ABOUT AWARD WINNING AUTHOR LESLIE BRATSPIS
In her charming and enlightening multicultural books GOOD FORTUNE: The journey begins and its sequel GOLDEN RING OF LIGHT, award winning author Leslie Bratspis interweaves themes of synchronicity, dreams, symbols, overcoming obstacles, and challenging relationships. These two delightfully-written stories are of Tong, an aged Chinese scholar who acts as a secret mentor to Michael Hamilton, a man transitioning through a difficult time. GOLDEN RING OF LIGHT, the highly requested sequel to GOOD FORTUNE has all the same characters with some new ones. The story takes place in San Francisco, Kauai, and The Big Island of Hawaii. In addition to researching Chinese culture and customs, Leslie extensively researched Hawaiian customs and folklore for this sequel.
Her other books are VANILLA GRASS, the touching story of a reclusive Vietnam Veteran with PTSD who rejoins society after reluctantly becoming the role model to a gang of delinquent teens. WHITE DUNES, a crime novel with gangsters and quirky characters was influenced by Leslie's admiration of Elmore Leonard's writing. Leslie's most recent novel, THE ANNIVERSARY BRACELET, is a dark, sexy, psychological thriller.
Leslie always wanted to be an author. She spent most of her childhood in Hollywood, CA, with her teacher mother, and novelist and screenwriter father, Irving Shulman. She attributes her love of writing to her father, whom she saw writing novels and movie scripts on his old-fashioned manual typewriter. During summer breaks from school, her family went to Palm Springs, CA, and lived all summer at the Villa Royale hotel. Some years, when they stayed in the desert year-round, Leslie and her sister attended elementary school. In the family photograph above taken at The Villa Royale, Leslie is standing beside her father.
Leslie's themes cover social topics she finds important. Most of her books include uplifting messages pertaining to life lessons and growth, even when her characters have endured emotional and physical pain. Leslie quickly learned that writing fiction requires more than being creative. It also involves doing extensive research. Before the release of GOOD FORTUNE, she had the manuscript fact-checked by the Chinese Historical Society in San Francisco, CA. Her interest in penning two multicultural novels with Asian and Hawaiian characters and including their customs came from her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Anthropology from California State University Northridge.
When Leslie writes, she becomes so engrossed in her characters’ lives she sees them in her mind and hears their conversations. She wants you to know she pens stories that come from her heart. Leslie often draws upon lessons she has learned from her life's challenges. Except for her newest novel, Leslie's books include themes of kindness, compassion, personal growth, and the importance of service to others. She wants her readers to feel uplifted and inspired, to come away with something of value, in addition to being entertained.
However, her new book THE ANNIVERSARY BRACELET differs from the others. She intended for it to be a love story, but when she removed a character who didn't fit, two new characters appeared and led her on a different path. One of her blogs, "Spontaneous Generation Or...?" covers the creative process that brings forth unplanned characters and story lines. She intends to feature the removed character in another novel.
Aside from reading and writing, Leslie enjoys time with her husband and rescued golden retrievers. She is a volunteer for Golden Retriever Club of Greater Los Angeles Rescue, and Rescue a Golden of Arizona. Leslie is a member of The Authors Guild and Red Sands Writers Circle. Her interests are writing, sketching and painting, listening to blues and jazz, watching noir films, going to concerts, and all things related to golden retrievers. She would love to hear from you and invites you to send an email to lesliebratspis@yahoo.com
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Leslie Bratspis Author