Sue Minix is...On the Writing Block!

Today is the day. Who will be learning about? Why Sue Minix, of course!

Sue is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and the Crime Writer's Association. When she isn't writing, you can find her reading, watching old movies, or hiking the New Mexico desert with her furry best friend.

Do you always know who the killer is, or do your characters surprise you in the end?

I always know who the killer is when I begin the book. I may not know much more than that, being a bit of a pantser, but I always know who died, who killed them, and how. However, in the second book of my series, The Murderous Type, I did change the killer at the last minute, but it was my decision, not something the characters led me to. I had a brainstorm while writing the finale which led to a way to make the ending of the story more interesting. At least, I thought it was more interesting. No way to know what the readers might have thought.

In what stage of your writing, did you determine that your book was to be a standalone, or a series?

When I made the decision to rewrite my first book from the thriller it was supposed to be and wasn’t into a cozy mystery, I knew it had to be a series. I hadn’t encountered a single stand-alone cozy in all my research, which included reading what seemed like a billion of them. Or maybe it was just one very long one? Anyway, that concept guided the revisions. I knew I had to have a more interesting setting and characters that readers could relate to. The Bookstore Mystery Series came to life.

Any advice for other authors?

My best advice to other authors is, “Never quit!” The awful thriller I mentioned was written in the early 2000s. Murder at the Bookstore was published in January 2023. In between, I received lots of criticism that I now know was well-deserved. However, my response at the time was, “They think my book is bad? Well, I’ll show them. I’ll quit writing!” And I did. For years at a time. But every so often, I’d look at it again, with the same result. Then, one day, around my 59th birthday, I did an assessment of my life and realized I’d never finished anything I’d started. The only thing I had left that I could finish was that book. So, I made up my mind to do whatever I needed to in order to make the book the best I could, and let whatever happens happen. The rest, as they say, is history. Hang in there. No matter what anyone else says.

Do you prefer pen and paper, or computer for writing?

I prefer using a computer for writing, without a doubt. I can make adjustments on the fly, and I don’t have to type the whole manuscript at once when it’s done. Yes, I know there are people out there who would do the typing for me, but my handwriting is illegible, sometimes even to me. Penmanship is the only class in the first grade I received an “unsatisfactory” in. With good reason. I’m convinced I must’ve been a doctor in a former life.

What is Sentenced to Murder about?

She’s written murder mysteries before, but can she crack this real-life cold case?

Writing the perfect murder mystery doesn’t come easily to Jen, but she’s determined to get it right this time. Just as she sits down to start writing her next novel, she stumbles across a chilling real-life case: a man who claims he’s been wrongly convicted of murder.

Jaylon has been imprisoned for his brother’s killing, but his body was never found, and there was no substantial evidence linking him to the crime. Time is running out for Jaylon as he needs a kidney transplant to save his life—something he’ll never receive while he’s in prison for murder.

Jen’s amateur sleuthing skills are pushed to their very limit as time is ticking to solve Jaylon’s case and save his life. Can she catch the real killer before Jaylon’s murder sentence becomes a death sentence?