Interview with Susan Abel Sullivan

Without spoilers, what is your favorite scene in one of your books?
 
One of my favorite scenes to ever write is in the short story “The Accidental Poet” in my short story collection Cursed: Wickedly Fun Stories which is, coincidentally, the first book World Weaver Press published back in 2011. Can’t believe it’s been ten years!
 
In “The Accidental Poet” our brave hero, high school student Bernie Lludd, gets his dream girl to join his unicycle act for the school talent show. She twirls her batons while sitting on his shoulders as he zooms around the gym on a unicycle.  But when the unicycle hits a wet spot on the floor, Bernie and his girl take a hard tumble to the thunderous laughter of the student body. 
 
This scene was fun to write because it’s based on a real event that happened to my little sister when we were in high school. She was the majorette twirling batons perched on her boyfriend’s shoulders as he juggled glow-in-the-dark tennis balls while riding a unicycle in the gym to Steve Wynwood’s “While You See a Chance You Take It” with the lights dimmed. And yes, the unicycle hit a wet spot and they both fell. My sister had the breath knocked out of her, but other than dying of embarrassment, she recovered just fine. Truly, real life is stranger and often more bizarre than fiction.
 
Which of your characters would you most like to meet in real life, and where would the two of you hang out?
 
Georgia Tidwell, Cleo Tidwell’s sixty-something, Elvis lovin’ mother-in-law. Wherever Georgia goes, fun is sure to follow!  Whether it’s making a blow torch from a can of Aqua Net hairspray or being up for an impromptu road trip to Graceland in a pink Cadillac, Georgia is my dream mother-in-law: fun, supportive, and game for anything.

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What is one song from your book’s playlist, and how does it relate to the story?
 
“Fins” by Jimmy Buffet is in the playlist for my novel The Weredog Whisperer and is about sharks of all kinds — those that live in the ocean and those that “swim” on land. As Buffet sings: “They hang out in the local bars, and they feed right after dark...You got fins to the left, fins to the right, and you’re the only bait in town.” Since Weredog Whisperer is about weres (shapeshifters) and is set on Florida’s Gulf Coast, exploring the idea of weresharks seemed like a lot of fun and gave Buffet’s lyrics an all new meaning to me. Talk about sharks that can swim on the land — Cleo Tidwell and her family have a run in with a brother and sister team of weresharks when they spend spring break down in Sugar Sand Beach, Florida. Jenna and Bubba Finn could definitely give the sharks on the TV show Shark Tank a run for their money when it comes to killer instincts.
 
What are you working on now?
 
I took a six-year hiatus from writing to deal with family issues, but am itching to get back to fiction writing. I have several ideas percolating at the moment, from the third Cleo Tidwell novel, to a YA/MG novel about a school for the supernaturally challenged, to an adult paranormal erotica. Deciding which one to work on first will be like deciding which of Baskin Robbins 31 flavors of ice cream to try first. But whichever I choose, it’s bound to be delicious.

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Books by Susan Abel Sullivan