Steve Leshin

Tell us a little bit about yourself, your hobbies and interests.

I grew up watching a lot of television, before the internet came to be. Using action figures I would make up stories and adventures. Reading comic books also gave me ideas for stories.. Years later, after I graduated college I became a part time cartoonist and wrote gags for my cartoons. Later on I wrote my first novel and subsequently a series, currently I published 5 books.

When and why did you start writing books?

It was about 2008 I had an idea for a book, yet I never wrote a novel before. One day at a book signing at Barnes & Noble I met Robert B. Parker, the author of the Spenser novels and I asked him, how do you write a novel? "You Just write," he said. Was this a cop out answe? I thought about it some more. I think he meant that through the physical process of writing you come up with ideas. Soon I began to write the chapters came and I now have 5 books.

What made you decide to tackle writing as a career?

I think I have always been a writer, I just did not know it. It began, as I said, growing up making stories while playing with action figures, reading comic books, The Hardy Boy series, and as I grew up I read a lot of books and became a history major in college.

Which one of your books or characters is your favourite?

My personal favorite is A Darker Shade of Greed that captures the flavor of the Roaring Twenties time period. Yet my latest at this writing, Murder by the Numbers, has really good characters and sets up a really strong challenge for my main protagonist Joshua Oates and his love interest Angela Lang and just a real good kick ass adventure.

Which one of your books was the hardest to write and stretched you the most as a writer?

My newest one, Murder by the Numbers. It started with a vague idea and it took a great deal of experimenting with plot ideas. I think it made me appreciate the art of writing more than ever.

Who is your favourite author and book?

Not one book or author in particular, I enjoy Robert B. Parker's Spenser series, Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt Adventures, Michael Connolley's Bosch series and history books by Doris Kearns Goodman and David McCullough. Also, classics like The Grapes of Wrath, which says it all.

What book are you reading right now?

Michael Connolley's "Desert Star"..

Where do you get your inspiration for your books?

With a series like the Joshua Oates Series I get it through my main characters'.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Golf, travel, listening to music, and of course, reading.

Do you have any new books in the works?

Currently working on the next Joshua Oates Adventure, "The Art Thief".