Interview With Author Susan Sage
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Greetings!
I’ve written fiction and poetry for several decades (more than I care to count…). Little wonder, as I grew up in a family of readers. My two sisters also loved to write and our parents always encouraged it. I’m from Detroit, Michigan. It wasn’t long after receiving my B.A. in English from Wayne State Unviersity, that I moved to mid-Michigan. I took post-grad classes in English and eventually became a teacher and educator for several years.
I’ve written several books, and have now published three of them.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest novel is DANCING IN THE RING. It was inspired by the tragic love story of my great aunt and uncle who, like me, were also from the Detroit area. They were both lawyers of Irish descent. Catherine was one of Detroit’s first women attorneys, and Bob was a locally known boxer. He paid for law school from what he earned as a boxer. They took the city by storm in the 1920s, but wound up struggling as so many did during the Great Depression.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can only write in the mornings in my office with my radio on, but the volume’s got to be barily audible or I won’t be able to get any writing done!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many wonderful authors it’s hard to choose…Some of the most influential ones: William Faulkner, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Virginia Woolf, Barbara Kingsolver, and Toni Morrison.
What are you working on now?
For the past year, I’ve been working on a novel about an older woman who is a self-appointed captain of a houseboat cruise down a mighty river. Five others comprise her crew down a mighty river in a pre-apocalyptic world.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My best method is to do a full-court press for promotion. I try to spread the word through great sites like ‘Awesome Gang’ to influencers on various social media platforms (especially on Twitter and Facebook). I also try to get some early reviews for my books, as well.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write because you like to write. Don’t worry about publishing with one of the Big Five companies, especially in the early years of your career. But don’t write in total isolation either. Seek out a community with other writers, either in person or online.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Oh, that’s an impossible one because I’ve always been really bad at accepting it! One piece of advice I must admit to following is to look at the world as a glass half full, rather half empty.
What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading two books. One is a fascinating one recommended by a friend: ‘Revelator’ by Daryl Gregory. The other is ‘A Few Trivial Felonies’ by a wonderful novelist, Sandra Sperling.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ll probably work on shorter pieces (poetry and short stories) before beginning another novel.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
‘Ulysses’ by James Joyce, ‘Crime and Punishment’ by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and ‘The Collected Poems of Anne Sexton.’
Author Websites and Profiles
Susan Sage’s Social Media Links