Pen Name:
Sandi Hoover
Genre:
Articles, Essays, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Creative Nonfiction
Social Media:
Contact:
Bio
Sandi has always been fascinated by animals, plants, and birds. Her childhood behind-the-scenes experiences during Summer Zoo School at the San Diego Zoo reinforced her enthusiasm. She spent her working career as executive director of the Houston Audubon Society and then the Bayou Preservation Association, both active conservation non-profit organizations. While those positions led to interesting activities, her writing was specific and pragmatic. There was no humor or fiction involved in position papers and environmental statements. Before joining the Corrales Writing Group her avocational writing was confined to personal travel journals and descriptive letters to family and friends, plus the occasional article for local newsletters. Since procrastination is easy—seemingly, only deadlines prompt action—joining the Corrales Writing Group has demanded the discipline of writing on a regular basis. Learning the craft of writing in a more formal way through presentation, followed by critique from this trusted group of friends, has provided a safe place to learn new skills and grow as an author.
A birder and naturalist, she enjoys watching and analyzing the behavior of wildlife, trying to understand how they fulfill their basic needs. Her writings frequently reflect her interest in the natural world. Indulging her curiosity about nature has inspired trips to experience wilderness first hand. From King Eiders in Barrow, Alaska, to King Penguins on South Georgia Island, seeing animals in their natural habitat has been a life-long pursuit. She still gazes out her office window, or pets her cat (always kept safely indoors), instead of writing.
Books
Title: Panama’s Gold: A Tale of Greed [2nd Ed.]
Co-Author: Jim Tritten
Publisher: Red Penguin Books (September 28, 2022)
Lanny Mitchell, an enthusiastic birder, returns to Panama, a place with good memories. She’s thinking about moving there permanently when she has a casual meeting with a Chinese businessman who is combining a work assignment in Panama with adding birds to his life list. With their guide, they experience a dormant volcano’s signs of sleeplessness. Chinese activities are not all they seem and Lanny is involved with ecological issues and poisonous gases. Compounding the issue is the discovery of old Spanish gold. The resolution involves Panamanian friends, venomous snakes and a breach of trust.
Available for Sale
Title: Love and Lies: Call Me Eve
Co-Author: Jim Tritten
Publisher: Red Penguin Books (June 20, 2022)
Winner of the Gold Medal from the Military Writers Society of America (MWSA) 2021 Writing Contest in the category of Romance, as well as 1st Place from the New Mexico Press Women 2022 Communications Contest in the category of Novellas.
2022 – 2nd place in the National Federation of Press Women Communications (NFPW) Contest in the category of novellas. The award was for the eBook version of Love and Lies: Call Me Eve, published in January 2021 by RhetAskew Publishing. The book was republished in June 2022 by Red Penguin Books in both paperback and Kindle formats. The re-publication contains a new cover, reformatted text, and some slight modifications to the text.
Available for Sale
Title: Panama’s Gold: A Tale of Greed
Co-Author: Jim Tritten
Publisher: Red Penguin Books (August 29, 2021)
Chen Zhou represents his company and a Chinese gang in Panama in 2018. His objective is to secure an economic advantage for his country with raw materials critical in manufacturing smartphones, digital cameras, computer parts, and in the renewable energy technology industry, military equipment industry, glass-making, and metallurgy. Chinese gangs are running investments and infrastructure development in Panama. Lanny Mitchell, a youthfully-retired American environmental lawyer as the antagonist, revisits Panama, to test her idea of becoming a resident ex-pat. She unexpectedly encounters ecological issues and the activities of the gangs. A dormant volcano leaks poisonous gases that kill local fowl and threatens humans. Spanish gold and artifacts are linked to events while the Panama Canal was being excavated with hints at government coverups explaining Yellow Fever caused massive deaths during construction. Chinese attempts to capitalize on the opportunity to corner the world rare-earth market are thwarted by Lanny and local Panamanians. They want Panama to retain its ownership of the valuable rare-earth and Spanish gold. Chen Zhou meets his fate at the hands of the Chinese gangmaster, who does not tolerate failure. Finding the answer to environmental and economic concerns and helping friends drive the action to a surprising finish, with enough clues to hint at a follow-on adventure.
