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Author Revealed

Ellen Sandbeck
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Ellen Sandbeck

Ellen Sandbeck is an organic landscaper, worm wrangler, writer, and graphic artist who lives with (and experiments on) her husband and an assortment of younger creatures -- which includes two mostly grown children, a couple of dogs, a small flock of... Read full bio

Author Revealed:
Q. What were your previous occupations?
A. Baby sitter, roofer, housecleaner, landscaper, waitress (two hours), graphic designer, worm wrangler
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Ellen Sandbeck Revealed
About Ellen Sandbeck
  • What is your birthdate?:
    5/30
  • Previous occupations:
    Baby sitter, roofer, housecleaner, landscaper, waitress (two hours), graphic designer, worm wrangler
  • Favorite job:
    doing artwork
  • High school and/or college:
    San Rafael High School, San Rafael, California; University of California at Santa Barbara
  • Name of your favorite composer or music artist?:
    Randy Newman
  • Favorite movie:
    The Princess Bride
  • Favorite television show:
    Firefly
Revealing Questions
Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
A. Trying to figure things out.
Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. She who makes the most creative mistakes, wins.
Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. Being with all the people I love at the same time.
Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. That something bad will happen to those I love.
Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. With my husband, swimming somewhere very secluded.
Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. Anyone who has ended up in history books is out of my league.
Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. Jane Goodall
Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. WOW! COOL!
Q. What do you regret most?
A. I can't go there. If I did, I'd grind to a permanent halt.
Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. I'd like to be able to draw one thing with one hand, while drawing something else with the other.
Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. My two children are smart, happy, healthy, and beautiful.
Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. I'm very, very opinionated.
Q. What’s your best quality?
A. I cannot be railroaded into doing anything I think is wrong.
Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. I'm just beginning to figure out how to deal with myself, and you expect me to switch now?
Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. I'm very opinionated.
Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. Huckleberry Finn
Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. Inspector Javert, in Les Miserables.
Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. Mark Twain, but I'd probably be too awe-stricken to say anything to him.
Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. people who pick on those who are vulnerable and or disabled
Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. doing anything at all with my husband
Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. Japanese pearl diver
Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Courage, a sense of humor, compassion
Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. nectarines and kefir
Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. I'd Like to Check You for Ticks, Brad Paisley; Hard Times, Stephen Foster; Fields of Gold, Sting; Garden Song, David Mallet; We'll Make Our Garden Grow, From Candide, by Leonard Bernstein
On Books and Writing
Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain; Love Medicine, Louise Erdrich; To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee; Our Mutual Friend, Charles Dickens; Sweet Thursday, John Steinbeck
Q. Is there a book you love to reread?
A. I don't have a particular one now, but when I was a child I read Tom Sawyer once a month for several years.
Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
A. Read constantly.
Q. What comment do you hear most often from your readers?
A. "You really do a lot of research!"
Q. How did you come to write Green Barbarians?
A. I decided that it would be really fun to research ancient and modern ways to do things in order to avoid buying in to the propaganda of Big Business/pharmo/industrial/agrochemical complex. It was really fun, but it was also infuriating,scary and exhausting.