Music Fiction
Date Published: 09-30-2025
Publisher: Covfefe Press
For anyone who's ever said, "They're playing my song!"
What is the hardest part of writing your books?
The
bleepity-bleeping MIDDLE! It’s where I always seem to get stuck, and I’ve
learned the best way to get out of being stuck there is to pick the wildest
possible solution for the character. It’s been working so far!
What are your most played songs?
If you mean the ones I love the most, I can give you a list, but I never play music while I’m writing; way too distracting! In college I almost flunked an astronomy class because we had a weekly lab in the campus planetarium, and as soon as the lights went down, they’d start playing THE NUTCRACKER SUITE. I’d loved it for years, and when they played it, I just listened and zoned out—never heard a word anyone said in the voice-overs, so did terribly on the tests. I won’t make the same mistake with my writing; it’s hard enough to settle down at the computer, without waking up my dance vibes by playing music while I try to write—TRY being the operative word!
Do you have critique partners or beta readers?
Yes, I have a
couple of great beta readers, and I totally trust what they tell me. Their
critiques are so helpful, and their different points of view are important as
well. One is my son, who read an earlier novel of mine when he was about 12.
When I asked what he thought, he said, “Gee, Mom, it didn’t suck!” I swear I’ll
have those words engraved on my tombstone…
What book are you reading now?
A 700-page
biography of Woody Allen. I know the guy’s supposed to be a genius, but
seriously, 700 pages?? Seriously?
How did you start your writing career?
I’d written bits of stories for
years, though I never actually finished anything until I was hired to write a
middle-grade series book about girls training to compete in the equestrian
events in the Olympics. (Pretty sure I got the job because in addition to
turning in an acceptable sample, I let them know I rode horses English saddle
and understood what the girls in the book were trying to do.) They gave me a
month to finish the book—it was my first entirely finished work—and I did
finish it in time, panting all the way down to the end. And went on to write 9
more books for that house in the next 2 years. It was great training.
Tell us about your next release.
My current
project is unbelievably exciting—I’m adapting an old novel I love into a
musical for the stage, writing the script and lyrics myself. I’ve wanted to do
this for decades and never even tried to get the rights until last year, and
now here I am, writing it! It’s set in the American West at the end of the 19th
century, and it’s thrilling beyond belief. I’m hoping to do a real
old-fashioned Golden Age musical!
SUSAN SLOATE is the author or co-author of more than 25 published books. This includes 3 editions of Forward to Camelot, a time-travel thriller about the JFK assassination that became a #6 Amazon bestseller, was honored in 3 literary competitions and was optioned by a Hollywood company for film production. She also wrote the autobiographical Broadway novel Stealing Fire, which became a #2 Amazon bestseller and Hot New Release, and Realizing You (with Ron Doades), for which she invented a new genre: the self-help novel.
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Thanks so much for hosting me today; it's great to be here!
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