening to : The Duchess Deal  by Tessa Dare - This was my first Tessa Dare book ever, and it had some of the m...

One of my most valuable skills is my ability to move right on to the next project once I finish one. It's how I get sh*t done, and it's a vital skill for a freelancer. The downside is it can be so easy to forget (or ignore) the need to celebrate accomplishments. And truly, it IS a need, especially for writers who spend their days correcting their work and asking other folks for feedback on what to change/correct. Even the most respectful, constructive feedback can pile up in the back of your mind and get internalized as negative messages. (And we aren't even talking about negative reviews or submission rejections!) An easy way to balance out that negativity is to invite plenty of positive energy into your life by celebrating your successes. Unfortunately, some of us (*cough*) weren't born celebrators or didn't grow up in an environment where things were celebrated, and we need to actually work and develop tools to help us learn how to PAUSE and revel in our achiev...

Gather any group of romance readers and they're bound to eventually chat about tropes. We love discussing our favorite romance tropes and sharing our favorite books that feature each. You can view a big list of romance tropes on Mindy Klasky's site . For writers, it's a great reference when you're brainstorming or when you find yourself using the same tropes over and over and want to try some different combinations.  All the Kissing also recently did a post on some popular tropes with lists of book examples for each. I love that everyone has their own favorite flavors and that we as writers get to mix them up like wacky Ben & Jerry's combos. YUM! In my current series so far, I've used friends to lovers, sister's best friend, single parent, second chance, and a twist on the workplace romance. With book three, I even used a trope I said I'd never write: secret baby/pregnancy. Never say never, I guess! I will say it can be fun to take tropes you don...

*** Here's a first look at the opening scene of Rim Shot Rebound , the third novella of the Cajun Two-Step  series , releasing in July 2018! ***  RIM SHOT REBOUND by Leigh Landry Chapter 1 Don’t puke. Kelsey had been giving her body that one little command ever since she drove onto Robin’s property. Unfortunately, her stomach was completely ignoring her and currently staging a mutiny. She wasn’t usually sick this late in the day, especially if she’d eaten a decent dinner. Her little pep talk had been working all through the long drive down country roads to Robin’s adorable house out in the middle of Nowhere, Louisiana. Kelsey shouldn’t have had any problem keeping her stomach in check through their weekly rehearsal. But then she’d heard that familiar knock—their old college drum cadence—on Robin’s kitchen door. “Eric!” Robin, their accordion player and band ring leader, pulled his tall, lanky-but-solid frame in for a hug. She was a full head and a half shorter...

Phew! It's been a wild ride so far this year. I've really busy finalizing and publishing my second novella, Six String Sass , which released last week (yay!), and I'm finally getting a chance to breathe and enjoy the excitement and satisfaction that come with putting a new book out in the world. I loved working on that book so much, and I'm looking forward to finishing up the series after I take a week or so off to work on a couple of other (SECRET, for now) projects. In other news, we have new houseguests ... Meet Mama Pasta, Noodle, and Linguine! Last week (yes, in the midst of release week chaos) we took in a nursing cat and her three-day-old kittens. We've never fostered such tiny kitties before, so we're kind of learning on the fly. Basically we're giving Mama Pasta lots of love and support so she can take care of her littles. We have a whole room set up for her (where we keep all of our fosters), but so far she can't roam fo...

Happy New Year!!! This is my favorite time of year. A fresh slate. New goals to break down. Chilly nights snuggled up with my dreams and my planner. <3 Last year was filled with a lot of personal ups and downs, but I kept my head down and made a good bit of professional headway. One of the biggest leaps I made was starting a new series and releasing  my debut novella ! We also added a new guy to our household: Vader & Meelo The new guy is the one on the right, and he's made himself quite at home already. I'll probably do a separate post on how he's fitting in later this month. Goals for 2018 In the year ahead, I plan to finish my Cajun Two-Step  series and write a few short stories set in that same world. I'm already working on one of those, a prequel story involving the main character of book two. I'd also like to get back to working on the mystery romance series I started and put aside for a while. I probably won't be publishing the f...