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Sarah’s Year In Books

Sarah’s 2024 Year in Books

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2024 Reading Challenge

2024

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Sarah Schantz has read 12 of 50 books.

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Sarah Elizabeth Schantz

Goodreads Author

Born

in Boulder, The United States

Website

http://www.SarahElizabethSchantz.org

Genre

Fiction

Influences

Dorothy Allison, Sandra Cisneros, Jim Grimsley, Angela Carter, L Frank ...more

Member Since

April 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/sarahelizabethschantz

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Sarah Elizabeth Schantz is a fiction writer living on the outskirts of Boulder, Colorado in an old farmhouse surrounded by open sky, century-old cottonwoods and coyotes.

Her first novel, FIG, debuted from Simon & Schuster in 2015 (the trade paperback came out in 2016). The book was noted as a Best Read of 2015 by NPR and won the Colorado Book Award in 2016. Schantz is represented by Heather Schroder at Compass Talent. Schantz's website is: www.SarahElizabethSchantz.org. If you are interested in taking one of her creative writing workshops or working with her one-on-one, you can visit www.WritesofPassage.org.

FIG is the story of a girl who grows up under the shadow of her schizophrenic mother in rural Kansas. This coming-of-age story tracks Fi ...more

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Ask the Author

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Popular Answered Questions

How did the "Rue Morgue Bookstore" in Boulder influence you as an author?

Sarah Elizabeth Schantz I swore I answered this, but maybe it didn't go through. I will try to answer it again, and many apologies for the lateness of this reply.

The easy ans…moreI swore I answered this, but maybe it didn't go through. I will try to answer it again, and many apologies for the lateness of this reply.

The easy answer is that growing up in a bookstore, surrounded by literature, and being raised by two serious readers (and writers themselves), I was given the permission to write from the moment I came into this world. I know far too many aspiring writers, or writers who don't end up writing because they've been told their entire lives that writing doesn't pay--that it's not worth it. I want to live in a world where writers write because that is their calling. I want to live in a world where writers (and independent booksellers) make a fair wage. I want to live in a world where people are encouraged to pursue the arts rather than cauitioned against this pursuit. I got to live in a tiny subculture where I was encouraged to write. I am so very, very, very lucky. Other than that, I'm not sure how much The Rue Morgue specifically influenced me other than to say I guess I rebelled a little as I don't write mystery novels (not that I have anything against them).(less)

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What books on writing have been the most helpful or influential to you in your writing craft?

Sarah Elizabeth Schantz I really like Stephen King's "memoir" on the craft called, On Writing. I use the book when I teach my Creative Writing I class at the local community …moreI really like Stephen King's "memoir" on the craft called, On Writing. I use the book when I teach my Creative Writing I class at the local community college because it's super accessible. The book is divided into two sections: the first is the memoir area, a fascinating account of King's struggle with alcohol and path to publication. For example, he realized after writing The Shining and then getting sober that the story was a metaphor of his own life and battle with drinking. The second half of the book includes his "Tool Box" and rules for writing well.

I also teach Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones. I think she has some really good exercises in there, especially for beginners, but I've noticed that with both the King book and with Bones, even as a published novelist, I still get inspired when I read the excerpts I use for class. I particularly like the concept of "composting" as described by Goldberg in Bones.

So those two are the super accessible books, and here are the dreamier and more esoteric favorites: Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing by Helene Cixous appeals to the feminist in me, but also the writer in me who believes she is acting like a medium does by somehow channelling stories from the ethers. Then there's The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard who is a philosopher of phenomenology. This book gave me absolute permission to surrender absolutely to the power of the day dream.

The Joy of Writing Sex by Elizabeth Benedict is incredibly useful as is Class: A Guide Through the American Status System by Paul Fussell. While the Fussell book isn't a book about craft or writing, it presents the class system in a way that is incredibly valuable to writers as getting class right in one's writing is imperative to establishing credibility.

