MFA student Leah DeCesare is a model for writers who aspire to be published

Leah DeCesare is currently a graduate student in Salve Regina’s Newport MFA in creative writing program, but she is already an accomplished author and a model for other writers who aspire to be published.

DeCesare is the author of the “Naked Parenting” book series, which gives parents advice on how to raise confident children, and her debut novel “Forks, Knives and Spoons” won nine awards during the first two years of its publication.

Starting a blog, writing a book in a weekend

DeCesare graduated from Syracuse University in 1992 with majors in advertising, communications and marketing, and French. After college, she worked in event planning and as a parenting educator in hospitals. She began her writing career by starting a blog for the parents she advised in the hospital, after fielding many of the same questions.

The inspiration to turn her blog into a book series came from an e-book on how to write a book in a weekend. Her parenting blog served as the outline for her idea, and the concept of “Naked Parenting” came from her parenting style of stripped down, open and direct communication. DeCesare’s ideals apply to kids at any age and any stage, and the theme is cultivating confidence in both kids and parents.

“By the way, I did write it in a weekend,” DeCesare said. She started her first book on a Friday morning and finished the first draft on Saturday night. By Sunday afternoon, she completed a first revision of “Naked Parenting: 7 Keys to Raising Kids With Confidence.” She self-published the book and went on to self-publish “Naked Parenting: Guiding Kids in a Digital World.”

Diving into the writing process was a great way for DeCesare to learn about publishing while gaining the knowledge and confidence she needed to begin working on her debut novel. Because deep down, she had always wanted to write fiction.

Publishing a debut novel through the Newport MFA

“I always had it in the back of my mind to get a master’s degree and an MFA,” DeCesare said. “When I was little and I thought of myself as being a writer, it was novels.”

As DeCesare found herself in her forties raising children without having accomplished that lifelong dream, she felt she should regret it if she didn’t write a novel. She knew Ann Hood, founder of the Newport MFA, from being a writer in the local community, and a friend told her about Salve Regina’s program.

“I went home that day, I looked it up and I applied,” DeCesare said. “I literally didn’t look anywhere else.”

While the program was both rewarding and intense, she’s loved every bit of the two years she spent studying with Hood. In fact, Hood wrote the blurb for “Forks, Knives and Spoons.”

A romantic, witty story about college girls growing up to find out what love really means, the novel is described as “a light-hearted, thought-provoking coming of age story that takes readers on a nostalgic journey back to the 1980s and 1990s.” The book has won nine awards, including the 2019 ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Award semifinalist and the 2018 International Book Awards winner in fiction, general.

DeCesare shared her love for writing in a TEDx talk that emphasized the beauty in the lost art of letter writing.

Advice to young writers

When she was younger, DeCesare might not have realized all that writing would pay off eventually. To writers at Salve Regina and beyond, she urges the continuance of practicing and learning the craft.

“Don’t wait to learn it all to write, and don’t write without trying to learn,” she said. DeCesare also urges students to take advantage of free opportunities to learn – whether it be online resources, workshops or great writers and speakers that Salve Regina brings in to talk with students. It’s all about being willing to learn and accept criticism.

When she showed her first draft of “Forks, Knives, and Spoons” to Hood, she helped DeCesare work through many of the things that were bothering her about her writing.

That is why, according to DeCesare, the best advice for young writers is to practice and become educated about the craft of writing. This requires revision, revision, revision. A writer must also accept the reality that their writing will never be perfect, and that a writer is always growing.

“I look back now, and I’m still really proud of my book that won nine awards,” DeCesare said. “But there’s things I listen to and I go, ‘Oh, I would have changed that.’”

After reflecting on her accomplishments, DeCesare has realized that her passion has always been about empowering people. “I love being that cheerleader for other people and encouraging people to stand up for themselves, to be confident, to love themselves,” she said.