Award-Winning Author Leslie Rasmussen

CJ Ives Lopez

3 years ago

Tell us a little about yourself

Leslie A. Rasmussen is the award-winning author of the novel, After Happily Ever After. She was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA. She went on to write television comedies and is a member of The Writers’ Guild of America. Leslie wrote for Gerald McRaney, Burt Reynolds, Roseanne Barr, Norm McDonald, Drew Carey, as well as The Wild Thornberrys, and Sweet Valley High. After leaving the business to raise her boys, she attained a master’s in nutrition and ran her own business for ten years. Recently, she’s written over twenty essays for Huffington Post, MariaShriver, and SheKnows. Leslie loves dogs and is a member of The Alliance of therapy dogs and has volunteered at her local Animal Shelter. She lives in Los Angeles and is married and has two sons.

Why Do you write?

I have been writing since I was young. First a journal, then short stories, then television sitcoms, then personal essays, then my novel. I love the creativity and the idea that I’m creating characters that are relatable to people. Also knowing that a reader is not only enjoying my book but that they are escaping their real lives and going on a journey with my characters is very satisfying.

What genre do you write and Why did you pick this genre?

I write Women’s Fiction because I enjoy writing about women’s issues and how women are changing in our society.

Tell us about your book

Maggie Dolan is forty-five years old and at a crossroads in her life. Once a high-level executive, she’s chosen to be a stay-at-home mom for the last seventeen years. But now with her daughter soon leaving for college, and her husband disconnected and with secrets, he hasn’t shared, Maggie decides it’s time for her to rediscover who she is and what she wants for the rest of her life. As she begins her exciting yet scary journey, she has to deal with a narcissistic mother, a brother who resents her, and most damaging of all, the news that her father, has devastating medical issues. When everything comes crashing down at the same time, Maggie becomes overwhelmed and is led in a direction that causes her to be torn between the life she’s always known and something more exciting that she never expected. After Happily Ever After deals with love, marriage, family, the empty nest, aging parents, and what happens when they all come crashing down at the same time.

https://smile.amazon.com/After-Happily-Ever-Novel-ebook/dp/B08DK22T13/ref

How much time do you dedicate to your author career?

I dedicate most of my time to my author career. I’m working five days a week from 10:00 am to 5:00, and sometimes on weekends. I use that time both to promote my first novel and to write my second.

How long on average does it take you to write your books?

The first book took me four years because I was still raising my children and in all honesty, I wasn’t sure how to write a book since it was my first. My second book took ten months to write because now I know what I’m doing.

What is the best money you have ever spent on your author career?

The best money I spent on my author career was going to the 2018 Kauai Writers’ Conference. There I met and did workshops with Christina Baker Kline, Kristin Hannah, Alice Hoffman, and Josh Mohr. I learned so much from those authors, which I took back with me and rewrote my novel, and then got it published.

What is the most difficult part of being an author?

The most difficult part of being an author is the marketing of the novel. I have had to learn a whole new set of skills, and it takes up so much time from my day. That is something I never expected.

https://theauthorsporch.com/the-authors-porch-magazine/

What is the best piece of advice you have for other authors?

The best piece of advice I would give to other authors is to find a network of other authors who can support you and understand what you are going through. Writing a novel is a very solitary thing, and you need to have other people to turn to when you are frustrated or stuck or just need advice. Having a community gives you all of that.