← Living The Next Chapter: Candid Conversations with Authors and Writers for Readers Searching for a New Read
Living The Next Chapter: Candid Conversations with Authors and Writers for Readers Searching for a New Read
E709 - Sandra Schnakenburg - The Housekeeper’s Secret - Uncover the story hidden by a family’s beloved housekeeper, Lee Metoyer
00:46:26
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- [00:01]
A
What I want you to do, I hope this book does for you is touch your heart in a way that, you know, Lee had touched ours. And may some of these issues in the book connect to you to a point that can help you as well on your journey and healing or awareness or also just a human spirit story brings it all home, that everything's happening in our life for a reason. And I think there's, there's this pull back the lens and say, wow, this is like this played out in like a divine appointment kind of thing. And when a reader sees that, I think it's beautiful because there's, there's no mention of like, you know, God is the driving force and all that. But I, you know, I've had people that are like Jewish write me letters and say, you know, the funny. I loved your book so much and I saw God, the way he worked through it, the entire story and how he had his hands in this because it all kind of unveiled exactly how, you know, it was supposed to anyway, like the timing of, the timing of the. The way everything was discovered, the way the meetings, the way everything happened. So I hope the, the reader would, would see that bigger picture about the story and then also the deeper healing aspect and the heart, the heart movement of it. And yeah, it's. It is. I will to say to the readers and out there is that it is. Today's Today, December 3rd is the one year birthday of the book. It was launched one year today. How about that? We changed this so many times. And you. And today the happy birthday for the housekeeper, like literally is one year love and awards and it's been. Yeah, it's been a top seller for my publisher and I'm so proud of it. And I'm. I'm actually pitching, pitching to two film directors in the next couple weeks. I'm really excited about it. I'm learning how to do that, like how to pitch the idea of a book. When you have eight minutes to share this story, it's hard to do in eight minutes because there's a lot there to unpack. But I think just getting some trigger words and trigger characters and giving the plot twist of it all, it might be the way to go. And I also have a couple trailers that really play it out a little bit. Yeah.
- [02:34]
B
Everybody, welcome back to Living the Next Chapter, the Author podcast. Get to talk to great authors from around the world. And we're going to do some housekeeping today, which is fun. Sandra's on the show. We're talking about her book and her journey as an author. We've got some secrets to share and a book to share with you as well. I'm so excited to have Sandra here. I had a chance to go through the book. It's a, it's a great story. There's a lot of puzzles in this book that we're going to put the pieces together with Sandra. Sandra, welcome to the show. Glad to have you on Living the Next chapter.
- [03:05]
A
Yeah, thank you, David. It really is an honor to be here and I'm excited about your listeners to get some feel about the housekeeper secret.
- [03:15]
B
There's a little bit of Easter eggs we kind of threw in there in that introduction. There's a lot of stuff we're going to talk about today. It's exciting to have you on the show. Sandra, tell everybody where you are in this big world of ours.
- [03:25]
A
I am living in Park City, Utah. That's at this time. It's just for the first time this week, which is late in the season, but it's, it's a gorgeous place. Yes, very good.
- [03:39]
B
Born and raised there?
- [03:40]
A
No, we just moved here. We had a rental in which we turned into kind of our home temporarily right now. And it's lovely. But we're, we're going to figure out our next chapter. My husband just retired, so.
- [03:53]
B
Oh, good.
- [03:53]
A
Got lots of things in the works, including another book.
- [03:58]
B
Well, I like that you use the name Next Chapter. That's the name of the show. So. Yeah, I feel like we're friends already just by doing that. That's great.
- [04:04]
A
I qualify. Let's just say I qualify.
- [04:06]
B
You qualify. You more than qualify. It's great to have you here. We have, Sandra, we have authors that listen to the show. They come and join us for inspiration on their journey as a writer, their early days in the process. And they're looking to somebody like you, who's published, who's done it. You've crossed the finish line. You have some knowledge that I don't have as the host of the show. As a non author, I'd love to kind of tap into some of your inspiration to help that person. So what would have been helpful for you to hear early in the beginning of writing the Housekeeper's Secret from an author that's published, what would have been a helpful bit of advice or, or suggestions from someone further down the road that we can use today to help somebody listening?
