KP Spotlight – Rachel Leitch

Greetings KeePers from the seas, mountains, and the scam circus that I hope has been burned to the ground down by now. 

I can't believe I wasted 3 whole golden coins, on a fake Davinci rip-off...

Anyways, I'm not here to talk of my woes, I'm here for something much more exhilarating.

Today (or whenever you are reading this, time is relative right?) I got to interview the one and only Rachel Leitch.

It may be a shocker to you (it's not like you are on a creative writing website or anything) but Rachel is a writer.

A writer of novels, a writer of short stories, a writer of articles, and the first-place winner of The Dragon Slayer Article Contest.

So, you can imagine my delight when I got to interrogate- I mean, haha, interview her.

I had a great time interviewing Rachel, and I also got to learn a lot more about her. I hope your experience will be similar to mine, and that you will have a great time reading this interview!

So, let's cut to the chase, and get to the questions!

Kingdom Pen: Tell me a little bit about yourself. What are three interesting facts?

Rachel Leitch: As you can see from the title of this article, I'm Rachel Leitch. You can get most of the usual jazz in my bio, so I'll focus on the three interesting facts.

One. I am a How to Train Your Dragon nerd. A very close second is my love for Disney and Pixar which pops up frequently in my articles.

Two. I am the oldest of six kids and live in Indiana. I also have a Great Pyrenees/Lab mix named Herbie who thinks every story is about him.

Three. Chai fuels my writing world. Specifically a maple roll chai (which is a chai with vanilla, brown sugar cinnamon, and maple flavoring). It legit tastes like a maple roll. 

Kingdom Pen:  What inspired you to start writing?

Rachel Leitch: I began writing when I was six, with an assignment for school. It was a story about a bear that went to the library. And there was no pun intended.

I kept writing, usually fantastic adventures my friends and I went on, fan fiction about my favorite books and movie characters, and even a couple original works that strongly resembled other things I'd seen or read.

When I was fifteen, my momma pointed out that some people wrote for a living. So, I was like, "Okay, I'll do that then." I started narrowing down my focus (I originally thought I wanted to write YA contemporary suspense. I didn't, by the way).

I went to a seminar from there, and that led to a conference, which led to writing curriculum, which led to my first book. And it's just gotten better from there.

Kingdom Pen:  Do you have any dreams as a writer?

Rachel Leitch: Get published. 😉 I would like to make writing my full-time career (although I also love my part time job as a general paraprofessional at a elementary school in the meantime). I've discovered my sweet spot is YA historical and historical fantasy. My dream publisher would be Thomas Nelson, where they're like a big fish in Christian fiction, but also have a foot in the world of general fiction. I guess that's like my vision of when. I "arrive." (Even though I know that doesn't really exist.) I also want to pass on what I've been taught through articles and mentoring other authors eventually.

Kingdom Pen:  You often mention in your articles your love for Disney and Pixar movies, so of course I have to ask you, what’s your favorite Disney/Pixar movie?

Rachel Leitch: Oh goodness. Hard choice. My favorite from Pixar is Up, because between Russell and Dug, what's not to love? (Squirrel!) I have recently discovered my love of Encanto from Disney, but Big Hero 6 is my all time favorite from them. Lilo and Stitch would be a close second.

Kingdom Pen: In your bio, you mention that you play the piano, has a song ever inspired a story idea for you? If so, what was the song and story idea?

Rachel Leitch: Yes and no. I have many ideas based on my time at the piano, but very few of them have been translated to paper yet. My historical fantasy short story Vivace (which is free on my website *wink*) stemmed from classical music, specifically Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. (I want to expand it to a novel someday.) Years of playing The Nutcracker Suite around Christmas has given me the idea of a Nutcracker retelling. And I've always wanted to do something that involved Beethoven. So yes and no. 

Kingdom Pen: What is your favorite thing about writing?

Rachel Leitch: I love the magic of creating and imagining. That moment when something I've created becomes real.

When a character comes to life and becomes a friend. When a story sweeps you away to another time and place, a world that has suddenly begun to exist. When I get to share that with so many people. The power of stories amazes me. They get us to think about things we might never have thought about before.    

