You stated you "write without a map. [You have] a sense of where [you are] headed but there are no exact street signs. [You are] a 'Pantser'--totally writing by the seat of [your] pants." What happens when you got lost?

Getting lost is sometimes my favorite part of the process. That's often when I get my best ideas. Solutions usually come from my characters themselves. I take a 'daydream break': throw on dramatic music, pace my home, take a walk, shower, or call my critique partner and talk until I untangle. Amidst any one of these haphazard routines, my characters usually figure out a solution and present it to my brain. It's like Christmas!

Why is dialogue one of your favorite parts of the writing process?

While I love creating the atmosphere of a novel, I'm an actress. My stories are extremely character driven. Having been with the Strangely Beautiful series for a decade, I pretty much take dictation from my characters, they've developed minds of their own, and it's delightful to see what comes out of their mouth when I just let them go.

How do you use your training in the theater to develop your characters?

I play cinematographer, director and actor--each distinctly different points of view from which to examine storytelling--and I shift between these positions as I go through my book. Theatre is wonderful at training the imagination, and so I'm always in the heads and bodies of my characters. Theatre is about both the big picture and scene-by-scene story arcs. I love expanding and tightening that focus.

I teach a workshop called "Direct Your Book! Theatre Techniques to a Blockbuster Novel" that goes into all this in great detail. It all boils down to the same thing: good storytelling. Coming at your craft and your product from the angle of another discipline can create some magical results.

You stated you "write people like quilts; [your] sense of theme and atmosphere makes the separate colors match, [your] beloved characters make sure the patterns don't clash and [your] editor makes sure none of the stitches are going the wrong way." Explain how you accomplish this goal?

A quilt is such an appropriate metaphor as I work piece by piece, episodic. I tend to write in sections and then stitch it all together via transitions in a secondary edit. I write large swaths of what I'm most compelled to write, then go in with an eye on transitions, the characters guiding me along the way. The discoveries I make along the way will have to fit the quilt pattern, so there is method to the madness.

What advice can you give aspiring writers?

Keep writing no matter what. Patient persistence is the key. You'll face a host of rejection that will make you question everything. Know what you write, know what you do well, and be flexible with what can change to make the story a tighter, more sale-able story. Believe in your work and yet know it can always be improved.

I could have sold my series earlier had I made it just one genre and thusly more palatable to the average marketing department, but I work in a distinctly cross-genre way. It was worth the wait to find a publishing house that would welcome my cross-genre. Know how you do and don't fit into the marketplace, write from your heart but be flexible. Markets are cyclical. In the end, the market wants a great story.

Join writing chapters and organizations specific to your interests to gain industry information, community, critique partners and support. And keep the faith.

What's next for Leanna Renee Hieber?

The Strangely Beautiful series continues in October with a novella starring Headmistress Thompson and Vicar Carroll called "A Christmas Carroll" included in A Midwinter Fantasy. I write dangerous Victorian Ghost stories--come on, there has to be a Christmas Carol spin-off in there somewhere.

And I'm shocked, blessed and excited to say (as the news is recent) that I've accepted the option agreement to adapt my debut novel, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, into a musical theatre production. The production team includes talents from such Broadway hit shows as Memphis, Tarzan and Wicked. I've accepted the offer to write the script (the "book") of the show as well. I have a background as an actor and playwright, but never did I think I'd be weaving all of my talents together like this. It's thrilling to say the very least!

Keep in touch with Leanna on Twitter (@leannarenee) and Facebook http://tinyurl.com/sbsfan.

Janice Gable Bashman is co-author (with Jonathan Maberry) of WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE: Vampire Hunters and Other Kick-Ass Enemies of Evil (Citadel Press 2010). She wrote sidebars for THEY BITE:  Endless Cravings of Supernatural Predators (Citadel Press 2009) by Jonathan Maberry and David F. Kramer. She also writes for leading publications, including the NOVEL & SHORT STORY WRITER'S MARKET, THE WRITER, WILD RIVER REVIEW, INDUSTRY TODAY, and FOOD & DRINK QUARTERLY. And, her writing won multiple awards at the 2007 Philadelphia Writer's Conference.