THE FIRST AND THE LAST – Sona Schmidt-Harris

If she could only jump from a plane, and fall through that color—fall through the
cloud crevasse in which she imagined her mother temporarily dwelt—a fuchsia-lit
portal growing whiter as her mother raced to her grandmother’s love within a
wormhole to paradise.

Mid 1990s: Mormon-raised sisters Cassandra and Sarah Anderson from Holladay, Utah, find a second, exciting, and difficult home in New York City. Anorexic and withering, Sarah fights for life while Cassandra, a feisty and scrappy artist, fights to stay in its center. In part because of a seizure disorder, Cassandra is the lucky and not-so-lucky recipient of visionary experiences, often channeled into her successful exhibitions.
Theodore Ascott, a tragic and sensitive heir, falls in love with Cassandra but can find no home in the refuge of art as she does. The deaths of four people and the absence of one cast a long shadow over all.
With echoes of Angels in America, The First and the Last examines origins and the interplay of lives inextricably changing one another forever.

Sona Schmidt-Harris is a published poet and fiction writer. As an award-winning journalist, she particularly enjoyed writing profiles of individuals. Travel writing is also in her blood. Her publication debut was in Short and Long and Even a Song, the esteemed literary journal of San Miguel Elementary School in Walnut Creek, California.
In addition to Northern California, Sona lived in Salt Lake City, Utah, and as a five-year resident of New York City, she was witness to the events of 9/11 and refers to her Manhattan years as “the best of times; the worst of times.” She currently calls Lisbon, Portugal, home.
After earning bachelor’s degrees in psychology and English Literature, Sona’s parents were happy when she did something practical by obtaining a paralegal certificate, which she used to earn the bulk of her living.
Life with her willful wire fox terrier and husband in Lisbon keeps her on her toes.
She continues to be awed by the mystery and grace of the Portuguese.