Sandy Sinnett – A Soldier’s Wife Who Used Writing to Relieve Stress

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Author Sandy Sinnett started writing her manuscript based on her own personal experiences.
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By Alyssa Ramsfield

Olympia Auto Mall sponsorSandy Sinnett is a Thurston County resident with many accomplishments. She has been married for 24 years and also has four, wonderful children. The long time Oly Fed employee is now adding published, local author to her growing list of achievements.

“I’ve been writing off and on my whole life,” explains Sinnett. “It was always a bit of a hobby for me starting in high school with poems. I didn’t sit down and think I was going to ever write a book.” Sinnett’s first book, Hope in the Rain, is set for release on April 22, 2014.

olympia author
Author Sandy Sinnett started writing her manuscript based on her own personal experiences.

A flight to her hometown of Mt. Vernon, Illinois sparked the ideas for the beginning of her story. “I was sitting next to a southern man on the flight and after talking to him for a bit I thought he would make a great character for a story. I later had some strange dreams that led to this man I met as being a main character within them. The story started to play out like a Hallmark movie in my head.”

“I began sharing pieces of the story with a co-worker during my lunch break,” says Sinnett. “The co-worker encouraged me to start writing it down. My husband was deployed to Afghanistan at the time and I found that writing was very therapeutic and helped me escape from real life. ”

Soon, writing became a part of Sinnett’s daily routine. “I was writing every day at lunch in the lunchroom at work. I would write after the kids went to bed or early in the morning. Any spare time I used to write.”

“Having my husband away on deployment had me worried,” explained Sinnett. “Writing this book helped to relieve some of that stress. It helped me to escape not think about what might happen to him.”

Along with the passenger, the characters for her book began to take shape from her personal experiences. “My best friend, Laura Tinnin-Lewis, battled breast cancer. Laura became one of my main characters. I brought her story to the book to honor her and her experience that she went through. Once Laura was a character in the book, it took on this whole new life. I found that inner passion to keep writing.”  Laura will soon celebrate five years of being cancer-free.

Research was important to Sinnett while in the writing process. “I went to locations that are in the book including Hickory, North Carolina. I even had a chance to go to the Hickory Crawdads’ baseball game and be on the field. I also spent some time researching wine making which plays a role in the book.”

“A key aspect in the book is faith,” explains Sinnett. “A lot of my own life experiences include my faith so I wanted to use that in the book. When looking for a publisher, I knew I wanted someone who would understand the importance of faith and help to promote that.”

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Author and Thurston County resident, Sandy Sinnett, will release her first book in April.

Publishing a book is a long and difficult process. “I finished the manuscript in June of 2012 and sent it to the publisher in July of the same year. They didn’t even begin work on it until a few months later. Here we are in 2014 and the book is finally coming out!”

In honor of Sinnett’s book release there will be a signing at The Blend Café in Olympia, WA on Wednesday, April 9 from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm. Meet the author and help to celebrate in the launch of Hope in the Rain.

Hope in the Rain Book Signing

The Blend Café

New Caledonia Building

116 5th Avenue in downtown Olympia

Olympia, WA 98501

 

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