Do you have a local bookstore? I do. It’s Abalabix Books. A friend of mine told me about Abalabix and George, the store’s less-than-fierce defender of books. Of course, I had to stop by and give a few of my books to the proprietor and meet George. And, of course, I never leave a bookstore empty-handed. That’s where I picked up Sarah’s novel, Home in a Hundred Places.

At the time, Sarah lived not so far away. But, alas, my appetite for books always outpaces my reading speed. So, it was over a year before read I her book. By then, the 38-year-old Sarah had moved to Virginia! Thanks to the World Wide Web, I found her, and she agreed to be interviewed. She also graciously agreed to come to my next book club meeting, too. Again, thanks to the internet and Zoom, we can do that with no trouble at all.

Home in a Hundred Places is a poetically written novel that reflects Sarah’s father’s story.

Raymond Blanco never intended on leading a life of many roles, but after more than 90 years of experiences, he has a hard time remembering many of them. Raised in a Sephardic family in Egypt during the height of a growing resistance against Jews, Raymond maneuvers his way through childhood and into young adulthood with the guidance of his older cousin. When the two of them become key members of a Cairo-based Jewish spy ring, they’re thrown into a world of split-second decisions that will ultimately determine the course of their lives. 

In the midst of life-threatening choices, Raymond loses contact with his cousin, but spends the rest of his life trying to find him again. Unable to stay in Egypt, Raymond finds his way to New York City, where his life is marked with success, international travels, and prosperity. But now the void in his heart marked by his cousin’s disappearance is slowly being etched away by his fading memories.

From Amazon’s Description

Question: How did your book get to Abalabix?

Sarah: I lived in Gurnee, Illinois for a few years and I reached out to Abalabix in Crystal Lake to see if they would be interested in hosting a book signing there. I had a book signing in the store a few years back and had my book on the shelves there as well. 

(Oh my! That’s the same way I got my books into the store. It never hurts to ask. And look how Abalabix introduced two authors! Side note: That’s where I met my new bestie and sister author, Anita Borgo. We’ve had such fun finding ways to market our books.)

Questions: When did you start writing?

Sarah: Honestly, for as long as I can remember. I recently cleaned out a few closets in my childhood home and found some short stories I wrote in early elementary school, so writing has always been part of my life. As I was growing up, I wanted to be a journalist or create my own magazine. After college, I was a travel journalist for a little while, but my main goal has always been to write novels. Another one of my goals is to one day have one of my books turned into a movie. 

(I can see Sarah as a travel journalist. Her descriptions of places are so rich, that I could almost taste the food. Home in a Hundred Place would make a lovely movie.)

Question: What do you hope to get out of publishing this book? 

(Spoiler alert: Skip to the next question if you haven’t read the book and you don’t like any clues about how it ends.)

Sarah: This book is so special to me that originally, all I wanted to do was write it for myself and for my family. If those were the only people who ever read it, I would have been happy with that. But now it’s the icing on the cake that other people can enjoy the story of my Dad’s life as well. I also wanted to shed some light on the realities of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease, and to hopefully have others understand that that disease is not something that defines a person. I wanted to show how much of a beautiful life someone can have before that kind of diagnosis.

(Okay, now I have a little tear in my eyes as I remember, not just the beauty of Raymond, but of the love and grace his family showed caring for him. We should all be blessed with such compassion.)

Question: What made you decide to write Home in a Hundred Places?

Sarah: Home in a Hundred Places was something that I knew I had to write. It is based on the true story of my late father’s life. Growing up, my family always encouraged me to write a book about the story of his fascinating life, as a Jewish Egyptian spy who escaped Egypt and came to the United States. It wasn’t until I was older and could fully understand all he went through that I decided it was the right time to write his story.

Question: How did you get started?

Sarah: This story had been a long time in the making, but I never put pen to paper. When I actually sat down and started, there wasn’t much plan to it and I just started writing from the heart. The rest of it came very naturally. It took me about 6 months total to write the book.

(I am so envious of Sarah’s timeline. What I set out to accomplish in a year, takes me five!)

Questions: What’s your biggest challenge?

Sarah: My biggest challenge when writing Home in a Hundred Places was making sure I kept my father’s story authentic. I didn’t want to deviate from real events much and I wanted to make sure it was something our whole family could be proud of. 

Question: What was the most fun? 

Sarah: The most fun part of this project was reliving his stories with him whenever I asked him questions about it. 

Question: So many writers “don’t quit their day job.” Besides writing, what other jobs/careers do you have/had?

Sarah: Writing is my ultimate passion, but my career is currently in HR. I work for HR at Scholastic. During my career in HR, I’ve worked at some very fun places, including SeaWorld San Diego, Girl Scouts, and SiriusXM. Before I landed my career in HR, I used to be a school counselor at a high school in New York City.

Question: Have you written other books?

Sarah: Yes, aside from Home in a Hundred Places, I wrote Greater than the Still and The Lies on Their Lips.

Question: What advice do you have for someone who has the same background/childhood/aspirations as you?

Sarah: I’d tell them to write or create from your own heart and passion, because they truly want to express themselves, not because they want to gain popularity or fame from it. I think that’s the way the most inspirational and creative forms of art come about.

Where else can we find you?

You can follow Sarah on Instagram: Instagram

You can read what inspires Sarah and read more of her travel-esque writing on her Website

You can buy Sarah’s books on Amazon

You can find out what Sarah likes to read on Goodreads.