On a lark, hoping upon hope, I emailed one of my favorite authors asking her if she might be willing to answer a few questions for my blog. To my delight, she said yes. Sandra Dallas has been a go-to author for me since my mother lent meThe Diary of Mattie Spenser, a novel about one woman’s covered-wagon journey across the plains with her new husband. I returned that tearstained copy to my mom a newly minted Sandra Dallas fan and look forward to each new masterfully told story she shares with the world.
Sandra was gracious enough to share some tidbits about her reading and writing life with us.
- What’s your favorite book from childhood? Smiling Hill Farm. I also loved the Nancy Drew books becauseNancy was one of the few competent females in young people’s books. Girls in most children’s books when I was growing up were helpless and had to be rescued.
- Favorite beverage/snack while you read or write? Starbuck’s decaf latte. (Caffeine gives me migraines.)
- What book would you like to be a character in? Lilies of the Field.
- Who is your writing heroine/hero? Truman Capote
- What’s your favorite genre to read in your free time? Mysteries
- How do you organize your home library? One reason we bought our home is it has an office with lots shelf space–upper and lower shelves bisected by a counter, and lots cabinet. I don’t like chaos and am pretty well organized. Reference books go in a section on the upper shelves. Review books that I haven’t yet reviewed (I write a column on books of regional interest for the Denver Post) are on a shelf under the dictionaries and grammar books, while books for which I’ve written reviews that aren’t yet published are in book ends on the counter. WPA guidebooks are on two shelves at one end, while antique medical books are at the another end. Below the counter are quilt books and copies of my own books including foreign additions. A wall of bookshelves in the basement holds books on history, women, and various other subjects. Bookshelves in our house in the mountains contain books written by friends as well as novels and books on the West. I got rid of a some 2,000 books when we moved here six years ago, and I’ve tried to accumulate only books pertaining to my writing, but the number has crept up.
- Saddest book you’ve ever read? I can’t say.
- Scariest book you’ve ever read? The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- Name a book you can’t get out of your head? Shane
- Where is your favorite place to read? Anywhere. I can read a book while walking down the street. My sister said hell for us is being someplace without a book.
- Where do you do your writing? In my office. I find it difficult to write anywhere else.
- What book do you reread over and over? Any of Anne Lamott’s books on faith.
- If you could meet one writer ~ living or deceased ~ who would it be? Mark Twain
- What book is on your bedside table right now? This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
- What do you have coming next for readers? Westering Women, an adult novel about a wagon train of women going west to California in the early 1850s. It will be published in January.
To learn more about Sandra and her books, you can connect with her here:
