Meet Sarah
Sarah grew on a small dairy farm in Wisconsin. Those early adventures shaped her as a writer. She was a preschool and middle school teacher. One of her favorite classroom activities was making stories out of the the weekly spelling list, which her students loved.
Later, she trained as a health coach and meditation instructor, deepening her understanding of attention, emotional awareness, and the inner lives of children. For the past 13 years, Sarah has been a marketing director in a medical clinic, She's also been a writer and a poet, creating stories and poems that invite children to notice, imagine, and wonder.
Sarah lives with her husband, Mark, in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. They have a blended family of seven children and three grandchildren. She is currently querying literary agents for a collection of interactive picture books.
Sarah's Poems
Interview with Sarah
What is your favorite type of writing?
I am a poet first in my heart. As a child, I listened to my dad recite narrative poetry from memory that he had written. It was always amazing to me how he could do that and when he passed two years ago, I finally decided to explore poetry for myself in earnest. I am a former preschool, elementary, and middle school teacher so writing for children is important to me. I also trained as a health coach at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and a meditation instructor and I want my writing to point children to imagination, wonder, and curiosity. I am working on learning the craft of picture book writing. I have a concept book series, a poetry collection, and a lyrical non-fiction story written and have begun the process of querying agents. I'm okay with the longer timeline for traditional publishing at this point, as I work full-time as a marketing director for a specialty medical clinic. That may change in the future depending on how long that timeline will be!
Where do your ideas come from?
My ideas come from slowing down and observing, as well as a daily writing practice. Some days it's only 15 minutes but consistently putting myself in writing mode tunes me in to ideas. When a word, phrase or picture captures my attention, I jot it in a note on my phone or take a picture. I think of it as collecting treasures. The folder in my Notes app is poetically named: Poem Ideas. If inspiration strikes while driving I record a voice memo. Currently my Poem Ideas folder has hundreds of ideas ready to explore. I usually do so early in the morning. I also read a lot of picture books and poetry to help inspire me.
Here's a poem I wrote to capture my process:
Smoke Rising
Ideas spiral like smoke
Flickering from fires
Wound with wonder
Curling with curiosity
Catch them in a glass
Cover it with your hand
Before they disappear between your fingers
What do you like to do in your spare time besides writing?
My husband and I live in Fond du lac and have a blended family of 7 grown children and 3 grandchildren. We love to spend time with them and our extended family but also really enjoy travel when the opportunity arises. I love to dabble in drawing, painting and creating in all sorts of ways, as well as, spending time in nature.
I'm in my late 50s but am so excited to be in this stage of my life, exploring writing and picture book making. I feel like I am finally becoming who I was meant to be. There is much to learn but I'm grateful for the resources that SCWBI offers. The community is so generous with information and look forward to going to my first regional convention this fall and meeting many of you face to face.