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Susan Strecker

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.susanstrecker.com

Twitter

susanstrecker

Genre

Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

Influences

Pat Conroy, Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Weiner, Nelson DeMille, Wally Lamb, ...more

Member Since

March 2013

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/susanstrecker

edit data

http://www.susanstrecker.com/who-am-i/ ...more

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Susan Strecker I get asked a lot what inspired me to write NIGHT BLINDNESS. I am truthful in my answer when I explain my father was terminally ill and I began writin…moreI get asked a lot what inspired me to write NIGHT BLINDNESS. I am truthful in my answer when I explain my father was terminally ill and I began writing as a way to work through my grief. What I have not said is that I needed to write this book, both as a way to honor my dad and to have something to hold on to. Writing was a life preserver in the deep end of the ocean, oxygen in an airless space. Although the end product is an entirely different novel than what I began in a dimly-lit hospital room in Baltimore, every word I wrote was for my dad.
People say it’s not healthy to hold on to the dead and sooner or later, we have to move on. I will never let go of my father. Waking every morning and knowing it may have been my last with him was like being trapped under a thousand pound boulder. It crushed my lungs. It was impossible to breathe. Worse than that, I didn’t want to. I was staring down the barrel of life without him, and there were times when it was just too much. Writing NIGHT BLINDNESS gave me an outlet for my grief, something positive to focus on. Hospitals, MRIs, steroids, surgeons, radiation oncologists and the swift knowledge that my dad, who was fifty-eight when he was diagnosed, only had months to live consumed me. It literally ate me. I lost a scary amount of weight. I kept getting skinnier and just didn’t care. The great love of my life proposed and while I didn’t quite say no, I definitely didn’t say yes. I was going down and I loved him too much to take him with me.
The bitch about grief is that there’s no getting away from it. All I could do was hold onto the helm and weather the storm. While this tempest will last forever, perhaps it has taken on a new form, the way rain turns to snow. One’s not better than the other, they’re just different. As my grief began to morph from one shape to another, I found I could breathe a little. So I started writing again. This time it wasn’t with the sole intent of outrunning my grief for one more day. Now I was able to say goodbye and thank you to the characters who had held my hand and sat with me when all I could do was cry and throw shoes at the wall. I wrote about what I felt for my dad. I paid tribute to him by creating a love between father and daughter that was so huge, it needed to be told. I wrote about family and love and regret and lost chances and the haunting question, what could have been? I will never let go of my dad. But, now, moving forward, I have created something for him, for us, that I will keep with me.
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How do you deal with writer’s block?

Susan Strecker I deal with writer's block by not allowing myself to have it. Even if I can't think of anything to write, even if what I do write is terrible and I kn…moreI deal with writer's block by not allowing myself to have it. Even if I can't think of anything to write, even if what I do write is terrible and I know that sooner or later I will delete it, I make myself write. Even if I only get a sentence or a thought or an idea from a scene that I've written, it's more than I would have had if I'd given in to writer's block and not written anything.(less)

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Susan Strecker’s books

Average rating: 3.66 · 1,526 ratings · 292 reviews · 13 distinct works • Similar authors

	Nowhere Girl 3.50 avg rating — 802 ratings — published 2016 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Night Blindness 3.80 avg rating — 653 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Drive 4.15 avg rating — 54 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Stretch To Connect: Finding Balance and Harmony With Your Horse by Paula Curtis, Patricia Holland (Illustrator), Susan Strecker (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.50 avg rating — 10 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The 24-Hour Rule: Leading in a Frenetic World by Charles L. Fred, Fathom Creative (Illustrator), Susan Strecker (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Blue Eyed Infidel: 2051. London has become an Islamic Caliphate. Can you laugh about it? by Cosmo Clark, Rex Richards (Editor), Susan Strecker (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Night Blindness: A Novel 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Money Talks: Entrepreneurial Hardships & Triumphs by Crystal Evans (Goodreads Author), Dotun Ibiwoye, Susan Strecker (Goodreads Author) (Foreword) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Don't Be Normal - Be Unstoppable by Ryan Saxman, Susan Strecker (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Chad McComas (Illustrations) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Stretch To Connect: Finding Balance And Harmony With Your Horse by Paula Curtis, Susan Strecker (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Patricia Holland (Illustrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Susan Strecker…

6 posts
Susan Strecker's Blog

DON'T BE AN OAF- WORDS TO LIVE BY

I like to tell on myself. It clears my conscience and I don’t have to sneak around trying to cover up whatever sin I may have committed. Now that NOWHERE GIRL is out in the big, wide world of bookstores, I am crazy busy with events, readings, TV appearances and newspaper interviews. Lord knows those are perfect places to rack up saying and doing stupid things.

Here they go…

My first event was to be Read more of this blog post »

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Published on March 08, 2016 16:32

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Susan is Currently Reading

Susan is currently reading

Stories We Never Told

by Sonja Yoerg (Goodreads Author)

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Jun 17, 2020 06:11AM

Susan is currently reading

City of Girls

by Elizabeth Gilbert (Goodreads Author)

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Aug 11, 2019 11:16AM

Susan is currently reading

Friends of the Library

by Susan Cushman (Goodreads Author)

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Susan said: " A beautifully written collection of short stories. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. Can't wait to read the rest of her work! ...more "

Jul 16, 2019 06:01AM · see review

Susan’s Recent Updates

Susan is now friends with Karen
Dec 08, 2024 11:54AM · like

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