Anthology: Mirth and Musings
Co-author: Jim Tritten
Publisher: Red Penguin Books (August 1, 2021)
Mirth and musings in the same book? Join the award-winning writing team of Sandi Hoover and Jim Tritten in their fifth collaboration as they explore what makes us laugh and a few even serious essays on such subjects as running away from home when overwhelmed. You will never again go into a sauna without feeling Jim’s experiences after you read “Saunagus” nor have a stranger as an extended guest after learning Sandi’s lessons in “There’s a Diva in the House.” These ten chapters are sure to entertain you and perhaps challenge your preconceived notion of what makes the perfect woman.
Available for Sale
Title: Love and Lies: Call Me Eve
Co-Author: Jim Tritten
Publisher: RhetAskew Publishing (January 26, 2021)
“She sipped her well-chilled, dry martini, taking extra time before answering. What . . . how much do I tell him? Just want a distraction. Something to fill an evening.”
Eve was sipping a Fiji Moonrise, the house specialty at Fiji’s Natewu Bay Resort’s water’s edge bar, when an unfamiliar baritone asked, “May I buy you a refill? The evening is far too pleasant to spend alone.” Mark Adams proves to be an irresistible diversion during Eve’s trip home from a conference. But when playtime’s up and planes are departing, Eve doesn’t play fair.
Upon her return, Eve receives an unexpected life-changing event and regrets having lied. Mark is faced with a wounded heart and a nearly insurmountable challenge. Join an exciting adventure where true feelings are the catalyst to propel two star-crossed lovers to find each other … again.
Available for Sale
Title: Panama’s Gold
Co-Author: Jim Tritten
Publisher: Sydnie Beaupré; 1st edition (October 13, 2020) [pp. 55-135]
Chen Zhou, the protagonist, represented his company and a Chinese gang in Panama in 2018. His objective is to secure an economic advantage for his country with raw materials critical in manufacturing smartphones, digital cameras, computer parts, and in the renewable energy technology industry, military equipment industry, glass-making, and metallurgy. Chinese gangs are running investments and infrastructure development in Panama. Lanny Mitchell, a youthfully American retired environmental lawyer as the antagonist, revisits Panama, to test her idea of becoming a resident ex-pat. She unexpectedly encounters ecological issues and the activities of the gangs. A dormant volcano leaks poisonous gases that kill local fowl and threatens humans. Spanish gold and artifacts are linked to events while the Panama Canal was being excavated with hints at massive government coverups explaining Yellow Fever caused massive deaths during construction. Chinese attempts to capitalize on the opportunity to corner the world rare-earth market are thwarted by Lanny and local Panamanians. They want Panama to retain its ownership of the valuable rare-earth and Spanish gold. Chen Zhou meets his fate at the hands of the Chinese gangmaster, who does not tolerate failure. Finding the answer to environmental and economic concerns and helping friends drive the action to a surprising finish, with enough clues to hint at a follow-on adventure.
Available for Sale
Short Story/Essay Collections
Anthology: Kale is a Four Letter Word
Publisher: Artemesia Publishing, LLC (September 1, 2020)
“It’s Only Because I Love You”
“Kale–Super Food? Or Super Gross?”
Kale has invaded our culture as the go-to food for healthy living, appearing everywhere on restaurant menus, in grocery stores, and beauty products like soaps and scrubs. It’s in salads and sandwiches, on pizzas, in soups and stews, and even salted as chips. For many, it shouts, “Eat me. I’m good for you.” For others, the vitamin load and beneficial fiber cannot outweigh the bitterness and texture of this member of the cabbage family. For those people, kale has ignited a passionate response, often reflected in internet memes and T-shirt slogans. This collection of short stories shows kale in a new light. Some stories present the perspective of those who introduce kale to their spouses and the reaction of those who are so targeted. A couple of tales are horror stories about kale’s effect on a life; another one describes a speculative history of kale; one is a murder mystery where kale plays an unusual role; and one is a fantasy about kale’s rivalry with another popular, competing vegetable, cauliflower. This book also has delicious recipes that feature kale as the primary ingredient. A word of caution, though. One recipe was written by someone with a novel approach to cooking kale.
Available for Sale
Anthology:
My Wandering Uterus: tales of traveling while female
Editors: K.A. Laity and H. Byron Ballard
Publisher: CreateSpace (March 2018)
“How Could I Disappear?”
