Interview with Sharon L. Higa

As seen in Issue 3 of Uncaged Book Reviews. To read an excerpt from Horrors & Occupational Hazards and to read the Uncaged Review of Where the Dead Have Gone, see the issue, link below.

1) What was your first book? When did you realize you wanted to be an author?

I actually wrote three novels within a two month period. I wrote #6, Rose and Steel and A Safe Place (a mystery drama much like Fried Green Tomatoes), which I am still working on.  I began telling stories and writing little tales down when I was nine years old. I come from a long line of story tellers, mostly horror, and when I was six years old, my cousin - who is much older than me – would sit down and tell me all kinds of scary stories. Thus, the horror/writing bug bit me and I was hooked.       

2) Who are some of your favorite authors now, and what genres do you tend to read the most?

I would have to say my favorite authors are Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Robert McCammon, and Brian Lumley. The most recent authors whom I have fallen in love with are several with whom I have the honor to share anthologies and are also publishers as well as authors. To name a few: Jack Rollins, Catt Dahman, Toneye Eyenot, Amanda M. Lyons, Stuart Keane. If I continued, my list would be a mile long at this time! LOL

I read primarily horror of any kind, but I love just about every genre there is, except what my grammy used to call “The Bodice Rippers.”  I just am not a girly-girl, so romance is out.  Apologies to all my Romance buddies out there! :)

3) The short story, Where the Dead Have Gone, is a real creepy treat. It brings up the feelings when you read about a lot of the closed asylums, and if they are haunted or not. You couldn’t get me in one, I’ll tell you that. Did you read up on the old closed asylums and the way people were treated for this story? 

Sirens Call Publications took a chance on a new author and for that I will be forever grateful. They helped launch my writing career, along with the fantastic JEA Press. 

No, actually, that story is one of personal experience and it was difficult for me to put down on paper. My best and dearest friend ended up spending one year in an asylum – the year myself and my parents moved overseas. I did not find out about this until I returned, and when we were in our twenties, she found out the place was being torn down to put in new townhomes.  She and I snuck in there, and we walked around, and I discovered that everything she had told me throughout the years had been true, including the metal shackles in the walls in the basement rooms. Now, she and I are both psychic, and we didn’t stay long in there – but it set up the narrative in my mind, which eventually blossomed into the story, “Where the Dead Have Gone.” 

4) Where is your favorite place to write? A lot of authors love to listen to music, and even have a playlist for their book. Do you like to listen to music while writing, or do you prefer quiet?

I don’t listen to music, as I have family members living with me, so I have learned to write pretty much anywhere in the house, at any time, even when politics are on the TV! *grinning*  I usually write in my recliner, my Teagle pup between my legs snoozing, or, I end up being awakened at 3 a.m. by my Muse, (doesn’t matter what day of the week to that slave driver :)  where I grab my laptop and go write at the kitchen table for two, three or four hours. 

5) What’s in the near future for you? What can we expect to see coming? Will you be involved in more anthologies?

I am currently working on a Zombie Western novel, a horror tale about a female demon wrangler in Hell, a serial killer, and a haunted house that is actually alive. I have another zombie novel coming out by JEA Press in the very near future, and I love anthologies – at least seven of them coming out with me in them as well this year. Please check out Dark Chapter Press’s offerings, and JEA Press – two phenomenal publishing groups!  I love horror and anything to do with the supernatural, so that will be my primary focus in the future.   

6) This short story was so well written, I felt the terror that the boys did, and the ending was not what I expected. Are we going to see more horror type work from you in the future?

Most definitely. My leanings have been towards subtle Hitchcock type horror with a twist, but I have also begun to get into a little more intense horror, which I am finding refreshingly challenging. I love to stretch and test my mental limits with horror!

7) What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?

To all the fans, I want to say, THANK YOU – because without people willing to read my work, and give new authors a chance, I would never be able to grow and continue to appreciate the gift of story- telling that I have been blessed with.  Anyone can follow me on my website:  www.leapingunicornliterary.com  I have listed all of my current novels, novellas and the anthologies I am in.  I also do a Monday weekly wordpress blog, so I am more than happy to promote my fellow authors. Anyone can email me at the address listed on my website if they want me to blog about them, or add them to my authors list on my website as well.  

Sharon L. Higa has been a published author since 2013, with one short story, Where the Dead Have Gone, published by Sirens Call Publications, as well as three novels - #6, Rose & Steel, Desert Tracks, two novellas, Horrors and Occupational Hazards and The Dam, all published with JEA Press, as well as over twenty-five Short stories published with four publishers.

She has received the ‘Editors Choice Award’ Title in two Anthologies published by JEA Press,

“Autumn Burning: Dreadtime Stories for the Wicked Soul” and “All That Remains.”

She also won the ‘Males vs Females’ Competition by JEA Press against her estimable and noteworthy fellow author, Michael Fisher.   

She received an award from JEA Press for being very  ‘Professional’ in her interactions with both fellow authors, and the Staff at JEA Press.

She also received ‘First Place’ Title with the submission and acceptance of her short story, 

 I C U, published by Sirens Call Publications in their October, 2014 E-Zine.

Her short story, The Black Cat, was one of seven stories chosen and accepted by Dark Chapter Press for their anthology, “Eight Deadly Kisses.” The proceeds for this anthology are committed to CAMFED, a charity providing education for girls and young women in Africa. 

She has been married to hubby Mark for twenty-five years. They share their home with seven cats, one dog, and a ton of wildlife on 6 acres of property which surrounds their house, located in East Tennessee.