Leslie now focuses on writing books for children. Her first two biographies are Dolly Parton: Diamond in a Rhinestone World and Adele: Music Megastar. A third, Meet Devin Booker: Phoenix Suns Superstar, came out last August. Her latest biography, Tom Brady: Gridiron G.O.A.T., released January 2024.
She wrote about dance and other arts for print and online publications from 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.
In March 2019, 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.
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 writing schedule will permit, averaging about 800 miles a year.