119: Leslie Rasmussen - Author of After Happily Ever After

Leslie and I discuss the difference between an author and a writer, how her experience writing TV sit-coms and personal essays was very different than writing a full-length novel, and how the idea for her realistic story came from the challenges she observed her forty-something friends grappling with as children left home, parents aged, and marriages underwent major transformations. Leslie A. Rasmussen was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA. She went on to write television comedies and is a member of The Writers' Guild of America. Leslie wrote for Gerald McRaney, Burt Reynolds, Roseanne Barr, Norm McDonald, Drew Carey, as well as The Wild Thornberrys and Sweet Valley High. After leaving the business to raise her boys, she attained a master's in nutrition and ran her own business for ten years. Recently, she's written over twenty essays for Huffington Post, MariaShriver, and SheKnows, and has been on several panels discussing women being empowerment to start a new chapter in midlife. Leslie loves dogs and is a member of The Alliance of therapy dogs and has volunteered at her local Animal Shelter. She lives in Los Angeles and is married and has two sons.  To learn more about Leslie, click here.