Hi Reader! Trees are getting naked (my backyard is practically a carpet of fallen yellow leaves)... 🍂 The air has a bite to it (feels like summer fled in two weeks flat)... 💨🥶 And holiday romance books are everywhere. (One of them might even be your own!) 🎄📕 It's officially holiday book season... And I am here for it! And because I never fully outgrew my romance book reviewer roots—I LOVE 🥰 sharing book recs—there's a peek at my holiday TBR below. 👋 But what I'd really like to know is what...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader! Not all tools are created equal. Or, rather, not all tools work equally well for all writer brains. 🌶️ (Neurospicy, right here! 🤩) And there is one request I get a lot for my existing workshops and courses: "Sue, that pdf workbook is pretty, but..." ❌ I don't have a printer. ⌨️ I do my work digitally. 🧹 I need a clean, streamlined way to work. I hear ya, loud and clear! (Because 2/3 of ☝️ apply to me too). And while I do have one program with a digital fill-in version of the pdf...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting in my office (upstairs) and hear a crash (downstairs). I look around. The cat is here. ✅ My partner is in his office. ✅ 😰 What caused that crash?! When I walk downstairs, the first thing I notice is the smell. ♨️ (Sugar, strong.) And the carpet is drenched. 💦 (But not from any source that makes sense.) After about 5 minutes of investigation, I realize that this 👇 is the culprit... 😈 Naughty Loki! The cork had exploded from the bottle, and the...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! Stories matter most when they resonate deep in a reader's heart. Right after recording my recent guest spot on The Author Next Door podcast with Angela Haas and Cassie Newell, my heart felt so full. 🥰 For a whole hour, we dove into what makes writing romance such a special career niche. 🔥 We got real about trends in the romance-writing industry, then went deep on what transforms typical snooze-worthy characters into unique, compelling, everyday people that readers connect with. 🤓...
5 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! I spent a lot of years doing 1:1 work with authors, first as a developmental editor and now as a story coach. 🧩 And there's one conversation that I seem to have over and over. It usually starts with: 🤔 "Sue, something feels... off with my story. But I cant figure out what." The plot makes sense. The scenes flow. The characters are interesting. But somehow, the emotional impact isn't landing quite the way you want. And here's what I've discovered: When a story isn't connecting with...
9 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader! At 2pm Mountain Time today, tune in and watch my interview at the Write Your Own Way summit for free. Click here 👉 to get your free ticket and join me in the live chat at 2pm! (🕐 Check your time zone here.) Click that ☝️ to register for your free ticket to the summit so you can see my interview! 🤔 Can't make it live? You can watch the replay for 24 hours! Just register for your free ticket and log in before 2pm MT tomorrow (2/4). 📸 The Moment to Moment Method: How to write stronger...
11 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! I am SUPER excited to share that I will be presenting TWO workshops IN PERSON for the 2025 Las Vegas Writers Group conference. 🎉 👩🏫 Want a peek at my workshops? 👀👇 🌱 For PRE-PUBLISHED and ASPIRING fiction writers: "Write from the Heart" on Thursday, April 3 🎓 For INTERMEDIATE and ADVANCED fiction writers:"The 8-Scene Setup workshop" on Saturday, April 5 (You can see the full in-person schedule here and the virtual sessions schedule here.) 💬✏️ I'm also offering a limited number of...
11 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! Greetings from subzero Colorado, where breathing feels like inhaling a Halls drop! When your weather forecast says today's high is going to be a negative temperature (yes, in Fahrenheit!), you get real thankful for warm houses and work-from-home jobs. 🥶🖥️😅 Luckily, I'm a romance book lover, and those are always sure to warm me up. Get your mind out of the gutter! Not like that. (Well, okay, yes 💋 like that, but ALSO because happy endings are just so darn fulfilling. 🥰) And if you...
11 months ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader! Remember that time you got stuck in the middle of your manuscript, wondering how the heck your hero was going to get out of that mess you wrote them into? 😅 Well, that's exactly what this year's Escape the Plot Forest summit is all about, and I'm so excited to be sharing a BRAND NEW workshop, recorded just for this event. Chat with me LIVE while the session plays! Register here for FREE! Quick Note: All the links in this email are affiliate links, so if you choose to upgrade your...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read