Today’s fabulous Soul Mate Author is Tina Susedik, whose debut novel, Riding for Love, is now available at Amazon. Tina, why don’t you tell us a little something about yourself?
First and foremost I’m a wife, mother and grandmother. Those are my most important roles – especially being a grandma – which the best thing ever created. I have five grandchildren ranging in ages from nine to four. I have degrees in Office Administration/Journalism, Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education. I have moved a lot in my life and found reading (and my family) to be the one constant in my life. I also write local and military history books with seven in print. In my spare time, I enjoy reading (of course), hiking, biking, camping, bird watching and photography.
Tell us about your novel. Great cover, by the way!
Riding for Love, is my first published romance. It was released by Soul Mate Publishing on May 1, 2013, while I was at the Romantic Times Convention in Kansas City. It was quite an experience. So far the book has received six five-star reviews, which is absolutely amazing. Riding for Love is a contemporary mystery set in Wisconsin. It involves Eve Dayton, who owns a horse ranch, and Denton Johansen, a former boyfriend, who wants to reunite with her and is petrified of horses. He decides to take riding lessons to get closer to Eve and to help find out who is sabotaging her ranch before she loses it.
Congrats on the reviews! Why do you write?
Like most authors, I write because I have to and because I enjoy making myself crazy trying to get characters to do things they don’t want to. Where else can I tell a man what to do and where to go and have fun in the process? If he doesn’t do what I want him to, unlike in real life, there is always the delete button and a do-over.
I like telling my male characters what to do too! Have you always dreamed of writing?
I’ve always made up stories in my head. It was an escape mechanism for me. It wasn’t until my husband and I had made one of our many moves and I didn’t have a job, that I started writing down some of the stories. I fell in love with the process and with the idea that all the junk floating around in my head could become a story. My first book was a children’s book.
What drew you to write mystery?
My first completed manuscript was a time-travel historical (also not published). I was drawn to that genre because historical romances were the first romances I ever read. Then I realized the books I chose to read all had an element of mystery or suspense, which I like better than simply a love story.
When you’re working on a manuscript, what motivates you? What frustrates you?
The thing that motivates me the most is the characters – how I can manipulate them into situations where they eventually end up together. What frustrates me is when my characters don’t listen to me and do what I tell them. I’ve written scenes that, once completed, were nowhere near what I’d planned. I looked at the computer and asked myself, “Where on earth did that come from? Now what do I do?” The other thing that frustrates me is lack of time to write and that non-writers don’t understand that authors take their writing time seriously and that, yes, it is a job.
I agree on both counts: characters with free will and time. What are you working on now?
I’m finishing editing an erotica for a publisher who wants to publish the book. This is a genre that I never thought I’d write in, but the story just seemed to flow from my fingers. I’m also re-writing a story I wrote years ago and adding elements of mystery. I hope to submit it in the next month or so.
What advice would you give aspiring authors?
Don’t give up. Don’t edit as you write or you’ll never get past the first page or chapter. Just sit down and write, don’t worry about mistakes. That’s why there’s the editing process, something none of us like, but a necessary evil.
What do you like to read?
I enjoy most genres, but don’t read paranormal. Right now, though, I’m reading a paranormal for a review. The author managed to suck me (pun intended) into the story, so the paranormal elements are surprisingly enjoyable. I may change my mind about reading or possibly writing in that genre.
If you could, what deceased author would you most like to meet and why?
I would love to have met Kathleen Woodiwiss. The Flame and the Flower was the first romance I read. It was recommended to me by my brother (long story), and I was hooked by the end of the first chapter. I have my original copies of it and Ashes in the Wind. (Price: $1.50) I’ve read and re-read them so many times, I had to cover them in contact paper to keep the pages together. I simply love the mystery, romance and historical settings of her books.
Ooh! I love Kathleen Woodiwiss! Shanna was the first romance I read, the book that launched my thirst for more books and my dream of writing one some day. I think she must have launched many a dream.
Describe your perfect Sunday.
My perfect Sunday would include breakfast, church, a bike ride or hike, time with my husband and grandchildren, the Sunday paper and sitting on our front deck with a glass of wine in hand, watching the sunset in the west while reading a good romantic mystery.
Kathleen Woodiwiss, perhaps?
To learn more about Tina, you can visit her at:
Website: http://www.tinasusedik.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tina.susedik
Blog: http://tinasusedik.wordpress.com/tag/tina-susedik/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TinaSusedik
