Local Artist Spotlight: Tom Leveen
This week, Hayden’s Ferry
Review had the opportunity to talk with writer Tom Leveen, an Arizona
native writing in the competitive and demanding Young Adult genre. Instead of
writing fantasy fiction, which is currently popular with teenagers and fans of
YA lit, he bases his work in reality and focuses on real-world problems a teenager
might experience. His stories reveal the complexity of seemingly minor issues
in teenagers’ lives.
His books speak of the challenges that occur during the
transition between high school and college, and teenagers’ need for orientation,
support, and guidance. “You as a YA writer are the last person that will be
able to make some impact in them, that might change their future,” he says. This
is one of the reasons he writes the kind of books like Party, Random and Zero.
During our interview, he mentioned that he draws on his
experience with theater to develop characters and change points of view. He
attended sessions for classical training with the Utah Shakespeare Festival
Actor Training program, gaining experience as a theatre actor and director. He
says, “I encourage other writers to attend at least one semester of theater to
know how to separate the different personalities of each character they want to
involve in their stories.”
Tom has written five books and is currently working on several
projects, one of which will be out in the market by August 2015. When I asked about
the best part of writing, he said that not only teenagers read his books, but
everyone can learn from them. “You deserve the time and space to write. Or
read, for that matter. Work it out with whoever you have to. But write.”
Tom has spoken, taught classes, or been on professional panels
for the following organizations: The Society of Children’s Book Writers and
Illustrators, Romance Writers of America, Phoenix ComiCon, Tucson Festival of
Books, Arizona State University Rl Txt, and others. Additionally, Tom has been
the Artistic Director for an independent theater company, Is What It Is Theater
in Phoenix; been recognized by the Phoenix
New Times for their annual “Big Brain Award” in the Performing Arts
Category, been awarded Best New Local
Author 2012 by the Phoenix Magazine, and more. Check him out here: http://tomleveen.com/
-Zalma Aguirre