PAST COFFEE CHATS Tess Gerritsen Sandra Brown Jennifer Apodaca Lorenzo Carcaterra MJ Rose Peter Abrahams Nancy Cohen Janet Evanovich Martha Lawrence Evan Hunter/Ed McBain William Lashner Lisa Gardner Gillian Roberts Clive Cussler Carol Higgins ClarkDavid BaldacciLawrence Block Stella Cameron Sara Paretsky Stuart Kaminsky Stephen Coonts Nelson DeMille Stephen White Nevada Barr Jerry B. Jenkins Michael Connelly Stuart Woods John Saul Lisa Scottoline Barbara Delinsky Gayle Lynds Brad Meltzer Jeffery Deaver Perri O'Shaughnessy James W. Hall John Katzenbach Steve Martini Sidney Sheldon Earl Emerson James Grippando D.W. Buffa Anne Perry Jayne Anne Krentz Rochelle Krich Melissa Senate James Lee Burke Rick Layman Robert Crais Kevin Young Phillip Margolin Mary Castillo Michele Martinez James SwainHarley Jane KozakJoseph KanonAlafair BurkeJess WalterSteve Berry Andrew Vachss Natalie R. Collins

Author Deborah LeBlanc Natalie R. Collins: Deborah LeBlanc, we want to welcome you to ReadersRoom.com. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us today. Deborah LeBlanc: My pleasure, Natalie. Thank you for the invitation. Natalie R. Collins: Let's start off today talking about your most recent book, Grave Intent, which was released in July. Can you tell us a little bit about it? Deborah LeBlanc: Grave Intent is about a funeral director and his wife, who find themselves dealing with the funeral for a 19 year old Gypsy girl. The girl's family is a large clan, and the head of the clan, the girl's father, winds up burying his daughter with a very special gold medallion. One that is supposed to pay for her safe passage to the 'other side.’ During the viewing, however, someone steals the coin, and the director and his wife come to realize that they now have 48 hours to not only find the coin but return it to the Gypsy girl's casket (which is now buried), or their own 5 year old daughter will die. Natalie R. Collins: Having read this book, I can guarantee it is edge of your seat suspense. How did you come up with the idea for this book? Deborah LeBlanc: The idea came to me while listening to two funeral directors talk about a Gypsy service they'd just concluded. The stories they told about the rituals and chaos surrounding the service fascinated me so much I started researching Gypsy funeral traditions. Grave Intent evolved from there. Natalie R. Collins: This book is getting quite a bit of critical acclaim. How does that make you feel, as an author? Deborah LeBlanc: Humbled. It's the only word that feels appropriate. As an author, I'm always left a bit awe-struck whenever someone says, "Hey, I really loved this book!" Natalie R. Collins: That is the best compliment you can get as an author, I agree. Let's go back for a moment, Deborah, and talk about your first book with Dorchester, which is Family Inheritance. Can you tell us a bit about this book?

Deborah LeBlanc: Family Inheritance is about one woman's journey back to her Cajun roots, where she discovers a power truth about her ability to heal people. It's a gift she's always had, but never fully acknowledged, and a gift that was never made whole...until she returns home. Someone, or should I say, 'Something" doesn't want her abilities to be made whole, however, and will do anything to stop it from happening.

Natalie R. Collins: It was a fascinating book, and one made even more real by the fact that you yourself have Cajun roots, something that colors your writing in a wonderful way. Can you tell us a bit about your background, and how you came to be a writer?

Deborah LeBlanc: By trade, I'm a business owner with a marketing degree. Reading and writing have always been my first loves, though. I started writing as a young'un, but allowed it to sit on the back burner for years while I raised my family and started my career. Five or six years ago, the urge to write resurfaced so strongly, I had little choice but to do it. And it refuses to be put on the back burner again!

Natalie R. Collins: Yes, once you start it is usually impossible to stop, no matter the ups and downs in the publishing business.Deborah, you are a native of Louisiana, and have watched devastation hit your state in the past few weeks. Can you tell us what things were and are like down there, and how it makes you feel?

