About the Author Sandra Byrd
Tell us about yourself and why you got into writing.
When I was a kid I wanted three careers: to be a hair stylist, to be a waitress, and to be an author. After I mohawked my Barbie and gave myself a bad red dye job I knew I wasn’t cut out for the hairstylist career. I actually was a waitress in a Jewish deli when I was a teenager, and I worked for a caterer. Although I loved talking to my customers, especially Holocaust survivors, and watching them slice a clover-stained cow's tongue, writing was the real passion. And it stuck!
When I was a kid I wanted three careers: to be a hair stylist, to be a waitress, and to be an author. After I mohawked my Barbie and gave myself a bad red dye job I knew I wasn’t cut out for the hairstylist career. I actually was a waitress in a Jewish deli when I was a teenager, and I worked for a caterer. Although I loved talking to my customers, especially Holocaust survivors, and watching them slice a clover-stained cow's tongue, writing was the real passion. And it stuck!
You actually write books for both adults and teens. What do you like about writing for both groups?
I love writing for women of all ages - young women, i.e., tweens and teens, and adult women all the way into their eighties. Funnily enough, even though we all mature in so many ways, a lot of the concerns we have as young women stick with us. We are relational, we are emotional, we seek to find our unique place in the world in whatever situation and during whatever age we find ourselves. And because women ARE relational I often hear from them via my website after they read my books. I love that!
Your new series is London Confidential. Book 1 is called Asking for Trouble. Savvy Smith moves to with her family to London. How would you describe the journey she goes through in the book dealing with her new surroundings?
I think she finds out a lot about herself, her family, and her God. Each of us can relate to not fitting in, and Savvy certainly finds out that while everyone speaks English there are many things she has to learn about living in London. This series is really a fun series, though. Lots of excitement, mishaps, friendships, fashion, and good times.
Why did you write the London Confidential series?
Each of us, as women, remember what it's like to be a young woman, struggling to find our place in the world. Some girls have family issues, some have friendship issues, some have school issues, most of us have more than one concern. Whenever I write for young women I hope to provide them with an enjoyable read that validates their concerns, shows them that they are not alone, and provides encouragement to stay the course and see what wonderful things the Lord has just around the next corner.
The world feels a little depressed right now, too. I wanted to provide a happy, hopeful read and not a heavily issues-driven series. The London Confidential books are, I hope, fun to read.
What are some of the biggest struggles for teen girls today? What do you hope teen girls will take away from the series?
The world feels a little depressed right now, too. I wanted to provide a happy, hopeful read and not a heavily issues-driven series. The London Confidential books are, I hope, fun to read.
I think she finds out a lot about herself, her family, and her God. Each of us can relate to not fitting in, and Savvy certainly finds out that while everyone speaks English there are many things she has to learn about living in London. This series is really a fun series, though. Lots of excitement, mishaps, friendships, fashion, and good times.
Why did you write the London Confidential series?
Each of us, as women, remember what it's like to be a young woman, struggling to find our place in the world. Some girls have family issues, some have friendship issues, some have school issues, most of us have more than one concern. Whenever I write for young women I hope to provide them with an enjoyable read that validates their concerns, shows them that they are not alone, and provides encouragement to stay the course and see what wonderful things the Lord has just around the next corner.
The world feels a little depressed right now, too. I wanted to provide a happy, hopeful read and not a heavily issues-driven series. The London Confidential books are, I hope, fun to read.
What are some of the biggest struggles for teen girls today? What do you hope teen girls will take away from the series?
The world feels a little depressed right now, too. I wanted to provide a happy, hopeful read and not a heavily issues-driven series. The London Confidential books are, I hope, fun to read.
My Review
ASKING FOR TROUBLE by Sandra Byrd
ASKING FOR TROUBLE by Sandra Byrd
The story starts with a teenage girl age fifteen, Savanna (Savvy) to her school friends.
Her dad had decided to move the family from Seattle to London so they would have some adventure.
It is hard enough for a teen in her own school, but, to move out of the country and have to learn a new set of ways, then that is terrible. Savvy wants to be a reporter and was going to be in Seattle when she entered ninth grade but in a new country everything was so different.
They had given up their nice home and now lived in an apartment that belonged to their grandmother’s friend. Not enough room for a set of parents and two girls and a new dog.
Nothing was going right for Savvy, not at home with the dog, she didn’t like, nor the new school. She tried but didn’t seen to be able to make any friends. The family had not even been able to find a church they felt at home in.
She tired everything the school had to offer as an extra activity but all she wanted to do was write. An opening came up on the newspaper staff but could she tell a small lie and get away with it? She did have some experience didn’t she?
Can she come up with a way to prove herself to this new school that she could do the job.
Can she make the friends she so desires as a Christian?
I am a great-grandmother and I really enjoyed this book. I can just see my fourteen-year-old granddaughter in the same situation.
Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book to review.
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