Historical Romance

Historical Romance with an Inspirational Touch

Friday, February 05, 2010

Spotlight on: Deborah J Ledford


Author of: STACCATO
Publisher: Second Wind Publishing
ISBN: 978-1935171171
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Genre: Suspense Thriller

Available from:
Second Wind Publishing: http://secondwindpublishing.com/Staccato.html
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Staccato-Deborah-j-Ledford/dp/1935171178/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255532354&sr=8-1
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Staccato-ebook/dp/B002P3LB5I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1264730016&sr=1-1
Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe, AZ, as well as other independent booksellers.

Short Synopsis:
Three world-class pianists. Two possible killers. One dead woman. Who is her murderer? Who will be next? STACCATO: Retribution played double-time

AMY: Thank you for joining me. What else would you like to share with us regarding your book?

DEBORAH: Thank you for featuring me and my debut thriller novel on your blog, Amy. I realize this is primarily a romance readers forum and I hope I don’t scare any of your followers away. Please know that although STACCATO is a suspense thriller, there is a main thread of romance throughout the entire novel. In essence, Nicholas Kalman’s journey is all about finding out who killed his lover—and how far he is willing to go to seek retribution for her death.

AMY: Were there any surprises that came about while you were writing STACCATO, or did you story stick with the plan you had set?

DEBORAH: I began my writing career as a screenwriter, and STACCATO started out as a script. Years later, I turned STACCATO into a novel. The original concept remained the same: I knew I wanted to implement classical music, and that the nemesis would be the pianists mentor. Before I begin actually writing a novel I’ve worked out the first 5 chapters, a few climaxes, the title, ending, and some choice dialogue I want to implement. The rest of the novel writing journey is a wild ride of discovery.

AMY: What inspired you to write this book or these particular characters?

DEBORAH: Years ago, I discovered a poster while shopping in a frame store. The photographer is Peter Esposito from his “Angst in the Night” Angst Noir Series. The moment I saw this powerful image, a sub-plot came to mind. This is the original concept for what is now the STACCATO book cover. The characters came later, but I knew the hero of my series, Steven Hawk, would be an African American deputy of a sleepy southern county, and that the other lead in STACCATO, Nicholas Kalman, would be a twenty-year-old professional pianist.

AMY: Tell the readers about your writing journey and how you ended up with your publisher.

DEBORAH: My writing journey is quite a long one. As I mentioned, I began as a screenwriter back in the ‘90s. I wrote my first as of yet unpublished novel back in 2000 and the first draft of STACCATO was completed in 2005. Therefore, my journey as a published novelist took nearly a decade. 2007 I submitted STACCATO to a Gather.com online contest sponsored by CourtTV (now TruTV) and made it to the semi-final round along with two other now Second Wind authors, Lazarus Barnhill and Pat Bertram. I’m told the formation of Second Wind Publishing is due to this contest.

AMY: If there is one piece of advice you could give an unagented/unpublished author, what would it be?

DEBORAH: I went through the agent process and suggest other writers do the same. Studying markets/agents/appropriate publishing editors is essential for all writers hoping to break into the industry. The more you learn and research the better prepared you will be once an offer for representation and publication comes your way. In the end however, I found Second Wind Publishing on my own and didn’t find the need for an agent. Be open to all possibilities—and know that being represented by a “bad” agent is worse than having no agent at all.

AMY: Besides STACCATO, which we highlighted here, have you published other books or are there some that are yet to be released?

DEBORAH: I hope to have the second book of the Steven Hawk/Inola Walela series ICE ON FIRE available summer, 2010. I am also a three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize and my award-winning short stories appear in numerous print publications as well as five anthologies. I invite you to read a few of my short stories available on my website: http://www.deborahjledford.com.

AMY: How can we find you on the internet?

DEBORAH: You can find me on just about all of the social networks. Primarily:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=100000454722747
Twitter: http://twitter.com/djledford
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3081880.Deborah_J_Ledford
I write a monthly article at my publisher’s blog the 5th of every month: http://secondwindpub.wordpress.com/
The first 6 chapters of STACCATO are available as a free download at my website: http://www.deborahjledford.com


AMY: Is there anything you would like to ask the readers?

DEBORAH: Classical music is a major element to STACCATO and I’m considering a CD companion. I spent endless hours researching appropriate pieces of piano music to highlight scenes and characters’ emotions throughout the novel. Would a recording tie-in to the book be of interest to you as readers?

AMY: Readers, are there any questions you would like to ask Deborah?

8 comments:

  1. Great interview! Thanks to both of you.

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  2. Thank you for stopping by, Susan.

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  3. I love listening soundtracks. I create a new playlist for every book I write and seeing someone publish one to compliment their published book would be brilliant. But how on earth would you go about it?

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  4. I'm pleased to hear that the CD companion to STACCATO would interest you, Heather. As for going about this: I know a few brillian classical pianists and the pieces have already been selected. There are recording and transferring costs as well as paying the musicians, but even with those expenditure the publisher would be able to charge less than a book.

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  5. I like your suggestion about going through the querying process. Although I was not successful at securing a successful agent, I learned a lot about the publishing world, so that when I went with a small independent publisher, I knew what to expect.

    Best of luck with Staccato, Deborah! I enjoyed the book tremendously.

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  6. Thank you for your supportive words, Pat.

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  7. Your plot sounds very intriguing and I know you're a great writer. I'm looking forward to reading your book!

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