- [04:53]
A
Well, in. In respect to your question, it is a loaded question for me because just so your listeners know, I give hope to a lot of people who are not educated in, you know, journalism or creative writing because I was worked in corporate finance for 30 years. And the housekeeper secret came about because the housekeeper asked me to write her story on her deathbed. And I had no skill. I had taken a English 101 in class. And my first project was an essay about the housekeeper. And I send it to Lee, who Lee Metoyer. And she loved it. So I never was trained, you know, essentially to be a creative writer. But when like it was, it was 15 years after she died is when I found her ashes in my mom's closet who had just died. And that's when I went on the journey to figure out what this story was she wanted me to write. So my journey to actually, once I unveiled the secret and her past and all this incredible shock that just set our family like literally stunned about who Lee was and what she was really about, because she wasn't the person she said she was, hint, hint was. I went on and said, I need to write this book. This is the book she wanted me to write. So I came into writing classes. I went back to school to Rice University and took lots of writing, you know, exercises, class. I formed a writing group. I went to writing conferences. I basically dived in headfirst. To do that, I had to quit my corporate job. So. And I would, you know, my. My first thing was to just Google how to write a book. And then, you know, like that was so basic. But I ended up just getting introduced to one book and I wrote the story through. But then I ended up needing developmental editors and people to help me get the story to the level it is now published, which took about 10 years to 10 years and about 3,000. I tell people I wrote about 3,000 or more pages. I wrote. Through my pain and healing, I grew. It was almost like Lee's gift from the other side asking me to write her story because it became my story in my healing. It was my story from my perspective, who Lee was when she came to my house, who, you know, how we knew her and what little she gave us about herself. And then me unraveling who she really was and why she did what she did. She was basically living on our 44 acre estate and she was hiding out and she didn't want to be found and didn't want to be found out for 30 years and she didn't. And we didn't know the truth about who she really was until 15 years after she died.
- [07:42]
B
So how, how old were you when you met her then?
- [07:47]
A
I was three and a half.
- [07:48]
B
Three.
- [07:49]
A
She arrived at our house. So she basically raised me, and it was the closest thing I could imagine. To me, she was a lovely lady, you know, writing this story for authors out there that want to write their book. Book. If. If you're called to write a story and you're called to leave a legacy because your words will live beyond you, it is the best gift you can give, you know, your future generations, too. And I do believe that the story that she asked me to write taught me more about who I was. Not only did I learn about writing, but taught me more about finding a sense of peace in my life. Finding a sense, you know, I had to learn to slow down, take things in. I even started meditating. I started really questioning and thinking. I'm a very curious person in general. I think that's what makes a good writer. If you ask the right questions, you can write the right book. Because you want to lead your readers into curiosity, too. You always want to keep them turning that page. And this story really led me to that skill because the story was riveting. Just the story carried itself, even if I was a poor writer. But I wanted to get it to the level to honor Lee's request to write a good book.
- [09:15]
B
When was it for you that you had that conversation with Lee around writing the book? How long ago was that? How did that come up as a subject matter, a topic to discuss between the two of you?
- [09:28]
A
Well, during the 30 years she lived in our. With our family, from the time she. In 1965 that she arrived to the time she died in 1994, she had always, you know, she got real comfortable with us. She sat at the dinner table and she goes. She'd always blurt this thing out going, I have a book, and nobody will ever believe it. And we're like, what is this story anyways? What is this story? And she's like, just wait, just wait. And she kept saying, I'm going to write it one day and nobody will ever believe it. And she said this numerous times, like, oh, just blurted it out in the middle of nowhere. So we would always tease her about it, like, come on, is this a promise or a threat? So forth. So then when she became 72 years old and this is her, you know, like, 30th year with us, she came down with lung cancer. And it. And it traveled pretty quick. Emphysema. And she. And I came home. I was living in Australia at the time, and I was visiting home, and my mom said, lee wants to spend some time with you today. Will you go downstairs and talk to her in her room? So I sat next to the bed and we. And she said, you know, Sandy, she said a couple other things to, too, besides the book. But she started out, she goes, I really want to thank your mother for everything she did for me. And I'm like, wait a minute. You did everything for us? I didn't understand that one at all, but now I do because I know the truth. And second, she said, you know that book I've always said I was going to write? She goes, I'm not going to be able to write it now, but will you write it for me? And I'm like, whoa. I'm like, you know, I. I'm not a writer. I'm in finance. I'm. You know, I just got married. I'm trying to have kids. We lived in Australia. I just didn't even know what she was asking. But I. I told her I would try and I would do what I could when the time comes. And basically I left it at that. So 15 years fly by, and my mom dies. So my mom never knew the truth either. She never knew the