Sci-fi and fantasy author Shari Sakurai sat down recently to talk about her life as a writer and about her two novels,Demon’s Blood and Perfect World. 

When and why did you begin writing?
I first started writing when I was six years old. Our class wrote a story together about the teacher’s pet rat and I found that I enjoyed writing so much that I wanted to continue. I love the escapism, creating new characters and telling their stories. Writing is my first love really. 

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I first considered myself a writer when I started writing with the intention of publishing my work.

Are you a full-time or part-time writer and how does that affect your writing?
I write part-time and also have a full-time job. I try to write every day, but writing only part-time does mean that it takes me longer to finish a novel than it would do if I was writing full-time.

Do you have a special time to write, or how is your day structured to accommodate your writing?
I usually write in the evenings if it is a weekday but times at the weekend vary. I normally try to set aside a few hours a day at the weekends for writing.

What have you written so far?
I have published two novels so far.

Demon’s Blood is a horror novel which is set in the fictional English city of Norfield. The protagonists are Japanese vampire Taku Kokawa and his English lover Thane Bremen. They were forced to flee their home in Tokyo after being discovered by vampire hunters. When the novel begins they are already settled in Norfield, however, both are battling their inner demons. Thane is haunted by the events in Tokyo and suffers from reoccurring nightmares. Yet unknown to Thane there is more to those events than he is aware of. As a consequence, Taku is struggling against something much darker, something that could ultimately destroy him.

Perfect World is the first novel in a series of the same title. It is a science fiction novel set in twenty-second century England. The protagonist, Eric Rawlins, is a genetically engineered superhero and part of the London Security Agency (L.S.A), which is the organisation that created him. The L.S.A has given Eric the perfect life with his superhero abilities, longevity, celebrity status and beautiful girlfriend, but in reality they control him and use his popularity with the public to their advantage. Eric’s nemesis Adam Larimore was also genetically engineered and has a genius level IQ and longevity. As the novel progresses Eric begins to see a darker side of the organisation that he works for and also learns that Adam isn’t quite the villain that he’s made out to be. They become closer throughout the novel but Eric remains unsure of whether he can trust Adam or if he is being used.

Can you share with readers a little bit about your latest book? 
My latest novel is called Adam, and it is a companion novel to my Perfect World series. It focuses on events before the first book in the series and how Adam Larimore became a villain. Adam will be released in the next couple of months.

What made you decide to sit down and actually start writing this book?
I felt that in order to tell Adam’s story properly he needed his own novel. I also wanted my readers to gain a better insight into Adam himself and why he did what he did.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I enjoyed writing from a change in perspective. Perfect World Book 1 was written almost completely from Eric Rawlins’ point of view so it was a nice change for me to write from a different character’s perspective.

What is your next project? 
I have two novels that I will be working on next. The first is the follow up to Demon’s Blood and as well I’ll be starting to work on Book 2 of the Perfect World series.

Where to connect with Shari?Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Goodreads | Pinterest |Amazon Author Page