MEET Sandra AKA @creativedifrnce, Our New Crew Member
Tell everyone a little bit about yourself.
Hi, all! I’m a mom, a wife, a translator of mainly (but not exclusively) Young Adult fiction (English to Dutch) and, of course, a reader. I’ve studied English language and literature at the University of Leiden and for five years I’ve been employed as an editor and editor-in-chief of various trade publications, including one that featured lots of gadgets, games and hardware. As much fun as that was, I’ve now set up shop as a translator, working from home. Some books I’ve translated: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, Cinder, The Immortals series and various books in the Charmed franchise. I hope to have the time and inspiration soon to start writing, too.
Who are some of your favorite authors? Books?
I’m a huge fan of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, which inspired me to write my thesis on vampires in literature. Authors… hmm, it’s a mix. I love the way Kate Morton constructs her elaborate histories, I love how Carlos Ruiz Zafon makes characters come to life and at times I like the multi-layeredness of Rushdie’s books, just as sometimes I just want a simple whodunit, long for a bit of Poirot or want to get lost in the self-contained universe of a Dickens novel.
Books I absolutely love and would recommend to anyone are: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Book Thief, The Shadow of the Wind, A Spot of Bother, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, One Day, The Dante Trap and also the Harry Potter series and Winnie the Pooh.
What are your favorite genres of books to read?
This is becoming a more and more difficult question now that I’ve seen so many ‘new’ genres appear. I’m not one to stick with a genre, to be honest. Like one of my teachers used to say: with a good book it shouldn’t be difficult to suspend your disbelief. So long as the book manages to let me in, I’m happy.
I like detectives and mysteries, thrillers. I like vampire novels, but not all of them. I like gothic novels, more on the mysterious and spectral side than horror. I like young adult novels and I like novels I wouldn’t even know how to classify.
Besides reading, what other talents or hobbies do you have?
Apart from translating, I like to write and be creative. I hope I can find more time to work on that, though. As of this year I’m a stay-at-home (and working) mom who loves to see her little son discover the world.
How excited are you to be a part of the Masquerade Crew?
Really excited! Twitter has opened up a whole new world for me and I especially love the idea of helping indie authors get noticed and, of course, discovering new writers and new books. Reading is a wonderful thing and if you can help authors by posting a review, all the better! I also hope to learn a thing or two from others that will help me be a better writer.
Winnie the Pooh?! Oh yeah. You're awesome. Welcome to the Crew, Sandra!
