Book Banter with Susie Black
Susie Black’s Newsletter
Edition 1, March 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’ve been reading
What I’m writing
How an Apparel Career Led to my Writing Gig…
Like the protagonist in my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, I was a ladies’ apparel sales executive. The most critical skill a sales executive must have to succeed is storytelling. Fortunately, I’ve been telling stories since I learned to talk. One thing I was told over and over as a sales executive was to know your product inside and out. I heard the same thing when I started writing cozy mysteries: write what you know. If you don’t know it, either do the research and learn it, or don’t dare to write it. Whether you’re an author or a sales executive, you’re selling yourself, and readers, like buyers, can sniff out a phony in a heartbeat. Then you and the story you’re telling are toast.
I came to write in the cozy mystery genre because I love solving puzzles. My parents would certainly confirm that I always asked a lot of questions. I am naturally curious (some narrow-minded people say I am nosy…go figure…LOL). So, writing mysteries was my natural next step. Since I’d never written a novel before, the only thing I knew to do was to apply the same storytelling skills I’d successfully used hawking bikinis to write a tale. It turns out that how you present an apparel line is the same way you write a story. Both have a beginning, a middle, an ending, and a point of view.
So, where did my story ideas come from? From the start of my career, I kept a daily journal that chronicled the quirky, interesting, and often challenging people I encountered as well as the crazy things I’d gotten myself into and out of. The journal entries are the foundation of all my writing for the stories that comprise the Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series. With a dollop of imagination, a pinch of angst, and a decades-long career chocked to the gills with juicy characters, I had more stories itching to be told in my daily journal than time to write them.
Who could push a sales exec to dream of murder and mayhem? Who else but a buyer? After completing a rather challenging conversation with an important but difficult customer, I imagined how good it would feel with my hands around her scrawny neck, squeezing the life out of her. While the notion of knocking off my annoying buyers was wildly appealing, a horizontally striped prison uniform making my four-foot, eight-inch body look like a barbershop pole and a fire hydrant had a child wasn’t a pretty sight. The viable alternative? Writing humorous murder mysteries set in the Los Angeles garment center with a protagonist based on me. Brilliant and cathartic! In one fell swoop, eliminate a pain-in-the-patootie buyer, avoid life in prison, and still get the order. It doesn’t get any better than that.
What I’ve Been Reading…
. While I tend to read the genre that I write in most of the time, my author colleague and friend Terry Newman, the undisputed Queen of Paranormal Rom-Com, convinced me to venture beyond my comfort zone, and I am so glad she did.
· I read her Imprinted on the Heart and couldn’t put it down.
· Terry penned a rip-snorter chock full of comedic coincidence with exquisite timing.
· Her sharp-tongued dialogue is crisp and snappy.
· Blake’s deadpan commentaries have enough snark to have made me laugh out loud.
· The cast of zany, madcap, yet remarkably believable characters took me on a raucous, rollicking rollercoaster ride.
· The enduring characters tugged at my heartstrings and tickled my funny bone.
· Imprinted on the Heart is a delightful trip to Never-Neverland on a woo-woo bus fueled by a hysterical comedy of errors.
What I’m Writing…
· In just 5 years, I’ve been fortunate enough to have 7 cozy mysteries and 1 women’s fiction book published.
· I’m thrilled to announce that Death by Coconuts, the 8th book in the award-winning Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, will be released later this year.
· Death by Coconuts is full of series firsts and surprises.
· The Yentas have ventured out of the California Mart and are on the road.
· The loquacious ladies are wreaking havoc at the Miami Swimwear Trade Show.
· New details of Holly Schlivnik’s personal life are revealed.
· Readers will meet Holly’s mother.
· Readers will meet Holly’s professional mentor.
· The 2 beloved ghosts introduced in Death by Jelly Beans make another hilarious appearance and push Holly to the brink of insanity.
· And a mystery man from Holly’s past, never mentioned in any of the earlier books, shows up and turns her life upside down.
· Curious? Intrigued? Excellent!
· Stay tuned for further announcements.
. Until next month, Ciao.
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