Farms, Freedom, and Films
Welcome to Women Honoring the West!
This month, Leslee Breene is my guest author. She’s a multi-talented, award-winning writer with a heart of gold. We’re going Q&A style this month, and I’m excited to introduce you to my amazing friend.
So let’s get a move on!
CP: What is your ranching background?
LB: I’m a Denver native. But when I was a child, my family made summer visits to a cousin’s farm in Hitterdahl, Minnesota, where my dad was born. My attraction to farm animals was immediate. I loved the freedom of country life.
CP: I understand the freedom of country life and love of farm animals. What attracts you the most about the Western lifestyle?
LB: When Roy Rogers and Dale Evans rode across the TV plains, I was hooked. Trigger, Roy’s golden palomino, was my first “horse heartthrob.”
Later, when I studied creative writing at the University of Denver and fashion illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology, I never dreamed I would one day create Western characters in books set in the historical and contemporary West.
The sky-scraper streets of Manhattan were the farthest paths from the adventurous West that I could have imagined.
CP: I bet it was quite the contrast. What was the inspiration behind the book you’re working on?
LB: JOURNEY TO SAND CASTLE, my last contemporary Western inspirational romance, was inspired by Hurricane Katrina (2005) and the sweeping sand dunes of Colorado’s San Luis Valley.
The distinct contrast between the torrential waters of Katrina and the magical, healing sand dunes were the perfect setting for my three characters challenged by unimaginable tragedies.
4. Wow. How interesting, Leslee. I can’t wait to read this story. What are you working on next?
LB: A first-time film script adapted from JOURNEY TO SAND CASTLE. My good fortune was to have Rick Ramage, multi-film screenwriter/producer, as a mentor.
What a goal: to condense a 300-page novel into a 115-page film script.
My recent thrill was receiving a Gold Award from the 2025 Religion Faith International Film Festival! Currently, I’m pitching the film script to faith-based film agencies.
How exciting! Congratulations.
As a longtime member of Women Writing the West, I am grateful for their inspiration and support of female Western authors. Several of my early short stories were finalists in the 2011/2012 LAURA Competitions.
I wish you the best, my friend.
Connect with Leslee
View Leslee on KC LaCourse’s Book of the West Showcase.
Copies of Journey to Sand Castle, ($18.00) Starlight Rescue($15.00), and Christmas in My Heart Anthology ($10.00) may be ordered through my email: [email protected] as well as www.amazon.com.
About Leslee
Denver author Leslee Breene creates award-winning, inspirational stories set in the West.
You can see more on her Amazon Profile
What questions or comments do you have for Leslee? She’d love to hear from you.
