Sandra Sperling
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Sandra Sperling was born in Nevada and began her creative life in Minnesota, where, as a child, she wrote a short story and an even shorter play. She eventually attempted a horror novel, but it didn't horrify. Her mother, while reading the manuscript, began to laugh helplessly and leaned against a door for support, sliding to the floor like a piece of cooked spaghetti. Deciding she was a failure as a writer, Sandy switched to painting. The pull to write was too strong to resist so while still in Minnesota, she again began to write, publishing some short stories and advancing to novels. She is the author of THE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO SPOUSE REMOVAL and A FEW TRIVIAL FELONIES (humorous crime drama), and SNOWMELT (psychological suspense).
Sandy lives in Kentucky with her husband, where she enjoys taking nature walks, refinishing old furniture and reading. Another of her interests is costuming French dolls from the 1880's.
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The Beginner's Guide to Spouse Removal
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Humor
When Merry Mitchell discovers that her husband is hiding assets in preparation to dumping her for a younger woman, she is filled with hurt and rage. She considers immediate divorce, but the memory of her impoverished youth prevents her from acting on it, realizing she won't have enough money to continue her hard-earned life style. She decides, instead, that her husband must die. With the sophisticated methods of crime detection in current use, she struggles to conceive of a method, both undetectable and supposedly accidental. And, to assuage her troublesome conscience, each attempt much give him a sporting chance of survival. So. . . how to do it? Sample Chapter 
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Snowmelt
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Psychological Suspense
Many of Ann's life-changing events occured at the old Selden River bridge. There, she found her first best friend, Gina, smoked her first cigarette, witnessed a full-immersion baptism and met Shelly, who became her archenemy. Her betrayal causes Ann to become ultra-cautious about forming relationships, which is in strong discord with her forgiving nature. Knowing her time to have children is running out, she returns to Selden at the time of spring snowmelt, determined to resolve the conflict and to straighten the twists her ribbon of life has taken. What she discovers is dark; it's deadlier than anything she ever imagined. Sample Chapter 
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A Few Trivial Felonies
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Crime, Humorous Drama
Rachel suffers burnout from her job as a counselor. When Nick, her husband, is forced to take early retirement due to health issues, she's delighted to quit her job and move from Minnesota to coastal Oregon. Even with Nick's reduced pension, they have enough to live on without her returning to work. Rachel becomes friends with Ruth, her next-door neighbor, whose much older husband is also retired. They both yearn for ocean views, which they would have if only a few trees on the wooded acreage to the west of them were cut down. So, armed with an old lumberman's saw, an ax and a chainsaw, they do just that, carefully concealing the evidence of the logging venture, their first crime. It would likely have been their last, but Nick's health takes a turn for the worse, and he passes away, which will bring an end to the pension income. Although Rachel has an excellent resume, there are no job openings in the area, so she'll have to sell out and move. Neither she nor Ruth want that, but they need some extra cash. Organized crime, with its kidnapping, murder and drug dealing, falls beneath their somewhat twisted ethical standards. They choose, instead, to become free-lance criminals and commit only a few trivial felonies. Sample Chapter 
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Elisabet's Will
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Psychological suspense, human trafficking
In the early summer, Lisbet's kin gather for a visit at her home in Minnesota. The few relatives who are still friendly to her, that is. Most have shunned her since she was a child, for reasons unknown to her. As a consequence, she'd lived quietly, contenting herself with a mere handful of friends, despite yearning for more. This year, determined to satisfy her curiosity, Lisbet demands an explanation, confronting her uncle's wife, Evelyn. This action exposes her and her loved ones to danger and thrusts her beloved 5-year-old granddaughter into deadly peril. 
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The Stash
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Humor, Suspense, Romance
People have fantasies about finding buried treasure, but for Sarah Altman it becomes a reality when she convinces herself that it isn't REALLY a crime to appropriate a large stash of money hidden by a meth dealer after he has a car accident. Every dollar will likely add to the time he spends in prison, so she chooses to be a good Samaritan and relieve him of the burden. Already contemplating a divorce, Sarah realizes that the money will allow her the freedom to do so with financial security---as long as no one learns she has it. Deputy Nate Carlson has been giving protection to the dealer in exchange for a share of the profit from the meth. He's severely injured, but before he dies, he manages to tell Nate where the cash is buried. Sergeant Frank Devich, Nate's widowed brother-in-law, questions Sarah, triggering a mutual attraction. Frank doesn't recognize her as the young woman he'd left with a broken heart years ago, and he's determined to have her. Sarah, however, resists involvement. Nate soon discovers that only Frank and Sarah had easy access to the Minnesota gravel pit where the stash had been hidden. Desperate for money, he will do ANYTHING to get it. 
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