story. And I find our whole family unites to empty her house out, and we find Lee's ashes from being cremated because she didn't have any family that we thought we knew. And we found him in my mom's closet. And we sat and we said, what's this book she wanted me to write? And I said, well, I don't know, but, you know, what we should do is we should find her. She had a backstory when she came. She said she had a husband and son that died in a car accident and that she had no family and don't ask her about them because it might upset her, you know, which I asked her a lot later, and I. I thought, well, I'll go find their graves because they're very Catholic. They didn't cremate then. And I'll put her ashes with them. We'll reunite them. Honorable thing to do. And that was my journey for two and a half, three years, just looking these people. I didn't even know they're. I knew the son's name, but. Which he told me he was, but it turned out it wasn't him. But that whole journey was very frustrating. I had. I had gone through governmental records, marital records, birth records, every possible avenue that they existed, and I couldn't even find them at all. And. But she had these pictures on her mirror for the 30 years when she died. They were still on her Mirror that those were the people that died in this tragic car accident that I later found out. And this is not the secret for the listeners. Those people did not die in a tragic car accident. It was kind of her cover story so that we wouldn't pry into her past. But I did end up finding out what really happened and why she reinvented herself and came to our house. And it was quite a shock. But the fact that what she did was so admirable to me today because she wanted to live apart from her past. She wanted to leave that pain behind. And she did it in a way that worked. And she was able to love another family. And we were able to love her so much for who she really was. Which the question was, was she really the person that she said she was? Because she wasn't the name or the birth date or the past story or anything she told us, but we had the essence of who she was in her heart because she. Such a lovely lady.
- [13:38]
B
Wow.
- [13:41]
A
Wow.
- [13:41]
B
There's so many. I know as I, I'm like, I'm, I'm being careful what I say because reading the book, I know a lot and I want to make sure that we honor the book because this is a. There's, there's, there's many things in here for a reader to discover and I want to make sure we honor them because that's the joy of reading your book.
- [14:01]
A
Yeah.
- [14:01]
B
As you're just like, wait, what? Oh, no, wait, now what? Now what? What is this?
- [14:06]
A
Yeah.
- [14:07]
B
So there's a lot to unpack. It's interesting when, when I'm reading about her and one of the things I think we can talk about is the fact that she was deflecting any kind of questions about her past or her family or things like that. That was kind of like a arm's length conversation. It just seemed like she didn't want to go anywhere close to that topic and deflecting it or moving away from that topic or dismissing it. That was kind of the default setting. I'm, I'm thinking of people in life where they've had some pretty traumatic, traumatic things happen to them and they don't want to talk about these things. They want to be a different person than the person that, that those events happen to. So.
- [14:53]
A
Right.
- [14:53]
B
As you look back in hindsight now, as you look back over the many years of her being with your family, do you, do you see more of that evidence happening where she was not engaging in conversation around those topics? Was it more clear kind of looking back now than it was maybe in the moment.
- [15:11]
A
Oh yeah, yeah. There's, you know, a lot of it was looking back like there. Well, you know, I was the. Probably the, the most annoying person in her life because as much as we were really close, we were both the fifth children in our families and we both shared a traumatic brain injury, which I didn't know until later that she did because. But she knew so much about what I went through and to help me heal. But Interesting. Yeah, she, we. We were very much in alignment. But she was very clear that anytime I would ask a question while we were. I would helped her clean a lot because I was her like, right hand man person. It was part of my healing with a traumatic brain injury to keep focused on pro. On. On different projects. And I would just go by the way, you know, like, what was your sister's name again? Or what did they do? Or how did you learn how to be a housekeeper? And all these questions. She would just give me a one word answer and then all of a sudden she'd shut down and she said, enough already. Get to work or get. Do your homework or whatever it was. It was very. It was the only time I really saw her angry. Of course, I always pushed that button every now and then. And it was because my curiosity kind of bubbled up inside me. I'd be like. I almost felt like her energy was, you know, holding back something. I felt that like I was a very sensitive kid and none of the other sisters, they were all busy with their social lives. I was home a lot because I had this accident. So it turned out that I was very aware of Lee and she just seemed like she was hiding, but there was the, you know, she had false teeth at a very young age. She. When she came to our house and, you know, she had, she'd walked, you know, like she had been harmed. She had like something going on with her feet. She said she had frostbite and that's why we should always wear our, you know, boots and lots of coats when we go out. You know, we used to kid her that she had childbearing hips, you know, and that was funny because, you know, all. When you find out the truth about her whole past, you kind of put everything together and you start to think about all these little side notes and conversations and how she didn't like taking baths. You know, the readers will see what that means.
