Book Banter

Susie Black's Monthly Newsletter, May Edition

Book Banter

Susie Black’s Newsletter

Edition 3

Hello! I’m Susie Black. I write humorous cozy mysteries. Thanks for taking a peek at my monthly newsletter. I discuss my writing, books, and anything else that piques my interest.

In this edition:

A bit about me

What I’ve been reading

What I’m writing

A Bit About Me: Choosing a Pseudonym

Once I’d decided to write under a pen name, the search for the perfect pseudonym began. What type of pen name to choose? Something flashy, perhaps a clever play on words, an unforgettable name everyone would remember.

I daydreamed of being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on a TV special after my debut novel, Death by Sample Size, became the Oprah Book Club’s all-time best seller. Then my daydream quickly became a nightmare. Oprah introduced me to millions of fans….As I stood backstage waiting for my name to be called, I waited and waited until Oprah’s producer whacked me on the head with a clipboard, asked if I didn’t know my name when I heard it, and shoved me onto the stage. Yikes. There was a disaster waiting to happen.

Now what? To paraphrase Dirty Harry, a girl’s gotta know her limitations. The most important criterion for the pen name wasn’t finding something tricky; it was choosing one I’d remember and answer to. Since I write cozy mysteries, here are two clues: The first name is a version of my real middle name. This one is a gimme. My pen surname is a translation of my legal last name from a foreign language to English. Let’s see how alert you are. Can you guess my real name? Write me at: mysteries.authorsusieblack@gmail.com

What I’m Reading:

In keeping with the challenge to venture beyond my comfort zone, I have been reading Ragged in the Rain, a mystery thriller and the newest release in The Lyle Dahms Mystery Series, written by Brian Anderson.

· Minneapolis PI Lyle Dahms’ life becomes the embodiment of bad things come in threes when he faces eviction from his office, loses his rooming house digs, and learns that his best friend’s sister has vanished.

· Lyle agrees to help find his friend’s sister

· His investigation leads the search to Seattle.

· Anderson deftly wove a taut tale with characters caught in an intricate web of lies.

· And the result is a stay-up past your bedtime page-turner with a heart-pounding climax.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/search?q=Ragged%20in%20the%20Rain

What I’m Writing:

Drumroll, here’s some exciting news! I have just submitted to my editor the manuscript for The Forecast is…Murder! This is the debut title in my new Sunny Knight Mystery Series and will be released in September this year.

Here is a blurb to whet your appetite:

The United Television Network exiles disgraced investigative reporter Sunny Knight to a remote California desert affiliate. Sunny is informed by the station owner that, since nothing happens in the middle of nowhere, the station does not need an investigative reporter, and she is now the weather reporter. After they have a vicious altercation, the station owner’s bridge partner is discovered dead, and Sunny’s boss is arrested for the murder. Despite the differences Sunny has with her boss, she is convinced that the station owner didn’t do it. The wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth jumps into action to nail the real killer. But with a clown car full of viable suspects to investigate, will Sunny bring the right one to justice or become their next victim?

Until next month, happy reading.