Today, I’m honored to have Sarah Cortez visiting.  Sarah has one of the most interesting backgrounds of any writer I know.  She is a fascinating author, teacher, member of the Houston police department, poet, … I could go on and on.  But, best for you if I let Sarah tell us.

JRC:  I hardly know where to begin. You’ve done –everything. I’ll just start with two: university professor of creative writing and street cop.  Was that the inspiration your book of poetry “How to Undress a Cop”?  Seriously, those do seem like rather opposite careers.

Sarah:  I’ve wanted to be a writer almost all of my life.  Words, their meanings and placement fascinate me.  To be a good writer you have to be attentive to every word, each nuance, every breath.  To be a good cop you have to be attentive to details—all details, whether you think they impact your case or not.  I just had an essay published in the lit journal, Rattle, about the relationship in my life between poetry and policing. Look at www.rattle.com for Issue 37, Summer 2012.  There’s also poetry from other active or retired cops who write poetry.

JRC:  You’re going to have to tell us a little about that, the poetry and how it came about.

Sarah:  I began as a literary fiction writer and was first published in that genre.  Then, with the turmoil of ending a corporate career and beginning a policing career, poetry came out every time I sat down to write.  I consider myself very lucky to have had the famous Edward Hirsch as my first poetry teacher when he was at the University of Houston-Central campus.

JRC:  And now, books. I understand you have had four books published in the last four years, and now – is it three books in the next fourteen months?  Tell us about that journey.

Sarah:  A segue from a corporate job about four years ago gave me the opportunity to concentrate on my writing and editing career.  Due to my extensive teaching experience I knew which books were missing from the shelves (of libraries and bookstores).  I would say my specialty is formulating a concept for an anthology that has never been done, then selling that project to an independent press.  Then, I select and edit the unpublished stories that have been written in response to my idea.  Two of my anthologies have won international awards, with the most recent being “You Don’t Have a Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens.”

JRC:  International awards.  I’m impressed. Tell us a little about “You Don’t Have a Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens.”

Sarah:  This book arose in my mind because all the statistics from the American Library Association and other entities say that kids of all ages overwhelmingly choose mystery stories to read during free selection periods at school.  Also, as a teen, I loved reading mystery.  I deliberately did not dumb down the stories.  The wealth of amazing stories written solely for this volume is fantastic.

JRC:  How much has your Houston, Texas heritage influenced your writing?

Sarah:  I would say that growing up in a dynamic, “can do” city like Houston greatly influenced both me and my parents who moved here after my father’s honorable discharge in 1948.  Especially in the earlier days, Houston was a city of winners who understood that hard work was the basis of success.  I love my city wholeheartedly.  I think it has the best quality of life for a city of its size—plus, it’s in Texas.  (As a fifth-generation Texan, I also love my state.)

JRC:  You’ve won more awards than I can list here. Which of those meant the most to you, and why?

Sarah:  I would say that the award that stands out was the PEN Texas Literary Award in Poetry.  That award set the mark and gave me confidence in my voice.

However, the induction into the Texas Institute of Letters last April was the highlight of my career.

JRC:  You edit professionally. Does that help your own writing, or does it just steal time from your writing?

Sarah:  I love working with other writers, both in classes and through editing their work.  Since I have been published in all genres (fiction, poetry, essay) and produced anthologies in all genres, I can work with a large range of projects.  In fact, I have clients with whom I’ve worked with for a book of fiction, then later a book of memoir.  I also edit academic work and magazine articles.

JRC:  You teach classes on writing at the University level, and master courses around the country. What topics do you cover and which is the most rewarding for you the teacher?

Sarah:  I teach master classes in poetry, fiction, traditional essay, and memoir essay.  I also teach focused classes on the spiritual essay, and writing a spiritual legacy.  I’m available to teach classes in various types of genre fiction, such as mystery, speculative, and/or romance.  One of my latest assignments is teaching ninth graders to write.

I love teaching, so all classes are a pleasure.  I built my writing career from scratch.  I don’t have a degree in creative writing.  Instead, I have spent almost 30 years reading, studying, pondering, writing, and re-writing.  I know what it’s like to yearn to be a writer and to have to find a way to do that without the structure of a MFA program or Ph.D. program.  I am a working writer and take great pride in that status.  I also take great pride in sharing what I’ve learned through writing classes and through editing.

JRC:  So, three books in the next fourteen months. Are they related, a series, totally independent? Fiction, poetry? Give us a little glimpse of what we can expect from Sarah Cortez in the next year and a bit.

Sarah:  Jim, thank you for asking!  My book that is just out from Texas Review Press, Texas’ most prestigious literary publisher, is “Walking Home: Growing up Hispanic in Houston.”  It is a mixed-genre memoir of my first eighteen years.  In it, I have written the unlived dreams of myself and my parents as a backdrop to the event of our lives.  I have also written certain miracles which occurred in our devout Catholic family.

The next book that will be out is “The Lost Border” – a book of essays about the radical transformations of life on the U.S.-Mexico border due to the escalation of drug cartel violence.  My coeditor is the gifted and award-winning writer, Sergio Troncoso.

Also, next spring will see the release of “Cold Blue Steel” which is a volume of poems about police work and the fire service.  The publisher is Texas Review Press.  In many ways, this book is the follow-up to my first book of poetry, whose content was about forty percent of policing poems.  Here, the book is entirely devoted to the life of public servants.

Please feel free to check out my website www.poetacortez.com for class descriptions, details about editing, public appearances, and ways to purchase a signed book!

JRC:  Thanks, Sarah, for sharing a glimpse of your intriguing life with us.  You can find more information on Sarah Cortiz’s books at:  http://amzn.to/Rtl2mW  And if you don’t have some comment on this interesting person’s interview, read it again.  You must admit, this isn’t the usual author.