Author Interview: Susan Sizemore

Bio: Susan Sizemore is the author of many romance and fantasy novels and short stories. She writes the Vampire Primes paranormal romance series for Pocket Star books. Her current release is DARK STRANGER. She lives in the midwest, knits, loves dogs, spends too much time on http://twitter.com

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What path did you follow to become a writer?

You mean what path did I follow to become a published writer? I've been writing all my life. You don't have to be paid/published to be a writer. I've written stories since I was six year's old and made them up in my head before I learned to print with crayons. I spent a decade writing Star Trek fanfic for fun, then got the itch to write original fiction. So I got involved in a critique group, joined the RWA, started sending out proposals and getting my share of rejections. I entered writing contests, won the RWA Golden Heart in 1991 and sold WINGS OF THE STORM three days later. I've been writing professionally since then.

Fave author? Fave book? How many books do you read a year?

I don't have one fave author. There's too many great authors to have just one. Let's say that there's a small group of authors I'm not willing to wait for the paperback to come out. I snatch up Terry Pratchett, John Scalzi, Laurie R. King and a few others as soon as their books hit the stores. There are some forever favorite authors that I return to over and over - Dorothy Dunnett, Dorothy Sayers, Tolkien, Mary Renault, Gene Stratton Porter, Mary Jo Putney among them. How many books a year -- not enough.

Do you have any hidden talents? Guilty pleasures?

Is being the world's worst guitarist a hidden talent? I have some guilty pleasure movies that I know are bad but love to watch.

Hobbies?

Knitting. Travel. Reading. Bicycle riding.

Tips you would give an aspiring writer?

Finish the book. Starting is easy, but making your way to the end is the hard part. Then finish the next book, and the next.

How do you come up with story ideas?

Anything could spark a story idea. The best way to start is to ask, "What if...?" and take it from there. And listen to the characters. They're living the story and frequently will say, "Wait a minute, that's stupid. This is how I'd really do it."


Be sure and check out Susan's latest book entitled Dark Stranger.