Writing Tips Wednesday: Interview with Award Winning Author Susan Miura

Want to hear some marketing and writing advice from a seasoned author? I did. So I asked Susan Miura, the president of the ACFW Chicago chapter, if I could interview her. She has a background in journalism and public relations and just released Shards of Light in August 2019.

Candice: How long have you been writing novels?

Susan: I started writing novels about 12 to 13 years ago. However, I have been writing professionally since 1980.

Candice: How has that helped you bridge into creative novel writing?

Susan: It has helped me tremendously because I always had to maintain certain standards of writing and English. I had to learn how to interview people and conduct research. As I branched out from nonfiction into fiction, I used a lot of those writing skills, except that I have the freedom now to be more creative. I use more imagery and put more personality into my stories whereas as a reporter and in public relations everything was a little more cut and dry. The other great advantage relates to promoting my work. I’ve been trying to help other people with this as well. I know how to write press releases. I have media contacts, and I know how to contact the media in other places where I don’t know them.

Candice: What advice would you give someone like me who has no idea how to do any of that stuff in marketing and public relations?

Susan: There are certainly articles and blogs on creating a press release and marketing your books, and podcasts, too. There’s no shortage of materials on how to do it. It’s just a matter of forcing yourself to take the time to look up that information. Get to know who to contact way in advance of your book coming out. Don’t be scrambling. You’re not going to have time. Newspapers want timely information. They don’t want to hear that the book came out a month ago. They’re more likely to print something that says your book will be out in the coming week or was just released yesterday or today. That should all be prepared in advance if you’re writing a news release. Make sure you know which editors to contact. Nowadays newspapers also want online submissions and have a place where you can submit news online. Look up who is the editor of which section of the paper. If you’re having a book launch event and it’s some place big enough to invite the public, it is good to put it in a public forum like a newspaper or the township newsletter. It’s a great way to get your book’s title in the public eye.

Candice: I’ve seen that in our ACFW meetings, where people actually come to our meetings based off of what you’ve written in newspapers. I’m going to shift gears a little bit. I want to know more about Shards of Light. There were some things that really stood out to me. I noticed that it has vivid description, it incorporates various cultures seamlessly and has very realistic dialogue. What are some tips that you can give me to help me get the same thing in my novels?

Susan: I like to use settings that I have been to. It’s not a requirement. Plenty of people have successfully written books set in places where they have not been. But I feel like the imagery is clearer when you’ve already been someplace. You have not only seen the sights with your eyes but you have smelled them and touched them and experienced them and heard the sounds. With Shards of Light, the first half is set in Sicily. I did spend some time in Sicily and, on another trip, on mainland Italy. That helped me tremendously with the foods and the sounds and the way people speak.

Candice: How do you incorporate various cultures seamlessly?

Susan: Again, that is true to experience as well. I began life in a strictly Italian family. We had Italian friends and relatives, everything was Italian—Italian Catholic, in fact, which many of my characters are. My family grew and branched out and married into different cultures and made friends of different cultures. Some of them adopted children from completely different cultures. So my family is very multicultural and my friends are, too. I think our world’s diversity should be represented in books. It’s something I strive to do.

Candice: You touch on some dark topics. How did you come up with the idea of talking about sex trafficking? Did you have to do a lot of research for that?

Susan: Actually, this has been a passion and concern of mine for many years. I think it was probably 10 years ago that I first listened to a presentation from the president of a human trafficking group out of India, and I was blown away. I didn’t even know the extent of the problem or how horrific it was. After that, I made it my point to learn more about it, and I heard some other speaker. I read some more books. I thought “Oh my gosh! The world needs to know that this is a horrific problem.” It happens even here in the USA, not to the extent as in other countries, but it’s still going on here too. So, I somehow weave it in to all of my novels in hopes that the more people who are made aware of it, the more people will care about it and maybe do something. It’s my goal to say something about it in every novel. It doesn’t mean that all my novels are going to be about that, but there will be some mention of it.

Candice: I want to put some dark topics in my writing. What are some tips to present it in such a way that will bring empathy and not get too dark, but also bring these subjects to light?

Susan: The world is full of dark topics that need to be touched on and need to be brought into the light. I think that there isn’t any topic that can’t be mentioned in YA novel or any Christian novel. Our teenagers are very bright and very worldly, as far as they have instant access to way more information than previous generations before them. So, these topics are not in any way new to them. I think it’s our responsibility as authors to make sure whatever information that we’re putting into a novel has been researched and is accurate. You can do that without getting into graphic detail. Sex trafficking, human slavery, is horrible and I could have put all kinds of really awful images into my book. I think I got the point across by making references without being detailed. You can do that with any topic.

I’m so grateful Susan took the time to speak with me. She has other work available and also presents at many different functions. Get to know more about Susan Miura and her latest work here.

What other questions would you want to ask Susan?