Sue Owens Wright is an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction. She is an eleven-time finalist for the Maxwell, awarded annually by the Dog Writers Association of America (DWAA) to the best writer on the subject of dogs. She has twice won the Maxwell Award and earned special recognition from the Humane Society of the United States for her writing. She writes the acclaimed Beanie and Cruiser Mystery Series, including Howling Bloody Murder, Sirius About Murder, Embarking On Murder and Braced For Murder, which is recommended on the American Kennel Club’s list of Best Dog Books. Her newest novels are Ears for Murder and The Secret of Bramble Hill. Her nonfiction books include What’s Your Dog’s IQ?, 150 Activities for Bored Dogs, and People’s Guide to Pets. She has been published in numerous magazines, including Dog Fancy, Mystery Scene, AKC GAZETTE, Fido Friendly, The Bark, and Animal Fair. Her work also appears in several anthologies, including PEN Oakland’s “Fightin’ Words,” along with Norman Mailer and other literary notables.
Sue is a member of Mystery Writers of America, DWAA, Sisters in Crime, PEO International, Pastel Society of the West Coast, Sierra Pastel Society, SSPCA, and Daughters of the American Revolution.
Website: http://www.sueowenswright.com/
BMH: What is something you wish someone would have told you before you became an author?
SUE: I wish someone had told me to look before you leap. Don’t be too eager to accept the first publishing offer, and study that contract very carefully before signing on the dotted line.
BMH: Why did you become a writer?
SUE: I think it must have been in my DNA. I have always loved letters and words and writing stories. My favorite toy as a toddler was a reversible Cressco spelling/number board, which had wooden tiles that moved on an oval track. One side had letters, and the other had numbers. Guess which side I played with most? I loved forming words and sentences on my spelling board. I still have that vintage spelling board and display it in my office. I also won my third grade spelling bee. I later majored in English at college. With an English major, you either teach or write. I’ve done both.
BMH: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
SUE: When I was eight years old I tried to write a mystery like the Judy Bolton mysteries I read. I wrote a few chapters, which were either lost or thrown away. I wish I’d kept them so I could see what I wrote. It would be many years before I knew what I wanted to do and began writing seriously. Not long after that, my first story was published in a magazine, and that was the affirmation I needed to pursue my dream of writing my own mystery novels.
BMH: Do you have a daily writing routine?
SUE: I write every afternoon, usually at a café. I journal daily, and that routine springboards me into whatever writing projects I have in the hopper.
BMH: Why crime fiction?
SUE: I like to explore what makes people tick, and I also like to see the baddies get their comeuppance. As in real life, though, sometimes they are never held to account and get away with murder.
BMH: Have you written in other genres?
SUE: I’ve written a historical thriller, The Secret of Bramble Hill (Black Opal Books, 2017), and also nonfiction books and articles about pet care, dogs mostly. I’ve also written quite a lot of poetry. Poetry was the first thing I ever had published.
BMH: What is something you’ve never written about, but hope to some day?
SUE: I would like to publish my memoir about growing up in Sacramento in the 1950s. Now that Greta Gerwig has put my hometown on the map with her delightful film, “Ladybird,” I think people might like to read about growing up here at an earlier time, when Sacramento was not so overdeveloped and congested as it is now.
BMH: How big a part did your upbringing have on your writing?
SUE: I was an only child until the age of 12, so I spent a lot of time alone with my imagination. You learn to entertain yourself, be comfortable with solitude (I was never lonely, thanks to my canine companion, Dusty), and explore your creativity, which are good traits for writers or artists.
BMH: What two words best describe your writing style?
SUE: Humor and heart.
BMH: Who is your hero/heroine? Why?
SUE: To quote singer Willie Nelson, “My heroes have always been cowboys.” I idolized Roy Rogers as a kid. He was handsome, gallant, moral, and always caught up with the bad guys; plus, he had a splendid horse and a devoted dog. I also admired Annie Oakley, an early strong woman role model for us girls and a straight shooter.
BMH: How do you create your characters?
SUE: They are collages of people I’ve known, met, seen, or can even spring from conversations I’ve overheard. Sometimes a ready-made character will walk right into the coffee shop or wherever I happen to be. I also borrow from my own experiences. For instance, my canine characters are drawn from the eight basset hounds I’ve been owned by. Easygoing Cruiser is patterned after my male bassets, Beau and Bubba Gump, while Calamity is a composite of my two most challenging rescued bassets, “Crazy” Daisy and Peaches. I even refer to Crazy Calamity in the books. If ever there was a calamitous dog, it was my Daisy. It wasn’t her fault, though. She was the unfortunate product of a puppy mill, otherwise known as Doggy Hell. She was one nutty hound, but we loved her, anyway.
