Which/Witch Sarina Dorie: Fantasy/Comedy/Mystery Author

HALLIE EPHRON: The minute I met Sarina Dorie, I knew she was a one-off. A persona. She was literally wearing her multi-talented identity like a pro and greeting her many fans. She's a seriously prolific, award-winning author who juggles genres.

I wanted to know more, so I invited her to spend a day on Jungle Red and tell us about herself.

SARINA DORIE: As a creative person and a professional, I wear many hats. Some of these hats are very separate from each other and look quite different, while others are connected like with my writing, artist, and dance persona. The persona that is the most different from what I think of as my natural creative/expressive self is being a public-school teacher.

(Sarina promotes literary at a Middle School my posing with a book. Naturally, she had to do it with her special dentures to see if the kids noticed.)

When I am in teacher mode, I am Ms. Dorie. Part of my job is to make sure students are being appropriate. When they’re not, my job is to remind them not to swear, not to punch each other in the face, and not to draw images of rocket ships made with penises on their arms with Sharpies.

Meanwhile, when I’m a writer, I take all those things I see teens doing that they aren’t supposed to and I put those in my stories and novels.

Because I’m an art teacher, I get away with being a little more eccentric. I get away with dressing in clothes that other teachers might not consider standard business teacher attire. I express myself creatively as an art teacher though fashion design and that is considered to be okay. Fashion is probably an accurate metaphor of these different hats I wear—literally and figuratively.

(This is a photo from one of Sarina Dorie’s avant-garde belly dance performances.)

Another hat that I wear is a belly dance teacher and performer. When I performing, my stage name is Sarina as opposed to Ms. Dorie. This is the persona who wears glittery costumes that show my midriff and cleavage, and I get to dance to lively music that I would not necessarily be able to play at work. It is a chance for me to creatively express myself in a different way.

This persona is highly connected to my persona as an artist and fashion designer. The fashion design really does go hand in hand with being a dancer because I often design my own costumes. There was a time that I kept my belly dance clothes completely separate from the rest of my life and only wore them for performance, teaching and taking classes, but I have realized as I've designed costumes that I really enjoy wearing attire that creatively expresses my personality. That carries through into my belly dance clothes—which are not traditional belly dance clothes—and my daily attire just walking around being a professional artist or teacher or writer.

(Sarina poses with a book in steampunk attire.)

When I am a writer, I’m Sarina Dorie.

Being a creative person, that artist, dancer, designer style influences how I come across as a writer. When I tell people that I’m a fantasy author or a romance author, people tell me I look like I write fantasy or romance.

When I tell people I write mystery, people never tell me I look like I’m a mystery author. I don’t know what people think mystery authors look like. Maybe I need to wear all black and look Gothic in order to be a fantasy mystery author.

(Sarina in costume before selling fashion items at a science fiction and fantasy convention.)

In any case, I feel like I’m walking a fine line between coming across as a professional and expressing my creativity. When I attend Romance Writer of America workshops, women often talk about being professionals, dressing as professionals, and presenting ourselves. And then there’s me in polka dots and stripes. I’m almost as bad as Barbara Cartland with my feathers, flowers, and frills. 

My persona might once have been as separate as peanut butter and jelly, but these days, it is more like peanut jelly, an interesting mashup of foods I once tried while I lived in Japan. In all creative outlets, I try to be professional in the way I present myself while interacting with people. I don’t dress or talk any differently when I am with my family. I’m really not different as a writer in comparison to my natural self, though I talk about topics that might make me an expert in my field when I am with authors or artists. On the other hand, I am a very different kind of professional when I’m working in my day job as a school teacher.

Many of my daily life experiences as a teacher influence my current writing projects, like my cozy witch mystery series Womby’s School for Wayward Witches.

(Sarina Dorie’s not-so-cozy witch mystery series Womby’s School for Wayward Witches.)

The idea behind this series: You think you know the world of magical boarding schools? Not from a teacher’s perspective at a school for at-risk youth.

GIVEAWAY: For a limited time, I will be offering Ghoulish Charms, the first book in the Vega Bloodmire Cozy Witch Mystery Series, a spin-off from the Womby’s series, as a gift for patrons of Indiegogo who donate to my endeavor to turn the Womby’s series into audio books.

Please go to Indiegogo to see Ghoulish Charms and other perks for contributions.

HALLIE: Phew! She makes those of us who write one genre and produce a novel every two years look like pikers. So here's my question: If mystery authors 'dressed the part' what would we be wearing?

Sarina Dorie has sold over 150 short stories to markets like Analog, Daily Science Fiction, F & SF, and Orson Scott Card’s IGMS. Her stories and published novels have won humor contests and Romance Writer of America awards. She has over thirty books offered through Amazon, including her bestselling series, Womby’s School for Wayward Witches. 

The best way to stay in contact with Sarina Dorie, hear about what she is writing, know when she has a new release, or books offered for free on Amazon is by signing up for her newsletter.

http://eepurl.com/dEd4oL

You can find info about her writing at:

sarinadorie.com