Interview: Vicki Leigh, Author of Catch Me When I Fall!

Today, I'm interviewing fellow CQ author Vicki Leigh on the blog tour for her debut novel, Catch Me When I Fall!

Tell me three interesting facts about yourself!

I don’t know why, but for some reason, these questions are always the hardest!

Okay, so three facts.

1. I was adopted when I was three days old and in recent years re-connected with my biological family. Upon doing some digging into my ancestry, I discovered that I’m 100% English on my mother’s side—and we had a pirate in the family!
2. I’ve been playing music since I was six years old and almost went to college for music performance—piano and voice. Hence why music seems to be a thing in most of my books!
3. My love for Star Wars borders on obsession—so much that I played with Star Wars action figures as a kid (instead of Barbies or dolls), and the first thing I ever wrote was a full-length Star Wars screenplay. I will probably be first in line at the movie theatre for Episode 7—in costume, of course.

Summarize your book in one line.

When forever-seventeen Dreamcatcher Daniel is assigned the task of protecting clinically depressed Kayla from the Nightmares that haunt her sleep, the job becomes the most dangerous he’s ever faced—because someone with the power to control the Nightmares seems to want her dead.

Tell me something cool/crazy/quirky about the book – it can be anything!

I’d originally had a different plan for where my story (and series) was going to go, but a particular song—I can’t tell you which one, or it’ll spoil the series!—by Imagine Dragons changed everything. I listened to their album on repeat as I wrote, and now every time I hear the song, I smile. If you like the book/series, you have Imagine Dragons to thank. ☺

Why did you decide to write this particular book?

Well, first, my love for all things fantasy/paranormal is pretty unrestrained. It’s my #1 favorite genre, so I knew right away that was the genre the book was going to fall into. Then I came up with the idea of Dreamcatchers and Nightmares when I looked up at my ceiling and saw what resembled the shadow of an angel, as if it were protecting me from the nightmares that kept me awake some nights. I’d thought, “Hey, that’s a good idea for a book—guardian angels!” But there were already so many great books about angels on the shelves. So, instead, I’d twisted it and asked myself: “What if the creatures who guarded us at night weren’t guardian angels but former humans who died sacrificial deaths? And what if nightmares weren’t just in our heads but actual creatures that feed off our fears?” And from those two questions, Catch Me When I Fall was born!

Best part of the writing process?

Getting to know my characters. I’m such a plot-driven writer that I often struggle to really know my characters until I’ve existed in their heads/worlds. Never have my characters ended up being who I planned them to be, so truly getting to know them as I write is always exciting.

Share one thing you learned writing this book.

That I’m terrible when it comes to show vs. tell. I’ve polished two manuscripts since Catch Me When I Fall, and in both of those cases, too, I had to do some serious show vs. tell revisions. Because I’m so plot-driven, I often forget to stop and build my world and my characters because I’m so anxious to get to the next plot point. So, one thing I learned, for sure, was that I needed to slow down and let myself “pants” my way through my outline so that I could really bring my story to life.

Tell me about one strange experience you’ve had. Again, it can be anything!

Hmmm… This one was really tough. Well, in the vein of nightmares, I once dreamt that my cat was mauled in front of me by this big hellhound-like dog. And when I woke up the next morning, I literally believed my cat was dead. So, when I saw him on the couch in the living room, it took me a full thirty seconds to realize that it’d all been a dream.

Name one fictional place you’d love to visit.

That’s easy—Hogwarts! I am a die-hard Potterhead, and if Hagrid showed up at my house with a ticket to Platform 9 ¾, I’d probably die from excitement.

Name one real place you’d love to visit.

The UK. I was in London for about two days back in 2005, but I’ve always wanted to return and see the whole country. My ancestors (on my mother’s side) were almost all English, and it’d be so cool to connect with my heritage.

Share one sentence/mini-excerpt from the book!

For the last few weeks, teasers for Catch Me When I Fall have been popping up everywhere. This one’s my favourite: “The beautiful, crystal chandelier that once illuminated the ornate room now lay in pieces on the floor. Dead bodies of Nightmares and Protectors alike lined the marble. Red and black blood mixed together on the cream floor like a gothic painting. But the eeriest thing about the mansion was the noise. There was none.”

---

Catch Me When I Fall, by Vicki Leigh

Genre: young-adult, urban-fantasy, paranormal-romance

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press

Date of Release: October 23, 2014

Cover Artist: Conzpiracy Digital Arts

About Catch Me When I Fall:

Recruited at his death to be a Protector of the Night, seventeen-year-old Daniel Graham has spent two-hundred years fighting Nightmares and guarding humans from the clawed, red-eyed creatures that feed off people’s fears. Each night, he risks his eternal life, having given up his chance at an afterlife when he chose to become a Protector. That doesn’t stop a burnt-out Daniel from risking daring maneuvers during each battle. He’s become one of the best, but he wants nothing more than to stop.

Then he’s given an assignment to watch over sixteen-year-old Kayla Bartlett, a clinically depressed patient in a psychiatric ward. Nightmares love a human with a tortured past. Yet, when they take a deep interest in her, appearing in unprecedented numbers, the job becomes more dangerous than any Daniel’s ever experienced. He fights ruthlessly to keep the Nightmares from overwhelming his team and Kayla. Soon, Daniel finds himself watching over Kayla during the day, drawn to why she’s different, and what it is about her that attracts the Nightmares. And him.

A vicious attack on Kayla forces Daniel to break the first Law and reveal his identity. Driven by his growing feelings for her, he whisks her away to Rome where others like him can keep her safe. Under their roof, the Protectors discover what Kayla is and why someone who can manipulate Nightmares has her in his sights. But before they can make a move, the Protectors are betrayed and Kayla is kidnapped. Daniel will stop at nothing to save her. Even if it means giving up his immortality.

Find Catch Me When I Fall Online:

Goodreads | Amazon  US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

--

---

About The Author:

Adopted at three-days-old by a construction worker and a stay-at-home mom, Vicki Leigh grew up in a small suburb of Akron, Ohio where she learned to read by the age of four and considered being sent to her room for punishment as an opportunity to dive into another book. By the sixth grade, Vicki penned her first, full-length screenplay. If she couldn’t be a writer, Vicki would be a Hunter (think Dean and Sam Winchester) or a Jedi. Her favorite place on earth is Hogwarts (she refuses to believe it doesn’t exist), and her favorite dreams include solving cases alongside Sherlock Holmes.

Vicki is an editor for Curiosity Quills Press and is represented by Sarah Negovetich of Corvisiero Literary Agency.

Find Vicki Leigh Online:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads