Name: Sandra Amberg 

Hometown: Dubuque, Iowa

Book: Stand Up! Deliver

Genre: Fiction

Dorrance Publishing (DP): Describe your book in 10 words or less. 

Sandy Amberg (SA): If you want to affect change, do it yourself.

DP: What made you want to write your book? 

SA: The dearth of encouragement and hope in the news.

DP: How long did it take you to write your book?

SA: Four months.

DP: How do you choose the names of your characters?

SA: Imagination

DP: What do you do when you have writer’s block?

SA: I take a siesta.

DP: What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

SA: When Palm Reader, the Gypsy Vanner horse, attacked the limo. It wrote itself and was a complete surprise to me.

DP: If you were stuck on an island and had to have one person from each category with you, who would they be and why? 

DP: One character from your book: 

SA: Sister Margaret because when she sees a need, she stands up and delivers.

DP: One fictional character: 

SA: Count Alexander Rostov (Sasha) because he makes the most of a bad situation.

DP: One famous person:

SA: Thor Heyerdahl to build a raft to take the rest of us back to the people we love.

DP: Besides writing, what are your other interests? 

SA: Teaching ESL and Spanish, playing games for the comradery.

DP: Do you keep a journal? 

SA: No. My writing becomes too stagnant. There are more interesting things out there.

DP: How did you celebrate the publishing of your book?

SA: By calling my good friend and neighbor who spent quality time with me editing and then reading the book from cover to cover.

DP: If your book was made into a movie, who would play the main characters? 

SA: It would be a combination of my extremely active 94-year old aunt, my 93-year old friend with a great sense of humor, and an elderly sister acquaintance who is very outspoken and funny.

DP: What did you enjoy most about working with Dorrance Publishing?

SA: The staff and the process were very efficient.

DP: Five favorite books of all time? 

SA: A Man Called Ove, A Gentleman in Moscow, A Wrinkle in Time, Gone with the Wind, Jane Eyre.

DP: One sentence of advice for other writers?

SA: Enjoy It.