We were lucky to catch up with Leslea Wahl recently and have shared our conversation below.

Leslea, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My writing career is focused on drawing people to Christ through entertaining stories. I primarily write teen fiction full of adventure, mystery, humor, innocent romance, and faith. My stories are meant to entertain while providing good, moral content. I also review faith-based books for all members of the family. These reviews can be found on my website – LesleaWahl.com, and on my Instagram page @MinistryThruMystery. I am also the co-founder of CatholicTeenBooks.com.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I began my writing career years ago while searching for clean books for my children. They were excellent readers and wanted to read YA novels but I was having trouble finding entertaining books with good messages. During this time, the idea for my first novel, The Perfect Blindside, just popped into my mind. It took several years, and over 90 query letters, until the book was polished and a publisher was interested. I’ve been writing stories ever since.

It is getting harder and harder for parents to find engaging books that reflect their values for their teens. I hope, through my writing and reviews, to provide options for families and teens who face this issue.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Besides my own writing, I am a con-founder of CatholicTeenBooks.com.

When my first book was released, The Perfect Blindside, my publicist told me about the Facebook page, Books For Catholic Teens. Before then, I wasn’t aware of other authors who wrote similar books as mine. I began to connect with several of the authors and parents searching for our books.

One of the parents on the site invited me to present about faith-based fiction to her homeschooling group. I recruited another author to join me. As we were sharing about some wonderful books, a parent made the comment that it would be really helpful if all the books we were mentioning could be found at one place.

After the event, we shared this comment with several other authors and decided to create such a site – CatholicTeenBooks.com.

We now have 17 authors and many books on the site. There are many genres and age ranges represented. We offer discounted book packs, Book Clubs in a box, parental guidelines, giveaways, anthologies, and a monthly newsletter.

We continue to grow to be a resource for families and school.s

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When the idea for my first novel came to me, I felt called to write the story, but knew I lacked the skills needed to bring the story to fruition. I joined a local writing organization, SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), attended their local conference, took some online writing courses, and continued to write the story in secret. I didn’t tell my family about this book, afraid it would be a failure. Eventually I applied for a mentorship program through SCBWI and worked with a published author for several months. She was invaluable, helping me to find my voice and how to plot the story to keep the reader engaged.

I worked on that story for a few years and when I finally felt it was ready, began querying publishers and agents. I received some feedback, quite a few rejections, but mostly a lot of silence. I felt so strongly about this story, and that I was meant to get the book published, that I continued working on the story and searching for publishers. Finally, after 90 some letters, I found an interested publisher. And after another nearly two years of editing, the book was published.

When I speak at schools, I like to share this experience to encourage kids to persevere, to take the feedback they receive and to continue to work toward their dreams. There is a quote I found that I’ve used in one of my books that I think is very relevant and true: “Dreams are like stars… you may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny.” In other words, our vision may not turn out quite as we thought it would but if we’re willing to learn, adjust, and keep trying, God will help shape our gifts and talents to help others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.LesleaWahl.com
• Instagram: @MinistryThruMystery
• Facebook: @LesleaWahlbooks
• Twitter: @LesleaWahl
• Youtube: CatholicTeenBooks
• Other: https://www.CatholicTeenBooks.com