GREETINGS, BOOKWORMS! I’m Aisha Kandisha, Head Librarian at Kandisha Press. Join me in the dusty stacks of the library I will never leave again as I chat with some of my favorite Women in Horror. Today we feature author Melissa Leigh!
What do you believe are your strengths in writing? And when you feel you need to improve on a particular writing skill, how do you go about it?
I think I’m really good at laying out a scene so people know what’s up. If I’m struggling with something, the easiest thing for me to do to fix it is set it to music. I always get inspired by the right song for the right moment.
What are your thoughts on the book industry today, or more importantly, about the book community?
It’s hard to be an author that people actually see. You can try social media, or you can try traditional publishing, or you can do book tours – something will be successful eventually. It’s having the bandwidth to keep going when the effort hasn’t born fruit yet.
Do you feel it is getting harder or easier to make it as an independent author these days?
It’s defintiely easier to get published these days – I’ve self published both of my books, and there are tons of awesome places to submit your work to (like Kandisha). But it’s also harder to get noticed by the people who would want to buy your book.
Tell us about your work. What story are you most proud of?
I’ve really enjoyed slowly inserting queer and genderqueer characters into my works just because. Sometimes they are a hero, sometimes a villain, sometimes someone who knows more than you about a given situation. Genderqueer people exist everywhere, and I’m proud that they exist in my stories too.
What are your upcoming works and plans for the future?
I’m actually planning on compiling a queer historical romance collection of short fiction to benefit a group called RESCU. They help people within the Renaissance Festival community (my “day job”, if you will, is performing at festivals all over the country) to get help with healthcare and provide some awesome resources such as clinics and CPR events. I think this will benefit all of the authors by helping us reach our community at large with our work, and also help the community both monetarily and by spreading the word that queer people have always existed and we don’t need to invent a history to prove it.
KANDISHA PRESS 
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