Kingdom Pen:  What’s your biggest fear/ struggle as a writer?

Rachel Leitch: aM i DoInG iT rIgHt?!?! It took me a long time to realize that there's not one "right" way to write. That everyone has their own methods and almost all writing advice is pure suggestion. I am an ISTJ rule-follower, so that stresses me out a bit.

Kingdom Pen:  What writing project are you currently working on?

Rachel Leitch: A historical fantasy set at the 1889 Paris World's Fair where everyone is born with an ability to control plants, although it's illegal to use it without training. Black thorns with the ability to kill have infested the city, leaving it up to a girl with mysterious healing powers to save them all. But the one controlling the thorns may be closer to her than she thinks. 

Kingdom Pen:  What is your writing process like?

Rachel Leitch: Chaos. I am slowly developing a system though. I'm a plotter who needs a lot of outlining first. I rough draft from there. My alpha readers take a pass, then I content edit (the hardest part of the process for me). After that comes betas and a final edit. (My current process is inspired by Kara Swanson's process. So thanks Kara.)

Kingdom Pen:  What’s the most significant change from your first novel versus your latest?

Rachel Leitch: That it's not slathered in cheese. Mozzarella. No, really. My first novel was a preachy cheese fest with perfect good guys and despicable villains. Of course, all the good guys believed exactly as I thought I did. (Alright, at least my main character was likeable. It was a good first start.)  Since then, I've had a lot more exposure to real life and began thinking for myself, as well as recognizing other viewpoints and struggles outside my own. Still not perfect, but not so much cheese either.

Kingdom Pen:  Where do you get the ideas for your stories most often?

Rachel Leitch: The Kessel Run that is my brain. It's truly a random thing. I'm watching a movie or reading a book or just living life and my brain goes, "Heeeeeeeey… look at that shiny thing over there…wouldn't it be a great book?"

Kingdom Pen:  What authors have impacted your writing the most?

Rachel Leitch: Nadine Brandes definitely. I read her books Fawkes and Romanov over quarantine. I had never known that historical fantasy existed and immediately decided I wanted to try it. Even in my novels that are straight historicals, I see how her writing style and unique premises have inspired me to do the same in my own way.

Runners-up would be Kara Swanson, for how she portrays light in the dark so beautifully, Amy Lynn Green, for vivid characters and exploring their viewpoints equally and deeply, and Roseanna M. White, for showing me historical novels are not dead and can be both deep and exciting.

Kingdom Pen:  What, to you, are the most important elements of good writing?

Rachel Leitch: As much as I love the nitty gritty of writing mechanics, I will always choose story over mechanics. Vivid characters whom I relate deeply to, whose heads I get to see the world through, whom I feel like I really know. Plots that grab me and won't let go. Themes that keep me thinking long after I close the pages.

Kingdom Pen: Do you have something to say to the KeePers of Pen? Sage pieces of advice? Words of encouragement? Random tidbit?

Rachel Leitch: I wouldn't call it sage advice, but encouragement, perhaps. When I was working on my first book, I remember someone I trusted told me they believed I would find a niche market, and that would just kind of be my thing. I was like, "Niche market, great!" I really didn’t mind the idea. But the idea that I couldn’t do any more than a niche market? I wasn’t so crazy about that. But then my momma told me to write what God had given me to write. So many writers talk about having to write for the market. But the bottom line is if God has given you this book, then He will take it wherever it needs to go. Don’t doubt what He can do through the book you’ve written, no matter what that book is.

Kingdom Pen:  And finally, If you could be in the Guinness book of world records, what record-breaking feat would you attempt?

Rachel Leitch: I would say longest Disney marathon, but I'd probably break it by watching How to Train Your Dragon. Maybe the longest conversation kept up with movie quotes.

I hope you all enjoyed this interview! If you have any questions of your own for Rachel, go ahead and put them in the comments!

Oh, and on the topic of movie marathons...

 If you had to do a marathon of a series or certain type of movie, what would you choose? 

For me it would totally be Dinotrux. It's just so wholesome. Put your answer in the comments!

Also,