Sandra (Sande) Heaton is a graduate of Sacramento State University (B.A. in Social Science with minors in English and Psychology, M.A. in Gifted Education). She received a Certificate in Creative Writing from UC Davis Extension with a concentration in Creative Non-Fiction and published in several of the CareGifters Book Series and Christian Inspire Writers anthologies. Early in her studies, she earned a diploma from The Institute of Children’s Literature. The Sacramento Public Library Children’s Story Competition awarded her one of three Honorable Mentions in a field of six hundred entries for her legend, How Land and Water Came to Be. Sandra finished the first draft of a novel during the pandemic and is in the rewriting process. She is a member of Elk Grove Writers and Artists and attends classes led by Gini Grossenbacher. Sandra lives in Elk Grove, California and is a member of the Elk Grove Writer’s Guild. She assisted with this year’s Elk Grove Writer’s Conference and was a reader for the Elk Grove Friends of the Library writing contest associated with the conference.