Today we’d like to introduce you to Sue Anger.
Hi Sue, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I grew up in Beaufort, NC, surrounded by two things I love – history and the ocean. Beaufort is one of the oldest towns in NC ,and you can feel the history everywhere. I often recorded oral histories with local people. In high school, I was recognized for my writing. It was natural that my college degree was in the interdisciplinary study of history and literature.
I always journaled and wrote flash fiction. After college, I worked in magazine publishing in New York City. Eventually, rent became a priority, so I digressed into corporate work full time. During this time, I sailed competitively on the weekends.
In 1991, I moved to Raleigh and met my husband. When I decided to stay home with my eldest child, I ran an in-home daycare. During naptime, I wrote daily summaries of the kids’ day for the parents. One day during naptime, I was missing the ocean. I missed the movement of a sailing boat; how it rested on the water, and that feeling of instability. I wrote a short story set in Beaufort in the 1930’s. That was the start of my first book, LAST KNOWN PORT.
When we closed the daycare, I started writing commercially for local magazines.
So, those are the broad strokes, but I get inspirations and ideas all the time. Snippets of daily conversations and small incidents in life will trigger ideas. Cool things show up in research. When I studied Prohibition, I discovered a million ways to smuggle booze. Sensory cues are big too. I once smelled some cherry tobacco pipe smoke, and it brought back so many memories of my granpa.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My biggest roadblock was not believing in myself earlier in my life. I may have been intimidated by the process (i.e., I could never finish a book, how do I do this etc).
It can be intimidating to write historical fiction because it’s important to get the facts right. So, I initially spent loads of time researching, reaching out to local historians, and traveling to historical sites. Eventually, everyone, even the historians, told me to relax. I was getting too wrapped up in details. (i.e., the date of installment of indoor plumbing was not critical to the plot.) I’ve learned how to streamline my research.
Publishing was a nightmare.
Marketing is a huge necessary time-suck. Social media is the most expensive type of free marketing.
My writing tends to drift into themes of injustice and inequality. This makes it difficult for marketers to place me with the right comps and categories.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m currently writing an historical fiction mystery series set in Beaufort, NC in 1923. The first book is LAST KNOWN PORT: A SOUTHERN MYSTERY and was published in 2022. Let’s just say it’s about a lot of boats and booze and ragtime jazz. The mystery plot line is strong, but it also follows a secondary romantic storyline. I also manage to weave in some hateful elements of provincialism.
The story is complex and authentic. In addition to the research, I interviewed many local residents and got wonderful stories about working on the water, segregation, bootlegging, and sex. When I was growing up in Beaufort it had a strong, small-town, almost insular, vibe to it. I witnessed a lot of provincial drama, often laced with misogyny and racism.
I’m also writing short stories, several of them are contemporary, and I’m experimenting with different genres.
How do you think about happiness?
Family and community are important, and I have a lot of fun with the people in my life.
Writing gets me up in the morning. It gives me direction and purpose in my life. It makes me look at the world differently. My senses are heightened when I’m thinking about a piece. When I compete in NYC Midnight contests,
I often work in different genres. Recently, I was given the horror genre. I texted my friend, “Once you start to think about horror, you see it everywhere.”
Outside of that, I love to sail, walk in nature, and hang out with pets and animals.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sueanger.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sueangertheauthor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SueAngerAuthor
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sueangerbarnett/
