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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Blog Ring of Power Interview with Sandra Ulbrich Almazan



This week's guest is a fellow member of our Blog Ring of Power.  During one of our e-mail exchanges I suggested that Sandra should get a turn being interviewed, she has a published book.  Unlike me, I am a wanna be, but Sandra has made her splash.  So she agreed, so we have Sandra, a fellow blog ring of power member talking about why she writes and about her book.



About the Author


Sandra Ulbrich Almazan started reading at the age of three and only stops when absolutely required to. Although she hasn’t been writing quite that long, she did compose a very simple play in German during middle school. Her science fiction novella Move Over Ms. L. (an early version of Lyon’s Legacy) earned an Honorable Mention in the 2001 UPC Science Fiction Awards, and her short story “A Reptile at the Reunion” was published in the anthology Firestorm of Dragons. She is a founding member of BroadUniverse and a long-time member of the Online Writing Workshop for Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror. Her undergraduate degree is in molecular biology/English, and she has a Master of Technical and Scientific Communication degree. Her current day job is in the laboratory of an enzyme company; she’s also been a technical writer and a part-time copyeditor for a local newspaper. Some of her other accomplishments are losing on Jeopardy! and taking a stuffed orca to three continents. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband, Eugene; and son, Alex. In her rare moments of free time, she enjoys crocheting, listening to classic rock (particularly the Beatles), and watching improv comedy.

Sandra can be found online at her website, blog, Twitter, and Facebook.            




  1. How long have you been writing?—I wrote a few stories and poems in high school, wrote my first full-length novel (which thankfully will never see the light of day) during grad school/my internship, and finally started writing with professional goals in mind a few years later.
  2. When and why did you begin writing?—I started writing in my 20s to tell the stories I wanted to read but never could find the bookstore, the stories that don’t use the typical tropes.

  1. When did you first consider yourself a professional writer?—I always tried to act professionally from the start, but selling my first short story and receiving the anthology in the mail was a landmark.
  2. What books have most influenced your life?—It’s not genre, but Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which I read in high school, affected my attitudes toward science, philosophy, and life.
  3. What genre do you write?—Science fiction and fantasy.
  4. What is your favorite theme/genre to write about?—I like to write about friendships, especially in groups. My inspiration comes from the four-fold synergy of the Beatles.
7.       If you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be?—A geneticist doing research.


Thanks for agreeing to be an interviewee Sandra!

You can catch more of her interview


Part 2 @ Terri - http://www.terribruce.net Wednesday, April 24th
Part 3 @ Teresa - http://twfendley.com Thursday, April 25th
Part 4 @ Emily - http://emlabonte.blogspot.com/ Friday, April 26th


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