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Monday Madness...Down and Dirty Style
Name: Sharon L. Higa
Titles: #6, Rose & Steel, Horrors & Occupational Hazards, The Dam. Anthologies with my short stories: Innana Rising: Women forged by fire, Autumn Burning: Bedtime stories for the wicked soul, Midnight Remains, Fish Tales I, Mental Ward: Echoes of the Past, Monster Attack.
1. If you had one image/idea to represent you, what would it be?
I would say it would have to be the mythical unicorn. Though it is a just and pure creature, it is still wild, and abides by its own laws – goodness prevails in the creature, but so does justice and righteousness.
2. What s one theme you cover and explore within your writing?
I would have to say vengeance or justice, however you wish to look at it. I'm very bad about viewing things as either black or white, and I feel a lot of times my stories reflect this mentality. The bad guy rarely wins, and if he does, it's because of the circumstances, not the villain, per se.
3. Give us one (or 2) character (s) (tell us the book(s)) and tell us why you admire/hate/ love that person.
I love my character, Ida Moreno, in the novel, # 6. She perseveres even in death and initially is determined to seek vengeance. Her attitudes and ideals change as the story unfolds, and though she does achieve her justice, she also learns more about her essence, her soul, than she had ever understood while alive.
4. Pick one of your covers and tell us how that represents your book. Who did the cover? How was the experience? What was the planning like?
I would have to pick the cover for # 6. It represents the actual essence of the tale, the images tying in with the actual story. The cover was done by Velma Giggle Wink, an illustration artist whom I connected with almost immediately. It was rather surreal, the way she was able to pull my image for the cover out of my head and make it a reality. The cover is exactly what I had imagined, and she hit it spot on.
5. What is publishing like? Is it difficult? Easy? Why?
To be published, now…there is only one word for it…amazing! JEA made my dream come true. Prior to being published by them, I had spent five years sending out query letters, six a week, to any and every agency around with no luck whatsoever. The rejection letters were the most difficult part, but I kept on writing, knowing there was some publisher out there who would 'get' my stories. JEA made this dream a reality, and has continued to encourage and allow me to grow in all areas of my writing. I can tell people that I am a published author all because JEA Press was willing to take a chance on an unknown writer.
6. In 10 years, what do you want readers to say about your work/you?
That I have improved and they still want to read what I write, and pass the word on to others about this author!
7. Do you have favorite words to use in writing? What are they?
That's a good one…I love using old sayings, " Soonest begun is soonest done," sarcastic comments like, "Did your mother have any kids that lived?", and swear words when appropriate with the setting. I make up some pretty creative ones, and my husband loves to joke about me being a 'Marine', though he claims I've come up with some strings of words that he'd never heard in his life, and he's a former Marine!
8. What is the funniest writing experience you've had?
I came up with an idea for a story while shopping in Wal-Mart, and hadn't realized I'd been talking the plot out loud while pushing the cart around! I then grabbed a notebook and pen, ripped them open and wrote the whole thing down right there in the aisle! Yes, I did pay for the items at the cashiers!
9. How do you title a book? Where does it come from? The weird thing is, the books that I have written, as well as my short stories, all seem to title themselves and for me, it seems the simplest title seems to be the best fit. For example, I wrote a short piece about a beauty salon and titled it 'scalping season', which came to me as I was explaining the story plot to my hair dresser!
10. What are your strongest abilities in writing?
I think one of my strongest abilities is I'm able to start a story at any point. I can imagine the ending first, and work the plot around that, or just a random sentence can get the story started in my head. I think that I can explain and carry through a scene and still give the reader a chance to use their own imagination and that is a big thing to me. I want my readers to be able to picture in their minds what I am laying out in a storyline, and when they're done, put the book down and say, "Wow!"
Name: Ash Hartwell
Titles: Zombies, Vamps, and Fiends
Down and Dirty Questions:
Answer; Equality and Liberty.
Answer; The demons and monsters that lurk within us all. Whether we care to admit it or not we are all capable of evil deeds, of corrupting others, or even committing the most heinous of crimes. This may be as a result of mental illness, depression or some psychotic break, or out of simple lust, greed or envy. The way we deal with it, that internal struggle between good and evil, is what makes us the person we are, or the monster we may become. We are all Dr. Jekyll but we are also all Mr. Hyde
Answer; In Zombies, Vamps, and Fiends in the story Concrete Skull the character of Dr Thorne is fascinating. Despite a less than normal childhood she overcomes all the odds to become a successful psychiatrist studying the mind of a child killer and writing a book about it. However, she is fatally flawed and as the story progresses you find she is more involved in the crime that you first think until, finally you learn the tragic truth.
The story pits good and evil together and shows the difference between the two is so thin. Just a different decision here or there and their lives could have been so different (I'm trying not to give too much away here).
Answer; ZV&F. Designed by David McGlumphy. The fire represents the idea of gathering around a camp fire to tell tales of horror and the supernatural. The figures above are characters from a few of the stories appearing in the smoke. David and I exchanged Emails of about three days, we never disagreed on any aspect. I think he understood what I said from the start. We experimented with a few elements but agreed instantly on what worked and what didn't. I think the whole process was done and dusted in 3 or 4 days despite us being about 5,000 miles, and several time zones apart.
Answer; Frustrating. Editing can take so long to get right and it is important to get it right. Nothing frustrates a reader more than frequent mistooks. (Haha) With a good publisher, editor and formatter, and JEA have all these in abundance the process of publishing is a breeze. (Well it was for me. I expect it was a nightmare for them.)
Answer; "I remember him when he was a nobody, and look at him now?" That would be nice, but honestly, I settle for still writing in ten years and having other people take the time to read it. If that's the case then I'll consider myself successful. I'd like to think people viewed my work as an honest attempt to tell a story for the sake of the story, not writing what I think will sell just to make a quick buck. That never works because there's no emotional investment. (If anyone wants to send me a quick buck, then please feel free! Lol)
No, not really. I try to find a word suitable to the story and the character involved. I expect if you read my book (and a recommend you do) you would find I have common or favourite words, but everyone does in their natural speech. The art of writing is too try and remove them, or find a substitute as often as possible to prevent repartition.
Answer; I used to go to a writers group in the local town. It wasn't a big group, only 15-20 regulars, who were generally older. They asked for us to read a section from a piece we were currently writing. After several women's magazine style romance pieces I stood up and gave them a gruesome murder of a Santa Clause figure. You could hear a pin drop when I finished, then the chairman said, "Oh well, keep at it." A week later I signed a contract with JEA and sold that story to an anthology for another publisher.
9. How do you title a book? Where does it come from?
Answer; This one just came to me. I obviously need to credit Cher with giving a little help. I thought, ok it's about Zombies, Vamps and… what else. Thieves… were did that come from? Then the song dropped into my head and after a few minutes, fiends seemed to have taken root.
With short stories the title often comes first and inspires the story. Sometimes after the stories written I go back and change the title, but not often.
Answer; Being able to use spellchecker, even if I don't always agree with it (smug know-it-all) Being perfectly honest, I don't know. Maybe you should ask someone else that question.
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