Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Sandifer.
Hi Erica, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in a small town in the Mississippi Delta where access to art culture is very limited, well at least to the African American community. Fortunately, my mother is an artist, so I was still artistically inclined to nuances my peers never knew of. My mother, an English teacher and a successful visual artist held shows in town that brought out extraordinary crowds of wealthy men and their quirky wives with eclectic fashion appeal—they were artists too. There were programs in school that allowed students who tested exceptionally well on artistic IQ tests to attend a class called Eggstra, a funded program that allowed us to hone or our gifts. We visited art museums, played trivia games, learned how to build stock market portfolios, played computer games that forced us to twist our minds in ways a standard curriculum couldn’t. We built papier-mache statues of monuments like the Statue of Liberty in the 7th grade that ended up going on display in the hallway. I wrote a poem in tribute to 9/11 that struck tears from my teacher, still, I was not aware of my power as a writer.
I knew that I was a different child because somehow, I always found myself on the front of the newspaper, on a stage with several medals around my neck, or on a stage as a cheerleader or playing a lead role in a school play. I was an all-around kid with a plethora of friends. However, fitting in was something I wasn’t good at. I developed a longing to perform, beginning in elementary school as I was a cheerleader up until I graduated college. I was a member of the Pride Team in high school, a huge group of my peers who were mostly Eggstra students up until the class expired in the 8th grade. Some of them were never in the class but were also amazing performers. We traveled to local schools and performed skits and routines that encouraged kids not to do drugs. One time a white woman who taught at one of the elementary schools told me I was special and I’d be someone in some kind of spotlight one day that never left me. I also earned the nickname “superstar” from my stepdad.
I choreographed a routine that everyone on the team loved, so then after that, I was appointed to teach routines at other school events, I was even hired by people from the neighborhood who wanted to perform routines at their holiday parties. There I was with so many gifts but provided with very few resources to magnify them. I had begun writing a book when I was in 9th grade, to recall, I don’t think I was even aware that I was writing a book because the writing was something that was always a part of me, so it was fluent, seamless, instinctive. Though I was very gifted, I was also very mischievous, getting into little things at home and at school, though I was a great student. My mother thought that I was just a hard-headed, hormonal teenager, but my behavior was a little more extreme.
Modeling was just a desire until I was 21 years old—I rode a bus to Atlanta to do a photo shoot, the first modeling photos I had ever taken. When I was younger, I would request Alloy magazines just to stare at the models, waiting until I was tall enough to move to New York to be a high fashion model when I was 18. Unfortunately, I was not tall enough at 18 and has never been. This was during a period when agencies were very discriminative against models who were not lean like clothes hangers. This was devastating, of course, in fact, it was heartbreaking. However, I found local success as a model on a squad at my college campus, working with photographers, walking in local shows, etc, which was all fun and exciting, but it wasn’t what I desired for so many years. However, I am now represented by Pama Models.
Soon after college, I researched MFA programs. I discovered Full Sail University and enrolled in their Creative Writing Masters program. However, this was a different style of writing other than what I was accustomed to. This was film and television writing, but I was actually perfect at it. I developed a love for film and attended classes on and off until my completion in 2019.
I began writing my first finished work, Sunshine in The Delta, my best-selling debut novel that I independently published in 2017, receiving the Black Caucus of The American Library Association ebook fiction award and the placing of my novel on library platforms around the world.
Though all of these accomplishments have changed my life in ways that are very liberating and powerful, there is a dark side to it all. I have a chronic mental illness that causes complete dysfunction when not maintained and treated properly. I have a bipolar one disorder and severe depression. I have manic episodes when it’s almost like I am a five-year-old bouncing off the walls, and in the same, I have periods where I feel hopeless and that everyone hates me. It is extremely hard to manage as it has obstructed relationships and friendships that I valued deeply, affected my performance in the workplace and in school. For the longest, I was untreated because I had no idea I was bipolar until I was diagnosed when I was 29 years old.
I spent many years making mistakes I wouldn’t have made if I was diagnosed and treated properly—that is an example of the downfall of black communities, the betterment of mental health was taboo and less sought after. My parents just didn’t know, so there is no blame. I’ve been seeing a therapist for years who has made a beautiful impact on my mental health in spite of it all. I’ve recently been seeing a psychiatrist who is also an African American woman. She loves the power of the mind and works her hardest to help her patients work through their imbalances instead of masking them with false hope. I am now regulated after so many years of being untreated. I am more proactive, I make better decisions, and I have fewer episodes unless I am triggered. Even then, I handle them much better. I want to encourage those of you who deal with issues—it’s okay to have a therapist, and it is okay to take medication. I love my medication, honestly. I am an extreme advocate for the betterment of housing in black communities, so I became a realtor in 2019. I am a Realtor of RealtySouth in Birmingham, Alabama. Call me if you need to buy or sell a home 662-458-4076. There is a bunch more to this story of mine, but I am sure that you’ll get the chance to find out more as you guys grow with me as I approach my kingdom.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This has been one hell of a road! My number one challenge is having Bipolar Disorder. It is a chronic disease that causes extreme mood swings. I am severely dysfunctional when I am not medicated. I’ve often made impulsive, irrational decisions that has caused some self-inflicted trauma, but because I am a witty Sagittarius, I always find myself out for the better.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a well-known author with a successful published work, Sunshine in The Delta. I have several short flash fiction pieces that have been published in literary journals. I am also a choreographer and architectural photographer. I specialize in writing scripts/screenplays. However, I will be soon making a directorial debut. I am most proud of projects I haven’t published yet! I don’t like talking about projects in detail before they are completed, however, I am looking forward to bringing them all to life. I’d like to fancy myself as a brilliant writer who is also good at other inconspicuous things. That’s what sets me apart, there are millions of writers, but there is no one aligned with my exact purpose.
Pricing:
- $9.99
Contact Info:
- Email: writersnation16@gmail.com
- Website: https://ericasandifer.realtysouth.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directedbydberry/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwGblDbXCI7xrcTlr_AANPA
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/Sunshine-Delta-Erica-M-Sandifer/dp/1641110252/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=sunshine+in+the+delta&qid=1620871768&sr=8-1
Image Credits
Model Photo Credits: Tuan Le @snaptyme_photoz instagram| https://www.instagram.com/snaptyme_photoz/
Makeup: Shara Shaw IG: @shara_shaw
Photos: Tuan Le. IG: @snaptyme_photoz
