Book Four and Beyond! Wildflowers...

Dear readers....

Well it is done. I have published my 5th book and a few readers have already sent me comments.

This is the fourth book of my Wildflowers Series and I am excited to be continuing the story of my 'Valley Girls'.

This story has been planned for quite a while. I usually know the storyline way ahead of the book I'm writing... When I created the character of Violet I knew right away where her story would go.  (No spoilers here!) But it was emotional and captivating to write to say the least. A few people have written me little messages that they could really relate with her story. That is the main reason I write. I do enjoy a romance but sometimes life gets in the way of those things when we honestly face the past.

Dolly has her own adventure in the wilderness. I know that a lot of readers hated that I just left off book 3 on a cliffhanger... I intended to add all of that to book 3 but it was not meant to be.

This series is such a joy. I get to let my characters live on and plan on writing more books to continue their story.  I see all of them growing old and telling the story of their children as I grow old and gray myself.

Angela & Ted are dear to me and I look forward to continuing their story.

Galina is growing up and may just have her own struggles to face.

Dolly is a woman who is discovering her own strength and may finally find her place in the world.

I can see that Cooper and Brody, and the Varushkin boys will be old enough to be young men during the Civil War.

As my characters keep living out their lives in Willamette Valley I can watch them in my mind. Growing in their faith and making a world in the West.

I do love my job and am happily working on the next book of the series.

Love in Full Bloom

One reader recently told me to write longer books... No problem. I think with all of my characters that will be easy to accomplish.

Please keep reading and leaving reviews. That helps other readers to discover my books too!

As always I update my Author page on Facebook often. So please join me there. Leave a comment, send me a message. I love my readers!!

God Bless - Leah B.

I have more books in the works and will keep everyone posted!

My Author Page - Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Leah.Banicki.Novelist

Book 1 - Finding Her Way  - FREE on Amazon
Book 2 - Angela's Hope
Book 3 - Daughters of the Valley
Book 4 - The Watermill

Music & Writing

Just popping in to tell the world about what I have been up too. 

Just this year I published my first novel, Seeing the Elephant, by  Leah Banicki (me), but this journey has been an interesting one. 

My life in a nut shell...

Leah the singer - doing commercials and voice overs since the age of ten, performing on every stage imaginable. Lead singer of a Christian Rock back that traveled around Michigan with some amazing people. (I got pictures of me in leather pants to prove it.)

I love music, I truly do, it's in the blood. 

Writing has been another passion for me but was always in the background. It worked well for me while in a rock band, songwriting fulfilled that urge I had to fill up notebooks. But even in between times I have at least 30 stories started with ideas and characters floating around in spiral notebooks since I was a little kid. 

Just found one the other day from when I was a teen, two teenagers got stranded when a plane crashed on a desert island. Not very original, I laughed my way through my pages. 

Four years ago, everything changed. My hectic lifestyle of singing every other weekend in our local big church, working full time, and recording my own cd in my home studio came to a screeching halt. 

I got a parasite somehow, (still don't know how) called campylbacter, it nearly killed me. Food has not been the same since, neither has my health. Once the doctors figured it out and got rid of it, my body was broken. I spent an entire summer in bed. Three years later, still trying to learn how to eat and not be sick, not singing, not writing, barely living.  My family has been so supportive, loving me through the hard days. Sickness isn't pretty and chronic illness takes it's toll on everyone. Not just me. 

I read a book by a friend, Patricia Strefling, and was so inspired that I picked up my old beat up laptop hand me down and began writing again. A story that had been in my heart for more than a decade. battling my ever sick stomach and broken intestines, I took my ten years of research I had done and the story bloomed from the few chapters I had doodled over the last decade and fleshed it out to the adventure of my lifetime. 

The economy has hit my home in a big way in the last few years and my husband and I struggled along pinching pennies as I was sick at home the last three years, somehow feeling guilty for having found something I enjoy doing from my place on the couch or sickbed.  In a few years my life had done a complete turn around. It was very difficult to face for me some days, missing the stage, my health and livelihood, but having writing was a new direction for me to look for hope. 

Before I even finished the new stories started flowing in my head, sequels and other stories. Some hitting close to home, characters that have to face some hard situations before finding their happy ending.

My struggle to find my health is still an active one. I feel lucky to have a few days in a row that I feel good enough to go out and about. I take it day by day. I am learning about the publishing industry from my perch here at home. I read everything I can afford and write and write and write. 

The thing I have learned that is most valuable this year that no matter where you are at you can do something. I showed my daughter that even from a sickbed you can reach people.  Holding my first book in my hand was a profound experience for all of my family. Even on the worst sick days I have hope. I have a story to tell, nothing can stop me. 

Be blessed,  Leah Banicki

My First Book

Goodreads Giveaway

Some Good Clean Books

Being a writer today has it's challenges, especially for the self-published. Trying to put out a good book that people want to read has been a challenge for every generation. Putting out a good clean romance and getting it in the hands of readers is even harder. 
Certain genres of writing have gotten a lot of attention lately but I am determined to write my stories for the young and old alike. 
A good romance doesn't have to shock you with inappropriate actions to be a great novel. Jane Austen wrote amazing and captivating characters that kept our attention and stayed in our hearts for generations. Today I want to focus on a few books that you can recommend to your daughter, your friends and your own mother. 
Great stories with memorable characters, fun plots and romance. After all we know what we love to read, we should be able to have something clean and good to go to. Simple as that. 

Today wanted to promote a good clean Romance novel by an amazing writer.

 

Edwina - by Patricia Strefling

Edwina is a small town librarian and loves her predictable lifestyle. But her stepsister Cecilia has other plans. As they are about to board a plane for Scotland, Cecelia is suddenly called away. Exhausted and alone in Edinburgh, Edwina collapses into the arms of a tall Scot. Anxious to meet his fiance, Alex Dunnegin whisks Edwina off to his castle and that's when the trouble begins.

For the Kindle

For the Nook

or go to http://www.patriciastrefling.com for news about all her books.


Patricia loves to tell stories about people so real you can live the story with them. From contemporary to historical her books are a pleasure to read. - Leah Banicki




I hope you enjoy trying out  new authors like I do. I found myself in a rut always going to the same authors and reading stories that seemed further and further away from interesting.


I am so glad I stepped outside my normal box and tried out some new and talented writers. It refreshed my love for reading. - I hope it does for you too.




Leah Banicki



If you write clean fiction and would be interested in being spotlighted on this blog email me at romanticsoul@leahbanicki.com


You can also find me on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4877802.Leah_Banicki