The sun is shining, there's a faint breeze and the birds are singing in the trees. Yes, Tellytubbies is on the television. I mean, there's no way I'd know that for sure. Well, the sun maybe, but the birds and breeze are not luxuries we are able to taste within the asylum. Luckily, I have a new friend to chat to.

Hey there. What's your name?

Lavinia Leigh

Lovely to meet you Lavinia. Where are you from?

I'm from a small town near Toronto, Canada.

I've heard a great many good things about Toronto and Canada. That Shaun Allan geezer has a cousin there and visited Wattpad HQ recently. He loved it. It was strange for him, passing Grimsby, the Humber River and a sign for Whitby. He thought he'd taken that left turn at Albuquerque and ended up back home! Do you like living there? If not, where would your favourite place to live be? Is yes, where would you least like to live?

Yes! I love where I live. It's a quirky, artsy little town that doesn't take itself too seriously. Really high on my list of where not to live is the Canadian Arctic. My husband lived there for years, and occasionally suggests moving back. Brrrrr....

It sounds wonderful where you live. I like quirky. I think that describes me. Some might call me many other names - idiot, murderer, weirdo - but I prefer quirky. Anything that has 'Arctic' in the title (unless it's immediately followed by 'Roll') can stay just where it is. As you're a writer, is this your 'day job'?

I wish! That's the dream to wake up every morning and be able to write. Maybe one day that will become a reality.

Let's hope so. Then your reality will be a dream. Tell me about your latest project.

Sugar Lust is my latest project. Emmeline is seventeen when she gives birth to her daughter in a firestorm of disapproval. She never manages to do things as expected, and just when she thinks she has it figured out, everything changes. Her love life is a mess, her friends are eccentric, and she dreams of striking out on her own to run her own bakery. How is it that it seems like her kid can figure out life better than she can!

Eccentric friends? She should join me in here! Your book sounds interesting, especially the 'firestorm of disapproval'. I think she and I would get along famously. How do you feel about bacon? A crazy person once said it was the food of the gods. OK, I admit that person was myself...

I'm pretty sure there is an unspoken rule in my house that if you don't like what you're eating, put bacon on it. Bacon makes things better.

That's a good philosophy. It really does. Nothing better than a bacon butty for brekkie! What is your favourite film?

I love movies, and I have so many favourites, but, if I have to choose just one it would be, An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.

Wow, there's a classic and a half! It's so hard. I don't know how I'd choose one out of all the movies I love. I wouldn't have thought of something like that. Well played! Have you always wanted to be a writer, or is it something you found yourself doing one day?

I always wanted everyone else around me to be a writer! I was always pushing other people to write, convinced that it was something I couldn't do myself. Then one day I just sat down and started writing. Silly things at first, but then I found I wanted to do it more until I became a full-fledged addiction.

And now you can't let it go - and nor should you! Never say never and never say can't. Yes, I know I said never say never but said it three times. Or five, now. I get easily confused. Do you have so many ideas they dribble out of your nose if you don't get them down, or do you have to hunt around the floor and the back of your sofa to find where your Muse is hiding?

When I sit down at my computer some days I have no idea what I am going to write. I think, well, this should be interesting I wonder what my fingers are going to do now. Fortunately, they seem to know better than me so I usually let them lead the way.

Shaun's apparently like that. With my diary, he just starts writing and is as surprised as I am when I meet someone. Gives me a headache! If you were in an asylum, what would your particular delusion or psychosis be?

I would totally be in there for talking to myself, about these made up towns, thinking these characters I fabricate are real. "Ha! You should have heard what Emmeline said to me the other day! She's so funny."

Ah, but who's to say they're not real? Who's to say you don't create alternate realities with your stories? Don't start believing it, though - you won't leave here! What genre(s) do you write?

I started out writing picture books, and then graduated to an adventure story, on to Fanfiction, and my latest book is Chicklit. I like the challenge of writing in different genres. I think it helps me to really figure out who I am as a writer.

Is that something that's possible? Isn't writing another version of multiple personality disorder? Except you're forcing the different personalities to wander around on paper (or screen) instead of in the 'real' world? What genres(s) do you read?

I read a little bit of everything, but I do quite often go back to historical fiction.

I love history. One of my favourite places in the world is the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. If these are the same, what attracts you to them? If they're different, why do you think that is?

I mostly like to keep my options open. I got stuck once in the classics for a couple of years which was great, but there were so many other books out there I missed, so now I try to mix it up on a regular basis.

There are SO many books out there - and now yours are among them! Now then. Bacon - just cooked or crispy?

Crispy!!

Lovely. Lust how I like it. It's been a while since I've had bacon, although I may have had it and not realised. The slop they serve in here could be anything. You're entering your work into the Wattys for 2016. Watt story (do you see what I did there?) are you entering? Tell us about it!

Sugar Lust is getting all dressed up for the Watty's this year. Emmeline is fretting over which dress to wear, but her daughter knew right away and has it cleaned and ready to go. It's very fortunate that the small town they live in is not too far from Wattpad headquarters, Emmeline doesn't want to close the bakery for too long.

She's more organised than me! I'm never able to find the right dress... I mean outfit. Now you're in the asylum with me, how do you aim to get out? Do you have an escape plan?

Yes, I'd have one planned before they even got me in. I'd never remember what it was, but I can assure you it would be fool proof.

Well, the issue is you're here now. So you're stuck. Good luck with that. As fool proof as your plan was, it's a little late! Unless, of course, it comes back to you. In that case, yay! Take me with you!

I won't hold my breath. I go a funny colour.

Anywho-be-do, this is Lavinia. Everyone say HI!

Lavinia Leigh has been in love with stories her whole life. As a kid she used to read well past her bedtime with her foot on the light switch so she could quickly turn the lights off and pretend she was sleeping. As an adult, she has carried that love with her until the day she started to write herself. Lavinia dabbles in multiple genres, and writes what her heart is telling her to do next.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorLaviniaLeigh/

Wattpad: https://aztruyen.top/tac-gia/lavinialeigh

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lavinia_Leigh

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lavinia_leigh