Hello there!
I'm Leah ("lay-uh"—yes, like the princess/general). I write light-filled high-fantasy romance ("romantasy") books. I'm currently based in the DC area but hate cities, traffic, and going to museums (go figure, I know). INT/FJ, Enneagram 1, Gold, Gryffindor. Hoping to escape to some backwoods cottage with my old, anxious rescue dog, Wes, where we can sit together on some porch and bask in the peace and quiet for the rest of our days. I also don't like most sweets, but I accept 70% dark chocolate with a hint of sea salt. Wes will take peanut butter, thank you.
My Story
I have crafted stories pretty much from the moment I learned to speak. One of my very first memories was of worrying my babysitter because I was sitting alone in a corner, lost in daydreams. My childhood nickname could have been "Earth to Leah."
I began my writing "career" almost as soon as I could type and had an email address, when I sent my best friend and siblings serial novels written directly in email format, beginning with a fantasy retelling of Robin Hood. My second main series featured me and an alternate/fantasy dimension version of me accidentally swapping places and the shenanigans that ensued. Though I may never publish anything from that time period, that first start in writing and my first encouraging audience were invaluable in my development as a storyteller. (Thanks, guys!)
The other key to my development was, of course, reading. I grew up devouring books by JK Rowling, like pretty much everyone else, but I found my true home in the full-fantasy realms of Gail Carson Levine, Tamora Pierce, Mercedes Lackey, Christopher Paolini, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien. In high school, I carried a fantasy book with me everywhere and would get lost in its pages every chance I got.
About that time, of course, is when a young American teen is expected to seriously consider what they want to "do." Writing was an obvious choice for me, since I continued to write stories in my spare time, but I'd heard too many tales of the stereotypical poor, starving author. Though I'm a dreamer, I'm also nothing if not practical (the greatest paradox of my character). So, in typical Leah style, I methodically set about finding a "real" career for myself by finding mentors, doing research, shadowing, and so on. Before I'd graduated high school, I'd seriously explored and eliminated psychology and English teaching and eventually settled on editing. If I couldn't live off my own writing, then at least authors and publishers could pay me to edit the writing of others, right?
So, when I went to Brigham Young University, I majored in English language (think linguistics) and minored in editing and modern Hebrew. I began editing as a student by my sophomore year, both in freelance and on-campus capacities. I was also a founding member of the Latter-day Saint Publishing Professionals Association (LDSPPA, now LDSPMA), chartered the BYU chapter, and pushed for a publishing major (which now is a reality). For a semester during my senior year, I was the editor in chief of BYU's sci-fi/fantasy journal, Leading Edge.
After graduating, I followed my editing plan for seven years, continuing to read and write in my favorite genre just for fun . . . until finally I could ignore the call no longer. So, as much as it terrified me, I quit a secure, well-paying job and began writing full time at the beginning of 2023. Fortunately, I've discovered that it is possible to make a living as a writer. It just takes a lot (a lot) of hard work. Years of it, in fact. But so far, it's all been worth it. I truly think this is one of the things I'm meant to do. So . . . here goes everything!
If you want to find out more about this crazy journey of mine, check out my blog or sign up for my newsletter.
My Beliefs
I am a Christian—specifically, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm being upfront about this because my faith is the core of my very self, so no introduction would be complete without it. My faith informs absolutely everything I do and strive to become, and that includes my writing.
At the same time, I respect and admire all religions that are trying to better their followers, give people hope, and do good in this world, and I think there is light to be found in all of them. By declaring myself a Latter-day Saint, I am not putting down any other religion, Christian or otherwise. If you have found the greatest light for yourself in another faith, I am more than happy for you.
I bear equal goodwill to agnostics, atheists, and anyone for whom religion is a painful and complicated subject. I empathize with your concerns and objections, which are often sincere and poignant. Tragically, much evil is done in the name of good, and I understand if that evil has tarnished your belief in a greater good entirely. I deeply respect any decision you have made regarding belief that has come from a place of integrity and self-healing, or simply a difficulty in believing in something you can't see.
I fully support your right to believe as you do. All I ask is that you give me the same courtesy, and that we approach each other with curiosity and compassion, laying aside any labels and the assumptions that come with them, willing to see each other as we are and hear each other's stories and reasons for being the way we are and believing the way we do.
Why do I believe as I do? Because I have had too many experiences for my integrity to deny of something greater and better than myself, something looking out for me and each living being and loving them with a love that I, as a fallible mortal, cannot imagine. This love—the love of my Savior and my Father—has changed me in a way that nothing else can; it has healed me, uplifted me, and made me a better human being than I could have otherwise been.
Far from making me closeminded and bigoted, it is Their love and my faith that has made me openminded and given me an empathy and compassion that is sometimes overwhelming. It is the reason I see every living being as being infinitely precious, with infinite potential. It is the reason I can listen to all perspectives and find truth and value in each. It is the reason I can feel love for my enemies. It is the reason I can feel hope for this world.
I would do no service to humanity by giving that up, for it is my faith that makes me able to serve, hope, and love. I know that if I were to leave the faith, I would darken and close up once more, shriveling like a flower in the frost. It is my faith that gives me the strength to bloom, the courage to stretch toward the sun, the endurance to weather the storm. I know what I would have become without my faith, and it would not have been pretty, for me or for anyone else.
If you cannot understand that, I understand. No matter your belief or unbelief, I wish you the very best that life has to offer.
The very best.