To Boldly Go -- or, Susan is Changing Genres

I'm not a particularly adventurous sort. No trailblazing. No in-your-face confrontations. No boldly facing danger with fire in my eyes and steel in my heart. I leave that to my characters. So when I took the step from Women's Fiction to Romantic Suspense, I felt like I was really hanging myself out there. So many unknowns. So much risk.

And do you know what I discovered? Sometimes a little risk can be exhilarating, and the results can more than make up for the butterflies and the nail biting.

I absolutely loved writing this book. In my Women's Fiction novels, there was an undercurrent of mystery or suspense. And I found that by focusing on that aspect of my story, I opened up a whole new me. I was able to blend all that I love about Women's Fiction -- the character development, the integration of setting as a vital part of the story, a love story, and a family drama -- with a fast paced, page turning plot. I've never had so much fun.

I loved writing those scenes in which my characters are in real and immediate danger, as well as those in which the build up to that danger is hovering in the background. Makes me wonder about my darker side -- and what else might be lurking deep down that has thus far gone untapped. However for now, I'm going to enjoy my newly discovered passion for writing Romantic Suspense and save those other new worlds for the future.

PITCH BLACK will be released May 27. It's the story of Philadelphia journalist, Madison Wade who moves to a small Tennessee town with her newly adopted teenage son, Ethan in order to distance him from the pitfalls of his old life on the city streets. Just when Madison and Ethan are growing accustomed to their new, slower-paced lives -- Ethan has finally made a friend and Madison is sorting out how to balance her job as editor of the local daily paper, her role as mother and her fledgling romance with the local sheriff -- everything is changed by a seemingly innocent wilderness camping trip.

Ethan goes with three other boys and one of the boys' step-father into the mountains. The boys return late, in shock and without their chaperone. When it becomes clear the chaperone's death was no accident, both Madison and the sheriff realize the boys aren't telling all that happened on the mountain. Being the new kid from a rough world casts Ethan as a prime suspect. Then another one of the boys goes missing. Madison realizes she can’t count on anyone else to save her son, not even the man she was starting to fall for. Her search for the truth puts both her and Ethan on a collision course with a killer.

I hope you'll give my new genre a try -- and that you'll love it as much as I do!

Stop by my website www.susancrandall.net for an excerpt and reviews.

Happy Reading,
Susan