Susan S. Slater – Inspired Mic Spotlight August 18, 2015

The Inspired Mic is at Cypress Knoll Golf Course August 18th. The Inspired Mic boasts writers of all genres, magicians, musicians, mentalists, actors, motivational speakers, painters, just to name a few. The write-ups you read on this site were all written by the presenters as a way for you to get to know them. Pick your tickets up now, because they are $10 in advance, $15 at the door! You may get tickets in person at Change Jar Books, and at the Cypress Knoll Golf Course Country Club. You may also purchase advance tickets at The Inspire Mic

Susan SlaterSusan S. Slater

Finally! I’m being called a Florida writer! This is a big thing. If locale is almost another character in your novels (think snow in Fargo), moving is truly starting over. Leaving New Mexico after thirty-nine years meant no more mesas, adobe churches, mountains, Pueblo Indians, green chili vs. red . . . you get the picture. Writing about a new environment is always a challenge to get it right. And leaving the old is bittersweet.

But I was smart enough to make Dan Mahoney an insurance investigator—he could move with me! The series didn’t have to die, just imbed itself in new surroundings. And Hair of the Dog was born! Florida has over fifty per cent of all the working greyhound race tracks in the States—and one is just twenty miles from where I live. How could I pass up a setting like Daytona Beach Kennel Club and Poker Room?

Of course, half way through writing I’d wished I’d taken W.C. Fields advice: “Never try to act with a kid or a puppy. They’ll upstage you every time!” Writing is no different. It’s tough to include pets in your character roster. Trust me, if you feed the dog or cat on page twenty and haven’t taken it for a walk by page forty, your readers are going to let you know! And those furry critters have to have a personality—they can’t just appear and sit around.

And even though I write to entertain, it’s always nice to be able to use one’s writing to raise awareness. I’d like to think I never pass up a good cause and finding homes for retired racers is about one of the best. I’ve dedicated Hair of the Dog to two groups: Prison Greyhounds and A Ticket Home. The first highlights the training these track retirees receive before finding their forever homes. And a ticket to this new life can be purchased for just seventy-five dollars. There is, of course, if I do say so myself a pretty good mystery in the midst of all the dogs and racing.

So what’s next for Dan Mahoney on the Florida slate? Well, I’ve heard some relics have been stolen from the Basilica in St. Augustine . . . so a little tale called Epiphany is in the works.

*     *     *

Susan moved to Palm Coast from Taos, NM and has taught at the college level for over 40 years using degrees in theater, English Lit and Adult Education.

She has ten novels and one short story in print. Five mysteries in the Ben Pecos series: Pumpkin Seed Massacre, Yellow Lies, Thunderbird, A Way to the Manger and Fire Dancer. Two stand-alones: Five O’clock Shadow, a mystery, and 0 to 60, women’s fiction. Hair of the Dog is the third book in the Dan Mahoney series behind Flash Flood and Rollover. Susan’s short story, Eye for an Eye, was chosen by Tor for inclusion in the anthology of paranormal stories commemorating the fiftieth year of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone. Susan would be the first to say that writing is just plain old hard work but she can’t imagine doing anything else!


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.