Susie’s note:  So, we’re all crazy busy this time of year, so instead of digging deep into a series, I thought I’d finish the year by answering a few questions that have come in over the past year. 

Q: How do you come up with such a wide range of characters? Journalists, Cowboys, party-ers and missionaries are just a few and they are all so different. What makes you think of them?

A:  Oh, my favorite thing is to learn about people and their occupations.  I love to discover their challenges and defeats, their special skills, their hopes and dreams – and I especially love hero types – spies, cowboys, soldiers, etc.  So, it is a natural for me to take an occupation I’d like to learn about and dive into it with my character.  Sometimes occupations come to me through people I meet while traveling.  A few years ago, I sat next to a Green Beret on my way to Montana.  By the time we got off the plane, I had filled a notebook with impressions, and had a complete series idea, which I later sold to Tyndale!  I also get ideas from watching the Discovery channel, or reading articles in the newspaper, or even some of my readers – who sometimes end up being a research source for me!  I had one reader who was a firefighter, and he let me pick his brain The Perfect Match – the story of a woman firefighter.  Because of his generosity of time and knowledge, I even got letters from other firefighters who praised my accuracy!  (Thanks to my freind, Olaf!)  People are intriguing to me, and the more intriguing the job – the more likely I am to write about it! 

If you have a writing or publishing question (If I can’t answer it, I’ll track down someone who can!) please write to me at: susan@mybooktherapy.com and I’ll see if I can answer it!