Sandy has authored two nonfiction books, Glaciers of Southeast Alaska and Running Toward the Fires, as well as articles on Alaskan history and nature. She has also been a free-lance researcher for more than 35 years. Her day jobs have included civil rights investigator, environmental planner, naturalist,  caterer, service in a variety of social programs, and a really brief stint as an elephant rider in a circus. Her work has taken her across rural Alaska by Bush plane, boat, and four-wheeler. Recently retired, she is setting out to explore more places off the beaten path while writing her first novel.

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For more than 20 years, Sandy volunteered caring for injured wild birds; her two sons grew up with seabirds in the bathtub, songbird chicks demanding service, and her husband was quite possibly the only man in America who got to sleep with an ailing Arctic tern. She presents nature programs with Blueberry, a Common raven who has lived with the family for 26 years.

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Sandy lives with Blueberry and her two dogs in Juneau, Alaska, in a World War II Army Quonset hut, 182 steps up a mountainside.