Sandra Bell Kirchman
BIO OF SANDRA BELL KIRCHMAN
Sandra Bell Kirchman (1940- ) was born in Toronto, Canada. Her father was a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot. Thus, as an air force brat, she traveled all over Canada, living at various wartime military posts. At the end of the war, the small family moved to the pioneer outpost at Wood Buffalo Park near Little Buffalo River in the Northwest Territories (now called Nunavit). Her father assumed the role of Park Warden here.
Kirchman caught the writing bug at an early age and produced her first "book," ANGUS THE ANT, when she was seven. Her writing was greatly influenced by her favorite books, the Oz series by L. Frank Baum this led to a lifelong love of fantasy fiction.
In 1957, Kirchman worked as a cub reporter at The Elliot Lake Standard, in Elliot Lake, Ontario. In later years she worked as a freelance journalist for several newspapers across Canada, including The Toronto Star, The Saskatoon Sun, and The Calgary Sun. In 2008, she won second place in the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Association annual awards for her health series on sleep apnea.
Working as a legal secretary and paralegal in Sherbrooke, Quebec; Montreal, Quebec; and Toronto, Ontario, she pioneered the latter position in Calgary, Alberta, as one of the first paralegals in the city.
In 1979, Kirchman, under the name Sandra Hamilton, pioneered the job of all-night female DJ in Calgary on CHQR radio. In addition, her travels across the U.S. and Canada as an international lecturer on self-help and inner peace gave her much material for future writing endeavors.
Her first novel, WITCHCANERY, the second edition of which was published by iUniverse, received some awards, including Editor's Choice and Rising Star. Her editing skills were acclaimed in IN THE SHADOW OF THE BURR OAK: AN ANTHOLOGY, as each of its two editions completely sold out in a matter of a few months. Similarly, BIRTH OF A UNICORN AND OTHER STORIES, bearing the title of her contributing story, and edited by her, has become a favorite of readers around the globe.
In 2010, Kirchman was selected by The Authors Show (www.theauthorsshow.com) as one of the fifty writers in their first edition of 50 GREAT WRITERS YOU SHOULD BE READING.
Kirchman lives with her husband and their three adorable Shih-Tzu dogs in a rustic cedar house in the small town of Esterhazy in rural southeastern Saskatchewan. She is currently working on an epic fantasy trilogy and a collection of flash fiction stories.
