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Sandra Rodriguez Barron

Goodreads Author

Born

Caguas, Puerto Rico

Twitter

Rodriguez Barron

Genre

Fiction

Influences

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende, F. Scott Fitzgerald ...more

Member Since

October 2010

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Sandra Rodriguez Barron was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico and has lived in the Dominican Republic and El Salvador. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Florida International University. She is the recipient of a Bread Loaf Fellowship, a National Association for Latino Arts and Culture artist grant, and a Greater Hartford Arts Council Solo Writers Fellowship. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and son.

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Popular Answered Questions

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Sandra Rodriguez Barron 1. Sleep. If you write about what matters to you, your demons will feel "heard" and they'll leave you alone at night. Talking to others is one way to …more1. Sleep. If you write about what matters to you, your demons will feel "heard" and they'll leave you alone at night. Talking to others is one way to process life, of course, but there are things you just aren't ready to share. Journaling or fictionalizing our emotions is a way to express it, process it, and perhaps even synthesize it into art. If we keep it all inside, we find we can't sleep and that can snowball to expressing this pain in destructive ways. Writing allows us to let out the steam slowly and steadily. I think everyone should journal, whether or not they want to write for the public.

2. Empathy. The writer is a lot like the actor in that she has to slip into the body and mind of another; to inhabit worlds in which she herself does not exist. I think this is why many writers are also involved in social causes. The act of writing engages the heart and mind with the outside world and squeezes out the selfish part. To write a good story you have to care about people, to notice how they behave, and to try to figure out why.

3. Community. Writing brings with it the opportunity to meet other like-minded people. From writers' critique circles to people you meet at conferences, people you learn from or teach, to readers who reach out on social media with their comments, each step in the life of a book brings new opportunities to meet writers and readers. You can't beat that feeling of being with kindred spirits!(less)

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How do you deal with writer’s block?

Sandra Rodriguez Barron I've kept a journal since I was ten. I double back to these scribblings--the recent and the older material--and it always launches me into a writing f…moreI've kept a journal since I was ten. I double back to these scribblings--the recent and the older material--and it always launches me into a writing flow within minutes. I think of writing as somewhat like the process of garment-making in ancient times, back when people had to grow the cotton or spin the silk or yarn first. You design this garment based on what you know about its texture, weight, color, etc. but you shouldn't rush to impose structure or "meaning" on something that is tender and nascent. Let it rest, let it breathe. Put it away for at least two days. I think it's that self-imposed pressure to create a finished product--lickety-split-- that causes the paralyzing stress of writer's block. I write what trickles out from within, rather than trying to force my own mind. Even in middle school now they teach the importance of pre-writing, of collecting "inventory" of thoughts long before before you actually sit down to write. This wasn't taught when I was a kid and I had to figure it out on my own.

I read a lot, and the stories, ideas, and artistry of other writers often launches me into my own flow, as if I were in conversation with them. The other thing to remember is that writers are collectors, so I gather ideas (non-fiction articles, news clips, research, poetry, etc) that resonate with, support, or augment my own themes and let it get all mixed up in the compost pile of my imagination so that it will sprout into something new. Additionally, I take notes on the process of writing and creating as I go. That way, I'm creating inventory for essays, articles, or blog posts about craft. (less)

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Sandra Rodriguez Barron’s books

Average rating: 3.64 · 810 ratings · 121 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	Stay with Me 3.65 avg rating — 519 ratings — published 2010 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Heiress of Water 3.61 avg rating — 291 ratings — published 2006 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Die Wassertänzerin: Roman by Sandra Rodriguez Barron (Goodreads Author), Tatjana Kruse (translator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Heiress of Water: A Novel 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Sandra is Currently Reading

Sandra Barron is currently reading

Dead of Summer

by Jessa Maxwell (Goodreads Author)

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Aug 07, 2025 10:07AM

Sandra Barron is currently reading

The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot, #1)

by Agatha Christie

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Aug 01, 2025 11:15AM

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Sandra’s Recent Updates

Sandra Barron is now friends with Lindsay Duncan
Jul 29, 2025 08:06AM · like
Sandra Barron shared a quote “The seamen rarely depicted themselves or their companions as agents of an imperial system. They were consumed with their own daily struggles, ambitions, and ultimately with their own survival. It was precisely such unthinkable complicity that allows empires to endure. Indeed, these imperial structures require it: thousands and thousands of ordinary people, innocent or not, serving—and even sacrificing themselves for—a system so many of them rarely question.” David Grann
Jul 29, 2025 08:04AM · like · more quotes by David Grann · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Wager by David Grann. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Wager by David Grann <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Sandra Barron made a comment on Beth’s review of The Cliffs " The woke comment is unnecessary and wrong. History and human suffering are real. That said, I totally agree with your criticism of the book. "
Oct 07, 2024 08:03PM · see review

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Quotes by Sandra Rodriguez Barron (?)

“Acuerdate de lo que te digo, mi niño. No tengas miedo. Todo lo que te ha pasado te ayudará. Vas a salir adelante.”
― Sandra Rodriguez Barron, Stay with Me: A Novel

tags: bravery, faith, perseverance

2 likes

“Always remember that with privilege comes responsibility. You must go to Casa Azul and see the place you came from. Only then will you be able to understand how far you've come.”
― Sandra Rodriguez Barron, Stay with Me: A Novel

tags: gratitude, social-responsibility

2 likes

“This is the one who will find us. He's the one who will lead them all back to me someday. He's the explorer. El curioso.”
― Sandra Rodriguez Barron, Stay with Me: A Novel

tags: destiny, dominican, faith, orphanage, sacrifice

2 likes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Bookworm Bitches : May 2015 Book of the Month Suggestions	21	112	Mar 17, 2015 07:19AM
Around the World ...: Connecticut	4	192	Jun 11, 2016 10:24PM
Book Nook Cafe: What I read April 2016	27	35	Jun 13, 2016 11:04AM
Around the World ...: Dominican Republic	22	477	Jan 09, 2025 09:24PM
Around the World ...: El Salvador	20	656	Feb 18, 2025 01:26PM

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Sandra’s Quotes

“La sopa de tortilla, aromatizada con yerbas frescas de la huerta, el frito de plátanos, carne desmenuzada y roscas de harina de maiz, el excelente chocolate de la tierra, el queso de piedra, el pan de leche, y el agua servida en antiguos y grandes jarros de plata, no dejaron que desear.”
― Jorge Isaacs, María

tags: colombian-food, food, latin-american-food, latinoamérica

1 likes

“You must give everything to make your life as beautiful as the dreams that dance in your imagination.”
― Roman Payne

tags: empowerment, exploration, feminism, roman-payne, strong-women, the-wanderess, wander, wanderer, wanderess, wandering

1177 likes

“I like that about art, that what you see is sometimes more about who you are than what’s on the wall. I look at this painting and think about how everyone has some secret inside, something sleeping like that yellow bird.”
― Cath Crowley, Graffiti Moon

tags: galley, read-again, really-enjoi-it

151 likes

“People are going to die," he said flatly. "It's statistics." Then he got up and left the room.”
― Kevin Powers, The Yellow Birds

tags: iraq-war

3 likes

“This was exactly why they'd failed: never being satisfied with what a person had to give, always expecting so much sacrifice that you had to hate yourself for anything less.”
― Sonya Huber, Opa Nobody

tags: germany

3 likes

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