Interview with JEFFREY LEEVER

Your background includes public relations, editing, and sports writing. What prompted you to write mystery/suspense novels?

There's a bit of all those things in my novels, and characters who serve in some of those roles. Through the years, a lot of my background has involved writing for audiences that have short attention spans and people who need to be pulled into a narrative fairly quickly. Some of those same storytelling techniques seem to apply pretty well to the kind of suspense-based mystery novels that I write.

Tell us about your latest release, The University.

The story is set on a college campus and involves a student trying to piece together why his best friend disappeared. At the same time, an investigative journalist is looking into an old unsolved murder case that could be related. Beneath the university's campus lies a series of tunnels that seem to be connected to growing occult activity in the area. Overall, the book is a fast-paced, dark fall thriller.

What are you working on now?

I'm working on a couple more suspense manuscripts right now and am also collaborating with an illustrator on a children's book. The latter project is obviously pretty different for me...and also a nice change of pace. My plans are to keep writing and having fun with it until my hands wear out or an anvil drops from the sky on my head.

Share with us your thoughts about marketing, promotion, and social media.

I enjoy book marketing and promotion. I do a lot of my own website content, write press releases, and sign quite a bit at bookstores to support each new novel. I like meeting people, both customers and retail staff. I often meet other authors this way, as well. I enjoy blogging and doing guest posts also. I've done the MySpace and Facebook thing for several years, too, plus even a bit of YouTube. I think people are surprised by how accessible I am sometimes. I decided a long time ago that I never want to be that writer guy who is too cool to respond to someone's e-mail.

Are you a member of any writer’s organizations? Why? Why not?

I lived in Colorado for twelve years up until fairly recently and, while there, joined Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and the Colorado Authors League. I haven't added any new ones since moving to Missouri just prior to my first novel, Dark Friday, coming out. I'm sure I probably will at some point.

Tell us about the setting for your latest book. What inspired you to set this particular novel at a college campus?

Back when I was in college in the Midwest, a faculty member once told me about a seldom-used series of tunnels that existed beneath our campus. It was a network that connected a bunch of buildings and even led underneath a few of the student dorms. Plus, it was an area that wasn't well-monitored by campus security -- or so the story went. For weeks after, I walked around campus wondering what was literally "underneath my feet" at any given moment. And when the sun set each night, my mind went wild with the possibilities. Anyway…that unnerving little tidbit was still stuck in my head 15 years later, and I thought it might make for an interesting element in a mystery novel.

What are the addresses of your website(s), blog(s), and other online presences?

My website is http://www.jeffreyleever.com/. I contribute to a blog called MurderShop at

mystery-writers.blogspot.com. I can also be easily found and "Friended" on Facebook at

www.facebook.com/jeffreyleever if anyone is so inclined.