Five star review on GoodReads
I’d like to thank Ramona for the recent 5 star review of LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU on GoodReads:
I’ll go out on a metaphoric limb and say that this is a post-modern gothic novel, in that the heroine is not in actual physical danger, but she is mighty, mighty confused. Brannagh keeps losing key people from her life, and she doesn’t know why they disappear. The story is all about how Brannagh tries to make sense of her life and these losses, now that she is a young adult and many of the people who know the answers are silent and/or dead. Her mother vanished when Brannagh was a child and no one will talk about it—except when they drop cryptic hints. Her moody boyfriend, Nikki, has just disappeared, and no one but Brannagh seems much concerned, except a police detective who vaguely menaces Brannagh. Preoccupied over Nikki’s mysterious departure (did he just leave her, or did something awful happen to him?), Brannagh reluctantly decides to travel from her avian research job in the primeval forest of northern Canada to a reunion with girlhood chums in the Maritimes. But hold on for much more than just a change of scenery. The author weaves the plot like one of those intricate Celtic knots, in which the strands wander back and forth in time and space in dizzying swirls, over and under and around each other. They tell you not to do that in novel writing 101, but Ms. Leveille pulls it off. This is her first novel, so my hat is off to her for coolly ignoring the writing professors and doing the flashbacks and scene switches so deftly. Setting is important to me as a reader, and here again Ms. Leveille shines. I’ve never been to the forests of Canada, though I have visited the Maritimes. This novel, set in both places, brought the locales alive for me without slowing down the action with long descriptions. The feel is gothic, atmospheric, and slightly spooky, created on the page with adroit phrases and images. This story will resonate with you long after you finish the last page.
I’ll be posting a contest to win a copy of LET THE SHADOWS STAY BEHIND YOU on GoodReads after the holidays, so stay tuned.
Me and My Slide Show
Rather than sing ‘Me and My Shadow,’ I’m singing ‘Me and my Slide Show’ these days. I’ve created 2 news ones on MySpace. One is of birds in flight, which I’ve always found inspires the poet in me. No suprise LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU opens on a bird count up north and, later, Brannagh is often gazing up at the sky trying to identify a bird from its wing markings or span.
The second slide show is simply a collage of SHADOWS which, given the title of my debut novel, is self-explanatory. I have to ask Santa for a new digital camera for Christmas!
Kathy-Diane’s MYSPACE SLIDE SHOWS
Congratulations to GoodReads winner!
Congratulations to Ramona Gault who won an autographed copy of the hardcover edition of LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU in the GoodReads contest. You can win an autographed copy of the new paperback edition. The contest runs until November 23, 2009 and is open to GoodRead members in Canada, the United States and the UK. If you love sharing the books you read with others, GoodReads is the place to be.
SHADOWS interview on THE BOOKWORM
I’ve had a great time being a guest this week on THE BOOKWORM. Naida Scrotchet asked: When did you start writing your new suspense novel LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU?
My answer: I started writing LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU on coffee breaks while I was at the hospital. I began working as a medical transcriptionist because it didn’t sap my creativity the way journalism did, and left room to pursue my dream of writing a novel. I can’t remember the initial spark for this story, but I do know I wanted to write about a woman whose lover disappears into thin air. I usually don’t do research in my initial draft too much. I start with the question or puzzle first, followed by the character, and exploring their journey as they try to solve it. I find if I start researching too soon, it can be a distraction, and an excuse not to write.
Thanks Naida!
Kathy-Diane Leveille
Author of LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU (Kunati Books)
ISBN:978-1601641670
“Let the Shadows Fall Behind You is a haunting story of disappearance and loss and, ultimately, of redemption. Weaving together a world of family loyalties and family lies, of broken bonds and of those that endure, it combines the nuance of poetry with all the suspense of a thriller.” Nino Ricci (Author of The Origin of Species)
LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU: Review on BOOKING MAMA
Thanks Julie P for reviewing my new suspense novel LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU today on BOOKING MAMA:
”When I started reading LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU by Kathy-Diane Leveille, I assumed it was going to be one of those part suspense/part mystery type of book. And there definitely was a suspense aspect to this novel, but I was a little surprised that there was so much more to this story. This book is actually much deeper than a just a typical mystery book. LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU is a deep, complex story that delves into a woman’s life and her attempts to resolve issues about her past.
What I most appreciate about this book was how Ms. Leveille developed all of the characters. In fact, I thought she did a wonderful job of bringing so many complicated characters to life. “
Kathy-Diane Leveille
Author of LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU (Kunati Books)
ISBN:978-1601641670
“It’s often said, but not usually with such eloquence, that the only one you can’t outrun is you. Kathy-Diane Leveille writes with passion and assurance of a woman who risks sacrificing far too much to try to erase the things she knows are true.” -Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean
LET THE SHADOWS FALL: Book signing
I’ll be signing copies of my new suspense novel LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU at Coles at Brunswick Square in Saint John, New Brunswick on Friday May 15 at 12 noon. Drop by to say hello. You can enter a draw to win a gift certificate at Ambience Day Spa. Half the royalties from each book sold will be donated to Save the Children’s Aboriginal mother/baby bonding program.
