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Before we dive into Susan’s interview, let’s take a moment to find out a little bit more about who she is…
Susan Kimmel Wright began her life of mystery in childhood, with reading. That led to writing mysteries for kids, and eventually to Medicine Spring with Mabel. A longtime member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, Susan’s also a prolific writer of personal experience stories, many for Chicken Soup for the Soul. She shares an 1875 farmhouse in southwestern PA with her husband, several dogs and cats, and an allegedly excessive stockpile of coffee and tea mugs.
What is your ultimate goal as a writer?
All I’ve ever wanted was for my books to companion the reader, so if she—or he—had been having a rough patch, I could take them somewhere calming and fun. Books have done this for me my whole life, and I hoped I could provide this sort of respite for others.
I wanted my reader to feel at home in my small-town setting, become fond of my characters, and get caught up in their adventures. I wanted them to laugh with me. I hoped they’d want to return, and to feel like they had come home whenever they did. It's one of the great joys of my life to hear someone’s rereading my books, that they’ve woken up their husband by laughing so hard, or that my books have seen them through depression, cancer treatment, or loss.
Do you always know who your killer is, or do your characters surprise you in the end?
By the time I’ve finished planning my book, I usually know, but I have definitely been surprised a time or two. One thing I’ve learned is that killers can be very sneaky!
Any advice for other writers?
The greatest advice I ever received about “succeeding” as a writer was to never quit. Determination so often separates the published from more talented writers who gave up and never achieved their dreams. Richard Bach said, “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.”
As a new HS graduate almost sixty years ago, I bought a book called Writing Juvenile Fiction by Phyllis A Whitney (the late Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster), first published in 1946 and reprinted. Whitney said, “[B]rilliant flash-in-the-pan writers who haven’t the ability to plod and stick with it through the inevitable discouragement *** fall by the wayside, while the rest of us who may not really write as well, keep ourselves to a steady course until we eventually learn how.”
I took this advice to heart and—while life intervened way too many times—I held on till I published my first little article in a denominational magazine at age thirty-four, my first kids’ mystery novel at age forty-two, and signed a contract for my current adult cozy mystery series on the cusp of my seventieth birthday. Meanwhile, I learned to work hard and consistently—and how to revise. It’s all been worth it.
Do you prefer pen and paper or computer for writing?
My series manuscripts are mostly written on computer, but I do a lot of my outlining and freewriting/brainstorming by hand. Sometimes when I’m traveling and my husband’s driving, I write out entire chapters with pen and notebook and transcribe later. I think this can sometimes light up the creative center of my brain—maybe because that’s how I always wrote my books as a child.
What is Mabel and the Unholy Night about?
Faithful dog Barnacle has run off into a snowstorm, disrupting Mabel’s fun outing at the Christmas tree farm. Things don’t improve much when he reappears…with a human skull.
Since Mabel moved into her late grandma’s house, the sleepy village of Medicine Spring has provided clean air, a close-knit community, and charming small-town shops. To her surprise, it’s also offered up several murders—and romance with a handsome private investigator. Now, Barnacle’s discovery plunges Mabel into the mystery surrounding a decades-old unsolved murder and the disappearance of her friend Nita’s great uncle.
Before Mabel, boyfriend John, and her friends can find answers and bring justice for Nita and her family, more complications develop. Incredibly, a sixty-year-old Christmas card arrives, bearing Mabel’s name and address and containing a plea for help. Are the mysteries related?
While Mabel tries to get to the bottom of these strange events, a second suspicious death casts suspicion on Nita. Can Mabel find the real killer in time? Or will her Christmas season end on an unholy night?
Click here for a direct link to Mabel and the Unholy Night.
You can also connect with her at the following…
Thank you, Susan, for sharing your time with us!
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