There were 500 books piled in her living room, but Elizabeth Leiknes was too excited to acknowledge them.
"It was a week before I could look at one and touch it," she said.
The books were copies of the Gardnerville resident's first book, "The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns," released by Baltimore-based publisher Bancroft Press on June 15. She will be signing copies of her book at events in Carson Valley and Carson City beginning Thursday.
Leiknes describes her novel as sassy women's fiction, and if it was made into a movie, it would be rated PG-13 and Angelina Jolie would play the title character.
"Lucy Burns works for the devil to save her sister," said Leiknes. "It's grounded in reality with a touch of magical realism, but it might be a little dark and edgy for some.
"For me, it's about motherhood and morality. It's not chick-lit, not horror, but it keeps you turning the pages."
The author wasn't the only one excited about getting her first book published.
"My students are elated," said Leiknes, who has been teaching English at Carson Valley Middle School for 12 years and was the school's teacher of the year in 2007.
"I don't want to squelch their enthusiasm but this book is not intended for kids," she said. "But since this is all happening, I've had eight manuscripts " one is 150 pages " given to me to read by my students.
"They love hearing where ideas come from. It's a great opportunity to teach budding writers."
As a working mother of 3-year-old and 5-year-old sons and wife to Pau-Wa-Lu Middle School English teacher John Leiknes, Elizabeth Leiknes, 38, said she had to learn to be creative on a schedule.
She started "The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns" during her first pregnancy, continued after her second baby was born and wrote the rest of the book while her babies were sleeping.
"I had summer's off and my kids are good sleepers. I'd put them down for a nap, would still have my pajamas on and I'd run to the computer because I knew I had two hours," Leiknes said. "I had to reinvent the creative process. Just like working muscles, it gets easier."
After several years, Lieknes completed "The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns" and two other novels, "Black-Eyed Susan" and "The Understory," but had no news from her publisher.
"I just thought, 'I have three books written,' and put them away," Leiknes said. "Then one day my publisher and agent called and said, 'I love these. Let's publish them.'"
Leiknes said husband John helped with the editing process of "The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns."
"I'm good with the creative ideas and he's great with the editing," she said. "He encouraged me, but he's a results guy. So now getting the book published, he's very excited. I willed it to happen."
Information at www.elizabethleiknes.com
