A talented author and artist, Sandy DeLuca, first hit my radar last year. Robert Dunbar and Shane Staley had both mentioned her several times and since I trust their tastes in fiction I grabbed her novel Descent. It  was a fun ride that started a great friendship.

Me: What led you into writing?

Sandy: From an early age teachers indicated to my parents that I might grow up to be a writer. They said I was a highly imaginative child and quite curious. I remember an incident from grade school (third or fourth grade) where the class was herded together on a bus trip. We had to sit in a waiting room upon arriving at our destination. I began to thumb through magazines in the waiting area and an article relating to time, space and the dimensions of the universe caught my eye. I was enthralled with the article when my teacher came along and asked, “Sandra, what are you reading?” Upon seeing the article she quickly scooped up the magazine as though I were reading a copy of Playgirl. 

Me: Neat. What led you into painting?

Sandy: Again, magazines and books filled with paintings of the Masters caught my eye at a young age. My parents exposed me to books and took me to museums in New York and Boston. I began to draw–sometimes on my grandmother’s antique table–faces, cats and my family.

Me: What are some common themes that run through your works? How personal are those themes?

Sandy: Love, relationships and family. I’ve written several novels about love at its darkest. Families are normally dysfunctional as well. My main characters are usually Italian/American girls.

My real life is rather boring, but I love exploring dark themes in fiction and in film. I was raised by Italian/American parents and that part of me emerges in my work.

I also write about magic and superstition.My Mom, grandmother and aunt filled my head with it and I went on to obtain a vast collection of occult books as an adult.

Me: What do you think of the digital books?

Sandy: They are a great format for fiction, inexpensive and do not require storage space. However, I still love books and my house is filled with them.

Me: Same here! Which of your books would you recommend to a new reader?

Sandy: All of them, but that new reader might want to start with either DESCENT or REIGN OF BLOOD.

Me: How has your art impacted your writing and vice versa?

Sandy: I have a few examples, but basically composition, texture and  color are subjects I’ve studied for many years; different shades of black, the way the sky changes color at sunset, skin tones.  Descriptions of those things often find their way into my dialogue and descriptive narrative.

Julia in DESCENT is a painter and often images emerge on her canvases without warning, similar to experiences I’ve had while painting abstracts.

I wrote a short novel called MESSAGES FROM THE DEAD last year and it was somewhat inspired by the time I spent as an art student.

People I meet at gallery openings and other artists often inspire scenes and characters.

I often paint scenes and characters from my fiction and sometimes a painting inspires a new idea for a poem or story.

Me: What do you find most rewarding about creating in prose or visual mediums? Are there differences?

Sandy: I obtain great personal satisfaction from creating both. I don’t think there’s a difference in my case. It’s the same muse speaking to me. Sometimes she’s melancholy or morbid and she forces me to look deep inside myself. Other times she puts on her dancing shoes, drinks too much wine and tells me jokes.

It’s rewarding to know how my work affects people. An artist  who’d read INTO THE RED quoted a paragraph from the novella and indicated that it was profound–that it made him think. Someone else who’d read DESCENT told me she got several meanings from it and when she came to the end she wanted to know if she’d interpreted it correctly. She did and I was honored in both cases because they are artists whom I admire. Marge Simon, whom I’ve collaborated with several times, tells me my paintings make her think as well, and then she conjures extraordinary poetry from that process. It’s one of the highest compliments anyone could give me–and it’s from someone who is quite amazing.

Some people also tell me that my whimsical paintings make them smile. That’s also quite rewarding.

Me: No doubt. What do we have to look forward to over the coming year? Or is everything still in the hush-hush phase?

Sandy: Marge Simon and I have another collection coming out; a poetry collaboration. Other than that there are many secrets yet to be revealed.

Me: Excellent! Thanks so much for taking some time with us, Sandy! Wishing you tons of success!

 Visit Sandy’s website Sandydeluca.com to check out her work!

You can also get Sandy’s short story Death Moon for FREE for a limited time right here.

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