Bio

Sibella Giorello grew up in Alaska and majored in geology at Mount Holyoke College. After riding a motorcycle across the country, she worked as a features writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Her stories have won state and national awards, including two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. She now lives in Washington state with her husband and sons.

Interviews with Sibella

"Writing is like farm work. Solitary, demanding, and you don't do it for the money."
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"I like to dream and doodle and plot carefully, pretending to be an engineer, then I fly by the seat of my pants. Kind of like the slow grind of a roller coaster chugging uphill, before zooming down at warp speeds."
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"Readers will spot characters based on actual people from around town. Giorello won't say for certain, protecting their anonymity. But there is one exception."
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"One day I heard the FBI had a forensic geology department. Light bulbs went off in my head. I called the FBI, went through a background check, and started driving up I-95 to the mineralogy lab in Washington, D.C."
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"With the FBI, it was surprising how many agents were Christians, and how their faith informed their investigations. For instance, one agent described his breakdown, after realizing just how much he hated some of the people he arrested. These were rotten people—child molesters, rapists, murderers—but God still loved them. And as a Christian this agent realized Jesus called him to love these people, separate from their sins. When he got this revelation, he broke down in tears. Interestingly, his change only increased his abilities as an investigator."

What surprised me about the forensic geology was how frequently minerals appear in crime scenes. Cosmetics, paints, inks, building materials, sands, soils, kitty litter—they're all packed with minerals."
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