Featured Interview With Author Sarah Alserhaid
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
My name is Sarah, I was born in Saudi Arabia to a multi-cultural household. I grew up as both Saudi and American, yet sometimes it felt as though I didn't fit in to either group. I currently live in Cleveland, Ohio as a scientist studying the molecular triggers of preterm labor. I don't have any pets at the moment but throughout my life have had multiple cats ( I often use a sentence from the children's book millions of cats to describe the oh so many cats we had), turtles, guinea pigs, hermit crabs, fish and at one point my brother had a bearded lizard that rode with us in the hot sun everyday to school. We once got a sheep when my younger sister asked to have her own lamb like Mary, but I kept my distance since it was far from a little lamb.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Telling stories is one thing I have been told I did from before I had memory of it. I would tell my father stories of a little bunny before bedtime to avoid going to sleep. I enjoyed reading as a little girl and, like most youngsters, I loved being read stories. Although I attended school in Saudi Arabia which was in Arabic, I was homeschooled for my early elementary years and had many writing projects that I took in for show and tell.
By fourth grade, I would translate stories from either language and sometimes try to make images as covers for the stories I came up with.
In school, composition was often an academic skill that was taught but once I made the connection that anything could be made into a story, even an argumentative assay, things became much easier.
Having a neurodivergent mind, the art of telling a story was what thrilled me as it was difficult to stay still to read for long durations of time for anything that did not paint a picture. Writing came much easier to me than reading at first, I actively worked on reading to help improve my skills and learn more about descriptive writing.
The first time I thought about writing a book was as an undergrad. My sister and I worked on a story about three siblings who breakthrough their mother's well-established reputation to uncover secrets from before they were born and ultimately save one of the siblings who gets kidnapped. While this story was more fiction that science, it was fun working on it as this was the first time I ever thought I might write a book.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
It's hard to choose a single author when there are so many compelling and creative writers. I enjoyed works of art from Alice Hoffman, Adrienne Young, Alix Arrow, Agatha Christie, Holly Black, and Lisa Scottoline. Recently, I like mystery, thriller and low fantasy books, but will take on any good book.
For my stories, I like thinking of matters from a different angle or different perspective. I especially like pushing myself to think of matter from a position I never would have thought of, then try to live through that lens. I often come up with short stories when I think in this perspective and have begun the fun journey of sharing my short stories with others.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Etched in Stone is a book about two sisters who uncover the truth behind their family's secretive past and discover their powerful heritage. In the process, the come across new enemies that challenge them in ways they hadn't been challenged before. In the process of standing up for what hey believe in, they must confront the insecurities of their relationship and learn the lesson that everything comes with price. The sequel is currently in the works for this book.
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