Carole Sojka

Carole Sojka grew up in New York, but has lived most of her life on the West Coast. She got a B.A. from Queens College in New York and worked for three years at Carnegie Corporation of New York where she developed an interest in traveling and meeting people from all over the world. She met her husband, Boris, when he was discharged from the Navy. They married while Boris was finishing his engineering degree and moved to San Francisco after he graduated. Carole worked at the World Affairs Council of San Francisco, furthering her interest in travel and living overseas.

Boris and Carole joined the Peace Corps in 1962 and were among the first 1,000 volunteers to go overseas. They were stationed in the Somali Republic, newly independent and democratic, hopeful for the future. Carole taught English as a second language to middle school students, aged anywhere from fourteen to thirty, and Boris taught the officials of the town of Merca where they were stationed.

Boris and Carole are still in touch with many of the other volunteers with whom they spent their Peace Corps years. You can see a couple of pictures of Carole on her Author Page from that time: one in the classroom and another with Gina, the young baboon they adopted.

When they returned home, they moved to the Los Angeles area where they had a son. He is now married and he and his wife are the parents of a son and daughter.

Carole returned to school to obtain a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California and worked as an administrator in a public law office. She also wrote, beginning with short stories and then novels. She writes in the mystery genre because that's what she enjoys reading, although she'll read the cereal box if there's nothing else available.

She and Boris live in a small town outside Los Angeles with their two dogs, Sara and Sterling. They travel as much as possible and have visited about thirty countries on every continent except Antarctica as well as taking several trips around the United States.

Carole has had several short stories published and her first novel, A REASON TO KILL, came out in October 2014. A sequel, SO MANY REASONS TO DIE, was published in April 2015. The Kirkus Indie review of SO MANY REASONS TO DIE said, ". . . a flashy, well-paced plot that takes readers into the underbelly of Miami as well as to Miranda's surprising roots in nearby Fort Pierce. A fine, explosive sophomore effort."