Author of LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU (Kunati Books)
ISBN:978-1601641670
“How each character responds to what has happened in the past, and how that shapes their life as an adult is part of the draw of this intense character study. Leveille swiftly moves between past and present… and does not disappoint.”
-Bella On-Line: The Voice of Women… Mystery Book Reviews
Bella On-Line Mystery Book Review
One of my favorite places to make an on-line pitstop each week is Bella On-Line: The Voice of Women. It was great to read Edie Dykeman’s, the mystery book editor’s, review of LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU:
Brannagh Maloney escaped a troubled childhood home when she attended university. Years later, she has furthered that escape by working as a cataloguer for wilderness preservationist Nikolai Mirsky (Nikki) in northern Ontario. After falling in love with her boss and spending the winter with him in an old abandoned prospector’s cabin, Brannagh faced Nikki’s sudden disappearance when he left for a weeklong conference never to return.
When Brannagh was three-years-old her father hopped a Russian freighter and was never seen again. Several years later, her mother left the family home, and was later found murdered. Brannagh lived with her Aunt Thelma and her grandfather in a large four-story house with a so-called Nervous Clinic on the top floor, and the Provincial Asylum two blocks away.
Kathy-Diane Leveille
Author of LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU (Kunati Books)
Her settings and characters—their hopes and fears, verbal and behavioural ticks, even their smells—are keenly observed. The Globe and Mail
Shadows Interview on NOVEL JOURNEY
I’m an avid follower of NOVEL JOURNEY, one of Writers’ Digest 101 most valuable web site for writers. So it was great fun being interviewed there today. Weekly columnist, Kelly Klepfer, asked: How has your experience as a broadcast journalist prepared or hindered you as a novelist?
It’s definitely prepared me. There’s a reason why old journalists never die, they just go on to second careers as fiction writers! Working in the field of journalism offers valuable training in discipline. You’re working to a deadline to produce stories whether you like it or not. There were many times I sat down at the computer with absolutely no idea of where to go. You learn in journalism to have faith in the process, that you can start with nothing and eventually something will take shape and grow. It was a tremendous mentorship in the art of research, fact checking and honing the 5 W’s.
Kathy-Diane Leveille
Author of LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU (Kunati Books)
ISBN:978-1601641670
“It’s the quality of the writing that makes the read worthwhile…a very promising debut.” www.reviewingtheevidence.com
LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU: Chapter One, Scene 5
I’m not sure about other writers, but I never come up with a theme for a novel until after the first draft is written. Theme is organic in nature, and rises to the surface of the narrative as the story takes shape. What is the theme of LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU?
If had to put it in one sentence it would be this: SHADOWS is about the redeeming power of love and friendship. None of us escapes pain. Our human connections are our saving grace. Brannagh learns acceptance and letting go. There comes a time in everyone’s life when they are drawn towards revisiting the past and laying it to rest. This is part of Brannagh’s journey. She’s kind of stuck, I think, because she really just wants to avoid it all and get on with life. But, as is often the case, it won’t let her go. We are often drawn back, again and again, to the very thing we want to shy away from. Luckily, Brannagh has three loyal childhood friends who won’t let her drift away. They pull her back.
As promised, I’m posting consecutive scenes from Chapter One weekly, leading up to the official launch on May 10th. Hope you enjoy the next instalment. Just click EXCERPT on the menu above. Each scene is separated by a *.
Kathy-Diane Leveille
Author of LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU
ISBN:978-1601641670
“Leveille’s writing sings of heartbreak and redemption, and the wicked dancing moments in-between.” Carol Bruneau author of Purple for Sky
Shadows called Rich and Beautiful!
I’ve always enjoyed reading journalist Don Graves’ column CANADIAN MYSTERIES in The Hamilton Spectator. So I was thrilled when he gave LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU a nod last week. Here’s an excerpt:
Let the Shadows Fall Behind You by Kathy-Diane Leveille peels away the layers behind a murder, the need to deceive, to hide the past and cover it up with a pattern of respectability despite a trail of ruined lives and festering questions that could destroy the future.
A young woman returns to a small East Coast town to attend a reunion. Her instincts warn her against it as her lover has disappeared without a trace…
A gentle pace with compassionately descriptive writing is the right vehicle for author, Leveille, to tell a story of relationships that unravel as old, uncertain conflicts surface and begin to agonizingly make sense to the young woman.
A murder, a past still preying upon the souls of those involved, is always an unwelcome and intrusive guest. Let the Shadows Fall Behind You tells that chronicle with poignancy, wistful descriptions of small town life and punchy characterizations that expose hard truths.
Sadly rich and beautiful writing.
