Meet Susannah Glenn, author of Between Husbands and Wives. Susannah discusses her writing process, overcoming self-doubt, and the importance of setting and character development. She highlights the impact of persistence, learning from setbacks, and taking writing courses.
00:00 Introduction 01:53 The importance of doing the work 07:07 Writing tip: Keep it simple 11:13 WIN! Literary Journeys by John McMurtrie 13:07 Word of the week: pedicular 14:26 Writer in residence: Susannah Glenn 21:57 The writing process: Finding the sweet spot 22:35 Character development 24:23 Balancing writing with everyday life 25:51 From manuscript to book deal 31:54 The importance of writing routines 37:38 Navigating the emotional roller coaster of writing 44:45 Top writing tips for aspiring authors 46:57 Conclusion
The nomadic early years of Susannah’s life were spent exploring the remote towns and backroads of regional Australia, her home a caravan towed behind her father’s prized possession, a 1957 Land Rover. New places and faces ignited her already active imagination, instilling a love of reading, story-writing and a dream of one day becoming a full-time novelist.
While her family eventually settled on the mid north coast of NSW, Susannah never lost her desire to venture further afield to explore career opportunities as a writer. After studying at the University of Newcastle, Susannah moved to Sydney to put her communications degree to good use. Never shy of hard work, Susannah rose from rooky journalist to editor, managing editor, and magazine publisher with News Limited, Fairfax, Macquarie Publications and Australian Provincial Newspapers.
During her early thirties, motherhood imposed two short breaks on her working life and prompted a career change into corporate communication. With a job offer in the South Pacific, Susannah and her then-husband relocated their young family to Fiji for several years, where she worked closely with 12 island nations to share their unique cultural stories with the world.
Several moves later (Brisbane, Port Douglas and Coffs Harbour), Susannah found herself back in her home town, where her career diversified into major regional development projects, including a highway bypass, a cinema complex, a flying school and an offical Guinness World Record for the most number of people – almost 2000 – wearing an Akubra hat in one place at one time, all while raising two teenage children now on her own.
Meanwhile, Susannah’s life-long desire to write a novel continued to burn. When her children left home for university, she made a now-or-never decision to walk away from corporate life and begin writing fiction full-time.
Her first novel, Between Husbands and Wives, will be published by Pantera Press on July 30, 2024. Susannah has also self-published a collection of short stories, Out of the Vault.
Susannah is currently working on her second novel, to be published by Pantera Press in 2025.
