Thank you for joining us for our third and final installment of our interview with LDS author Sandra Grey. If you missed parts one or two, click here to get caught up.
Sandra, you just released your first novel, “Traitor.” How long did it take you to write this book?
I wrote the first draft in six months. But of course the first draft is not the entire process. I began writing in the middle of September 2005 and “Traitor” was finally ready for publication (including several months of rewrites, edits, waiting for cover design, title decisions, and reviews, etc.) two years later.
What projects do you have in mind for the future?
During the process of preparing “Traitor” for publication, my editor and I talked about the possibilities of doing a sequel. That second book will be in stores sometime after August — maybe October of this year and for sure by January 2009, depending on when I can get the story right, schedules, editing and other factors, of course. That has now turned into possibly a third book, (and definitely the last in the “Traitor” series) although that thought is still simmering on the back burner and has yet to get past the “one or two chapters written” stage and into the “it’s definitely going to happen” stage. I guess we’ll wait and see how the second one does.
I understand you have six small children. How do you balance the
massive research you must have done for this book with writing and being a mommy?
It’s called Insomnia. The same holds true for both the research and the actual writing. Since we homeschool there is little, if any, time for me to write during the day. Sometimes I get lucky and can write a paragraph or two while the kids have their own projects — although when I wrote “Traitor” we did not yet have our sixth child and I have yet to figure out a fool-proof system for writing with a busy toddler in the house. Murphy’s Law states that if I am up at two a.m. ready to write, the baby will wake with a fever or a nightmare and start screaming to be held.
Your father served in the military. How did that affect your childhood,
and your eventual publication as the author of a war-time novel?
I had a unique childhood: With my dad in the Air Force we moved around perhaps more than other families: I’ve lived in California, New Mexico, Japan … I loved the feeling of the Air Force bases we lived on. In Japan we could see the planes taking off and landing near where we lived, and my sisters and I would ride our bicycles the long way around the runway to get to piano lessons. Once we found a hole in a fence between our military housing and a closed portion of the base, and we played on the weed-choked runway until the military police discovered us and ran us off. (no, I wasn’t a troublemaker as a child – just adventurous.)
I never knew much about what my dad did while I was growing up – just
that he was awfully handsome in his uniform. Later I found out some of the things he was involved with during the Cold War years, and about my
grandpa’s involvement with WWII, and it made me curious about a lot of
things. That curiosity was definitely a catalyst for “Traitor,” and for
the second book that is in the works. (By the way, the name “Tribunal” might not be the name that eventually makes its way onto the cover of my second book.)
What do your husband and children think of your new career?
They have been very supportive – and proud of me! My husband brags
About the book to his co-workers / friends (several of whom have bought and read the book as a result) and he watches the children sometimes for a few hours on Fridays / Saturdays when I have a deadline looming and I need to be able to concentrate for a little more than a paragraph or two. He prepared a place for me to write (with desk, chair, and portable heater) in the attic of our unfinished garage, and whenever he can he lets me disappear up there with my laptop for a few hours. It’s far enough away that I don’t hear the occasional blood-curdling shrieks and heart-stopping crashes that accompany a parent’s sojourn here in this life, and close enough that he can cross the yard and call up the stairs for me if there is something he needs (doesn’t happen very often). Between Christmas and New Years of 2005 he even took over the management of the house and family completely for a whole week
he made dinners, cleaned, played with the kids, watched movies with them,
took them on errands, etc etc… until “Traitor”’s first draft was finally complete.
The children have also been excited for their mom – they have even made suggestions – my eleven year old daughter Suzanne suggested a simile that I ended up using in “Traitor” – and have paid me the highest
compliment a child can pay a parent: they all like to write stories,
too!
Sandra, thank you so much for allowing us this look into your life and writing process. We really appreciate it.
If you’d like to learn more about “Traitor,” click here.