Leslie now focuses on writing books for children. Her latest biographies for kids are Lionel Messi: Soccer’s Golden Striker and BTS: K-pop’s Biggest Headliners. Both released in August 2024.
Previously, Leslie wrote about dance and other arts for print and online publications (2009-2020). Her work appeared in national and Seattle-area publications. They included City Arts, Crosscut and Queen Anne & Magnolia News (Seattle), Dance Magazine, and Dance Teacher. She conducted an oral history of master ballet teacher Sheila Rozann in Santa Fe, NM, for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division’s Oral History Project at New York Public Library for Performing Arts in March 2019.
Leslie received an M.P.A. degree in nonprofit and public management from New York University. She also holds a master’s degree in dance history from the University of California, Riverside. She was advised on her thesis by dance scholar Susan Foster.
Leslie studied ballet and modern dance for years and took courses in hip hop and jazz. These days she walks a lot, as much as her schedule will permit, approaching 800 miles a year.