Awesome Romance Author Susannah Sandlin

Introducing: Susannah Sandlin

Looking for a great romance author to read? This week my guest author is award-winning author Susannah Sandlin. Today, Susannah answers questions about being a romance writer.

1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? I’m a magazine editor by day and novelist by night, so I’m a bit of a workaholic! I currently live in Auburn, Alabama, but spent much of my adulthood in New Orleans so I consider NOLA my hometown. As Suzanne Johnson, I write the Sentinels of New Orleans urban fantasy series for TOR books; as Susannah Sandlin, I write The Penton Legacy (paranormal romance), The Collectors (suspense), and Wilds of the Bayou (suspense) series for Montlake Romance. I branched into indie publishing last year with a couple of new novellas. Yep. Workaholic in search of a cure.
2. When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book? I’ve worked a long time in journalism, a few years at a daily newspaper and more than a few in magazines. It wasn’t until I went through Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath as a New Orleanian that I even thought about writing fiction, so I didn’t begin writing seriously until 2009, when I finished my first book, ROYAL STREET. It’s an urban fantasy about—guess what—Hurricane Katrina, and became the first in the Sentinels series.
3. Do you ever experience writer’s block? Yes! I used to say I didn’t believe in writer’s block…until I got a bad case of it last year. I didn’t want to even think about writing. Funny thing about deadlines, though—they don’t care if you have writer’s block or not. So I just making myself write every day and eventually I worked myself out of it. It’s tough, though, especially with a demanding day job and family responsibilities. Burnout and exhaustion are hard to avoid, and those things, for me, lead to writer’s block.
4. Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult? I grew up hooked on the unlikely duo of horror novelist Stephen King and gothic romantic historical author Susan Howatch (before she got obsessed with the Church of England and began writing exclusively in that setting). The thing they have in common (other than writing HUGE books!) is that both know how to create fascinating characters and then tell a story with dark undertones, whether human or otherworldly, that keeps the reader turning pages.
5. Will you have a new book coming out soon? I have a crazy fall and winter lined up! On October 18, BLACK DIAMOND, the second book in my Wilds of the Bayou romantic suspense series (as Susannah Sandlin) will come out; on November 8, BELLE CHASSE, the fifth book in my Sentinels of New Orleans urban fantasy series (as Suzanne Johnson) will release; and in December or January (date to come), I’ll release ILLUMINATION, the fifth book in my Penton Legacy paranormal romance series (as Susannah). There will be a novella release or two in there as well. Whew!
6. Are there certain characters you would like to go back to, or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with? I have a novelette from 2013, CHRISTMAS IN DOGTOWN, that is currently out of print, so sometime in the next few months I want to dig back into that story and expand it. It’s about home and family, but also has a paranormal spin that comes into play in St. James Parish, Louisiana.
7. Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers? My best advice would be to not jump the gun and try to publish too quickly. With indie publishing making everything so easy, it’s tempting to just start throwing things out there. Unfortunately, it’s hard to make yourself stand out from the crowd of other authors putting out books these days—for all of us. I think the first, best way to do that is to write a really good book and spend the time having a developmental editor look it over, getting it copy edited, and finding an awesome cover.

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WILD MAN’S CURSE (Wilds of the Bayou, Book 1)

The bones said death was comin’, and the bones never lied.

While on an early morning patrol in the swamps of Whiskey Bayou, Louisiana wildlife agent Gentry Broussard spots a man leaving the home of voodoo priestess Eva Savoie—a man who bears a startling resemblance to his brother, whom Gentry thought he had killed during a drug raid three years earlier. Shaken, the agent enters Eva’s cabin and makes a bloody discovery: the old woman has been brutally murdered.

With no jurisdiction over the case, he’s forced to leave the investigation to the local sheriff, until Eva’s beautiful heir, Celestine, receives a series of gruesome threats. As Gentry’s involvement deepens and more victims turn up, can he untangle the secrets behind Eva’s murder and protect Celestine from the same fate? Or will an old family curse finally have its way?

From award-winning author Susannah Sandlin comes the first book in the Wilds of the Bayou series. [Note: ebook is Kindle only; print and audio available from all outlets.]

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