Sands Hall Longer Bio

SANDS HALL’s Reclaiming My Decade Lost in Scientology (Counterpoint), was named one of the top ten books in religion and spirituality by Publishers Weekly, and was a Finalist for the Northern California Book Awards in Creative Nonfiction. Sands’s other books include the novel Catching Heaven (Ballantine, which won a WILLA Award, Woman Writing the West; and is a Random House Reader’s Circle Selection; and a volume of writing essays and exercises, Tools of the Writer’s Craft. Her stories and essays have appeared in such places as Alta Journal, New England Review, Iowa Review, and Los Angeles Review of Books. A graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, she holds a second MFA in Theatre Arts; her experience as director, actor, and playwright gives her a unique perspective on the writing process. Professor Emeritus at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, she is also the Founding Editor of the F&M Alumni Arts Review. Sands teaches for the Community of Writers and the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, among other writing conferences. Her work with the University of California Davis Extension Programs earned her an Excellence in Teaching and Outstanding Service Award. She has acted and/or directed for such theatres as the Oregon, Colorado, and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festivals,  the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, and B Street Theatre in Sacramento, Her produced plays include an adaptation of Alcott’s Little Women, and the comic-drama Fair Use. Sands is also a singer/songwriter; her recent CD is called Rustler’s Moon.