Book Banter

Susie Black’s September newsletter

Book Banter

Susie Black’s Newsletter

Edition 7, September 2026

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’m Reading

What I’m Writing

A Bit About Me:

The Love Story of My Maternal Great-Grandparents:

I first learned about how my maternal great-grandparents got together and their remarkable love story when I was just out of college while helping my nana prepare for the Jewish New Year celebration. Nana’s story was so riveting that I remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday. We’d been chatting and working in the kitchen when Nana asked me to polish a gorgeous set of candlesticks on the counter. I lifted one of the candlesticks. “Nana, how old are the candlesticks?” I fingered the intricately beveled brass. “I’ve never seen anything like these before. They must be antiques.”

Nana nodded. “They are antiques. They are over one hundred years old. My grandparents gave them to my parents as a wedding gift. They were the only personal things my mother could take with her when she left Warsaw.”

I looked at her, puzzled. “They’re not very big. She must have had quite a small suitcase.”

Nana gazed at the candlesticks. And their memory brought a wistful twist to her lips. “A beautiful young woman, my mother.” Nana waved her hands in the shape of a woman’s physique. “Mama was a buxom beauty with raven hair, an hourglass figure, like a Jewish Sophia Loren, and crazy in love with a handsome man. She wanted to marry for love and fought her parents against an arranged marriage. They finally relented, but Mama was devastated after being jilted at the altar. No one ever discovered the missing groom’s fate. Had he run away with another woman or been killed in a pogrom? He disappeared into thin air. In those days, women were not educated and held few jobs outside of the home. So, to be supported, a young girl had to marry. My father is the man Mama’s parents arranged the rejected marriage with. He was a tailor. His profession made him a desirable catch. After Mama was left at the altar, the community considered her damaged goods. But my mother was so beautiful that even after she had rejected the arrangement, my father still agreed to marry her. They met for the first time on their wedding day. Papa gazed lovingly into Mama’s violet eyes as the Rabbi pronounced them man and wife. And right then, Mama fell head over heels in love with the stranger she had just wed.”

Nana pursed her lips. “Once they married, things became even worse than ever for Polish Jews. My parents wanted to start a family, but neither wished to bring children into such a hateful, dangerous place. After one of the bloodier pogroms that killed many people they knew, my parents decided to leave Poland via the Jewish underground. This was a network of brave souls throughout Eastern Europe who helped Jews escape. My father went first. He made his way north to Birmingham, England, and took a job sewing the coal miners’ uniforms.”

Nana dipped her head. “Mama understood it was too dangerous for them to leave together. But once he left, panic set in. She had no idea if he’d make it all the way to England. She feared he would be killed or captured and imprisoned during his treacherous journey, and she’d never see him again. After almost a year had gone by without a word from Papa, Mama was convinced he was dead. She became despondent, sick in both body and soul, and almost died of a broken heart. Then she finally received a message from him. But letters took months to arrive, if at all, and were few and far between. Papa saved his money, and after two years, he sent for my mother. She received word from the underground and had to be ready to leave quickly. Imagine saying goodbye to your parents, siblings, and friends, realizing you might never see them again?”

My heart clenched as I shook my head.

“Anyway,” Nana continued, “A man came to their shtetl at midnight on a moonless night. My mother could only take one small knapsack with some clothes, a family photo, and the candlesticks. She bid her family goodbye, and the man took her to the narrowest part of the wide Warsaw River, infamous for its dangerously strong currents. If you didn’t know how they ran, the current would pull you under, and you’d drown. My mother climbed on the man’s back, and he swam her across. On the other side, he handed her to the next underground person. She slept in forests and caves during the day and traveled by horseback or on foot at night. Fighting off wild animals and the elements and hiding from the law took her over two months to travel this way across Europe. She arrived at Calais and boarded a freighter to England. With little money, clothes, or the ability to speak English, she managed to travel to London, then north to Birmingham, and finally reunited with my father.”

I applauded like I would at the end of a play. “Oh, Nana, what a love story. It could be a movie or a play.”

Nana smiled. “Yes, it has all the drama of a film or a play. They defied the odds, and their love sustained them through the darkest days. The unbreakable bond of love my parents had for one another turned the seemingly impossible into a reality.”

