By: Susan Elliott
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
It never occurred to me that I had a talent for writing. I taught mostly twelfth grade in the public schools,and it seemed I never had time to write because I was always marking essays. When I retired, I took a camping trip to Colorado with my first husband (deceased). I kept a journal for my elderly mother about our trips. Her remarks about my ability to describe made me think I might be able to write a story.
How long does it take you to write a book?
It took two years to write
Wago
because it was a new thing for me. It took about three months to write
Norman.
I knew the subject very well and the background for that story was my childhood playground. The Bankhead National Forest.
What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
I write best when I am in woods, sitting on pine needles or a log, floating in a canoe, or just looking out the RV window. I am retired so my conflict is my social life. It really does get in the way sometimes.
Do you have an interesting writing quirk?
All I have to do to write is sit down, put the keypad in my lap, and the words roll all over the page. Sometimes I am surprised at what I have written when I read it. Sometimes that is good; other times a bit of editing is required.
Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
I state my objective at the beginning and then the story just rolls. I have found the notebook thing to be very helpful. When I get to a snag, I just pull that little book out and look at the ideas I have jotted down on the way to Walmart or wherever and see what's going to propel the story forward.
What do you like to do when you're not writing?
I like to travel, anywhere, but I am mostly interested in people. Third World Countries are a great source for gaining such insight. It makes me realize how very much alike we all are and how similar poor people anywhere are very much like the people I grew up around who were poor but didn't know it.
What would you tell other Christian woman who want to write?
Everybody has a story. Write on it everyday until you are finished. No excuses.
How may books have you written? Which is your favorite?
I have written three books:
Wago, Norman, and
Creagh.
Norman is my favorite because it is more personal than the other two. I had different goals for each book. In Wago, I spend a little time teaching about nature. In Norman, I wanted to explore the adventure that can be had in a forest. In
Creagh,I wanted to have a heroine that could equal the strength of a hero in character and resolve.
Do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Everybody is different. My suggestion is similar to teaching one to learn. I always told my students that they had to search for how they learn best if they wanted to be an outstanding student. For, example, I learn best by repetition, chewing small bits of information over a long period of time. That bores some people to distraction. The same is true for writing, you have to for a self evaluation. If the drive is there, you will find it.
What do you like to read?
I like the older classics and biographies. I still go back to my favorites now and then and reread them. There is always something new to be discovered, similar to reading and rereading the Bible. I don't think there is a better odyssey than Rudyard Kipling's
Kim. I know the original
The Odyssey 
and Mark Twain's trip down the
The Odyssey
are favored by the masses, but if you find such a love in a book, you have arrived!
As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
There were few options when I grew up. The choices were being a nurse, a teacher, or a secretary. I was terrible at transcribing letters. I didn't like sticking needles in people, so I became a teacher.
Fun Fact.
I like to write journals about observations I make of situations. I like to keep photo albums of my nine grandchildren. I have made three for each so that makes 27. I try retire them when they are age 16. I like to take trips to places I haven't been before.
