Sands Hall
Sands has a new album of her songs: STURDY BOOTS. These songs engage with love in all its forms: lost, crashed, celebrated—even the love we feel for those whose “sturdy boots,” she writes, “have delivered you into a different kind of dawn.”
Meanwhile, Sands’ memoir RECLAIMING MY DECADE LOST IN SCIENTOLOGY (Counterpoint Press), now out in paperback, is the subject of a number of podcasts and radio programs, with Sands addressing the fascinating history of her involvement in Scientology, and the aftermath of her leaving. Also available on Audible, read by the author.
Sands is also the author of the novel CATCHING HEAVEN (Ballantine), a Penguin/Random House Reader’s Circle Selection and a Willa Award Finalist for Best Contemporary Fiction, now available as an e-book; and a book of writing essays and exercises, TOOLS OF THE WRITER’S CRAFT (Moving Finger Press). Her plays include an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s LITTLE WOMEN, which recently enjoyed its tenth production, and the comic/drama FAIR USE, which explores the “Was It plagiarism?” question surrounding Wallace Stegner’s use of the work of Mary Hallock Foote in his novel, Angle of Repose. Her award-winning essay, “The Ways of Fiction Are Devious Indeed,” published in ALTA Magazine, dives deeply into this controversy.
A popular teacher, and Professor Emerita at Franklin & Marshall College, Sands leads workshops and lectures for conferences such as the Community of Writers and the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, among others; she also leads her own workshops online and in person.
In addition to newest album, STURDY BOOTS, Sands’ work as a singer/songwriter can be found on her first album, RUSTLER’S MOON, and she performs widely. Also a theatre artist, her directing experience runs the gamut from Shakespeare to Giradoux to new works by new playwrights, and she has an extensive acting resume. Sands lives in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada.