- [17:29]
B
Right?
- [17:30]
A
It was, it was just so suspicious that it all added up after I found out what happened to her and how she lived and what all the different Things that she had to go through. I realized every single thing that we had said in the past brought, you know, would maybe trigger her. So I had to push back.
- [17:50]
B
What is it like to have somebody ask you to write their story? It's. It's kind of your family story at the same time, but for you to write on behalf of her, that kind of mantle that's been handed to you, and you're like, I'm not. I'm not a writer. I haven't done this. What do you mean, me write this? Like, what does that mean to you now? Kind of knowing that the book's out there and people are reading the story that this is done, like you've accomplished something you were asked to do by someone who trusted you to do it. What does that feel like now?
- [18:22]
A
Well, it really feels like I honored a very huge request, and I honored it in a way that I honored her life and gave her life meaning to many people today who love Lee and can see her spirit through the pages of the book and going back to the writing. You know, initially I thought, okay, write your book. I'll write your book about your life. But when I. When you really sit down and think about it, I knew very little about who. Who she was, other than coming to our house, giving a backstory, and then the. How she interacted with our family. Those were the things I knew about her, which explains why, you know, we had. We had to write about her arriving, arrival, and who she was among my father and mother and me and the rest of the family. But when I really sat down in these writing classes, they said, you can't just write about another person. I mean, that you know, and you don't even know, and you can't even interview her with all these different questions you have now and new knowledge about her. What you need to do a memoir is about my story, uncovering the truth about her, my suspicions through my life and who she was to me and since the arrival in our family. And then how she affected me throughout the years. And then it goes to the next chapter of how I discovered the truth about her. That was really the real story. It wasn't me trying to dissect what, like, all these details that happened to her and how she felt, because I don't know how she felt. I never was able to interview her because I didn't know what happened to her until after she died.
- [20:04]
B
Do you think that finding your family and making that connection and being there with you, your family, for so long was a safe place For Lee?
- [20:12]
A
Oh, absolutely. Well, first of all, we were so isolated and naive. Like, we. We were so happy to have her there, just to be able to watch baseball with and, you know, she had such a, like, electric spirit about her that you just wanted you. Like, my friends would come over not to play with me, but to hang out with Lee, just sit with her and watch a ball game was just like entertainment to watch jump out of her seat when there's a, you know, a hit. It's. She. She was very special. And yeah, I do think that all her, you know, being made us embrace her even more. But not, not. We never in a million years would have imagined that she had survived something of the. The unthinkable.
- [21:02]
B
Yeah, right.
- [21:04]
A
And been. I. So she was basically isolated on our property and all of us just, we were almost like self absorbed in our family and Lee was there to witness everything and then interject her wisdom when needed.
- [21:19]
B
Yeah. Do you think Lee would have been impressed with how the book turned out? And would it be the kind of the same tone that she would have approached writing her own story?
- [21:29]
A
I, you know, I don't know because I wrote it from my perspective. I think she would have told more about maybe some of the things that happened, you know, to her. I. She may have been. She, She. I think she saw her story as like a movie because she really did see her life. You know, there's a whole aspect of her life is that she was born into a very famous Creole family in Louisiana. They were the wealthiest family in all the Creole society. And then when, you know, of course the Louisiana Purchase happened, they all got dissipated and eventually had to, you know, relocate to Chicago. But. But they have a museum in Louisiana that is just amazing. It's all about her, her, you know, ancestors and how they came to be. And they were fighters. They were survivors. And I think, you know, Lee is too. Lee carried that torch in her life. And that's one of the beauties about this book, is that it has such a deep historical content of. Of the Creole society and it has a personal content of family love, even problem, dysfunctional families.
- [22:48]
B
Yeah.
- [22:48]
A
And it has this investigative journey that goes into, like, who was this person and oh my gosh, what happened and then this unfolding of all of this, these other things that happen after we discover, make this big discovery. So I think it. It is a. A wild ride.
- [23:07]
B
The amount of things you've learned in the process of writing this book. Do you think that was kind of like a. A parting gift from Lee to you that you're going to learn all this information about her family and the history and things that you didn't know, just that you be. You would be the one to uncover these things on her behalf. Do you think that was, like, a gift from her?
