N. N. Light’s Book Heaven is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Isn’t that wonderful?
Congrats and Kudos! This accomplishment is a tribute to your hard work and expertise.
I’d like to introduce you to prolific author Susie Black.
Question 1: Where were you ten years ago in relation to your author/writer career? If you weren’t writing, what were you doing?
SUSIE: Ten years ago, I was the President of three large divisions of a major Ladies’ Swimwear company headquartered in Los Angeles. I was not writing manuscripts, but unbeknownst to me, I was developing the foundation of my writing gig. Throughout my career, I kept a daily journal that chronicled the quirky, interesting, and often challenging people I encountered, my travel experiences, and the crazy situations I got myself into and out of. The journal entries are the basis of all my books that comprise the Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series.
Question 2: Looking back on the past ten years, how has your writing grown?
SUSIE: My writing has grown in a myriad of ways. I write in the first person and as I developed the protagonist character who is based on yours truly, she is now the me I always wanted to be and more. I have honed my character development skills tremendously—and have given each one of my continuing characters specific personality traits and quirks. The characters are the secret sauce of my writing success. I have gained the confidence in my writing to start taking chances and adding characters that would never have occurred to me to incorporate into my stories when this adventure began. My protagonist now has a love life with two men pursuing her. She has a dog/psychiatrist/assistant sleuth/. She must contend with two pesky ghosts relentlessly attempting to push her into the arms of one of the two me. The most important way my writing has grown is that with every story, there is at least one major change in a character or situation. That way the characters, the setting, and the plots of the series are fresh and do not get stale.
Question 3: What are you doing now? How many books have you published?
SUSIE: I have published six books: Five humorous cozy mysteries set in the Los Angeles apparel industry and one ladies’ fiction book which is the prequel to the mysteries. Books seven and eight are slated for release in 2025. Book seven is the newest addition to the Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series. Book eight, The Case of the Croaked Coach is the debut of The Hannah White Mystery Series which features a high school investigative reporter living in a suburb of Los Angeles. I have also developed a third new series. The Forecast is…. The series features a disgraced investigative reporter who is exiled to a small network affiliate in the California Desert and is told there is never anything to investigate in the middle of nowhere and she is now the weather reporter. The Forecast is…Murder! Is the debut book of the series that has been submitted for consideration and fingers crossed will be contracted this year. And in case all this does not keep me busy, I am collaborating with a sister author writing a humorous, paranormal cozy mystery that combines her main characters and mine. We are striving to finish writing and submitting our manuscript by the end of this coming summer.
Giveaway -
In celebration of our 10th anniversary, the authors have each donated a prize (sixty in total) and they range from free books to swag to gift cards.
Open internationally but some prizes are only open to US residents
Runs March 1 - 31, 2025
Winner will be drawn on April 1, 2025
Susie Black biography:
Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries.
She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector and sailor. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and has one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect.
Looking for more? Contact Susie at:
Website: www.authorsusieblack.com
E-mail: mysteries_@authorsusieblack.com
Where can readers follow you:
Social Media :
Blue Sky: https://www.hollysusiewrites.bsky.social
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hollysusie1_saved/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/@hollyswimsuit