A Horror World Conversation with Deborah LeBlanc
By Steven E. Wedel

 

Deborah LeBlanc has made a splash with her first two Leisure novels, Family Inheritance and A House Divided. She recently debuted the prologue of her next novel, Morbid Curiosity, in a reading at FenCon III in Dallas, Texas, proving that she has staying power, and a dramatic reading voice.

Not only is Deb an author to watch, but she was just elected to the presidency of the Horror Writers Association, where she will assume office on Oct. 1. Her enthusiasm is contagious and her ideas big, so it seemed like a good time to learn more about this new force in the industry.

Horror World: How long have you been writing?

Deborah LeBlanc: I started writing short stories in the second grade and continued through most of high school. Life got in the way after that, and I didn’t write much until about six years ago, when, while brushing my teeth one morning, I decided, “I’m going to write a book.” The rest, as they say, is history.

HW: What made you want to start writing?

DB: I was an absolute nerd as a kid (A few people would probably say that’s still the case!), very quiet and introverted. Writing was the way I expressed myself. It was the only ‘voice’ I was comfortable using in a world that seemed too fast, too big, and too lonely.

HW: What else do you do, besides write? Do you have a day job?

DB: LOL, where should I start? Yes, I have a day job. I own two companies, both started about 11 years ago. One deals with fuel inventory management, and the other is a management consulting firm that works with the funeral service industry. I’m also a licensed death scene investigator, avid ghost hunter, am the president of a local writers’ guild, an active member of three other writing orgs, do presentations in high schools to promote literacy, and ride horses and a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Oh, yeah, and in the middle of all that I do ‘normal’ stuff, like eating and sleeping.

HW: Was Family Inheritance the first novel you wrote? If not, how many books do you have stashed in drawers? If so, what inspired it?

DB: Yes, Family Inheritance was the first novel I’d ever written. A friend of mine told me her brother had been diagnosed as a schizophrenic, and I witnessed the many trials she and her family went through during his hospitalization. During that time, I kept wondering why, with all the medical advancements and technological breakthroughs we’ve experienced over the last two decades, do we still not understand the cause, much less the cure, for mental illness? While considering this, I thought about the treateurs (Cajun healers) I’d known as a child. I’d seen so many instances where sickness and disease had been healed, but never one case of mental illness. My writer’s voice asked, “Why is that? Why can’t a treateur heal mental illness? And….what if one could?” That last question became the seed for FI.

HW: Children play an important role in your novels. Why is that?

DB: I think children play an important role in almost everyone’s life, in one way or another. Our emotions are easily engaged when it comes to them, which is probably why they show up in my novels.

HW: Do you write many short stories? If no, why not? If yes, do you prefer short stories or novels?

DB: I don’t write many short stories anymore. I prefer novel length work because it allows me to more fully flesh out characters, settings, and plot.

HW: Who have been your literary influences?

DB: So many great authors have influenced me. I considered Stephen King my horror guru, of course, but I’ve always enjoyed Dean Koontz’s literary style. Others on the list would be Ernest Gaines, Jodi Picoult, Mark Twain, Henry David Thoreau, Edgar Allen Poe, and Jane Austen.

HW: Who, or what else inspires you?

DB: Life and people inspire me, especially if I run across the unusual in either.

HW: You’ve made several appearances at conventions this year. How important is it to a writer’s career to see and be seen at such gatherings?

DB: I think it’s crucial for a writer to network so he or she can maintain a feel for the pulse of the industry. Conventions are a wonderful venue for networking because they provide you with the opportunity to meet a wide range of people in the business…other authors, readers, book sellers, editors, and agents.

HW: What else do you do to promote your work?

DB: Geez, I think the question should be, “What don’t you do to promote your work?” Aside from touring annually, I send out book cover post cards, have bookmarks printed, send mailers to libraries, schools, readers, and newspapers around the country, have coffee mugs made with the new book cover on it, run contests on my website, and lecture in high schools and libraries.

HW: What advice would you give the newer writer looking to score a mass market book deal?

DB: The best piece of advice I received when I first started is the advice I always share when asked this question….the key to scoring ANY book deal is to read, read, read—write, write, write—and NEVER give up!

HW: You were recently elected president of HWA. What are your thoughts on the organization?

DB: I’m extremely honored to be serving the members of HWA in this capacity. I think the organization has a lot of potential. The challenges it faces now are no different than the challenges faced by other organizations or companies that have been around for a while. They get used to doing things a certain way and find it difficult to break old habits. I’m confident, however, given the current level of enthusiasm for change and the willingness of so many members to help, that HWA will quickly become the premier writers’ organization it was meant to be.

HW: How do you look to improve HWA?

DB: In my opinion, HWA must become a crucial asset to its members. To accomplish this, we must provide our members with exceptional networking, educational, and promotional opportunities that will help them further their careers. If we keep that as a constant focal point during all decision making processes, we’ll most certainly accomplish our goals.

HW: In recent years HWA lost several well known women writers because they felt the organization didn’t value them. Now the organization has a woman president. Will you make any special effort to lure those other women back to the fold?

DB: Having struggled my way through many male-dominated industries, I can appreciate their frustrations. However, I don’t have any plans to target women specifically. I’m of the opinion that women authors aren’t looking for special treatment so much as they’re looking for equal treatment. That should be a given, but, unfortunately, that hasn’t always been the case in HWA. My goal is to help level the playing ground and make the organization such an asset to writers, both man AND women will be eager to join.

HW: Does gender matter in horror? Have you encountered any resistance based on your sex, or had any breaks because of it?

DB: To the general reading public, I don’t think gender really matters. They’re only concerned with whether or not you tell a good story. I say that based off the hundreds of readers I’ve met and talked to in bookstores during my tours. But I do think gender matters in the horror community. I see evidence of it in almost every horror venue, especially the online message boards. Rarely do you see a woman’s book mentioned, and I’m not certain why that is. It’s possible men in the horror community don’t view women authors as edgy enough for the genre.

HW: Your fourth novel, Morbid Curiosity is coming from Leisure Books in July 2007. Tell us a little bit about it. What’s it about and what inspired it?

DB: MC is about two fourteen-year-old girls (twins) whose lives are turned upside down after their father dies and their mother is committed to a hospital after she attempts suicide. Without parents, the girls are eventually shipped off to Mississippi to live with their paternal grandparents, and it’s there they decide to take control of their lives by way of Chaos magic and sigils. The one thing they never counted on conjuring up, however, was their own death sentence.

The inspiration for this story came while I was doing research on shamans for another book. I found a link on a website marked ‘sigils’, and curiosity sent me clicking away. The information I discovered on sigils and Chaos magic blew me away. The intense measures that many practitioners (most of them teens) use to ‘charge’ and ‘feed’ their sigils is nothing short of horrifying. Some claim to have gone so far as murder. I couldn’t NOT do a story on that.

HW: What are your long-term career goals?

DB: To write and be published until I’m 106 years old and at some point, between now and then, make it to the New York Times Bestsellers’ list.

HW: Anything you’d like to add?

DB: Yes, to anyone reading this interview that has ever purchased one of my books…I realize you had thousands of books to choose from before you dropped your hard-earned money on that counter or sent it whisking off into cyberspace. Thank you for choosing one of mine.