Review Fix Exclusive: Leonard Herman Talks ‘Unhappy in Heaven’

Review Fix chats with author Leonard Herman, who details the creation process behind his book, “Unhappy In Heaven.”

For more info on the book, Click Here.

Review Fix: What inspired this book?

Leonard Herman: Unhappy in Heaven was inspired by the tragic massing shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018. One of the 14-year girls killed in the school was the inspiration for the main character.

Review Fix: What was the research process like?

Herman: As this is a novel it didn’t require the type of research that my non-fiction books did. After all, this is fiction and I made much of it up. However, there were some real people and localities and I had to make sure that I got them right. One of the actual male characters made love to one of my female protagonists. After a friend read an early draft he told me that the male character had actually been gay in real life. I double-checked and discovered that he had been correct so I had to make some changes.

Review Fix: What did you learn that you weren’t expecting?

Herman: One thing I learned is that Fairbanks, Alaska has the highest crime rate in all of Alaska and Alaska‟s crime rate is higher than average compared to the rest of the country.

Review Fix: How difficult was it to write this?

Herman: It started out difficult. I remember saying to you that I didn’t know how I could fill 100 pages, let alone 300. And then somehow it was like a faucet opened and everything just poured out.

Review Fix: Could this be a film or a TV series one day?

Herman: I guess if enough people like it. You were an early reader of the book and you said you could imagine it as a movie.

Review Fix: What are your end goals for this book?

Herman: One goal was to get me out of depression. I was very depressed about the death of a 14-year old girl who I didn’t know and thought that writing about it would help me. It did. But another goal was to provide some kind of happy empty to a horrible tragedy.

Review Fix: How would you describe your writing style to someone who’s never read you?

Herman: I’m very easy to read. I write in the format of the type of books that I like to read.

Review Fix: What makes this book unique?

Herman: I’ve been told that my take on “Heaven” is very unique.

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy it the most?

Herman: That’s tough to answer. I think readers of different types of genres would like it if they get through it. Everyone who read the whole book told me that they loved it. Some even cried at the end.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why must someone read it?

Herman: It’s a feel-good book. I think people who experienced loss (and one reviewer agreed with me) may have a different view of life (and death) after reading this book.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Herman: I have an idea for another novel based in “Heaven.” This time a murder mystery. Different characters but taking place in the world I created here.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Herman: A portion of all sales will be donated to a charity set up by parents of the girl who was killed who inspired the novel.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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