Today we meet author Leslie Kain, who was cursed with a subtle droll wit that even her husband often doesn't "get" as a joke.

Leslie has always been writing something, even as a kindergartener. Stories, riddles, plays, poems, inventions, secret plans. Culminating in running away across country at the age of fifteen, never looking back, which launched other adventures she won't divulge. Then with degrees from Wellesley College and Boston University, she had careers in psychology, government intelligence and nonprofits for mental health, during which her writing was limited to nonfiction. Eventually though, some complicated characters found their way out of her head into short stories published in journals and anthologies. More characters began pestering her with THEIR stories, expanding into novels about messed-up people and families whose greatest barriers to happiness lie within them. Very few of her stories end in Happily Ever After.

While Leslie's first novel sits on a shelf awaiting revision, her second novel, 'Secrets In The Mirror' was published by Atmosphere Press last September. Each of the four main characters in that story had to undertake arduous emotional journeys to personal transformation. Although not all of those characters' journeys were successful, Leslie didn't think the ending warranted a sequel. But her main character had other ideas, and now she's writing a sequel. Will there be a Happy Ever After?

Meantime, Leslie has an overstuffed folder of many story ideas awaiting her. But living in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, an international mecca for history, music and all the arts, it's not always easy to find time to tackle all those new stories begging to be told.

You can learn more about Leslie -- and stay up to date on her new writing -- on her website https://lesliekain-psychfiction.com/, and by following her Facebook Author page https://www.facebook.com/Psychological.Fiction as well as on Instagram @leslie.kain and Twitter @lesliekainauth1

A little about today's host-

Author and musical composer Kathleen Basi is mother to three boys and one chromosomally-gifted daughter. Her debut novel, A SONG FOR THE ROAD, follows a musician on an unconventional road trip. Bestselling author Kerry Anne King writes, “In a novel filled with music, heartbreak, and surprising laughter, Basi takes us on a journey that encompasses both unimaginable loss and the powerful resilience of the human heart.”

Meaty, earnest, occasionally humorous, and ultimately uplifting, Kathleen’s fiction highlights the best within ourselves and each other. She writes monthly reflections on life, writing and beauty on her newsletter. Subscribe at https://kathleenbasi.substack.com/. 

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