📖Authors To Watch: Susan Berry Author of Promise of the Heart #authorstowatch #interview

 

Since Susan Berry was a young girl, she loved to write. Her imagination was filled with stories that she couldn’t write down fast enough. But it wasn’t until her grandmother had given her a Harlequin romance novel to occupy her time on a long, boring car ride, that she fell in love with reading romance. The excitement of the characters first meeting, and the dance of the heart that followed, left Susan frantically turning pages. From that day on, Susan spent her free time with her beloved grandmother, reading the latest novels they’d retrieved from a used book store, or the local second hand shop. That reading eventually turned into the writing of her own romance novels. Novels filled with characters who have not yet found love, but eventually find a way to overcome romantic troubles with humor, wit, and the consumption of lots and lots of chocolate.

Susan’s latest book is the clean romance suspense, Promise of the Heart.

You can visit her website at https://www.SusanBerryauthor.com   or connect with her on Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads.

After a distasteful first meeting, and a rocky start to their romance, Maggie Kinsley has been happily married to Desmond for the last eleven months. And although she was often alone when he traveled for business, she rather enjoyed how he passionately greeted her when returning home.

So when he received a letter naming him as executor of a property that belonged to a deceased family friend and had to leave for a few weeks, Maggie should have been content as she kissed him goodbye. But there was something about the whole thing that made her uneasy. Why was Desmond so evasive with her when she asked him about the previous owner. And why had he insisted she not tell anyone of his plans to stay on the property. Maggie soon found the answers to her questions were more than just a woman’s intuition, but rather something that not even her wildest, darkest fears could have foreseen.

“I so enjoyed the long awaited final book to the trilogy the author so lovingly created. Maggie’s story has a wonderful ending and she’ll be in my heart and mind for a long time.” – Amazon

Book Information

Release Date: February 21, 2022

Publisher:  Independent

Soft Cover: ISBN: 979-8420398647; 203 pages; $6.99; E-Book, $1.99

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3wk29M8

 

We welcome you to My Bookish Pleasures! Can you tell us how you got started writing fiction?

Susan: I started writing fiction when I was a young girl. I used to play outside in the backyard and pretend the plants and rocks were alive and could talk to me. At night, after dinner, I’d sneak off to my room where I’d write stories about my adventures. When I became an adult, I started writing romance novels. My first book, Dance of the Heart, took me two years to write. I’m a single mother of two, and I wrote mostly at night while my children were asleep. And I probably could have finished the book sooner, but I was having too much fun getting to know my heroine, Maggie. She is so funny, accident prone just like me, and someone I’d love to be friends with. She’s faced a heartbreaking tragedy in her life, but found a way to overcome every obstacle that stood in her way and eventually found happiness and love.

Describe your writing process. Do you plot or write by the seat of your pants? When and where do you write?

Susan: I absolutely write “by the seat of my pants,” and find it very enjoyable. While my characters and I don’t always see eye-to-eye, I love the thrill of the journey we go on together. I have tried before to plot out a story, but it wasn’t very much fun. 

Can you tell us about your most recent release?

Susan: My newest release, Promise of the Heart, is the third book in the Moments of the Heart series. The book is the continuation of the love story between Maggie and Desmond. They have arrived at a vineyard that belonged to a family friend who bequeathed it to Desmond. What should have been a relaxing time and romantic get-a-way to celebrate their one-year anniversary, turned into an unpredictable, and dangerous game with an unwelcome stranger.

How did you get the idea for the book?

Susan: The idea for all three of the books in the series came from my own experiences in life. Maggie and I both come from a large and loving family. Both are very close to our grandmother. And both suffered tragedy at a young age. Maggie is much more than a character to me. She embodies the resilience and strength that all women have to overcome obstacles in their life as they pursue their dreams.

What projects are you currently working on?

Susan: Currently, I’m working on a historical novel titled, Beneath the Evergreens. It’s the story of Emma Stanton. A girl who became parentless during WWII, grew up in an orphanage, then ventured out on her own to a job as a Lumberjill in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. It’s such a heartfelt story of first independence and first love. The book should be released by mid-June.

What advice would you offer to new or aspiring fiction authors?

Susan: My advice to those who want to take the first steps to become an author is…go for it! You are unique and so will be the stories you’ll write. Write every chance you get about anything that inspires you. And don’t let anyone tell you that you're not good enough. Reach out to other authors for advice and ask lots of questions. Join author groups on social media platforms like Facebook. Eventually your confidence will catch up with your talent and your first book will be published to the delight of all us readers. And please, don’t hesitate to reach out to me personally anytime through my website, https://www.susanberryauthor.com. My fondest wish is that you have more books than you can read, and eat lots and lots of chocolate!