Sharon O. Lightholder is an American writer. She grew up in a military family and traveled extensively. After living at 24 addresses throughout America, Asia, and Europe, attending three colleges and one law school, she finally settled down in Southern California...except for occasional trips to France. 

She was an early avid reader, writer, and family storyteller. She remains inquisitive, or as her sister might say, nosey. These traits which served her well as a peace officer; court investigator; public policy, fiscal and legislative analyst; attorney, and risk manager for a multi-billion-dollar public entity, continue to inform her deeply researched and emotionally compelling fiction. Her varied occupations and travel contributed to her passion to look past the “now” to understand the “why”. 

Her history-based fiction includes The English Rendition, The Baldwin Portolano (finalist San Diego book awards 2016), and Jefferson’s Chef - James Hemings: from slavery to freedom. Her adaptations of Jefferson’s Chef were awarded Finalist in the Southern California Screenplay Competition and Semi-Finalist in the ScreenCraft TV Pilot contest in 2021. The Paris Draft, is contemporary woman’s fiction about writer’s block, reversable dementia, and love. She was honored when her dictionary of almost 10,000 military terms, VIETNAM: The War Zone Dictionary, in their own words, was praised by a member of the Combat Photographers Association. 

She is a member of the Historical Novel Society (UK), Women’s Fiction Writers Association (USA), and Publishers and Writers - San Diego (CA). She is actively researching her next project.