How did you get into writing your quirky, fun series?
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 writing 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.
Where do your 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 situations 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.
Did you want to kill any of your clients?
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.
The Giveaway!
With swimsuit season upon us, Susie is giving away her guided to the fearful Need a Swimsuit? Don't Panic. Comment on this post to receive this timely guide!
What else are you doing?
More mysteries, of course! The Hannah White Mystery Series, to be specific.
Tell us about yourself!
Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries.
She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and has one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect.
Where can readers find you and your books?
Blue Sky: @hollysusiewrites.bsky.social
Facebook: https://facebook.com/TheHollySwimsuitMysterySeries
Instagram: Susie Black (@hollyswimsuit) • Instagram photos and videos
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/authorsusieblack-61941011
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hollysusie1/
Substack: Substack Home -Susie Black
X: Susie Black (@hollyswimsuit) / X
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/susieblackwritescozies
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21437641.Susie_Black
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21437641.Susie_Black
Contact Susie at: mysteries.authorsusieblack@gmail.com
