The Names I Answer To
My mother called me la Sandra. My sisters call me Ale. In Russia, I was Sasha, and in America, sometimes Alexandria. Then I chose S.A. Sterling for my books. A personal essay about family names, the names we acquire along the way, and the people who know exactly what to call us.
The Things We Inherit Without Being Given
What do we inherit from the women before us without ever being formally given it? A reflection on mothers, daughters, family memory, the habits we keep, the rules we unlearn, and the quiet ways one life continues inside another.