Interview With Author Sarah Ickes
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi! I am an author, artist, and website manager who has an Associates Degree in Art and Design. Since I was in school, I enjoyed reading and had a few poems published in national student publications. In continuing to pursue both of my passions, of art and literature, I began an online art store in 2021 and continue to work on my writings through various formats. Animals are a soft spot for me, given the range I have had from chickens to dogs to guinea pigs to fish, and I currently lives with my two dogs in Pennsylvania.
There are two books in my historical/traditional mystery series, Murial Robertson, with more on the way.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Angled for Revenge is the second installment in my Murial Robertson mystery series, and it came out in August of 2022. I will have to admit that I like trains, older steam engines, and wanted to incorporate my state's interlinking history with these great machines. Back in the 1840s, the train system was beginning to bloom and Pennsylvania became a powerhouse in that industry. Our state is littered with abandoned tracks, leftover train stations, and run-down cars that mark an era of our past that truly defined us. In this book, Murial takes a long train ride from Pennsylvania to California, learning how dangerous it could be along the way.
History is also a particular interest of mine, so I do like to sprinkle in real events that occurred to bring authenticity to my story line. For instance, in Angled for Revenge, Murial has a flashback to the Haymarket Incident that happened in Chicago in 1886.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I guess you could consider the fact that I like to write under the starry night sky a little unusual, but I don't. Even if it is cold out, I bundle up in blankets and warm clothes and head outside to a picnic table.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Believe it or not, because he is not in my current genre I write in, Rick Riordan has been a big influence. I also read Gordon Korman's Swindle series when I was younger, Natalie Babbit's books, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boy series (classics), and Erin Hunter's Warriors and Seekers series.
What are you working on now?
I am working on a Women's Fiction story and a Fantasy/Steampunk story.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Honestly, I just began surfing into those waters as of recently. I think that the services that Awesomegang.com has are great and helpful for authors like me, who are just starting out. Due to different life factors, and some part on a few of my own fears, I haven't really pushed my stories as much as I would have liked to before and hope to change to that.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Listen to the feedback from others, but do not hold it higher than your own opinion. If you do that, that your voice is lost and so are your stories. No matter if you are with a large publisher, or self-published, a lot of the advertisement and push of your books will be on your shoulders. So nevertheless, persist.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Nevertheless, she persisted and trust in faith.
What are you reading now?
Open for Murder by Mary Angela. It is the first in her cozy mystery series set in a small camping town near a canyon in the western part of the United States.
What’s next for you as a writer?
To keep chugging along.
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?
Man, that is a tough one, but here goes (not in any order): Hope, Faith, and a Corpse by Laura Jenson Walker, Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, and Kneeknock Rise by Natalie Babbit.
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