Meet Sonja Alper

We recently connected with Sonja Alper and have shared our conversation below.

Sonja, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

I was an only child with lots of time to dream. My family lived in an apartment with high ceilings adorned by intricate plaster moldings where walls and ceiling met. A treasure trove for my mind! Leaves and vines and blossoms intertwined in a way that transported me into an altered reality whenever I looked up. I saw faces of animals, real or imagined ones and sometimes people. Depending on time of day and my mood, they changed from being friendly, playful and inviting to scary and threatening.

Young me was a talker, I had to tell everyone all the time what I saw and what went on in my mind. That changed after I mastered the ABCs. From then on, I wrote everything down and soon turned into a quiet observer with pencil and paper at the ready. Till this day stories come to me wherever I am. But I know I have to allow my creativity to go to sleep, refresh itself, otherwise there’s writer’s block.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Ballerina would have been nice, but writer won. My dream came true when I was accepted at the biggest national daily newspaper, that had its main offices in my hometown, Hamburg in Germany.

Being the only female and covering women’s issues I learned to stand my ground, which at the beginning was like headfirst jumping into the water before realizing the pool is empty. My contributions weren’t important to the guys unless I presented pictures of models in bathing suits. Every morning, I had a maximum of three to five minutes to sell my story for the day. That eventually made me a master in coming to the point before they would get antsy. My rewards though, were fantastic. Twice a year I was sent to cover fashion shows in Paris, Milan, Munich and Düsseldorf.

When I became an editor at a women’s magazine my daily deadlines turned into monthly ones, meaning I had more time to prepare, travel and – finally – write longer articles. At some point though I felt there must be more to life than making money and getting comfortable – my creativity demanded an update. Eventually I quit my job, found renters for my apartment, bought a sturdy backpack and booked a flight to Sri Lanka. The first of many countries I would visit in the twelve months I had allowed myself to explore the world.

My newspaper welcomed me back which was wonderful, but after a while it didn’t feel right any longer. This time I booked a cabin on a freighter to New York. Upon my arrival – I stayed at a friend’s apartment – an offer to work for a German publishing house at Rockefeller Center was waiting for me. Devoting my time to explore this great city didn’t work out the way I had imagined, it was even better. I met lots of people and instead of being an outsider I landed right in the middle of a world of music, art and theater that would not have been accessible to me as a tourist. My work didn’t involve much writing, but I was happy. One day, out of the blue, I received a call from Munich. The German edition of Cosmopolitan was looking for a correspondent/author, located in New York City.

Now I traveled the United States, visited beautiful islands from Puerto Rico to Hawaii, interviewed interesting people from all sorts of life and movie stars. And then it happened – I fell in love. I moved again, this time to Los Angeles. Here another opportunity presented itself and I started reporting for the German edition of Architectural Digest.

Love didn’t last. Again, I concentrated on my work. I had a contract to write a biography about Hillary Clinton. Two more, one about Meryl Streep another about Jodie Foster followed. The books were published in Germany and other European countries. I loved diving into someone else’s life, which in turn became the opportunity to look at my own. It was about time to decide where I wanted to spend the rest of my life.

Right then I met my future husband. Now Los Angeles became home. Next to my usual job writing about architectural gems, I wrote a travel guide about this incredible fascinating city. I had the pleasant task of exploring all the different neighborhoods – the valley, ocean cities, mountain hikes and especially the multi-diverse ethnic restaurants, art galleries and jazz clubs.

Home life was wonderful, we married and adopted our first dog. I studied short story and creative writing at UCLA and my fantasy blossomed. My stories were performed at the New Short Fiction Series in Los Angeles, where established actors brought the characters to life.

During Covid I created a small book with lots of drawings: CABIN FEVER EXORCISM, letters to a mother-in-law. This helped me through the otherworldly and strange time.

Right now, I’m working on a biography about a successful businessman – who happens to be my father-in-law.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Don’t give up, believe in yourself, if you don’t, how do you expect someone else to believe in you?
I had my share of boulders blocking the path. The easy way around can lead to a dead end. Don’t shy away from climbing up and down and you’ll reach the superhighway of your dreams.

Be financially independent.
Even though a different job might seem like a distraction it will protect you from being vulnerable and making bad choices. It doesn’t hurt to learn something unrelated; on the contrary, it will expand your horizon.

Patience opens windows and doors.
Jumping on promising opportunities might turn out to be just that –promises. They might not lead anywhere.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

I meditate, TM makes me less vulnerable, helps me seeing the brighter picture instead of focusing on the problem at hand. I also take Iyengar Yoga, hike with my dog in the Santa Monica Mountains or chill at the beach and watch the sunset. All of this adds to my serenity. And a glass of red wine is welcome, too.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shortstoriesbysonja.com/