Deborah LeBlanc: Yes, that's very true. This can be a very frustrating business, which sometimes makes you wonder, "Why, for heaven's sake, are you doing this?”When Katrina hit, I was in Kingston, Massachusetts. I couldn't believe what I was seeing on television. So much devastation, so many deaths, it defied the imagination. I hurried home to see for myself if it was real. Unfortunately, it was far too real. For Hurricane Rita, I knew the storm was going to hit even closer to home than Katrina, so I drove from Portland, OR. to Louisiana in a day and a half to be with my family. I wound up in Shreveport, La. around 10 P.M. the night it hit and had to spend three hours in my car in a truckstop parking lot, riding out 60 MPH squalls. People were everywhere that night, sleeping in cars because hotel rooms were filled to capacity. Every parking lot had trucks, cars, campers, you name it, filling it. Gas was a luxury, so was food and water since most of the power was gone. It was like coming back to a third-world country. The scariest damn thing I've ever experienced. Fortunately, family and home survived. But it will take some time for Louisiana to get back on her feet. Her people, although resilient, are exhausted.

Natalie R. Collins: We are glad that you and your family survived this, and hope that soon things will be back to normal for all of Louisiana. Deborah, where would you recommend that people who want to help the victims of Katrina and Rita send their money?

Deborah LeBlanc: I think the best place would probably be the Red Cross. But they'd need to specifically state that it's for the Katrina and/or Rita fund. Otherwise, it gets put into a general pool.

Natalie R. Collins: Now, to switch gears a little, let's talk about The LeBlanc Challenge. Can you tell us what this is, and how someone can get involved?

Deborah LeBlanc: Boy, that is really switching gears!

Natalie R. Collins: Yes, I'm the queen of it!

Deborah LeBlanc: The LeBlanc Challenge is a literacy contest, where participants can register for the chance to win the following: Grand prize: $5000 in cash, plus an additional thousand that will go to the public school of their choice for the purchase of text books and/or library books. Second place wins a Gateway Desktop Computer, and 3rd through 10th place winners get gift certificates to the bookstore of their choice. 3rd place is $175, all the way down to 10th, which is $25. To participate, one goes to the Challenge website (which is http://www.theleblancchallange.com.), registers, then clicks on the scenes listed for Family Inheritance and Grave Intent. Those scenes have clickables, which will drop down multiple choice questions. Once all the questions are answered, the participant is then asked to answer a final, philosophical question, but they must answer it in essay format—200 words or less. The person who scores the highest on the multiple choice questions and the essay questions is the grand prize winner!

. Natalie R. Collins: It's nice to see a writer getting involved in literacy issues, because they certainly affect ALL of us. Deborah, can you tell us a little bit about your writing process, and when you write?

Deborah LeBlanc: I really don't have a 'set' process for writing. Sometimes an idea will come to me, and I'll start jotting down character names. If the names come easily to me, and I can match faces with the names, the rest of the story just kind of unfolds. I write everyday, but have no set schedule. I travel pretty extensively, so sometimes I make time to write in the wee hours of the morning and other times, late at night. The only thing that is consistent is that I do write each day.

Natalie R. Collins: You do travel extensively, and I'm always astonished by how much you accomplish. What is your schedule in the upcoming months? And where can people find out where you will be appearing?

Deborah LeBlanc: Actually, my schedule finally slows down over the upcoming months. My tour is finished for Grave Intent, and other than a few conferences, where I'm scheduled to speak, most of my time will be spent polishing up a manuscript due in December.

Natalie R. Collins: Ah, would you care to tell us anything about it, or are you going to make us wait?

Deborah LeBlanc: I can tell you that the title is A House Divided, and it promises to be the same edge-of-the-seat thriller most of my readers have come to expect. More details about the book and where I'll be speaking over the next few months can be found on my website at http://www.deborahleblanc.com.), And I'll even have a book trailer available on the site very soon!

Natalie R. Collins: That sounds awesome. Deborah, thank you for taking the time to chat with us today. It's become tradition to end these chats with you saying something to your fans. So.... talk to them.

Deborah LeBlanc: I'd like to offer each and everyone of you who've purchased my books my heartfelt thanks and appreciation. Thank you also for writing to me and letting me know your thoughts about the books. I always love hearing from you!

Natalie R. Collins: Deborah, we wish you the best of success, and we will definitely be checking back with you. Also, I want to remind readers that you write a column for us, The Dark Side, that is absolutely fascinating. Be sure to check it out. Thanks again, Deborah, and have a great day.

Deborah LeBlanc: Thank you, Natalie!




Copyright 2005 by ReadersRoom, LLC. All rights reserved.