City native has her fourth book published

TORONTO - Lee Ann Leggett said having her fourth published book by the age of 22 is just another step in her goal of becoming an educator and established author. Leggett, the daughter of Denise Sines of Toronto and Gene Leggett of Wintersville, is a 2005 graduate of Edison High School and current student at Bethany College majoring in English and minoring in education.

Leggett said she's always been interested in writing and now has four published books to her name, including "Prodigy of the Immortal," which was recently published by Publish America. Her prior three books, also published by Publish America, include "Avengement of Glory," a horror novel; "Spiral of Enlightenment," a romance novel; and "The Leaf," a story of grief inspired by the death of her grandmother.

"I began writing 'The Leaf' during my first year in college," said Leggett. "My grandmother was dying of cancer. I'm a person who keeps their feelings inside."

Leggett said writing the novel and the others was a way to express her grief.

"The first three books were basically my stages of grief," she said.

Leggett said she really became interested in having a book published while a student at Jefferson Community College.

"I took a class at JCC, writing for publishing," Leggett said. "They taught you how to write for a legitimate publisher."

Leggett said getting her first book published by Publish America was a good first step in her career as a writer.

"(Publish America) does promote (the writer)," Leggett said. "They would set up book signings for me, but because of my schedule I can't really do that right now.

"It's hard to get your first book published, but it gets easier once you know the format," she continued.

Leggett said "Prodigy of the Immortal" was her first stab at writing in the gothic vampire genre.

"Vampira lives in an orphanage that was attacked by vampires. While they were there they turned her into a vampire," said Leggett of the novel's plot. "All of these vampires wear these strange rings that match their necklaces, so (Vampira) assumes there is a relationship between them."

Leggett said she's not yet finished with the tale of Vampira.

"In this book she's sort of the heroine," Leggett said. "I think in the sequel she'll be swayed more to the evil side."

Leggett also had some advice for other aspiring writers.

"It's not impossible to get published, but you do have to take the criticism to become a better writer."

All four of Leggett's books can be purchased at Amazon.com. For information, go to publishamerica.com.

(Miller can be contacted at mmiller@heraldstaronline.com.)