- [23:28]
A
Oh, I. It was definitely a gift, but. But at the time she asked me, she didn't want to die without knowing that there's a possibility somebody would do the research and figure it out and write the story. I honestly don't think at the time she could envision how great the book turned out, how good the story was able to be, you know, resonate with so many people and in the world today, who. I get messages from all over the world that read this book that say, like, I can, you know, relate to so many different aspects of this book or one particular aspect that has to do with, you know, narcissism or, you know, abuse or whatever it is. They. They relate so deeply that they write a big, long letter to me. So it's. It's sweet that it touched a lot of hearts. And Lee's vision, I think her vision was to help me heal, too, because she saw that I was very much affected by my father and his abuse, his verbal abuse, and also my car accident, which I had this, you know, lagging brain injury that caused me to, you know, be a lot slower earlier in life. But eventually, with all the things she taught me how to do, I eventually just woke up one day and figured the world out. But she also saw my curiosity, and she was like, yeah, she's going to ask the right questions that'll get. That'll help her heal and also get the story somehow out.
- [25:02]
B
You know, as you think back of that opportunity, you had to go down and sit in her room and talk to her. She wanted to speak to you. Looking back, now that the book's done and all the work you've had to do to create the book, would there be any questions that you wished you would have asked her that day when you sat with her, when she asked you to do this for her that would have helped you or would have kind of filled in some of the gaps for you? Would there be any of the questions that you would have asked her back then?
- [25:27]
A
Yeah, I think, Gosh, I would have. Well, back then, I didn't. I didn't know what I know now.
- [25:34]
B
Right.
- [25:34]
A
But I. I did ask her, like, why do you think my. Like, my mom. Why do you. Why are you thanking my mom when you were actually the one doing everything for us? That I didn't understand that we should be thanking you. So I let her know about that, I think for sure. You know, I never asked her why me. I kind of knew that she knew that I was a driven and I persevered at everything I did, that I would, you know, when the time came, I would persevere at it, which I quit several times just. To all those authors out there, it is not easy to finish a book. I think. I think this is. Statistics are 97 of people say they're going to write a book or try to write a book, and they don't finish. 3% finish. So when I really studied all these statistics, I was like, I want to be a 3 percenter because I, I want to honor this, you know, request. And here we go. I'm a three.
- [26:33]
B
So, okay, for the readers then. Sandra, like, again, we don't want. It's. It's a book of secrets, so we can't. We can't discuss all the secrets because then that's the point of the book. But I really want to make sure that the readers that are listening are so hooked on this book that they just can't wait to buy this and buy it for someone else or coming to that time of year or we're looking for ideas for our loved ones. What can we talk about together about Lee that would help us understand a little bit more of the story without spoiling anything for our readers? Again, I've read it, so I, I know I'm being very careful with my words because I don't want to mess anything up for anybody. I want people to love your book as much as I do. What can we talk about together about Lee that won't impact the reader's uncovering of some secrets as they read?
- [27:27]
A
Right. Well, it is a book about resilience and survival. But I, I will say this, that even if, like, we talked about some of the things that happened to Lee and this has happened in some book events I went to because there would be like 50 of the room would have read the book and the other 50 didn't. But I, but I talk a bit about the spoilers a little bit. But I will say just from like talking to some of these readers that didn't read the book and then went to the event, then they were really excited to see how it played out. They said, you can it, can't you? Yeah. I mean, there's not like a one secret here. This a experience of unfolding of a truth that was so buried deep and, and lasted so many years that the reader actually experiences the unveiling of the truth as they read the book. Like, they're almost like, in the room with me as I'm discovering the next thing. I do that in descriptive writing. And I think that's really important to use senses, smell, taste, feel, and have that emotion on the page so that the reader is walking alongside me as I'm actually discovering the truth about Lee. Because they've already fell in love with Lee from the earlier chapters, seen her in our family and her wisdom and her love, and. And then they go through this process of discovering the truth about this person they already love, too, just like we loved her. And then they go through the reconciliation. It's like the revelation part of the arc of writing, where after you get to the crisis and you discover the truth, then you're like, what do you do with the truth? What do you do with the truth? You have a revelation, like, how did the truth change me? And how I see the world? I see the world differently. I see a woman. I see woman as resilient people. I see this as a whole woman movement, too, because, like, what. The survival of this woman is unthinkable even of her ancestors. When you go back into that chapter, you know, she had 15 children and was out spearing bears in the middle of the night while she was holding her, you know, concubine job in the day. I mean, how. How does that work? You know? I mean, it's just incomprehensible. And then Lee, who had so much at stake in her life, and she had this secret that she hid behind with our family, who she loved so much, and my mother, who's like her kin, kindred spirits, they were so close, yet she didn't want my mother to know. And really, her prayer was answered because we didn't find her ashes in my mom's closet until after my mom died. And I understand how she didn't want my mom to know that she lied. She lied about everything to get the job. And I don't know if my mom would care because she ended up loving her so much. But she. You know, she did. My mom did come up to me a couple times. She goes, if you keep prying and asking Lee questions about her past, she's going to leave because she's really upset that you're asking her too many questions. And I'm like, okay, I'll stop asking. But it really bothers me because there's all these things I'm thinking that she's not telling Us and my mom's like, just leave it alone. Leave it alone. You know? And it really did like the whole life from her arrival to our house to her death and then to the journey of finding out her truth. It almost plays out like a movie. Like how does somebody.
