#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Sandra Marshall
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I’d like to welcome author, Sandra Marshall, to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!
A few of your favorite things:
My camera. My fleece blankey.
Things you need to throw out:
Fabric I bought but never made into anything. And now it’s out of style.
Things you need for your writing sessions:
A mechanical pencil, Roget’s International Thesaurus, a yellow tablet, and an idea.
Things that hamper your writing:
Someone trying to talk to me while I’m working.
Hardest thing about being a writer:
Writing the bridges between the well-visualized scenes without being boring. That’s when you really have to fall back on craft.
Easiest thing about being a writer:
When the movie starts rolling in my head, the characters start talking to each other, and I just take dictation.
Things you never want to run out of:
Good coffee, lead for my mechanical pencil, books to read.
Things you wish you’d never bought:
Clothes that didn’t quite fit, but would as soon as I lost a couple pounds. Sure.
Favorite smell:
Rain falling on the desert.
Something that makes you hold your nose:
Gardenia blossoms. Too sweet and cloying. Makes me queasy.
Something you’re really good at:
Research
Something you’re really bad at:
Swimming
Something you wish you could do:
Play a musical instrument.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do:
Play internet mahjongg. Had to go cold turkey on that one.
The last thing you ordered online:
Books, books, nematode spore to kill blackflies, books.
The last thing you regret buying:
A jar of purple glop meant to enhance curly hair.
Things to say to an author:
“I loved your book, especially the part where…” Then you know they actually read it.
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book:
“How’s your next book coming?”
Favorite books (or genre):
Histories, biographies, literate mysteries.
Books you wouldn’t buy:
The Art of the Deal
Best thing you’ve ever done:
Marrying my husband.
Biggest mistake:
What were their names again?
Most daring thing you’ve ever done:
Gave up a steady job to go back to school—three times.
Something you chickened out from doing:
Accepting an invitation to go skydiving.
The nicest thing a reader said to you:
I just finished your book. I don’t know what I’m going to do now.
About Sandra
Sandra Marshall was raised in Texas. She holds degrees in anthropology and public history and had an extended career as an archaeologist and architectural historian, primarily in the American Southwest. Now a writer and photographer, she has settled in southern New Mexico with her husband, historian George Matthews, and tabby cat Fog. Recipient of the 2018 William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant, she is a proud member of Sisters in Crime, Guppy and Croak and Dagger Chapters, and of Women Writing the West.
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