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Welcome to the Tuesday Author Interview with Christina Boyd for the Who, What, When, Where, and Why.
CHRISTINA: I saw the novel All They Ask is Everything and author Hadley Leggett creating a stir on social media. Learning she is a debut author and mother who lives in the Pacific Northwest, I started following her social media to find out her recipe for success. Because, let's face it, being a stay-at-home mom and getting a publishing deal for a debut novel is not the norm.
When did you first think you had a book to write, and how did you start?
HADLEY: I started writing my debut novel back in 2018 when my youngest child started preschool, and I found myself with three delicious hours of alone time, three times a week. Just enough time to start a project, but not enough time to return to my former job as a medical journalist. By that point, an idea for a novel had been rattling around in my head for years, and I decided to simply start writing and see what happened. At that point, I knew nothing about story beats or character arcs or how to pace a novel, but I set myself the goal of five hundred words per day, and I very much embraced the idea of a messy first draft.
CHRISTINA: I love that you embraced the idea of a messy first draft. I think too often we think it should be perfect as soon as we type 'the end.'
What comes first: plot or characters?
HADLEY: For me, the characters definitely drive the plot. I start by figuring out what each character wants, what they actually need (not always the same as what they want!), and what misbelief is preventing them from achieving their goal. I like to pick characters whose goals are in opposition to each other in some way, and then the plot develops rather organically based on conflict between the characters.
CHRISTINA: Sounds like a perfect recipe for page-turning tension!
If you could tell your 21-year-old self anything, what would you share?
HADLEY: I’d tell my younger self that it’s okay to take a path even if you don’t know where it will lead. I knew from childhood that I wanted to be a writer, but for so many years I buried that dream because it didn’t seem practical or achievable. Instead of majoring in literature or creative writing, I went to medical school—in large part because the path was already laid out for me, a predetermined set of steps with a guaranteed job at the end. Although I don’t regret the winding path I took to becoming an author, I do wish I’d let myself continue to write fiction all along the way, instead of burying my creative self under layers of practicality.
CHRISTINA: Wow! You do realize how unusual that is, thinking medical school is more of an achievable goal than creative writing? Especially as a young person. But I suppose that matches methodical thinking, much like “your recipe” for writing seems methodical.
What is your current project or latest release?
HADLEY: My debut novel published August 27! Called All They Ask Is Everything, it’s the story of three very different women—biological mom, foster mom, and estranged grandmother—who all want custody of the same two little girls. I call it my “love letter to the messiness of motherhood” because it explores the sticky question of what it means to be a good mother in a society that demands so much of women but offers little in the way of support for struggling families.
CHRISTINA: Congratulations on your book baby! Just the thing my #mytotallylegitbookclub would wany to read.
Do you put people you know, or their characteristics, in your books?
HADLEY: I’m sure my subconscious draws from real life to some degree, but I try very hard to make my human characters distinct from the people I know. However, I’m a big animal lover, and I think it’s great fun to create animal characters that are based on my own beloved pets. In my debut, for example, there’s a giant, fluffy orange cat named Popsicle who is the spitting image of my own giant, fluffy orange cat named Irving. And it’s no coincidence that after I met an adorable Pomeranian at a writing conference recently, a Pomeranian suddenly showed up in my second book.
CHRISTINA: Love that. Love. And that is one handsome cat! I do love naming characters after people I adore, though their characteristics may not match. And I admit to writing in some favorite pets and horses, too.
What do you think makes a good story?
HADLEY: A page-turning plot and relatable characters are certainly helpful, but for me, the best stories are the ones that go deep and explore a topic with detail and nuance, ideally from multiple perspectives. So much of the content we consume these days is in sound bites—headlines, video clips, 280-character tweets—and sometimes, I think this brevity translates into rather superficial, black-and-white thinking. But novels let us go much deeper, with 300-plus pages to explore an idea and multiple characters to dance around a theme, so it’s the perfect medium to examine the moral gray areas of life. I love stories that spark discussion and illuminate perspectives I might not have considered otherwise.
CHRISTINA: So much is said these days about readers' attention spans—how people just want shorter and shorter books. Not me. Give me a tight, well-developed novel, and if it's three or four hundred plus pages, I'm in. What can I say? I like big books.
Best advice for new writers:
HADLEY: Seek out a community of other writers! Take classes, join writing groups, and support other authors by attending their events and sharing their books. Not only will this community be invaluable when it’s time to find beta readers, seek out agents/editors, and promote your own books, but having the support of other writers is critical. No one else will understand the ups and downs of drafting a novel or the strange peculiarities of the publishing business.
Also, if you can’t find the group you’re looking for, don’t be afraid to start your own. In 2021, I banded together with three other querying writers to form a support group called the “Still Writing Squad.” Three years later, we all have agents and book deals, and we’re riding the rollercoaster of debut publishing together. We even have a joint newsletter, so if you’re interested in learning more about our journeys, you can find us at https://writingchat.substack.com.
CHRISTINA: I love, love, love that your whole writing squad has agents and book deals. Thank you for sharing that. Gives me so much hope for my own writing group.
Thank you, Hadley, for your time and candor, especially during this busy launch month. Wishing you much success with your debut, as well as upcoming projects. What an exciting time. Take it all in! By the way, I was sorry to miss your release party at Third Place Books, Seward Park, Seattle. I live two hours north, and had I not just traveled four hours round trip for another author event two days prior, I am sure I would have been there to celebrate you.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Hadley has an upcoming in-person book event on September 5 at Zibby's Bookshop in Santa Monica, California. Check it out.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hadley Leggett writes layered book club fiction exploring truth in shades of gray. Her winding career path has included degrees in medicine, biochemistry, Spanish, and science journalism, as well as a ten-year stint as a stay-at-home mom. After moving all over the United States during her childhood, she now lives in Seattle with her husband and three children, as well as her parents, three cats, and an ever-rotating troop of foster kittens. Hadley’s first novel, All They Ask Is Everything, was published by Lake Union in August 2024. Learn more at her website or connect with her on Instagram and Threads.
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