Vocational Speaker Program

Today’s vocational speaker was our very own Sandra Wagner-Wright, author of several books, including the recently published “Two Coins,” a biographical novel covering Mary Pigot’s quest for justice after being wrongly accused of mismanagement and immorality by The Reverend William Hastie in what is known as the Great Scandal of British Calcutta which took place in 1883.

 

Sandra explained the efforts involved to research the subjects of her work along with the challenging creative and editing processes required to complete a novel.  In absence of complete records of events taking place over a hundred  years ago, Sandra explained that she has to consume all of the content she can find along with a visit to where the events occurred in order to obtain the character’s voice which helps to fill in the gaps.

 

In the case of “Two Coins,” her work may be classified as historical fiction since the novel is based on real people and historic events, but the completion of the entire story in novel format requires inference and gap filling by the author due to the lack of written record and the passage of time.  This type of novel combines the work of a historical researcher with expert creative writing and storytelling.

 

Sandra holds the doctoral degree in history and taught women’s history at the University of Hawai`i. Check out her weekly blog relating to history, travel, and the idiosyncrasies of life. 

 

Sandra’s books are available in e-book, audiobook and paper formats distributed through such mainstream booksellers as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.