Author: N.R. Leigh
Genre: New Adult/Coming of Age
Book Description:
Peace, Love, and a Dead Hippie Chick follows the intertwining journeys of three young women in the mid-1990s who go on the road and off the grid, and leave their worlds behind. Each woman falls into a dangerous subculture of sex, drugs, and rock and roll in an attempt to attain her own sense of peace, love, and freedom.
KARA, a middle-class Midwestern girl, flees her painful past after a tragic accident claims a loved one, only to learn—after a violent attack—that there’s no safety among friends or strangers. Survival rests in her hands alone as she escapes into the wilderness of New Mexico.
NATASHA, born into privilege, rebels against her family’s expectations as she follows the Grateful Dead concert tour circuit, selling contraband and exploring her sexual freedom.
AMY, an impoverished Southern belle, becomes love-struck when an exotic drifter passes through town, deciding to leave home and follow him.
This intricately interwoven coming-of-age tale delves into the connection between strangers and the premise that the grand orchestration of life goes well beyond chance.
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Author Interview
1. What inspired you to write your first book?
My debut novel, Peace, Love, and a Dead Hippie Chick, was in part inspired by my own travels across the U.S. in 1994. Armed with a backpack, a journal, and a Congo drum (don’t ask how I lugged that thing around), I made my way from the Midwest, to California, and up to Seattle—alone. I caught rides (not hitch hiking), and even stayed with a devoutly Mormon family who owned a motel that I was staying in. They asked that I wear an ankle length skirt, and after dinner the men and women had to retire to separate areas of the house. I met many colorful characters that summer. Years, later I read an article where a group of hipsters barraged a local town. The premise of the novel came about from there, when I created the three young women whose lives all take dramatic turns, which lead them to the open road, self-discovery, and each other.
2. Do you have a specific writing style?
This novel is written in epistolary format—the three first-person accounts of each “Hippie Chick.” However, the women’s journal entries eventually intertwine with one another. Readers have described my writing style as intimate and conversational.
3. How did you come up with the title for your book?
Ugh. It was a long turn of events. I originally scrapped three titles: Zuzu’s, Run Away Girls, and The Dead Hippie Chick, before I arrived at the current title. I knew I hadn’t found the perfect title yet, and while I was visiting my mother in Michigan, taking a shower in her guest bathroom, it came to mind. I was very relieved!
4. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Yes, my overall goal in all of my writing is to inspire and uplift women. I think many of us hold onto so much from our pasts, burden ourselves with the weight of our early years, and ultimately allow it to shape our lives. I wanted to throw back to a time before we were so inundated with technology when it was easier to get lost looking for oneself. The message comes from the interconnection we share with others, which I believe, goes far beyond chance.
5. How much of the book is realistic?
Several of the characters where taken directly from my own travels. All three of the girls are completely fictional, but I will leave it to the reader to guess which characters are real or not!
6. What book are you reading now?
I am reading The Quest by Nelson DeMille. I like that it’s an Action Adventure like my novel. Set in Ethiopia in the 1970s, it takes you to a faraway place and thrusts you into a world you may never had opportunity to discover. That was my goal with Peace, Love, and a Dead Hippie Chick. The off-the-grid subculture of survivalists and Dead Heads of the 1990s was a little explored sub sect of American culture. The girls’ adventures take you all around the United States.
7. Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
I tend not to follow authors in particular; I look more to the book’s premise and characters than the author to interest me. However, I must give props to my fellow authors at my publisher Booktrope! There are too many talented writers to name.
8. What are your current projects?
My current project is Imagine Yasmin. It’s a three-book sci-fi YA series about a girl who inherits her only home, a school for youth savants, after the headmaster and her maternal figure mysteriously dies. She also inherits an ancient gift, which she must use to save humanity!
9. Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
I learned that writing is probably one of the most labor-intensive acts on the planet! The countless rounds of revisions, edits, submissions, covers, marketing efforts, and much more that get a book from pen to reader is mind blowing. I stagger when I think about it! So, it’s much easier to take it in small steps and enjoy the writing process, which is why most writers take on the endeavor.
10. What were the challenges (research, psychological etc) in bringing your story to life?
The most challenging part of Peace, Love, and a Dead Hippie Chick was plotting three women’s stories separately, and then intertwining them. It was a fun challenge, like a puzzle. At times they seemed to magically come together, then there were other times where I was left for months with a gap in their paths that I couldn’t connect. Ultimately, it seems readers most enjoy watching their journeys come together, and that makes it all worth it for me! Thank you for having me today, and I hope your readers enjoy the book!
1. What inspired you to write your first book?
My debut novel, Peace, Love, and a Dead Hippie Chick, was in part inspired by my own travels across the U.S. in 1994. Armed with a backpack, a journal, and a Congo drum (don’t ask how I lugged that thing around), I made my way from the Midwest, to California, and up to Seattle—alone. I caught rides (not hitch hiking), and even stayed with a devoutly Mormon family who owned a motel that I was staying in. They asked that I wear an ankle length skirt, and after dinner the men and women had to retire to separate areas of the house. I met many colorful characters that summer. Years, later I read an article where a group of hipsters barraged a local town. The premise of the novel came about from there, when I created the three young women whose lives all take dramatic turns, which lead them to the open road, self-discovery, and each other.
