Dr. Leanna Floyd

2019 FIVE-STAR READERS' FAVORITE REVIEW
2020 GOLD MEDAL WINNER-READERS' FAVORITE BOOK AWARD CONTEST-FICTION-MYSTERY-LEGAL
2020 BRONZE WINNER-ROYAL PALM LITERARY AWARD-FLORIDA WRITERS ASSOCIATION-SUSPENSE-FICTION
2020 AWARD-WINNING-FINALIST IN THE THRILLER: PSYCHOLOGICAL CATEGORY-AMERICAN FICTION AWARDS

Over the Borderline was loosely inspired by significant and tragic events in the author’s life that had a huge impact on her. There are two main events that forever changed her life and her view of the human mind. The first event was the heinous murder of her cousin. Sitting through the trial was one of the hardest things she has experienced. She can remember vividly all of the details and photographs shown. Once the trial started and the gory details were revealed, Leanna recalls her aunt and grandmother softly sobbing, and the judge asking them to leave the courtroom so that their crying would not have an impact on the jurors. She remembers the huge lump in her throat as she tried to remain strong for them, forcing her own tears and quivering lips to be still. She had a job to do at the trial, to support her family. When the trial was over, she found her voice in writing.

The second life changing event was when Leanna worked at a local Florida prison. It was in this prison setting that she would encounter her first stalker, be trapped in a room alone and encircled by a large group of male inmates, and have an inmate, who was pending an early release, threaten to kill her. Since this was her job and required training for her doctoral degree, quitting was not an option. Driving to the prison each day knowing that she had a death threat over her head was torture. It was in this setting that the idea of understanding the mind of a killer really started to become a central focus of her study. Like the trial, she had to hold in her emotions in an attempt to be professional and to project an image of confidence and strength. Writing gave her a voice that had once been silenced. Writing allowed her to have control and, in some way, make sense of the pain and terrifying events that she had to endure. These experiences, the murder of her cousin and working in a prison, influenced her writing.