Suzanne, thanks so much for taking the tine during the busy holiday season to answer my
questions. You and I share an Arizona connection, so I’m curious to know about places
you’ve lived and worked. What would you like to share with us about those things?
I’ve lived in Kentucky, Texas, Kansas, Arizona, Guam, and Arkansas. In Texas I taught junior high English and elementary school reading. In Arizona I taught a variety of English courses at Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff). On Guam I taught English at Pacific Islands University. I think moving so much gave me a sense of the different personalities places have.
I really enjoyed your book The Copper Box and found it to be very authentic in its setting. How important do you think it is to visit places that are settings in a book? With the technology we have today, do you think research online can work as well?
Most of my characters and plots start in a place I know well and keep returning to in my head. Each of my settings has its own voice that I identified by being immersed in the locale. I use the internet to jog my memory and add specific details. I think it’s possible but risky to set a story in a place you haven’t visited. Readers who don’t know your setting probably won’t be able to tell, but anyone who’s ever spent time there will catch blunders.
Share with my readers what The Copper Box is about.
JEROME, ARIZONA: the largest ghost town in America
Antiques expert Marty Greenlaw comes to Jerome to face the horror that haunts her dreams. Did she kill her little sister twenty-two years ago?
Historian Paul Russell is in Jerome to face his own horror: Was the car crash that killed his wife his fault?
Their lives become intertwined when an old lady dies on a long staircase in a vintage Victorian house. As Marty and Paul search the house for a small copper box Marty believes will unlock the mystery, accidents begin to happen. Someone else wants the copper box—someone willing to commit murder to get it. As Marty and Paul face the shadows in the house and in their lives, they must learn to put the past behind and run the race God is calling them to.
I know that most writers are avid readers. What genre of books do you enjoy the most?
That’s a hard question. I enjoy many genres. I love mysteries, romantic suspense, literary fiction, and nonfiction. I just finished Colleen Coble’s Sunset Cove books. Now I’m reading Mitch Albom’s The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto and Rob Bell’s What is the Bible?
What made you become interested in writing fiction?
A little blue biography of Louisa May Alcott hooked me! I read it in the third grade and decided I wanted to grow up to be Alcott. Life intervened, and I grew up to be Suzanne J Bratcher instead. Even though The Copper Box is my first published novel, I’ve been writing fiction since the third grade.
How is having your novel published different or similar to what you had envisioned?
The biggest difference has been discovering how much time the business of writing requires. Before The Copper Box was published, I focused on craft. Now I’m learning about marketing, newsletters, blogs, series, and book clubs.
Every writer has to find the routine that works best for her. I admit to being not as structured as some. What about you?
You’ve put your finger on my biggest frustration. Once upon a time, I lived by the clock. When I first retired from teaching, I wrote from 8:00-10:00 a.m. and 2:00-4:00 p.m. These days, however, my Multiple Sclerosis dictates my writing schedule. “Listen to your body” is the motto I must live by if I don’t want to land myself in bed for a week. So I write when I have the energy for the intense focus fiction demands. Occasionally I manage an hour in the morning, but mostly I write in the afternoon or evening. Sometimes I write for thirty minutes and sometimes for three hours. I’m learning to trust God rather than the clock for meeting deadines.
Do you have a work in progress? If so, tell us a little about it.
I’m working on the second book in the Jerome trilogy, The Silver Lode.
JEROME, ARIZONA: billion-dollar copper camp
Historian Paul Russell is drawn into a web of murderous secrets by an oral history detailing the discovery of a rich silver lode seventy years ago. Antiques expert Marty Greenlaw becomes entangled in the web when her attempts to save a four-year-old girl threaten those very secrets. As Paul and Marty race to find Paul’s missing son, Scott, they must decide whether or not to become a forever family.
What resources do you find most helpful in your writing?
I’ve attended so many conferences and participated in so many workshops that it’s hard to overestimate how important they’ve been. I think it’s the same with craft books. At the moment, I’m working with James Scott Bell’s Write from the Middle. I always use Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake software to pull my plot into shape, and I’m learning to use Scrivener for drafting. I’ve been in writers’ groups in years past, but now I work better with one or two people.
This may seem like a ridiculous question, but writers write for different reasons. What is
your biggest motivation to write?
I’ve probably asked myself that question a hundred times—whenever I think how much more time I’d have if I’d quit writing! I suppose I’m addicted to writing because it helps me process my life. I never set out to solve a problem in a story, but inevitably when I look at what I’ve written, I find a theme I was puzzling over.
Tell us about activities or hobbies that you enjoy.
Quilts, birds, and cats! I enjoy piecing quilts and taking them to a professional with a long arm machine to be quilted. Arkansas is a great place for birds. Last week I counted twelve different species at my three feeders. I also enjoy my two indoor cats. Scamp and Mini Pearl keep me entertained with their endless games.
Please share below any links readers can access to stay connected.
http://www.suzannebratcher.com https://www.facebook.com/authorsuzannebratcher/
Thanks again, Suzanne, for answering my questions. Happy New Year!
Life As I know it 