Leigha Huggins: "I just want to spread as much love through the hearts of children."
1. Can you start by telling me a little bit about yourself?
(Click on the PDF below to read more about Leigha and her books).
2. When did you first realize that you wanted to be an author and when did you publish your first book?
Even though I started this journey years ago, once I had the push to go the self-publishing route (thanks to Mr. Jay and Diane's group) It took me about a year of heavy research daily work towards creating my finished project and it was sent to print in 2020! It was a very long and rewarding year... Someone once asked me... How did you handle the best and the worst year all at the same time? I simply replied " I just took turns with my emotions" :)
How many books you have published so far?
I have 2 published books available now through - PDIC and another due to release in the next month with more on the way!
1. Love Lottery: https://try.pdicbooks.info/love-lottery-author
2. Panda My Bear: (companion book to Love Lottery)
3. Little Lucy (and her white little lies) - Release date - anytime
4. Capes are for Dads - final illustrations in the works
And I have 4 more in the works as I type this :)
3. Where do you get your inspiration from and can you tell me about your writing schedule? Like how many hours per day do you spend on your books?
Someone once told me I should write a novel on how ideas just pop into my head all the time, I can hardly keep up with my creativity, I have always been creating, brainstorming, inventing (however, I have never patented anything). I write whenever I can... even if it's in the wee hours of the morning, sometimes I dream ideas and wake up and try to write them down as quick as I can. I pull from inspiration everywhere, past conversations, my intention, my purpose, something of interest of beauty. I say I bowl like I write, you never know if you are going to get a strike or a gutter ball :) I have so many ideas, but my gutter ideas usually stay in the gutter and I try to focus on the strikes, or what strikes my creativity at the time. I can be spontaneous (well more so before kiddos), so you never know what you are going to get from me, but it will always have a beautiful intentional message behind the words, as I'm am full of heart and it pours out whenever I write.. I say " when I quiet my mind, my soul speaks, and I think the gift of writing has given me an amazing outlet for my soul to express the love I feel".
4.Can you tell me a little bit about your books? What do you intend to achieve through your books and where can people purchase them?
I just want to spread as much love in the world while I'm here, if I can do that through the hearts of children, then that is my only goal.
All my books will be available through Puppy Dogs and Ice Cream and or on Amazon
5. What do you like to do when you are not writing?
Raising two beautiful boys, and two tiny puppies! Laundry, dishes, chores...ha! I like to go camping, I'm hoping this summer will be full of camping adventures and fires at night.
I have always been into crafting, however, most of my free time these days is still dedicated to writing, so my crafts will have to wait until they cycle again. :)
6. What have you learn in creating your books so far?
Everything! And I'm still learning, it's a big world, but when you have a dream, a goal, and a mindset, you just jump in and figure it out as you go, of course with the safety of floaties... whatever your floaties are to you. My floaties are time and money... but with dedication you can do great things, the rest will come.
7. What advice would you give to other authors?
Keep on going, everyone has to start somewhere. I just happened to start my author journey in second grade... with Green Crystal Waffles - Then in 2009 with a book Tiger Tails (a special book to my besties little one year old) followed by- 2013 Squeak Squeak Squeaker the Mouse for my own little one year old- then I took the plunge and did my homework, hired an editor and created Love Lottery... And I hope to have a long list as the years proceed ahead.
No one has it all figured out, everyone makes mistakes, be willing to hear feedback, and just go for it! If you do what you love, then it will never be a waste of time. -
8.Do you provide other services to help other authors?
Just encouragement and cheerleading whenever I'm able. :)
But some of the services I have paid to learn from are the following:
Hire editors - This is a must! I can't even begin to express my gratitude for finding Sam Cabbage early on followed by Amy Maranville, Karen Austin, Sheri Wall, Bobbie Hinman, I have enjoyed working with all of you and have learned valuable information from each of you.
- April Cox- Self Publishing made simple (Highly recommend... I even took her course twice!)
Learn from the traditional publishers and the successes of the group, what are they doing right? Different? If they have valuable information, read it, watch, listen, and pay for courses... (I paid for courses from Mr. Jay, Laurie Wright (such a wealth of information), Lisa Ferland (Kickstarter Guru)
Stacy Schoppenhorst Bauer (I paid for a course, but she is so generous with so much information, just search her name) Lauren Ranalli, author (she started a group, and I was able to make connections, learn about Canva, and so much about creating a brand, I think she even has a free download that is full of valuable information)
Support other Authors, this is a big community full of wonderful people! So support others' journey, especially if you are learning from them, even if that means buying a book or leaving a review, downloading a pdf, sharing a post, or offering help when you can.
9.How do you market your books?
Well, I have tried many things, but for now, I just focus on local events in my neck of the woods (my local school, library events, local antique market, and community fairs or craft fairs) - and PDIC does all marketing on my behalf, which is nice not to focus on at the time, as my priorities are elsewhere.
10. What are your plans for the future? Do you have more publications on the way?
I hope to be able to make enough to fund all my books I have dreams of creating! I hope to have more stories than I can remember the titles of by the time I have earned all my greys... and they are starting to pop up, so I'm off to write whatever... comes to mind.
You may follow Leigha here:
All the best Leigha with all of your beautiful books.