About Susan Louise Gabriel:
Susan Louise Gabriel is the author of the Christian autobiography Stuck in Reverse: Finding Joy in the Middle of Weird.
Susan and her husband Clark live in the country outside a small town in Texas. They have been blessed with two children, three grandchildren, four chihuahuas, and toads too numerous to count. Susan has been employed as a proposal professional for 35 years as both a writer and a manager, Susan and Clark enjoy traveling with their four dogs, which adds a level of complexity to a trip that is not unlike diving off the high board.
Clark enjoys trains and train travel, and his wish is to someday own his own railroad —not a scale model. Susan enjoys music, digital scrapbooking, and peacefully gazing out the window while watching the horse next door eat the leaves off its owners’ tree. She is easily entertained.
What inspires you to write?
I love to write and wrote my first story at the age of five.
Here is the reason I decided to write an autobiography—
Many years ago, I received a ten-page handwritten letter from an elderly distant relative. Her spidery handwriting was impossible to read, and I discarded it. I later learned that the letter recorded the story of how God had worked in her life, and she'd sent individual letters to all her relatives. When I learned that, I regretted throwing it away. Now that I’m almost seventy, I understand why she was so determined to share her story that she painstakingly wrote dozens of pages by hand. By recording and publishing my own journey with God, I hope, in some small way, to make up for discarding an inspiring story because it wasn't easy to read.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Lee Child (Jack Reacher series) is my favorite. I love the character's need to save people in spite of the danger it places him in.
Tell us about your writing process.
I start with a general idea for a story or a book, then I just start writing the part of the story that interests and inspires me the most. After I have written a few "parts" of the narrative, I begin to develop a rough outline to determine where those parts will go and what parts are still missing so I can fill those in. If needed, I revise the outline as I go to make sure it fits together and tells a cohesive story. My characters develop and reveal themselves as I write.
What advice would you give other writers?
Freely write about what inspires you, even if it's not a full story or well-edited. In fact, make sure your internal editor is at least partly asleep so it doesn't interrupt your flow. You can always go back and wake up your internal editor when it's needed. Figure out the best time to write to ensure the internal editor isn't interfering. My best time to write is 3 am to 8 am. (I get up early.)
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I like to control things and I don't mind learning what I don't know so I can have the final say. I don't feel the need for external validation, such as the validation some authors seek from an established publishing company. Consequently, I created my own publishing company LLC and am publishing my books under that company.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think book self-publishing will continue to grow and traditional publishing, although it will still have its place, will shrink.
What genres do you write?: Christian/Inspirational
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print, Audiobook
Website(s)
Link To Susan Louise Gabriel Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
LinkedIn
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
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