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| Why Such A Long Name As Wickersham-McWhorter? My name is hyphentated to honor my 36-year marriage to a McWhorter, and to honor my own family. See my Wickersham family page for more on the Wickershams. |
| Sandy Wickersham-McWhorter All About What Made Me A Writer |
| My Favorite 1950s Sci-Fi Movies Forbidden Planet. The Day The Earth Stood Still Journey to the Center of the Earth Them! This Island Earth War of the Worlds I Married a Monster from Outer Space Day of the Trifids 20 Million Miles to Earth Rodan The Monolith Monster When Worlds Collide Earth VS the Flying Saucers Kronos Queen of Outer Space Invasion of the Body Snatchers |
| This is my engagement picture taken January, 1973 while I was on active duty at Scott AFB, Belleville, Illinois. Below is the RomVets emblem. Notice the pen as the sword's blade. |
| RomVets I belong to RomVets, a group of romance writers who are proud Veterans or currently serving in America's Armed Forces. I served in the United States Air Force, February 5, 1971 to September 24, 1973, as a Medical Services Specialist. Women then were in a separate unit known as WAFs-Women in the Air Force. I treasure the memories of my service during the Vietnam war era. That's what lead to my lifelong career in the medical field as a nurse's aide then a License Practical Nurse. I met my husband at my permanent-party base and the rest is history. I'm a proud supporter of those now serving in our military, and wish them Godspeed in their efforts to preserve our freedom |
| My Other Love I love nature and being outdoors among the trees and my garden. In the background is my cottonwood tree near my creek. She's 100 feet tall and was part of the inspiration for my book Cottonwood Place. In the picture below is oldest my son, Erik, who's 3 feet away and dwarfed by her. Why do guys always look down when getting their picture taken? The spot where the trunk splits into two trunks (below) is over 20 feet up. Every morning, I watch her leaves blow in the wind as I drink my hot tea. Every June and July, I enjoy seeing "snow" when she lets her cottony seeds fly on the warm wind. What a beautiful calming sight to see tufts of cotton floating by. How people can consider such trees as junk trees or weed trees is beyond me. As readers learn in Cottonwood Place, American Indians revered the cottonwood as a source of food, medicine, and wisdom, and many touching myths are associated with it. |
| She dwarfs all the other big trees in my property. The relaxing sound of her leaves rustling in the wind is indescribable. I can hear it from my driveway, over 300 feet from her! Her rustling brings back wonderful memories of a summer day when I was very young and my parents, brothers, and I swam in a pond owned by an aunt and uncle in Marion, Indiana. My father held me firmly so I could splash in the water and not drown. All around the farm pond, cottonwoods rustled their leaves for us as a serenade in the warm breeze. I'll never forget that glorious sunny day and my father's strong arms. It's one of the best memories of my childhood. |
| Besides my life-long love of airplanes and outer space, I've always loved birds thanks to my Grandma Lona Resler. We feed the birds at many feeders at my house, and I've seen many species of birds.I also love dogs, as many writers do, and this is my girl, Sheena, standing in the back porch before it was remodeled when she was 3 years old. How can you resist that look and those pretty white feet??? |
| I began reading in kindergarten (I don't know who taught me) and writing in 3rd grade when I began turning my dreams into short stories. The 1950s monster\alien-invasion movies and 1960s sci-fi TV shows I devoured caused the dreams. I lived with my grandmother in Muncie, Indiana. Despite being made fun of because of my last name and being the tallest kid in school until junior high, I spent many happy hours in my room reading, writing, and doing art work as I grew. My favorite subject was rockets and outer space. My best friend and I spent our summers riding bicycles, collecting pop bottles for a nickel each to buy candy, and playing outside until midnight. I pity today's children who can never know such joy. Yes, I'm a child of the 50s and 60s and proud of it! I still love science-fiction and I'm a Star Trek nut--a Trekker. |