Featured Interview With Sondra Sykes Meek
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hello!
I was born and raised in Lakeland, Florida. However, I have spent most of my adult life away from my roots. I joined the Marine Corps after high school and have lived in several locations since. After I retired from the Marine Corps, I earned an MFA in Creative Writing and had hoped to spend my days writing fiction and delivering it to my world-wide audience.
But alas, life gets in the way!
Currently, I am a wife and mother of two living in beautiful Beaufort, South Carolina. I hold a full-time job as a Cyber Security Project Manager in the Defense Industry. As intellectually challenging and fulfilling as my life is, I woke up one day last year and realized I wasn’t living the literary life I had dreamed. I decided to finish the book I started in 2010–and that is what I have been doing in my spare time since. Hopefully, my hobby will eventually become my next career.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have been writing since I was a teenager. Then, it was poetry. In the last decade, I’ve been more interested in writing fiction, but it took a concentrated effort last year to focus on my novel, Model Marine.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I enjoy well-written literary fiction. If I were to sum up my reading tastes in one author, I would say Jodi Picoult is my favorite.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Model Marine is a coming of age story. I chose to write and publish this novel first because the topic is nearest to my heart. I spent twenty years in the Marine Corps, and anyone who knows a Marine will tell you it is more than a job. It is not what Marines “do.” It is what we become and remain for the rest of our lives.
The Marine Corps is a family—sometimes a dysfunctional family—but the kind that will sacrifice everything for each other. I wanted to create a story that would reveal through its characters that environment. The kind of environment that infuses young adults with teamwork and camaraderie, courage and discipline, hardship and sacrifice. But the Corps is not perfect and neither are the Marines in this story. However, they demonstrate characteristics and endure hardships that turn young women and men into heroes.
Model Marine is about Molly Monroe and several people from her past and present. The civilians and Marines in Molly’s life intersect, and the story unfolds from their varied perspectives. Some of the same events are seen from multiple angles. Image and point of view are heavy undercurrents within this story of love, friendship, sacrifice, and redemption.
Molly’s story does not unfold chronologically. She has experienced head trauma, so there are flashbacks and trauma-induced dreams mingled in with the forward moving story-line. The events take place primarily at (or near) Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan; and the military hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. However, there are snippets of her past in other places scattered throughout the narration.
Be prepared to encounter forbidden love and a love triangle. You will also meet a mother who tries to control her daughter’s destiny, a brother who is the self-appointed protector, a family full of secrets, and an estranged best friend. But most importantly, you will experience characters who truly bring to life the spirit of the Marine Corps.