- [30:56]
B
Oh yeah.
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A
Do this and become a different person in. In that today's day? They can't do that because they got Google, you got background checks. You know, I think she had some help with the maid agency too to cover up her tracks because they helped with a lie.
- [31:11]
B
Interesting. Yeah, Yeah. I think, well on from your parents perspective or your mom's perspective as for sure, like you want to protect your family from a stranger moving in with your family and taking care of your children. You don't want to have just anybody. So you, you'd want to make sure that they're not lying to you. So I can understand that's a broken trust. Right. But at the same time, like she, she probably wouldn't have qualified as she told you the truth and she wouldn't even been part of your family had they known right at the beginning. So at that point, there's no relationship. It's just a person coming looking to help you and be part of your family to help you, work for you. There's no commitment there at that point. So yeah, you could easily say, here's my truth. And you're like, well, that doesn't match with our family. No, thank you.
- [31:59]
A
Yeah.
- [31:59]
B
So, right. So she had to kind of work her way into your family. But again, going back to feeling her, feeling safe with your family and that she needed that safety to survive, that was your family's connection with her is so deep, it's. It's amazing.
- [32:18]
A
What's interesting about that is when she arrives, she always tells a story. Like when she's coming up in the taxi and all the dogs come out and we're all lined up on the stairs to meet her and it's like, you know, it's like a picture of Gone Sound of Music, you know. But she always said she goes. In her mind, she's like, I am not staying more than the two week trial period and I'm not coming back. This is way too much. This is a huge property, a huge house, too many kids. She was overwhelmed. But then as she stayed here and there, we were really trying to win her love because we just saw how she was so sweet and, and then she. It wasn't long before she realized we needed her more than she needed us. Yet she, even though she was saying she was in an apartment in Chicago. She was living in a homeless shelter. We found out, like, later, wouldn't commit to staying with our family till three years in. She would just go every other. You know, every two weeks she'd go away for a weekend, and she would go back to the homeless shelter, telling us she kept an apartment in Chicago. So my mom finally got real curious and called around and found out this. And then we were, you know, like, you need to. We have a room for you. You need to stay here. Because we got all attached to her. We were like, my mom was worried about the muggings and all these crimes that are happening in Chicago in the 60s and still. But it was. It was. It was really a big thing for her to commit. But I think there was something about our family that kept her safe, that she was so isolated and she didn't want to be found and didn't want to be found out. She really felt like she would never be found out with our family because we were clueless. We just went along with who, you know, loving her, and we were very simple people.
- [34:03]
B
Yeah.
- [34:03]
A
From the heart.
- [34:04]
B
Yeah. There's. I do. I do agree with you. I feel like as I'm reading your book that I feel like I'm right there with you the entire time. It just does feel like a. Like a movie. There's a lot of visual to it, a lot of. A lot of connection points for. For us as readers. So, again, that's exciting to feel that for. For. For you as a relatively new writer, to. The way you've pulled this book together is outstanding. It's just. It's beautiful. So congratulations on that. From a reader's perspective, it's really engaging. I can see why you win awards for this, because it makes sense. It's a great book for us as a reader. What does? If you could talk to the. The reader, they're going to get a copy of this book, it's going to arrive at their home, and they're going to have it in their lap before they open the COVID Give us kind of your. Come in the room for a second and go, oh, that's. But you bought my book. That's great. Let me tell you something. Before you read this book, your love letter to a reader, your connection point with a reader before they start reading. I really love to kind of hear what you would say to a reader that introduces the book to them in a personal way before they start reading a single word. Because I just think that's a beautiful moment. What would you say to the reader that has your book? They're ready to start reading today?
