SUSAN SLEEMAN is a best-selling author of inspirational romantic suspense and mystery novels. She grew up in a small Wisconsintown where she spent her summers reading Nancy Drew and developing a love of mystery and suspense books. Today, she channels this enthusiasm into writing romantic suspense and mystery novels and hosting the popular internet websiteTheSuspenseZone.com. Susan currently lives in Florida, but has had the pleasure of living in nine states. Her husband is a church music director and they have two beautiful daughters, a very special son-in-law and an adorable grandson.
Tell us a little about your family and your call to write.
I am married to a wonderful man who is a music director at our church. Our oldest daughter is married to an incredible guy and they have a three year old son. Our youngest daughter is college age. All of them live cross country from us so we travel to visit them often. I came to actively write about seven years ago when God interrupted my life and arranged plenty of free time to write when I began having health issues that limited my physical activity. Forced to sit for long periods of time, I started to research the craft of writing and began my first book. As my health deteriorated, I had more and more time available and soon I was writing fulltime and actively pursuing publication.
How did you get your first “writing break?”
At the end of March 2008, I submitted a proposal to editor Susan Downs for the then newly developed mystery line, Heartsong Presents Mysteries. Within three days received a request for the full manuscript of Nipped in the Bud. Then within three weeks I received a positive evaluation of the manuscript with a few suggested revisions. Susan wasn’t able to contract new works until the fall, and she requested I return the revised manuscript to her by August 1 when she was in a position to make a decision. I was pumped. I’d have to wait until August for any firm answer, but surely this was a good sign. Right?
I made the revisions and sent the manuscript back in late July. I’d completed book two in the Garden Gate Mystery series and sent that proposal to Susan, as well. Now all I had to do was sit back and wait for her to call. She didn’t. No phone call. No email. Nothing. No response. And when I asked my agent about it, he was vague, encouraging me, yet at the same time saying nothing. I whined to my critique group, which at the time included three Heartsong Mystery authors. They tried to encourage me, but when August came and went, I was certain Susan had lost interest in my book.
In September, at the ACFW conference when Susan Downs took the stage to award a contract for the Heartsong Presents Mysteries imprint, I sat back and said, “Man, it’s too bad Susan didn’t like my book. It would be so cool to learn of your book contract in front of 500 fellow writers.” Susan began describing the writer who would receive this contract. She started with vague clues and grew more specific. Imagine my surprise when I realized she was talking about me. I turned to my crit group sitting next to me and learned that they knew about this. Some, winking at you Sandra, since April. Ditto for my agent, of course.
How exciting! Guess it was worth the wait!
What do you write and why this genre?
I write because I love telling stories. I write mysteries and suspense because that is what I have loved to read ever since I opened my first Nancy Drew mystery. I find myself bored in other novels, but suspense keeps me turning the pages as I try to figure out the villain.
The Christmas Witness, my third romantic suspense book in the Morgan Brothers series is releasing this month. This one features Reid Morgan, the oldest brother in the family. Here’s the back cover blurb. When a criminal threatened to kill Megan Cash if she testified against him, she didn’t back down. Years later, he’s out of jail and ready for revenge against Megan and her daughter. The only one who can protect them is the former FBI agent who broke Megan’s heart.
But Reid Morgan isn’t the same man—he’s now a widowed father with a harrowing past. . .and a heart more guarded than ever. Still, he’s the only one who believes Megan when she says she’s in danger. Because someone wants to make this a Christmas she won’t live long enough to forget.
I also have a new romantic suspense series called The Justice Agency releasing in 2012. This series is about five adopted siblings who work in various fields of law enforcement until their adoptive parents are murdered. When the police can’t figure out who killed their beloved parents the Justice siblings come together to solve the case. They discover in the process that they like working together and they form an investigative agency called The Justice Agency. They dedicate the agency to helping people who traditional law enforcement is either unable or unwilling to help. Double Exposure, the first book of this series will release in June 2012 and Dead Wrong will release in November 2012.
What do you hope to accomplish through your novels?
I believe fiction is a great way to share God’s unchanging message in an entertaining way. So I hope that my novels will remind people of a truth they may have forgotten or help them work through something they are struggling with right now.
Come back tomorrow for the tough questions on how Susan Sleeman balances being a mom, wife and writer…among other things!
To learn more about Susan visit her at her –
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/SusanSleemanBooks
Or on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/SusanSleeman
