After years of penning scientific writing in her work as a psychologist, Sandra Harris felt the need to stretch. She had always enjoyed the writing process and knew she had stories to tell, but needed a little more background and support before taking the plunge into the world of writing fiction. In 2008 she retired to Scottsdale – after she had spent eight years “retiring” in California.
After decades as a Los Angeles psychologist, Sandra felt it was time to take down her shingle. But instead, she somehow became a psychologist for the Veterans Administration in Bakersfield. Her work with veterans, mostly from Vietnam, was both invigorating and intense. She finally made the complete break from her vocation and settled into a quieter type of life in Scottsdale.
But Sandra knew she wasn’t “done.” An energetic and inquisitive woman, she wanted to explore, among other things, her ability to write. Sandra found the Scottsdale Society of Women Writers, a group of local writers that meets monthly at Chaparral Suites in Scottsdale to listen to established writers from the area and draw strength and support from each other. Through this group, Sandra gained confidence as well as camaraderie. And when the opportunity presented itself to join a “writing and photography” trip to Italy, she jumped at the chance to enhance her skills and have a new adventure.
Sandra, who earned her Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, has been on her own for more than 17 years. “There’s nothing I won’t do because I’m single,” Sandra says. “I didn’t know anyone else going on the trip, but it was something I really wanted to do. I don’t think of it as a particularly brave decision, just one I needed to make.”
The group spent eight nights in a 200-year-old villa in Nervi, a suburb of Genoa. From there, they took day trips to nearby villages such as Portofino, Santa Margherita and Camogli. One of her favorite stops was in the hillside town of Leivi, where the group had a demonstration and lesson on making pasta. Lunch and wine lasted until 4 pm. Sandra enjoyed the company of her travel-mates and the discussions with the tour leaders, one a talented writer and the other a gifted photographer. She was less enamored of the twinengine prop plane flying low over the Alps, with the pristine little villages and streams and “the endless ‘white’ that goes on and on and on.” As the oldest woman on the trip, she had some concerns about all the foot travel as well, but managed to keep up. “I must admit, everyone kind of kept an eye on me – just in case!” She smiles and adds, “I’m ready to do it again!”
Sandra had a specific reason for wanting to hone her writing skills. While working with veterans in California, she became invested in their stories. She started writing about their experiences, their emotions, their struggles to fit back into society. She is scrupulously careful to mask the stories, of course, in respect for confidentiality. “There are some things I am purposely omitting, even though it might help sell books. The incidents would be too revealing of particular individuals.”
You can find Sandra most mornings at the Coffee Bean, her “writing office.” She totes her laptop and notes and sits at the same table, where she laughs and cries along with the characters she is creating. In her non-writing hours, Sandra donates time to two synagogues she belongs to and to the Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival, where as a vice president, she was in charge of lining up all of the post-film speakers for the 2014 Festival. She still meets monthly on the last Wednesday of each month with the Scottsdale Society of Women Writers.
