Interview With Author Sarah Hummell
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
The majority of my professional background is in the Hospitality industry. I have several advanced degrees and 25 years of experience. I’m a Manhattan-based consultant helping business owners with strategy and showing them how to increase service quality and profitability.
My writing experience started in 2009. While owning my first of many businesses, a coffee shop named Cafe Roche, located in Winston-Salem, NC, I decided to start blogging. Blogging became a way to educate my customers about the high-quality single-origin coffee beans we sold and served. My blog caught the attention of an international trade publication called Fresh Cup Magazine. They asked me to write in their 9 Bars Column, featuring coffee shop owners. My first article, “Have Coffee, Will Travel,” was published. When the magazine hit the shelves, I posted in my blog detailing my struggle with undiagnosed Dyslexia while growing up and how amazed I was that I achieved what I thought was impossible for me to do: getting published. This article caught the attention of Chicken Soup for the Soul, and “Living our Dreams” was published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Power of Positive. Another blog post, “A Macchiato is not a Drink,” explaining the Macchiato technique and the difference between a caramel macchiato and the traditional espresso macchiato, caught the attention of a specialty coffee industry professional. With my permission, she translated it into Spanish and published it in a coffee textbook for Milk Bar, a coffee school in Venezuela.
My first book, “Perfect Coffee At Home,” was published in 2020. During Covid quarantine, I had former customers texting me asking for coffee-making tips now that they needed to make their coffee at home. I figured there was a demand for homebound coffee drinkers, so I wrote the book.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Entangled In Blue” takes you through the aftermath of my appearance on Food Network’s Restaurant: Impossible, which inadvertently unveiled the years of abuse I had silently endured. In 2017, I found myself in a highly lethal, violent situation where my husband shot a gun in front of my two children, narrowly missing my head. I couldn’t figure out how I got myself into this situation and how I would get out of the marriage I was trapped in. Writing was a way for me to process my trauma. While thinking back from the start of my relationship with my husband and writing it all out, I recognized a pattern of abuse that slowly escalated in frequency and severity over the course of 16 years, leading to the incident mentioned above. I had no idea at the time, but seeing it all on paper, it was so clear! I started writing the book for my healing, but the book evolved into sharing my story with others so they can detect the signs of an abusive personality and have the courage to leave before it's too late.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Writing has been the best way for me to process my thoughts, especially if they overwhelm me.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have always been an Ernest Hemingway fan. I even created a restaurant concept, Feast, based on “A Moveable Feast” and planned to serve all of the dishes Hemingway wrote about, along with a literary-inspired prohibition-era craft cocktail list. I became obsessed with the 1920s Paris Literary scene and got into F. Scott Fitzgerald.
I was even more intrigued when I learned Zelda Fitzgerald was actually the talented writer responsible for most of her famous husband’s books! Most of “The Beautiful and the Damned” was stolen from Zelda’s diary. She wrote at least three more books that were published under her husband’s name because the publisher thought it would get more sales. She later wrote “Save Me The Waltz” under her own name while hospitalized after her husband had her committed for refusing to give up her dream after she was invited to tour with a Spanish ballet company. She would not be released until she agreed to go back to being a housewife. It took her three years of hospitalization before she would agree. Once she was released, she outshined him again as a talented painter, so he committed to her again. Sadly, she died in a facility in Ashville, NC, due to a fellow inmate starting a fire, and all patients were locked in, unable to escape.
Then I discovered the book “The Paris Wife” written by Hadley, Hemingway’s first wife. After reading her story, it was clear these women were the true talent behind these famous yet deeply flawed men.
The stories about these women inspired me to tell my own story, express my talent, and never dull my light for anyone who felt I was outshining them.
What are you working on now?
In addition to getting the word out about the warning signs of abusive personalities, I am advocating for my children who need academic accommodations due to being victims of complex trauma. I’m sure a book will come out of these struggles as well.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
https://www.entangledinblue.com/
Do you have any advice for new authors?
We all have a story worth sharing, and it is amazing how much healing can happen when you take the time to write it all out. You may feel it’s too personal to share or publish, but sharing your story shows others who may be going through similar circumstances that they are not alone.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Surround yourself with like-minded people – It sounds so simple, but after realizing I have lived my entire life surrounded by abusive personalities, it took a lot of Soul searching to learn that “I don’t have to be around mean people anymore!”
What are you reading now?
“Out of Africa” by Isak Dinesen and Karen Blixen – My boyfriend has a house upstate with a huge library full of the classics. I grabbed from the library to read on the ride home, and I like what I’ve read so far.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I started by writing about my childhood while struggling with undiagnosed and untreated Dyslexia, which could be the start of a book. I am currently navigating the complex process of the Department of Education while advocating for support and accommodations for my children after being victims of complex trauma. That can be a whole other story.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
“The Various Flavours of Coffee” by Anthony Capella – One of my regular customers from my first coffee shop surprised me with this book as a Christmas gift. It has been over 16 years since I first read it, and I can read it repeatedly. You don’t need to like coffee to love the book. Coffee lovers will, of course, love coffee even more after reading it. It isn’t easy to put this book into one classification. It’s officially considered Historical Fiction, yet it has a unique blend of romance, travel, and harsh reality. It is set in London in the late 1900’s. I usually don’t read books from this period, but there is enough to keep you interested. The various flavors of the book (Pun intended) include coming of age, imperialism, prohibition, the suffragette movement, female hysteria, and its treatment, falling in love, betrayal, African tribal life, and slavery. I hadn’t cried from a book until I read The Various Flavors of Coffee. Not only did I cry at the end, I sobbed.
A Wrinkle In Time by L’Engle Madeleine – I loved reading this with my kids. I especially loved the message about finding the power in yourself to fight against negativity.
The Wizard of Oz – I made several references to this book in my book “Entangled In Blue” explaining how it inspired me to escape the abusive situation. It continues to inspire me to this day.
Author Websites and Profiles
Sarah Hummell Author Profile on Smashwords
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