I pointed to the candlesticks. “Nana, when I get married, I want those candlesticks to be your wedding gift.”

Nana patted me on the cheek. “Consider them yours.”

What I’m Reading:

I have just finished Liz Flaherty’s romantic thriller, Pieces of Blue (Colors, the Harper Loch Trilogy). Here is a blurb to whet your appetite:

Life comes in shades of blue...
A self-imposed loner, Maggie North has worked for bestselling author Trilby Winterroad her entire adult life, starting as simply his assistant and ending up as his ghostwriter. Through ups and downs--including a divorce from an abusive husband--Trilby has been the one person on whom she could always rely. So, when the author dies suddenly, Maggie finds herself adrift, not sure what she’ll do or where she belongs in the world any longer. And the confusion continues when she discovers he’s not only left her his beloved dachshund, Chloe, but a house she knew nothing about, on a lake she’s never heard of. It only takes one visit for Maggie to fall in love with both the house and the small lakeside community. The longer she’s there, the safer she feels and the more her life begins to expand...as do her feelings toward her friend and Trilby’s attorney, Sam Eldridge. But is she really safe? Or are the glistening pieces of her new life about to shatter as an old danger returns?

Here is my review:

Leave it to clever Liz Flaherty to cast a house as a main character that takes on a life of its own. Ghostwriter Maggie North, whose well-planned life is set adrift by the sudden death of her boss and mentor, inherits his lakeside house, which becomes her implausible anchor and lifesaver.

Remarkably patient, Flaherty takes her time introducing the interwoven histories and personalities of the house, Maggie, and the cast of characters. And without readers realizing it, they find themselves so immersed in the characters’ lives and the compelling plot that they feel as though they have become part of the story.

Flaherty has penned an emotional tale that deftly weaves ribbons of angst and romance into a well-written plot driven by betrayal, love, loss, trust, family ties, and the inner strength one must summon to face adversity created by both human fallibility and fate. Part romance, part coming of age later in life, part redemption with a second chance at life and love, Pieces of Blue will pull at the heartstrings and capture the imagination of readers who enjoy a love story fueled by the never-ending battle between decisions made by choice or fate and believe that one should never stop asking what if. This terrific book has more than earned the five-star rating this reader has given it. https://www.amazon.com/Pieces-Blue-Colors-Harper-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B0GQ1T77V3/ref=sr_1_4?

What I’m Writing:

Throughout the nine months of joyous anticipation as an expectant mother many years ago, the weeks were also filled with anxiety, angst, and wringing hands: Would I pass muster as a good parent? Would my parenting skills, wit, and wisdom be up to snuff? Would my little bundle of joy turn out to be all that every parent prays for? Fast-forward to today, and to my utter dismay, the worrisome issues that kept me up all those nights then made an encore appearance as I developed a new series and released its debut title. But good news! The response to the debut title of The Sunny Knight Mystery Series was absolutely fantastic. The Forecast is…Murder! has been such a hit with readers that I’ve already written the second book in the series. Fingers crossed, The Forecast is…Monsoon! is slated for release in October. All the deets will be in next month’s newsletter.

In the meantime, here is a blurb to whet your appetite:

Cactus City, California TV weather reporter Sunny Knight grew close to Fanny and Daniel Booker, the owners of popular local eatery Aunt Fanny’s Pantry, and their celebrity-chef son, Brandon. Daniel and his lifelong friend Randy Sinclair go on a fishing trip to the lower Colorado River. While they are gone, a tropical storm becomes a monsoon. Daniel’s wife reports the two men did not return home the day they were expected. While doing a remote report on the storm, Sunny discovers Randy’s empty boat broken in half, and Randy’s battered corpse lodged between a downed oak and an elm trunk. Randy’s broken neck has hand marks on it that suggest strangulation. Daniel is found alive and claims not to know what happened to Randy. When the sheriff appears ready to arrest Daniel, Brandon asks ex-investigative reporter Sunny to prove his dad’s innocence. They say curiosity killed the cat. Would this walk on the wild side be the former award-winning investigative reporter’s last meow? Sunny is determined to find out. Hey, no one ever confused her with Albert Einstein.

Until next month, happy reading.