author
brand & marketing Consultant
DIGITAL CREATOR & DESIGN SERVICES
DEBRA SANDERS
Someone once asked if any of my books were based on life experiences.
I replied, “All of them.”
What writer doesn’t use personal anecdotes for inspiration?
Born to a “Steel Magnolia” mother and a father as genteel as Rhett Butler, I grew up the youngest of four and the only girl – both a blessing and a curse. Mom dreamed of a demure, ladylike daughter. What she got was a tomboy who left lace dangling from fences as I scrambled over them like a monkey, usually in pursuit of my older brothers.
Although I was raised a “city girl”, my summers were spent living off-grid on our small farm. My mother and I stayed there during the week while my father worked. He would join us on Friday evening. We took care of livestock, harvested produce from our large garden, and repaired fence when my brothers and father were not around. I spent many hours riding my horse bareback across the hills. With no amenities other than a small one-room cabin, we relied on our wits and “pioneer” ways to survive the hot, humid Oklahoma summers. We hauled water from a fresh spring, used an outhouse for “business” and read books by a kerosene lamp since there was no electricity.
The lifestyle was fun for my mom because she grew up cooking on a wood stove and living without basic necessities. For me, it was a preview of Hell – and reason to follow a straight and narrow path. At least for a while.
In retrospect, it wasn’t all bad. I went on trail rides with local teens, met a cute boy and experienced my first real kiss. I learned about life, death and birth from our cattle. And endured a natural remedy to treat bronchitis that I’m certain inspired the saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
As an adult, I look back on those summers with fondness. I still love a wild undeveloped life, though these days I prefer a few days in nature every other month to an entire summer. I solo tent camp, love road trips, chase down urban legends and search for offbeat destinations. My husband is my biggest supporter because he knows I get grumpy if I don’t hug a tree once in a while. It’s a win-win for both of us.
Living a primitive lifestyle, even for a few summers, taught me to trust my instincts, listen and understand wildlife – they will alert you to danger, food, or hazards – and to hone my senses. I developed resilience and “grit.” My parents would say, “necessity is the mother of invention.” What they really meant was “find another way if the first one doesn’t work. Never give up.”
Those colorful memories influence my stories. Every. Single. One.
So if you read a scene in one of my books that seems far-fetched, don’t be too quick to judge. There’s a good chance a version of it actually happened – and I lived to tell about it.