BMH: Outliner or seat-of-your-pants writer?
SUE: I’m a bit of both. I write down character traits, plot lines and chapter ideas in notebooks, but I don’t always follow them to the letter. Twists and turns can and do develop as I’m writing the book, or maybe a new character materializes. Even the ending can change.
BMH: How much editing do you do as you write your first draft?
SUE: As little as possible. Engaging the editor in me can kill the momentum of the story before it ever gets going. Perfection is the enemy of creativity.
BMH: What do you think of the new faces of publishing….ebooks, POD, indie-publishing?
BMH: How do you use social media to promote yourself?
SUE: I use Facebook mostly, though probably not to its full advantage. I refuse to Tweet! I’d rather spend my time more constructively: writing, painting, or doing anything else.
SUE: I’ve done all of them. Any way you can get your books in the hands of readers seems worthwhile to me. I always swore I’d never buy a Kindle, but I finally did, and I love it. I like reading in bed late at night, which the backlit screen enables me to do, and I always appreciate the ability to increase the print size. The only down side is that you have to recharge the device, which can be annoying. I gave a Kindle to my elderly mom as a gift one Christmas, but she never could get the hang of how to use it. Too bad, because she loves to read, and her eyesight is poor.
BMH: What comes first for you, characters or plot?
SUE: When I started writing the Beanie and Cruiser series, the characters came first, then the plot, but nowadays the reverse is true. The idea for a new plot develops, and then it gets populated with more characters besides the original cast, but the characters always drive the story.
BMH: Do you blog?
SUE: I have a blog on my Website, which I kept up for years, but now I tend to post more often on Facebook. I need to get back to blogging, I suppose. It seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything I’d like to.
BMH: What did you do to celebrate when you signed your first book contract?
SUE: I went out for a nice dinner, as I recall, but the part I remember best is when I found out that “Howling Bloody Murder” would be published. At the time, I was in my office with my basset hounds, Daisy and Bubba Gump. After I read the e-mail, I jumped up from my chair and danced around, howling with joy, and they both joined in the chorus.
BMH: Where was your first appearance as an author?
SUE: My first appearance was at Borders Books in Sacramento. I had some very nice book signings at various Borders bookstores before they went out of business. I was sad when our local store closed because it was close to home, and I loved to hang out there and write. I still miss it!
BMH: What authors influenced you the most?
SUE: Natalie Goldberg’s “Wild Mind” and “Writing Down the Bones” kindled the fire in me to be a published author. I also liked Anne LaMott’s “Bird by Bird,” Stephen King’s “On Writing,” as well as his other works, and John Dufresne’s “The Lie That Tells a Truth.” I was also inspired by John’s excellent fiction writing workshops, which I’ve attended over the years, including one at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. My first novel was published shortly afterward.
BMH: Research?
SUE: For the Beanie and Cruiser Mystery Series, I’ve done quite a lot of research on the history of Lake Tahoe and Washoe Indians, the indigenous Native American tribe of the region. I also researched English history, particularly related to Cornwall, for my standalone historical thriller, “The Secret of Bramble Hill.” I am fortunate to know many Brits, including the one I’m married to. Some lived through wartime England in the 1940s, which provided me with plenty of material.
BMH: You can go back in time, meet and chat with anyone, who would it be? What would you talk about?
SUE; I’d like to meet Agatha Christie and chat with her over a pot of good English tea about how she wrote and published so many memorable mystery novels in her lifetime and created such intriguing and enduring characters.
BMH: What do you do to cut loose and have some fun?
SUE: I’m also a pastel painter and am having some success selling my work, which pleases me greatly. Art is something I’ve always wanted to do, besides writing. One of my paintings is currently on exhibit in “A Sense of Place,” a show at CK Art, a beautiful new Sacramento gallery. I also play the Celtic folk harp and other musical instruments, knit, and love to ride my bike. For the past decade, I bicycled 10 miles every afternoon to write at my favorite Peet’s Coffee & Tea, until it closed last December. I’m still searching for another café to cycle to but haven’t found the right one yet.
BMH: How about some hard-earned advice?
SUE: Besides the answer I gave to your first question, be your own cheerleader. Don’t let the naysayers or rejection discourage you. Continue writing, and keep learning to do it better. Complete that manuscript you started. Then, when opportunity knocks, you’ll be ready to answer the door.
