Leontii Holender

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Leontii Holender lives in the sleepy little town of Greenville, South Carolina. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts and was raised all across the United States. She has lived mostly in the southern states with large cities. She's called New Orleans, Memphis, and Atlanta home, just to name a few. She moved into the area in order to help take care of her ill mother and has since found herself with a plethora of free time to write.

Leontii has been writing for about eight years now and is a full-time author. The writing bug bit her rather early in her life and since she discovered she enjoyed it, she hasn’t stopped. She started writing short stories in high school and has since moved on to focus on novels. She likes writing erotic fiction the most and tends to lean towards strong elements of horror, suspense, fantasy, mythos, and the paranormal.

Her website can be found at: www.lholender.com 

If you like her writing, have any questions, or would like to make any comments, don’t be afraid to visit her site and say so!

Q: What inspired you to write your first book?

A: I would have to say what inspired me is the main character, Maithe. Maithe is a character that has been with me for years. When I first discovered my love for writing several years ago, I began to come up with the general personality that would eventually become the main character in my first novel, Maithe’s Surrender. He had a story that I felt needed to be told, and that is what drove me to push past my fears and insecurities and churn out the first book. 

 

Q: Do you have a specific writing style?

A: I wouldn’t say that I have a specific style so much as themes that I learn towards. As a child and adolescent, I loved horror movies. I recall the first horror movie videotape that I ever snuck out of my mom’s room to watch was one of the first movies in the Hannibal Lector series. Even to this day, the psychology behind what makes human afraid is very interesting to me. In my books, I like to explore these kinds of concepts. You could say that I stick to the slightly dark, horrific, and macabre. There is something so beautiful about a love story that can overcome these innately terrifying situations and remain all the stronger for it. 

 

Q: Are experiences in your novels based on someone you know or events in your own life?

A: While I think that all writers base a little of their books off of things they have learned in life, I’m not one that directly takes from my life. I am a very private person. The things that have happened to me in my life, the people that I am close to, and anything of that nature are very sacred to me. As a writer, I like to escape into realities that are other than my own. So in short, you won’t find anything from my personal life in my books.

 

Q: What books have most influenced your life?

A: Wow, that’s a tough one! I’d have to say The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and Tao Te Ching by Lao-tzu.

 

Q: Do you see writing as a career?

A: Yes! I was the general manager of a fast food chain. After my first book was accepted with Siren-BookStrand, I have turned to writing full-time. I don’t think that I necessarily consider it work, but rather getting to do something I love.

 

Q: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your first book?

A: Not a thing. I made the right choice by submitting with Siren. I don’t think I would change a thing about Maithe’s Surrender, either. 

 

Q: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

A: Yes, I was very interested in online RPGs that are completely text-based. After that, I started working on my first collection of short stories. I distinctly remember one teacher, Mr. Jolly, who supported me. I wasn’t even in his class. I was in advanced placement English and he taught the more standardized curriculum. Yet, every day after school I would go to his classroom and show him what I had been working on. He supported me, helped me edit, and told me that I was the kind of student he thought of when he aspired to be a teacher. I owe a whole lot to him.

 

Q: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

A: Not at the moment, but it is starting to pick up. I have several conventions that I am attending to meet fellow authors and to get to spend some time with my readers. As far as traveling for research, I haven’t found the time to do that yet, but I hope to very soon.

 

Q: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

A: I just hope that they enjoy my books and find something in them that can inspire them.

 

Q: What were the challenges in bringing your books to life?

A: Research is the most challenging part by far. I have spent an exuberant amount of time researching, reading up, and exploring possibilities for the logistics of the worlds I create. It isn’t easy creating an entire world that can be both believable and imaginative.

 

Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?

A: Well, when I am not writing I am taking care of my three puppies. Beyond that, what spare time I have I usually am writing. I’m a self-confessed video game nerd! I love videogames. I’m also an avid moviegoer. I see at least one movie a week in theater. I always get popcorn, a soda slushy, and those little sour candies. There is something about going to the cinema that you just don’t get from watching a movie at home.

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