Every Missing Girl by Leanne Kale Sparks
Leanne Kale Sparks is back with the second installment in her Kendall Beck Thriller Series. Every Missing Girl (Crooked Lane Books) is a crime thriller from someone who knows the ins and outs of the genre. As a former attorney turned writer, Sparks has crafted a chilling and captivating story of a cold case turned hot.
Somewhere in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, an investigation into a homicide turns up a missing girl. FBI Special Agent Kendall Beck and Denver Homicide Detective Adam Taylor had been assigned to solve the first crime, but when Taylor’s niece goes missing, it becomes clear that there’s something darker at play. And this time, it’s personal.
As they investigate a number of suspects, connections to other crimes, and the truth behind the disappearances, the pair find themselves closer to the truth. What happened to these missing girls, and why?
With edge-of-your-seat suspense, drama and a bombshell ending, Every Missing Girl is the police procedural and twisted thriller you don’t want to miss.
Check out this Q&A with Leanne Kale Sparks, where she talks about her creative process, writing a sequel and crafting relatable characters.
Q: What do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?
A: I think it is more a matter of what I need to keep out of my writing space that helps keep me focused. I tend to migrate around the house while writing — some books are written in my office, others at the kitchen table, etc. I don’t need it perfectly quiet, but I do need some type of music. Nothing with words because that is too distracting — I start singing along and that pulls me out of the scene. I can’t have the TV on, either, unless it is one of the ambiance scenes on YouTube. Sometimes it is having other writers around. Sounds counterintuitive, but even if we are not talking, there is a camaraderie that keeps my fingers moving and my mind creative.
Q: What was your hardest scene to write, and why?
A: Oooo, not sure I can say. It might give too much away. But, typically, it’s difficult to write about children being victims of crime. Any scene that makes me cry while writing is usually a really good scene — if it makes me cry again while editing, it’s even better — but they can also be difficult and draining.
Q: Does writing energize or exhaust you?
A: Yes. Ha Ha. It’s such an odd career because I can be energized some days, exhausted other days, and sometimes both at the same time. Being creative is more than sitting at the computer and typing away. So much more goes into the process and if things are flowing and ideas are coming out faster than you can write them down, it’s energizing. When you are fighting to figure out where the story is going, or what happens in the next scene, or (yikes) where you have gone completely off the rails, it can be mentally and physically exhausting. But once the book is done, it’s all worth it.
Q: How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
A: I think it made me more self-conscious. I was highly motivated to make the second book even better than the first one — which is a good thing — but it can also be overwhelming. The first book was written before I had an agent or a publisher, so it was purely a labor of love. Once it was published, I was so concerned that I would fail my editor, my readers and my characters by not providing a better follow-on story.
Q: What comes first, the plot or characters?
A: If it’s a standalone book, or the first in a series, it is plot driven at first. I usually come up with a story and have only a vague idea of who the characters are. If I’m writing in a series, even though I have fleshed out the characters in the first book, it’s hard to really get to know them fully until the second or third book in the series. So, plot probably takes center stage, but it is with the characters more in mind.
Q: How do you develop your plot and characters?
A: I am constantly asking myself, “What if?” If I see a news story, true crime show, or just by observing people in day-to-day life, I try to twist things. Insert various ways to manipulate the story. What if the car that just passed suddenly blew up? Was the driver targeted? What if the bomber got it wrong and killed the wrong victim? It’s taking something and twisting it every which way until you find that “ahhhh, that interesting” moment that starts the wild ride.
Q: Do you find it more challenging to write the first book in a series or to write the subsequent novels?
A: Oy, that’s a difficult one. The first book in a series is difficult but fun because you are meeting all these new characters and setting them in various places with unknown obstacles. It’s a sort of happy-difficult. The harder books are the follow-on books because you have to stay true to these characters you’ve created. Readers have fallen in love with them (hopefully) and so you can’t stray from who they are. That said, you don’t want them to become stale and predictable, so you have to find ways of shaking things up and seeing how they handle the adversity without going overboard.
Q: Can you tell us about the second book in the Kendall Beck Thriller series, Every Missing Girl?
A: Well, as the title denotes, Kendall continues her quest of searching for missing children. She is called to a double homicide scene at a local convenience store where a missing child turns up amongst the carnage. Once again, she is working with her favorite Denver Homicide Detective, Adam Taylor.
In the midst of uncovering why the missing child was there, and what connection she has with the murder victims, another child goes missing — this time Adam’s niece, Frankie. The race is on to find the young girl. But does Frankie’s disappearance have anything to do with the missing girl from the convenience store? And, if so, what?
Q: What is it about these characters that readers love so much that they want to keep returning to them and their stories?
A: I think it’s because they are so relatable. Flawed, normal, more than slightly sarcastic — just people you would meet anywhere. They have the same issues as the rest of us, just on a level that most of us don’t deal with on a daily basis. I also think they offer a glimpse into an unknown world, and how normal people deal with extraordinary circumstances like murder and kidnapping. In Every Missing Girl, it is Kendall’s turn to help Adam through the disappearance of a loved one. I hope the readers will see a different side to Kendall, without it being a complete departure from who she is and how she reacts to these types of crimes.
Q: What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?
A: Probably that I don’t have a defined writing process. I mean, generally, I plot the story and then write it. But the way I plot is never consistent. Sometimes I prefer working it all out on a whiteboard. Other times I outline on legal pads. And then there are times I use colored sticky notes. And I have no idea why I do it this way, but then, who cares as long as I get something written.
Q: How do you do research for your books?
A: Internet mostly. Ideally, if you are writing crime novels with law enforcement characters, you have a contact at whatever agency you are portraying. Just someone to bounce questions off or will give certain scenes a quick read to check for accuracy.
Q: What is your favorite childhood book?
A: I wore out “The Monster at the End of This Book.” I loved Grover and would carry that book everywhere I went.