- [35:27]
A
I would say, dear reader, thank you for buying my book. And what I want you to do, I hope this book does for you, is touch your heart in a way that, you know, Lee had touched ours. And may some of these issues in the book connect to you to a point that can help you as well on your journey in healing or awareness or also just a human spirit story brings it all home, that everything's happening in our life for a reason. And I think there's, there's this pull back the lens and say, wow, this is like this played out in like a divine appointment kind of thing. And when a reader sees that, I think it's beautiful because there's no mention of like, you know, God is the driving force and all that. But, you know, I've had people that are like Jewish write me letters and say, you know, the funny. I loved your book so much and I saw God, the way he worked through it, the entire story and how he had his hands in this because it all kind of unveiled exactly how, you know, it. It was supposed to in a way like the timing of, the timing of the. The way everything was discovered, the way the meetings, the way everything happened. So I hope the, the reader would, would see that bigger picture about the story and then also the deeper healing aspect and the heart, the heart movement of it. And yeah, it's. It is. I will to say to the readers and out there is that it is. Today's today, December 3rd is the one year birthday of the book. It was launched one year today. How about that? We changed this, come on so many times. And you. And today the happy birthday for happy birthday book housekeeper. Like it literally is one year love and awards and it's been. Yeah, it's been a top seller for my publisher and I'm so proud of it. And I'm actually pitching to two film directors in the next, you know, couple weeks.
- [37:33]
B
Good.
- [37:34]
A
I'm really excited about it. I'm learning how to do that, like how to pitch, you know, the idea of a book when you have eight minutes to share this story. It's hard to do in eight minutes because there's a lot there but to unpack. But I think just getting some trigger words and trigger characters and giving the plot twist of it all, it might be the way to go. And I also have a couple trailers that really play it out a little bit.
- [38:01]
B
I got one more question, Sandra. To wrap up, I could talk to you all day. I love the book. I love talking to you about the book without talking about the book at the same time. You're right. It's hard to keep a secret. Really hard to keep a secret. Let's talk about your website, Sandra, because I want to end off with a question to kind of wrap up our conversation today. I'm on your website. It's beautiful. I love the COVID of your book, by the way. It's just. There's a lot to talk about, but tell it. Talk about your website. We're going to have a link for everybody to come and connect right to you. But for a new person coming to your website, what should we be looking for? What should we do when we get to your.
- [38:36]
A
They want to, you know, know a little bit about, like, the, the journey of the book. This last year has been like, there's been like 30 podcasts. Not all of them are on the website, but we tried to put some. Many of them on and hopefully this one. And then we have articles that were written and a lot of different things. And my events have been. For a whole year, I've done so many events, and they've all been, you know, invitation only from people that have read the book. That said, I have a group of people that want you to come speak and country clubs and, you know, backyard garden parties have 200 people. I mean, it's a, it's a book that people love because it sparks conversation about family and really sensitive things. It's a very vulnerable book. And some of my. We just did like, an Oprah dinner. Like, I wasn't with Oprah. I did like another lady named Elaine. She did a Oprah dinner format, like a really fancy private dinner. And it was like 25 people. And we basically had that same format that Oprah does where you ask people about the story and just talk casually about the book. But those, those types of events are all on the website. The different things that we've done. And I think they. And I'm willing to do any events for anybody who has, you know, is a part of a. A group, a book club, a country club, a kind of anything that has a group that wants to read the book. I can do a zoom presentation if it's. If it's something I can't make or I can show up in person if it's a big luncheon or something like that, and do this, be the speaker. Because I have, I have a. I have a. Basically a slideshow that takes you through the journey. It introduces to all the characters or most the characters and. And tells some backstory about my writing journey that's more specific to what books really inspired me and what, you know, how I really learned how to plot out a story. How you had to learn how, how your brain works. That's the plot. Whisper helped me with that. But there was a, A lot of, like, on writing with Stephen King, Stephen. Stefan Pressfield wrote the War of Art, which is a beautiful book that really talks about the resistance to writing where you have a lot of resistance when you're about to break through to something new. And it would. And I would say I faced a lot of resistance. I. I want. It's easier. It's always easier to give up. It's hard to keep going. But you got to do one hurdle at a time, get through it.
