Thank you so much for inviting me to the campfire. I prefer black coffee, please. Kind of in a roundabout way. For over a decade we owned a houseboat that was as close to camping as I have been. She was only 36 feet in length and let’s say she was cozy for one and cramped for two or more.
Tell us about your favorite vacation or adventure.
My favorite vacation was a trip to Cancun where I went power boating and snorkeling with my son.
Fun! We Jet-skied and snorkeled. Tell us about your latest project.
My debut novel was released on June 9th Death by Sample Size, is a cozy mystery, Heat level: is pretty cool. Much more humorous.
I love a book that can make me laugh. What was your inspiration?
The inspiration for all my stories is my experiences in the ladies’ apparel industry.
Can you tell us about the main characters?
Sales exec Holly Schlivnik, Holly’s colleague Queenie Levine, buying office owner Bunny Frank, Gotham Swimwear designer Louis Chennault, Retail swimwear buyer Angela Wellborn.
Great names. How long did this take you from conception to publication?
Three years.
Is there anything else on the horizon for you?
Yes: I am completing the fourth novel in the Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series and am mapping out an initial outline of a new series.
So you’re not busy at all. {wink wink} Do you have a tagline or life motto?
I do. Ask me a question, be prepared for my answer.
Oh, yeah. I find it impossible when someone asks me something not to be straight with them. Who are your inspirations for writing?
My inspirations are the interesting and quirky people I have encountered during the course of my career.
Working with the public is certainly interesting. Oh, the stories. would you like to give a shout-out to anyone or their books?
My dad who was my career mentor
Huzzah for loving and engaged dads everywhere! In the spirit of mentorship, do you have any tips, tricks, or anything you specialize in that you would share with others?
Write what you know. If you don’t know it, don’t write it until you do.
Now the fun questions
- If they made a movie about your life, what would the title be, and who would play you? Movie title: Rag Lady. Sandra Bullock would play me.
- Do you have a special object like a piece of jewelry or keepsake of some sort? Can you tell us what makes it special to you? I wear my grandfather’s ring. My Nana was the eldest of six children, four girls two boys. When one of her four sisters became engaged, her future husband received the same ring as my grandfather did from my Nan, so all my great uncles had the same ring..
- What is your favorite mug? When I got into the swimwear business, my smart alec Nana bought me a mug that says “Things could be worse. We could be trying on Swimsuits.”
- Years ago, there was a commercial that talked about a “Kodak Moment.” It’s a moment in time you catch in a picture. One you never want to forget. What is yours? The moment the doctor put my newborn son in my arms for the first time.
- Favorite childhood book? Nancy Drew
- If you could only choose one song to play every time you walked into a room for the rest of your life, what would it be? People by Barbra Streisand
- Did you ever win something? What? Yes. A sandwich at Nelly’s deli
Susie, thanks for joining me at the campfire. Before you head out, could you leave us a bit more about not only Death by Sample Size, but you and where we can find out more?
by
Susie Black
Everyone wanted her dead…but who actually killed her?
The last thing swimwear sales exec Holly Schlivnik expected was to discover ruthless buying office big wig Bunny Frank’s corpse trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey with a bikini stuffed down her throat. When Holly’s colleague is arrested for Bunny’s murder, the wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth jumps into action to find the real killer. Nothing turns out the way Holly thinks it will as she matches wits with a wily killer hellbent for revenge. Get ready to laugh out loud as Susie Black’s Death by Sample Size takes you on a rollicking adventure ride through the Los Angeles apparel industry.
Bonus excerpt
When the elevator doors opened, I had to stop myself short not to step on her. There was Bunny Frank-the buying office big shot-lying diagonally across the car. Her legs were splayed out and her back was propped against the corner. Her sightless eyes were wide open and her arms reached out in a come to me baby pose. She was trussed up with shipping tape like a dressed Thanksgiving turkey ready for the oven with a bikini stuffed in her mouth. A Gotham Swimwear hangtag drooped off her lower lip like a toe tag gone lost. Naturally, I burst out laughing.
Before you label me incredibly weird or stone-cold, let me say genetics aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. If you’re lucky you inherit your Aunt Bertha’s sexy long legs or your father’s ability to add a bazillion dollar order in his head and get the total correct to the last penny. Without even breaking into a sweat, it’s easy to spout at least a million fabulous traits inheritable by the luck of the draw. Did I get those sexy long legs or the ability to add more than two plus two without a calculator? Noooooooooo. Lucky me. I inherited my Nana’s fear of death we overcompensated for with the nervous habit of laughing. A hysterical reaction? Think Bozo the clown eulogizing your favorite aunt.
I craned my neck like a tortoise and checked around. Then I clamped a fist over my mouth. Cripes, how could I possibly explain my guffaws with Bunny lying there? Disappointment was simultaneously mixed with relief when there was no one else in the parking lot. Where was security when you needed them?
I toed the elevator door open and bent over Bunny. I’d seen enough CSI episodes to know not to touch her. She was stiff as a board and I attributed the bluish tinge of her skin to the bikini crammed down her throat. I was no doctor, but I didn’t need an MD after my name to make this diagnosis. Bunny Frank was dead as the proverbial doorknob.
It was no surprise Bunny Frank had finally pushed someone beyond their limits. The only surprise was it had taken so long. The question wasn’t who wanted Bunny Frank dead. The question was who didn’t?
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More about Susie Black
Susie Black biography
Born in the Big Apple, Susie Black 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.
Looking for more? Reach her at mysteries_@authorsusieblack.com