Interview & Giveaway Peace, Love, and a Dead Hippie Chick by N.R. Leigh

Peace, Love, and a Dead Hippie Chick

by N.R. Leigh

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GENRE: New Adult/Coming of Age

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BLURB:

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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EXCERPT:

Kara

Friday, February 25, 1994

Well, that didn’t go as planned. I can’t believe this even happened!

Everything was going fine. I left the cow pasture, and there were only a few semi--‐‑trucks and travelers on the road. Once on I‑25 south, I kept my eyes peeled for cops or anyone else who could have been tailing me—nothing. After about an hour behind the wheel, I pulled into a truck stop outside of Las Vegas. (The New Mexico one, not Nevada’s.) I put on some baggy clothes and tucked my hair under a greasy--‐‑smelling Red Sox cap that I’d found in the van. I was trying not to attract much attention—driving a VW bus does enough of that on its own. I should get rid of it.

I parked near the semi--‐‑trucks, went inside, and heated a microwave burrito. They had showers for $1.25 and I desperately needed one but knew I didn’t have time. I wanted to get as far south as I could. I even wondered if I should have slept during the day and driven at night. I wish I had; then none of this would have happened.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

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.

Author website: www.nrleigh.com  

Author Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NicciRLeigh 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/IamNRLeigh

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/IamNRLeigh/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYZOO78dsDbjt62hr70Kp1Q?view_as=public

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6425003.Nicci_Leigh 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Peace-Love-Dead-Hippie-Chick-ebook/dp/B015S3HSXK 

A little interview

Where are you from? 

 I’m a mid western girl, born and raised in Flint, Michigan. Both my grandfathers worked for General Motors after they served in WWII. It’s a tough place to grow up, being that it was built around the auto industry, but I think it had a great impact in my upbringing, as I learned to be resourceful at a young age—working on cars in my family’s garage and driving dump trucks for my family’s excavating company! My mother’s family also farmed, so I grew up around hard work. I think that’s made its way into my writing, as I tend to write about strong females and their self-exploration. I currently live in Southwest Florida. We relocated here in 2013 when my husband received a job transfer. I miss our friends and family, but it’s a nice change of pace.

Who are some of your favorite authors?
I’ve said in previous interviews that my favorite author is Clive Barker, and that is true. However, I don’t tend to follow authors as much as I just look for books that intrigue me. I enjoy mystery and suspense genres, and I always read the first few chapters to get a feel for the author’s style and to meet the characters. If I close the book and can’t forget the characters, then I know it’s a good fit. That was my goal when writing Peace, Love, and a Dead Hippie Chick.

What inspired you to write your first book?
 I wrote three non-fiction books before my debut novel, which were titles about personal growth, health and wellness for women. In retrospect, my main goal in life, personally and professionally, is to contribute to the feminine spirit. I mean, I’m not out championing the cause, but I do what I can as one person—to uplift women. The inspiration for PL&DHC came from my travels around the United States in the 1990s and also a news article about a group of neo-hippies who wreaked havoc on a local town. But it still served as a vessel for the three main female characters and their journeys towards strength and self-discovery.

What is the hardest thing about writing?
The hardest thing about writing is the time and layers of processes involved, from the inception through promotional stages. So, I guess that would be everything! I think an easier answer for me would be: the easiest thing about writing is the first draft. I love the writing phase when the plot is mostly flushed out, and I can transport my mind to the character’s world and simply write what I see. No worries about sentence structure or grammar. It’s the most blissful part of being a writer.

What are your dreams and plans for your future as a writer?
My plan is to complete the YA trilogy and a humorous Sci-Fi / Chick Lit title I have on the back burner. This will require time away from my professional career as an Aesthetician. So, my dream as a writer is to be able to do it full time and make a living from it. I think that is a common writer’s dream. Unfortunately, in today’s literary landscape, few authors are allowed that privilege. Like many other forms of art, “starving” still too often precedes “artist”. I’d like to see changes that support authors more so than the giants of the publishing industry. Ultimately, my dream is to easily find readers who connect with my characters. 

  What are you working on next?

 Next, I am diving into my YA Sci-fi series, titled Imagine Yasmin. It’s about a young woman who inherits a school for youth savants, at the same time she discovers she’s been bestowed an ancient power that she must use to save the school—and the world—in a pre-apocalyptic setting. I know that may sound familiar and vague, but I cannot yet reveal the main hook! I hope readers will visit my website www.NRLeigh.com to connect. 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

N.R. Leigh will be awarding $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway