Joan Leotta is here to say hello. Come say hello back.

A Word or Few from Very Creative Author Joan Leotta  with her Artistic Vision

As a writer and a performer I follow the same artistic vision. Creating on paper with pen, with light as pen through a camera or onstage in performance, my artistic goal is always the same—to show the beauty of the ordinary and lift up my audience—encouraging others through pen and performance.

Creativity is an explosion of expression and a way to share my love or interest in something or someone with others, what I see and how I see it. In writing I like to use poetry, short fiction, long fiction and the non-fiction article. Occasionally even the essay form. Words are my primary palette.  Words carry into performance. Onstage I share my own stories and my versions of folktales and researched scripted stories of real people as one woman shows. For those, I often mine history and blend it to my imagination. When expressing myself through the visual arts, my favorite medium is light and the tools I use are those of photography.

When I'm not writing or painting word pictures from the stage, you can find me with my husband, often at the beach or simply sitting and talking in our home in Calabash, NC. Our favorite thing to do is spend time with each other and with our daughter. Our son has preceded us into Paradise and we take comfort in the  hope of seeing him there.

May these books encourage and entertain, excite you about words and give you the impetus to further your own creative pursuits. The books in the Legacy of Honor series are int eh category of sweet romance, I also think they are great YA because of the history in them and the young age of the protagonists.

Please check out my blog at : www.joanleotta.wordpress.com and like my Facebook author page

www.facebook.com/pages/Joan-Leotta-Author-and-Story-Performer/  

---Joan Leotta

 A Bowl of Rice

Anna Maria chooses to stick to her commitment to service and by doing so,  looses her long-time college love, Michael. Is Mark, the handsome physician, the balm her wounded soul needs?  Or is it George who will claim heal her wounds with a love that transcends war and the pain she sees all around her?

              A short excerpt from A Bowl of Rice

Anna Maria stood still for a moment, watching him leave. She could still feel the pressure of his fingers on her back. She wondered if she had bruises there. She certainly had one on her heart. Her boyfriend, the man she had laughed with, listened to and planned a future with. He was not who she thought he was. No. She saw him more clearly now. Michael was someone who didn't understand, who didn't even care she that might have her own ideas. He probably never even thought they might have to compromise to continue their relationship. She reckoned he didn't realize a real relationship was compromise and a sharing of ideas between two loving adults. He had just shown her that a relationship was, to him, all about control -- his control of her. She knew that such a marriage with someone like Michael, now or even in the distant future, was not for her. From the examples within her own family she knew that even strong-willed people did not try to control one another in the name of love.

"How could I have been so blind?" she murmured to herself.

What's on the Horizon for Joan?

This book is the third in my series, Legacy of Honor--the time period was set for me but the story was wide open. I chose to have the heroine be on the field of action--as she might have been at the time, as a nurse. This is the story of a woman who defines herself--not by the men she dates, but by her own talents and contributions to the world. That independent strain is carried throughout the series--even from book one which takes place during world War Two--strong women who love family but who find themselves in and out of the family setting.

And Woo Hoo! 

We have a couple of giveaways, folks. 

Get your comments in!

JOAN is in the process of writing book four. SHE would like to do a contest to name a character in book four which will be an intertwined story of civil war and gulf war--so two eras to place your name--and entrants, please specify if you want to be a good guy or a bad guy. Let JOAN  know if you want just your first name or your entire name to be used.

Second Giveaway offer? If you are looking for a new AUDIO BOOK to add to your audio library, a gift worth $17.00, Shirley will be selecting a name at random to win her own Civil War Romance, FLAME FROM WITHIN. In your comments to Joan, please also let us know if you would also like your name added to the FLAME FROM WITHIN basket.