- [41:06]
B
Yeah, yeah. Did you feel that Lee was with you during the writing process?
- [41:10]
A
I did. I really. Not all the time. But I tell you what, every time I quit, she kept me up at night. She was like, there was some haunting going on. I don't know what it is, but I believe there's spirits that actually stay with you. And she was, you know, and also there was some guidance, like there was people put in my path that got me over the next hurdle that I had quit. I'd quit because I couldn't get any farther. Like when I couldn't find the graves, you know, then suddenly this person appeared that helped me with this investigation. And I was like, it was a miracle. And I just got through something very huge. And I, I do think there, there is no accidents. There's no coincidence. Everything happens in the, in the right timing. I've always been a prayer warrior myself, so I've always prayed for guidance and wisdom to, you know, if this is to be, guide me to it. And as much as I was hopeful, I was also, you know, at times my husband was also like, I'd be walking, you know, around in the middle of the night. He goes, just finish the book. You'll never sleep. So he was kind of funny about it, but he was like, you know, this is something you have to do because obviously you're never going to have a good night's sleep if, you know.
- [42:25]
B
Yeah, I like it. My podcast is Living the Next Chapter. Sandra. So one of my closing questions, I guess for you would be great, great success with your book, a year old happy birthday book. But my audience would love to know the answer to this question. How are you living your next chapter? Are you going to keep writing? Can we expect Anything from you in the future. What are your plans?
- [42:47]
A
Yeah, I'm trying to incorporate writing another book in my next chapter. Life and my. Now that my husband's retired, when he was at work, it was a little easier because, you know, he's gone now. I'm just like, okay, what are you going to do while I'm over here? So, yeah, I'm working on some projects and we're also trying to figure out, you know, how everything's going to unfold. We haven't figured it out yet, but we are keeping to our, our goals. I do want to write a book. I do want to have, you know, maybe move to a warmer climate, you know, as well. Like part time, you know, right now I'm loving the snow. We speak skiers, you know, but good.
- [43:25]
B
It's.
- [43:25]
A
It's all in the making of what, what and how we'll do. Yeah.
- [43:29]
B
Awesome. Everyone. Sandra's website will be in the show notes as always. The Housekeeper's secret. There's a lot, there's a lot for you to find out and I hope you really enjoy it. It's a great read. It's a great book to share with somebody as well. So don't just buy one copy, buy two. And leave a review for Sandra as well. She'd love to hear your comments and your comments will help other people to identify that this is going to be a great book for them as well. So use your words well when you leave your reviews, don't just write great book or your author. Put something in there so people can read and understand why this is such a great book. And let's keep Lee's story alive and in front of people. That many people will be helped. I think that's one way to honor her and her legacy. And Sandra, I'm so grateful that you picked up this mantle and you, even when it got tough, you kept writing through it and here we are celebrating with you. So congratulations on being in that 3%. It's so great to have time with you.
- [44:32]
A
Yeah. And I hope that your authors out there do pursue, persevere their stories because that's, that's pretty cool. It is. It is quite an shock to see how that the book has resonated and you know, vibrated like through the societies and cultures and different people. And it's just, it's amazing. It kind of has its own life of its own. Happy birthday. The Housekeeper Secret.
- [44:59]
B
And you can be part of the, the life of this book by grabbing a copy for yourself and someone else as well. Sandra thank you so much for being on the show.
- [45:05]
A
Thank you.
- [45:09]
B
Hey, thank you so much again for pressing play. As you've heard, great guests on the show, and one thing you didn't hear in this conversation is what? What did you not hear? Think about it for a second. That's right. Not a single solitary commercial for a mattress or a supplement or a. Whatever you call it. No. Why? Because we don't want to break up the conversation with commercials. So the fact that you're still here means that you are a fan of the show, I'm assuming. So if you want to help to keep the podcast going and to make me feel really happy, all I really care about is coffee. Okay. I just gotta be honest. I love coffee. I'm drinking one right now. Starting to get cold. I need. I need to warm it up. Helping us with our Buy me a coffee link over@livingthenextchapter.com and also in the show notes helps kind of keep the lights on around here. Remember, I'm doing this for free. I. I'm paying for everything, so I would love to have a little coffee donation. You know, even five bucks kind of fills up my cup. And I would love to enjoy a coffee from you. So if you're interested, again, thank you for listening, but you can use our Buy me a coffee link and fill up the cup. Thanks for being here.