MEET AUTHOR SANDRA FARRIS
Author of Can You Hear the Music? and MORE
I have had the pleasure of being
a facebook cyber friend of this author for about three years. I say pleasure , because
in addition to being such a pleasant soul, her pictures posted on facebook will
take your breath away. She calls herself
one whose hobby is photography, but I’d ante up and say she is a professional.
Born in Texas, Sandra Farris lived for a time in Los
Angeles, where she completed her high school education. While attending
Narbonne High, she served on her school newspaper. During that time, Sandra developed
a series about, and interviewed students with interesting backgrounds. She wrote an
article for the Lomita News, and was interviewed by the Woman’s Section Editor
of the Torrance Press, Torrance, California.
She finally settled in southeast Arizona, where she attended a local community
college to continue her education and hone her writing skills.
Recently, Sandra kindly allowed
me to interview her. After you get to know her, visit her amazon page for a
look at her books. Be sure and scroll to the end of this interview to links to
her pages, and her work.
Jackie: Apart from your writing, who are
you? Tell a little about yourself, and don’t be shy.
Sandra:
I was born in Texas, and my parents moved the family to Los Angeles in my
junior year of High School. What a culture shock for me.
Jackie: How so?
Sandra:
The students were so lax in school, and I shuddered when they showed a lack of
respect for the teacher. When I had to read aloud, I could hear
snickering behind me because of my accent. That made me even more self-conscious
than I was already. I suppose that helped me with my writing.
Jackie: So do you work
a day job, or is writing your full time work?
Sandra:
I am retired.
Jackie: So am I. I miss teaching,but it does free up
more time to write. What did you do before you retired?
Sandra: Before I
retired I worked for the court system, both county and municipal. I worked the
front counter at Justice Court and Marana Municipal Courts, where people came
in to pay fines or set up court dates. At Justice Court (County), officers
brought in warrants to be issued and long form complaints, which were usually
for Driving Under the Influence. I entered them in the computer and gave them
docket numbers. I also worked in the Child Support Division of Superior Court,
issuing child support checks to the custodial parent.
Jackie: Fascinating. Never a dull moment
I’m sure. Kind of like motherhood. Speaking of motherhood, do you have children?
Sandra: I have two
sons, a third one (adult) passed away in 2000.
Jackie: Three sons. I
know they kept you busy. I am truly sorry about the loss of one of your sons. I
know you were proud of them all. Motherhood is one of my proudest
accomplishments. Any other proud moments in life?
Sandra: Aside from giving birth to my sons, my
biggest accomplishment is being a cancer survivor.
Jackie: Definitely!
Sandra:
Third best is realizing my dream of becoming a published author. I have 4 short
stories written, two of which are down for re-working. I also have 4 published
novels.
Jackie: Yes,we must be
sure and include links to those.
Sandra:Thank you. I also have book trailers.
Jackie: Great. We will
get those listed, too. Moving on....Are you a homebody or a globetrotter.
Sandra:
I love to travel, and have been fortunate enough to visit Thailand, Hong Kong,
Ireland, Morocco, Rome, Spain, Jamaica, and I have seen a lot of our great
states, including several cruises to Alaska.
Jackie: Wow. It’s not
on my bucket lists, because I’m afraid of planes. I indulge through travel
shows and photos. I ‘m sure you took amazing pictures of your travels.
Sandra:
My son bought me a nice Canon camera, and I have spent some time developing my
skills at photography.( He thought I had graduated to a better camera than my
little digital.)
Jackie: I have seen
some of your photography. They’re very professional. You really have an eye for
beauty. Any other hobbies?
Sandra:
Yes, another hobby of mine besides reading, is hiking in my beautiful Southern
Arizona.
Jackie: A setting for
even more amazing pictures. I have seen some of them on social media. Let’s talk about your
younger days. Were you an avid reader as a child?
I
had two very young sisters, and I made up stories to keep them entertained. I
soon began writing them down, and shared them with my 9th grade English
teacher. She encouraged me to enter contests. Although I didn’t win any of
them, it was good experience and special because someone other than family
believed in me. I started reading books later. I read Nancy Drew mysteries, and
graduated to romance novels as I got older.
Jackie: Interesting. You
really got hooked on reading when your teacher encouraged you. I was an
addicted reader by third grade. I too was influenced in writing by my ninth
grade teacher. What kind of books and stories did you read during your school
days? Were any of those authors influential in your present work as a
writer?
Sandra:
Actually it wasn’t a book, but a movie, Tammy and the Bachelor. I saw it in my
early teens and fell in love with it. I thought, I would like to write a story
that would touch someone like that.
Jackie: So, like most
of us, you did dream of being an
author? When did you start writing?
Sandra:
Yes, and I started writing when I was fourteen. I
kept writing with the dream of becoming an author. Marriage, children and life
got in the way for a long time, and I didn’t have the belief in myself to reach
for that goal. It was after I retired that I had the time to work on writing
full time and began submitting my manuscripts.
Jackie: The same with
me. Retirement, then a new career. So, tell me, now that you have more time to
write, how do manage your writing time? Do you normally write by a
schedule? When you write, how does a
typical day go?
Sandra:
I don’t follow a schedule, but find I do best after noon. I do a lot of my
thinking and going over what I need to write in the morning and just enjoy some
quiet time.
Jackie: Do you
currently have a work in progress, and if so, can you tell us a little about it
or them?
Sandra:
I have the two short stories that I am reworking, two sequels, a novel, and my
autobiography to leave behind for my family that I am working on at present. I am also working on a sequel to my ghost story (Vernon House) and a sequel to Obituary Column.
Jackie: And I thought I
was busy with two works in progress. How do you do it?
Sandra:
I find that when I write myself in the corner with one, I can work on another.
When I go back to original one I have a fresh eye. Usually I just have two
projects at a time.
Jackie: Why did you
choose to write in your particular field or genre?
I
have moved beyond Romance, and I love mysteries. Having been divorced for 27
years, I find I don’t feel qualified to write romance. I do have a couple of
adventures and a ghost story. I like to try different genres. Can You hear the Music? is an
adventure, and the first book I wrote. I think that is why it is my favorite.
Jackie: Can you Hear the Music has won two awards. I have watched the trailer. It's amazing. Of course you
are a reader. All writers are. What is your favorite genre to read and why?
I
started out reading Harlequin Romance, graduated to their mystery/intrigue
line. Now I like Mystery and Intrigue, because
it is so varied. I like more “meat and potatoes”. I also like some time travel
(i.e. Night in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux). Authors I read now are Nora
Roberts, Sandra Brown, Mary Higgins Clark, and Catherine Coulter to name a few.
Thank you, Sandra for a
very interesting interview. I’m sure your readers will enjoy getting to know
you better. Before we go, where can we find you online? And let’s be sure we
list your amazon page, and the book trailers as well.
Sandra:
You are welcome. Here’s the links for that.
SANDRA’S
LINKS:
I
have a website in bad need of updating so I don’t recommend it right now. I
have two book trailers: The ghost story, Vernon House- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEeUROnxamA,
and Can You Hear the Music?- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMzcqsMzF5E.
For which we won two awards, Books ’N Sync Book Trailer Contest March 2012 and International
Movie Trailer Festival Book Trailer 2013.
There is also a sort video of how my son did
the visual effects for Can You Hear the Music?- Special effects video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSt8P8b_Wfw
I have a video
interview by a friend, a camera man for our local NBC television station: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWziaj7JrXA
I also have 2 audio
books, Lady Ace—Can-You-Hear-the-Music? Both can be found on Amazon on my
author page or at ACX. com http://www.acx.com/as?keyword=Sandra+Farris
