Kyleigh Leddy on "Worse Than Strangers"

In this sparkling, summer-themed episode of Why Authors Write, host Kristie Dickinson sits down with Kyleigh Leddy, author of the memoir The Perfect Other and her debut novel Worse Than Strangers, for a deeply honest, hopeful conversation about creativity, the healing, almost magical power of writing from the heart, and the challenges of making a living as an author. Kyleigh shares how she craved an escapist fiction project after writing "The Perfect Other" and ended up plotting "Worse Than Strangers" during a single stressful corporate meeting. Set on Nantucket and inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, the novel follows Rose and Lily Gardner, a mother-daughter duo whose close, funny, and emotionally rich relationship is rooted in Kyleigh’s own bond with her mom. She talks about what it means to “write the version of a place only you can see,” and how her adjacent-to-local view of Nantucket allowed her to show both the glossy beach-read side and its quieter, more introspective depths. As a licensed therapist and writing instructor, Kyleigh recently helped to design a new Boston College graduate program that combines creative writing with psychological humanities.Kyleigh explores the intersection of psychology and storytelling—how concepts like theory of mind, mental health, and self-knowledge naturally live on the page. She also opens up about creative self-doubt, rejection, and how she has learned to reframe failure as redirection.From the line, “There’s nothing more irresponsible than ignoring a dream,” to her belief that writing contains a kind of magic that can manifest change in our lives, Kyleigh offers both practical insight and soulful encouragement to aspiring authors. Kristie also digs into Kyleigh’s experience with adopting productive writing tools (hello, Scrivener), her strategy of developing multiple income streams, and why play—not rigid discipline—is at the heart of sustaining a long-term writing life. Highlights & InsightsHow a bad corporate day birthed a Nantucket beach novelTurning lived experience into layered, fictional charactersBlending mental health, psycho-education, and character-driven fictionNavigating self-doubt, rejection, and “investing in luck”Practical talk: money, advances, and building sustainable income as a writer