Leann Marshall
An artist and writer, Leann Marshall features her own one-of-a-kind, hand sculpted fairies and animals along with her original paintings and drawings as illustrations for her first children's book. She is also the author of two fiction novels:
Her first book, The Starfish People, won the Silver Medal in the Fantasy/Science Fiction Category of the 12th Annual 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) and received honorable mention in both the 2008 Beach Book Awards held in Atlantic City, and in the science fiction category of the 2008 New York Book Festival.
Her second book, The Rendering--part mystery, part supernatural thriller--takes place in the southern Appalachians.
"Born in Springfield, Missouri and having a father in the Communications industry, we moved a few times so that I grew up in St. Louis, Nashville, and ended up in Charlotte, NC where I've lived for many years.
Seems like when I'm in a group of people, I've always been the one quietly observing everything going on instead of planting myself in the center of things. Not that I'm anti social--I'm not--it's just the way I am. And actually it's been invaluable to me as a writer to fall back on these observations of people and places and things through the years. Many writers are thoughtful observers--they'll tell you so.
What do I get out of writing? Besides the fact that all you really need is a pen and a tablet which will go anywhere--at the very least it's a great creative outlet--at the most it's a wonderful form of self expression and an extraordinary, ongoing learning experience about many things, including myself.
I've been influenced by many different genres and author voices from an early age. As a girl I read classics such as Little Women and Black Beauty, and mysteries such as the Nancy Drew series. Later on, I also loved books by Jules Verne and George Orwell, John Irving, Arthur C. Clarke and Grisham and King and Brown and Binchey and--!--anything new and unusual and mind-provoking--The point is, I've always loved to read and to me it's a privilege to have written something that perhaps others can enjoy for years to come.
My published writings include a humorous short story in Hodgepodge; my story received the magazine's "Best Short Story of the Year Award"), a horror story in Dead of Night, and three contributions printed in Dark and Stormy Rides Again--the book compiled by Scott Rice from the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction contest. Between 1993 and 1995, I wrote several human-interest articles and many humorous columns for the Lincoln Gazette, a section of the Gaston Gazette."
Visit my personal Website: http://www.leannmarshall.com
