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Campus News - April 23, 2001 |
Steinsiek's time has come
Lifelong book lover publishes first novel
By Veronica Valencia
In
the corner of the UNM Law Library amidst piles of thick law books, Library Specialist
Sabra Steinsiek feels at home. From a very early age, shes always considered
the library a quiet retreat, a place where she feels secure.
I got my first library card when I was promoted to the fourth grade,
and I can remember how terribly important it was to me, she said. The
library was always a comforting place.
As a kid, she frequented the Carlsbad Public Library and was often the top
reader in the librarys summer reading programs. She even won a library
essay contest on the topic If I Ran the Library. Ten years later,
she got the chance to run the library when she became the childrens
librarian in Carlsbad.
After some of lifes little detours, Steinsiek and her family found their
way back to Albuquerque, where she has been working as head of serials at the
UNM Law Library for the past 11 years.
While she enjoys the day-to-day activities of checking in books, updating the
on-line card catalog and supervising work-study students, she thinks the art
of being a librarian is changing.
I miss the thunk of the books when youre checking them out by hand
and the old card catalog, Steinsiek said.
When shes not checking in books, shes reading them. She loves anything
written by Nora Roberts or James Patterson. If her nose isnt in a book,
shes thinking about Taylor, Laura, Cary and Annie the main characters
in a book she has written.
I think about these people all the time, she laughs. They
enter my mind at 3 in the morning or in the middle of the workday.
Timing is Everything, Steinsieks first novel, was published
in September 2000. Shes always loved to write, but found that marriage,
motherhood and career didnt leave a lot of spare time. Her passion for
writing was rekindled after she spent time writing short stories over the internet
with a group of friends.
Even though I finished the book in January, 1998, I re-wrote it three
times before I would even let a few friends read it, she said. The
response was so positive, and I began the long road to publication.
After spending more than year in the traditional publishing arena
trying to find an agent and get her book read, she discovered the new world
of Publish on Demand and choose that route to publish her book.
The novel, which she describes as an old-fashioned love story with a twist of cyberspace, tells the story of four lives bound together by fate. Set in locales as diverse as Tampa, Fla., Catalina Island and Italy, Steinsiek found that working on the sections set in New Mexico was the most personally satisfying giving her a chance to introduce her readers to the Land of Enchantment.
Shes currently working on the sequel, tentatively titled, When
That Time Comes.
Shell be signing books on Saturday, May 12, from 2-4 p.m. at Hastings Entertainment Superstore. Steinsiek can be reached through her website http://SabraS.homestead.com.
| The
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