2. Do you have a specific writing style?
This novel is written in epistolary format—the three first-person accounts of each “Hippie Chick.” However, the women’s journal entries eventually intertwine with one another. Readers have described my writing style as intimate and conversational.
3. How did you come up with the title for your book?
Ugh. It was a long turn of events. I originally scrapped three titles: Zuzu’s, Run Away Girls, and The Dead Hippie Chick, before I arrived at the current title. I knew I hadn’t found the perfect title yet, and while I was visiting my mother in Michigan, taking a shower in her guest bathroom, it came to mind. I was very relieved!
4. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Yes, my overall goal in all of my writing is to inspire and uplift women. I think many of us hold onto so much from our pasts, burden ourselves with the weight of our early years, and ultimately allow it to shape our lives. I wanted to throw back to a time before we were so inundated with technology when it was easier to get lost looking for oneself. The message comes from the interconnection we share with others, which I believe, goes far beyond chance.
5. How much of the book is realistic?
Several of the characters where taken directly from my own travels. All three of the girls are completely fictional, but I will leave it to the reader to guess which characters are real or not!
6. What book are you reading now?
I am reading The Quest by Nelson DeMille. I like that it’s an Action Adventure like my novel. Set in Ethiopia in the 1970s, it takes you to a faraway place and thrusts you into a world you may never had opportunity to discover. That was my goal with Peace, Love, and a Dead Hippie Chick. The off-the-grid subculture of survivalists and Dead Heads of the 1990s was a little explored sub sect of American culture. The girls’ adventures take you all around the United States.
7. Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
I tend not to follow authors in particular; I look more to the book’s premise and characters than the author to interest me. However, I must give props to my fellow authors at my publisher Booktrope! There are too many talented writers to name.
8. What are your current projects?
My current project is Imagine Yasmin. It’s a three-book sci-fi YA series about a girl who inherits her only home, a school for youth savants, after the headmaster and her maternal figure mysteriously dies. She also inherits an ancient gift, which she must use to save humanity!
9. Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
I learned that writing is probably one of the most labor-intensive acts on the planet! The countless rounds of revisions, edits, submissions, covers, marketing efforts, and much more that get a book from pen to reader is mind blowing. I stagger when I think about it! So, it’s much easier to take it in small steps and enjoy the writing process, which is why most writers take on the endeavor.
10. What were the challenges (research, psychological etc) in bringing your story to life?
The most challenging part of Peace, Love, and a Dead Hippie Chick was plotting three women’s stories separately, and then intertwining them. It was a fun challenge, like a puzzle. At times they seemed to magically come together, then there were other times where I was left for months with a gap in their paths that I couldn’t connect. Ultimately, it seems readers most enjoy watching their journeys come together, and that makes it all worth it for me! Thank you for having me today, and I hope your readers enjoy the book!
N.R. Leigh began her writing career in 2007 as a featured columnist for the guerrilla newspaper The Uncommon Sense. She since has written books as an expert on personal health and wellness under the pseudonym Nicci Leigh.
She was inspired to write her debut novel, Peace, Love, and a Dead Hippie Chick, by a conversation with a friend, who described a newspaper article regarding the events that surrounded a group of hippies’s visit to her small town and the havoc they caused. This crazy, fascinating account, coupled with N.R.’s experiences traveling the United States in her early 20s, gave birth to her story.
N.R. has a background in education and teaches aesthetics, yoga, Reiki, and related holistic modalities. Born and raised in Flint, Michigan, she currently lives in a rural coastal community in southwest Florida with her family and their Australian Kelpie, Sydney, who believes she’s a Tasmainian Devil.
N.R is inspired by funny people and those who create positive change and peace. Her friends and family describe her as driven, strong, silly, and independent. Something most people don’t know about her is that, at age eighteen, she aided police in the capture of a team of bank robbers.
N.R. is working on her first fiction series, Imagine Yasmin.
Please visit her website, www.NRLeigh.com, to connect.
She was inspired to write her debut novel, Peace, Love, and a Dead Hippie Chick, by a conversation with a friend, who described a newspaper article regarding the events that surrounded a group of hippies’s visit to her small town and the havoc they caused. This crazy, fascinating account, coupled with N.R.’s experiences traveling the United States in her early 20s, gave birth to her story.
N.R. has a background in education and teaches aesthetics, yoga, Reiki, and related holistic modalities. Born and raised in Flint, Michigan, she currently lives in a rural coastal community in southwest Florida with her family and their Australian Kelpie, Sydney, who believes she’s a Tasmainian Devil.
N.R is inspired by funny people and those who create positive change and peace. Her friends and family describe her as driven, strong, silly, and independent. Something most people don’t know about her is that, at age eighteen, she aided police in the capture of a team of bank robbers.
N.R. is working on her first fiction series, Imagine Yasmin.
Please visit her website, www.NRLeigh.com, to connect.
Author Links:
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ReplyDeleteHello readers! Thanks for stopping by! Just a quick mention that Peace, Love, and a Dead Hippie Chick is FREE on iBooks today through Wednesday and .99 cents on Amazon for Kindle. Reg. $4.99 Links above. I hope you enjoy the book :)
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ReplyDeleteInspiring and uplifting female readers is an admirable goal. What do you want the male readers to take from your stories?
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Thank you for the interview! And the introduction to this "new to me" author and book!
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