I could go on. Bird by Bird is good, as are the writing prompts provided by Brian Kitely in his books, The 3 A.M. Epiphany and The 4 A.M. Breakthrough, but I actually think the best act a writer can do to improve her craft is to read everything--fiction, nonfiction, the labels on shampoo bottles, etc. A writer should read what she wants to write, but also what she doesn't want to write. She will learn from both. Just as an athlete learns her sport by watching other athletes (and practicing), a writer needs to see how other writers pull off story, or present theme, or resolve this situation, or use perspective. (less)

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Sarah Elizabeth Schantz’s books

Average rating: 3.94 · 951 ratings · 183 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	Fig 3.93 avg rating — 891 ratings — published 2015 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Modern Grimmoire: Contemporary Fairy Tales, Fables & Folklore by Michael Harris Cohen (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), Angela Buck (Contributor), Simon P. Clark (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 3.98 avg rating — 48 ratings — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Midwestern Gothic: Spring 2013 Issue 9 by Midwestern Gothic, John Biggs (Goodreads Author), Joe Kapitan (Goodreads Author) 4.62 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Down In the Water it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2020	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

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Sarah Elizabeth Schantz's Blog

The Challenger: Writing Emotional Truth

Yesterday marked twenty-nine years since the Challenger launched into a cold blue heaven only to explode into a series of chaotic contrails, resulting in the tragic death of all those on board–six astronauts and one school teacher. It was the first time a civilian had ever ventured into space. The shuttle shot up and then it fell apart; from the orange and white fireball, the debris fe

Sarah is Currently Reading

Sarah Schantz is currently reading

Musing the Margins: Essays on Craft

by Audrey T. Carroll (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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May 05, 2022 12:56PM

Sarah Schantz is currently reading

Appropriate: A Provocation

by Paisley Rekdal

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May 05, 2022 12:56PM

Sarah Schantz is currently reading

A Stranger's Journey: Race, Identity, and Narrative Craft in Writing

by David Mura

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May 05, 2022 12:56PM

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Sarah’s Recent Updates

Sarah Schantz rated a book it was amazing Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 11, 2024 07:43AM · 1 like · like
Sarah Schantz rated a book it was amazing Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 10, 2024 07:41PM · 2 likes · like
Sarah Schantz is now following Cheryl Strayed Author of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest T...
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Sarah Schantz rated a book it was amazing Point of Direction by Rachel Weaver (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I just finished Point of Direction yesterday and I loved it! I'm a setting slut so the use of Alaska and the lighthouse really appealed to me, as did the slow reveal of the past, the use of secrets in the overall narrative, the medicine of the daily ...more
Oct 10, 2024 07:30PM · like · see review
Sarah Schantz is now following Rachel Weaver Author of Point of Direction
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Sarah Schantz rated a book really liked it The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 29, 2024 12:23PM · 1 like · like
Sarah Schantz rated a book it was amazing Sisters by Daisy Johnson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 29, 2024 12:22PM · 1 like · like
Sarah Schantz rated a book really liked it The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 29, 2024 12:18PM · 1 like · like
Sarah Schantz rated a book it was amazing The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 29, 2024 12:18PM · 1 like · like
Sarah Schantz rated a book really liked it The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 29, 2024 12:15PM · 1 like · like

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Quotes by Sarah Elizabeth Schantz (?)

“And I think of Emily Dickinson, and my favorite poem about death, and the line that reads "I could not see to see." This is the line Ms. Sylvia copied onto the board in her beautiful cursive, which spirals away like blindweed tendrils, and then she asked the class what it might mean. I didn't even have to think about it. I just knew. To see to see, which is not exactly what Dickinson wrote, means knowing how to look. How to look to understand. How to look without your eyes. And to die, is not to see at all. Of course, I didn't actually say this out loud.”
― Sarah Elizabeth Schrantz

tags: emily-dickinson, fig

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“The burning moves toward my back, into my shoulder blades. And this is where my wings would attach if only I could fly away.”
― Sarah Elizabeth Schantz, Fig

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“But then someone turns the TV off. The screen goes black - goes black in an inward way, where the last thing left is a white dot in the center of the screen. And when the white dot burns out, it makes a soft electrical pop that makes me think, God has gone to sleep.”
― Sarah Elizabeth Schantz, Fig

1 likes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Let's Talk Love S...: Between the Covers	128	56	Jun 26, 2015 04:07PM
Let's Talk Love S...: Team 1 Book Submission	10	29	Jun 28, 2015 08:51PM

Sarah’s Quotes

“We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.”
― Oscar Wilde

tags: devil, hell, world

2839 likes

“The mountains still smelled to us like lavender and lemon verbena, and we hiked the Valle Grande, a mountain meadow the size of Manhattan that in spring became a purple field of wild irises. When we stopped walking we could hear the snakes rattling in the sagebrush.”
― TaraShea Nesbit, The Wives of Los Alamos

1 likes

“There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.”
― Frank Herbert

tags: endings, happy-endings, writing

4806 likes

“Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”
― Roald Dahl

13790 likes

“Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”
― Mark Twain

tags: humor, writing

9620 likes

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