My Wandering Uterus: A diverse treasure trove from women across the globe and from every walk of life! This book contains memoirs, stories and poetry about the experiences of being a woman on the road — the joys, the perils, the lessons, the changes. From spiritual pilgrimages to forced evacuations, in pursuit of opportunity or to escape from the past, travel broadens the mind — and broads’ travel writing will delight your heart!
Available for Sale
Anthology:
Anthology Askew Volume 005: Fantastically Askew (February 1, 2018)
“No Longer in Service” ♦ with Jim Tritten, 143-158
This is the fifth installment of the Askew Anthology series, and this volume is about the worlds of fantasy. We challenged our writers to explore the realms of fantasy from new perspectives, such as magepunk (a blending of the steampunk genre with the magic elements of a fantasy) to other outside the box takes. We weren’t disappointed in the results. As usual, we found that sometimes, our askew authors and poets color far outside the lines, and that is a wonderful part of being askew as well. In these pages you will experience fantastic worlds where technology and magic coexist in harmony, and others where the two collide head-on, leaving a swath of pain and destruction in their wake. We have hidden worlds, journeys through time, and even a high-tech wizard or two. This volume also marks the appearance of some of our youngest askew talent yet. Short stories, flash stories and poetry by some of the brightest new teen stars on the askew horizon await you in this volume. Let go of your preconceived ideas about what fantasy means, come explore what being Fantastically Askew is all about, in both poetry and prose. We think you will find the journey one that you won’t soon forget.
Available for Sale
Anthologies:
• Anthology Askew Volume 003: Askew Adventures (July 2, 2017), 25-34
• Rizal Journal, Issue 1 (December 28, 2016), 10-21
• The Criterion eJournal, Vol. 7, Issue VI (December 2016), 377-384
“Enough to Kill” ♦ Pen name: Blaire Logan (with Jim Tritten)
This third volume in the Anthology Askew series is all about adventure. The stories, flashes and poems in this volume cover many genres and types of writing, and they may just make you reevaluate what you consider adventure to be. With Askewian Authors, expect the unexpected.
Available for Sale
Anthology Askew Volume 003: Amazon
Rizal Journal: Amazon
Free PDF Version
The Criterion: “Enough to Kill”
Anthology: Passages: A Corrales Writing Group Anthology
Publisher: CreateSpace (2017)
“Small Discoveries-Small Delights”
Passages is the fourth anthology from the Corrales Writing Group. It contains not only humor, fiction, essay, and memoir but the creative work of nineteen artists from the Corrales area. Passages contains all interior artwork in glorious color.
Available for Sale
Anthology: Currents: Corrales Writing Group 2015 Anthology
Publisher: Corrales Writing Group LLC (2015)
Genre: Mixed
“There’s a Diva in the House” ♦ Humor
“It’s All About Sex” ♦ Natural History Essay
“Running Away From Home” ♦ Creative Nonfiction
Currents is an anthology of work from the Corrales Writing Group for the year 2015. It includes humor, fiction, essays and memoir.
Available for Sale
Anthology: Corrales Writing Group 2014 Anthology
Publisher: Corrales Writing Group LLC (2014)
Genre: Mixed
“Lighter Than Air” ♦ Memoir
“Right Seat Perspective” ♦ Essay
“Kite Flying Rediscovered” ♦ Memoir
“Backyard Distractions” ♦ Natural History Essay
This anthology is a compilation of work written by members of the Corrales Writing Group. It includes memoirs, humor, philosophy, fantasy, poignancy, whimsy and fiction, to make the reader laugh, cry, smile, and reminisce. Topics range from romance, through travel, multiple types of aviation, jokes, the meaning of life, sailing, village life, close encounters with wild animals, a burial, an automobile accident, a bedtime and a children’s story.
Available for Sale
Anthology: Corrales Writing Group 2013 Anthology
Publisher: Corrales Writing Group LLC (2013)
Genre: Mixed
“An Amazon Night” ♦ Fiction
“My Father Had a Sweet Tooth” ♦ Memoir
“What Love Is” ♦ Poem
“Saving Mother Earth” ♦ Poem
This anthology is a compilation of work written by members of the Corrales Writing Group, located in central New Mexico. It includes memoirs, essays, poetry and fiction that will make the reader laugh, cry, smile and reminisce. Topics range from war, to marriage, to love, to wonder of the universe.
