Welcome to the 2023 ARIA Author Showcase and Giveaway Event! 

  

  

How to enter – Comment on the daily showcases to enter the daily giveaway. Comments close one week after the initial Showcase post. GRAND PRIZE drawn on Dec 8th (1 -$250, 1 -$100, or a 1 -$50 Amazon gift card. One grand prize pp) – For every showcase you post on, you automatically gain one entry to the grand prize. 30 Authors = 30 entries.    

 

On to the Showcase! 

 

What name do you like to write under?  Jodi L. Leffingwell Ed.D 

Where do you call home? Southeastern, RI 

What genre(s) do you write? Fiction/Non-Fiction 

What genre(s) were you drawn to when you were younger? The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald and Rebecca - Daphne DeMaurier. Classic period pieces and my mind got lost, not only in the plots, but in the imagery of grand parties with flappers and hidden speak easy's but the suspense of solving a mystery. I also continue re-read Dickens A Christmas Carol. 

What were some of your favorite books growing up? Why? The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald and Rebecca - Daphne DeMaurier. Classic period pieces and my mind got lost, not only in the plots, but in the imagery of grand parties with flappers and hidden speak easy's but the suspense of solving a mystery. I also continue re-read Dickens A Christmas Carol. 

What are some of your favorite books today? P I am stil drawn to the classics, I read more historical non-fiction, biographies, and leadership books for my research on leadership. A really great new book I have read was Nita Prose- The Maid. Really well written with a great balance of mystery and suspense. 

What inspired you to become a write?  I have written for most of my life for fun, and just cam to a point later in life, where I felt I had lived enough and experienced enough to have something of value to share. 

 

When Christmas Came to Town

 

For the first time, since anyone could remember, Christmas was going to be cancelled, but Santa and some special people were determined not to let that happen. 
 
 
 

Tell us a little about how When Christmas Came to Town came to be. Did it start with an image, a voice, a concept, a dilemma or something else? When Christmas Came to Town is based on real events that happened during the pandemic when lockdown occurred and life as we knew it changed. Christmas was coming and for the first time in many , many years, there would be no children getting to visit Santa with their Christmas visits. A group of wonderful people on the Christmas Festival Committee in Bristol came up with an idea to bring Santa to the children using one of the vacant storefronts in town. We brought Santa and his workshop to Bristol. Children were able to come to the store front, drop their letter in Santa's box and see Santa through the glass. We were able to preserve the Spirit of Christmas. 

Which scene, character or plotline changed the most from first draft to published book? The skeleton of the story stayed the same from beginning to end. I will say that I work iteratively, and as the illustrations are done, it sometimes changes the dialogue. 

Which character was the most challenging to create. Why? These characters were based on real people, so these characters were fairly easy to create. 

What do you like best about being a writer?  I love that we have the power to ignite people's imagination when we write. I love that writing can challenge other's to think differently about a topic. We have the ability to influence through our writing. 

 

You can follow Jodi L. Leffingwell Ed.D  here - 

www.saltygirlpublising.com 

FB - Salty Girl Publishing 

Insta - @saltygirl854 @drjodileff 

Jodi is giving away a signed copy of “When Christmas Came to Town”. To enter comment below. --> What is your favorite Christmas themed book? 

(Comments are open for one week)