Book Goodies

Find great books, bargains and freebies!

  • Home
  • Authors: Tell Readers About Your Book
  • Advertising
    • Advertise on our Home Page
    • Advertise Your Bargain Book
    • List Your Free eBook
    • Feature Your PermaFree Book
    • Mega Multi Site Submit
    • Author Advertising PrePay and Save!
  • Deals Newsletter
  • Featured Books
  • Free Printable Bookmarks
  • BookGoodies Network
  • Free Books
  • PermaFree Books
  • Featured Free and Bargain Books
  • Bargain Books Under $3
  • Interviews With Authors
    • Podcasts with Authors
  • Authors Start Here
    • Authors: Tell Readers About Your Book Home Page Advertising
    • Submit Your Interview
    • Feature Your Free Books
    • Feature Your Bargain Books
    • Mega Submit – Network Wide Submission
You are here: Home / Interviews With Authors / Interview with Author – Susan McDonough Wachtman

Interview with Author – Susan McDonough Wachtman

By Book Goodies


About Susan McDonough Wachtman:
I'm a kayaker, writer, mother, wife, gardener, teacher, cat lover and book addict. I self-published Snail’s Pace and Arabella’s Gift after their publishers went out of business. Matriarchs: Eliza’s Revenge won best genre novel from the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference. Ferry Findings, a collection of short stories, was published by Kitsap Publishing in 2016. “Well written,” “quirky sense of humor,” and “doesn’t fit the genre” are the comments I hear most about my books and stories.

What inspires you to write?
I've always been compelled to write, as far back as I can remember. I am inspired by the many excellent authors who wrapped me up in their worlds over the years: Elizabeth Peters, Connie Willis, R.A. McAvoy, Mary Stewart, Mary Norton, Edith Nesbit, Louisa May Alcott, and Zola Helen Ross (My first writing teacher who was an author. She was one of the founders of PNWA).

What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Today, I am inspired by the authors who write social commentary with quietly amazing heroines, like T. Kingfisher, Emma Newman, Becky Chambers, Arkady Martine, Rivers Solomon, N.K. Jemisin, and Ann Leckie.

Tell us about your writing process.
I’m a pantser– I write until I get stuck, then go back and rewrite until I get stuck again. I don’t recommend this method! I have tried to be more methodical, to plot and to outline, but I get bored and never stick with it.

For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I hear my characters talking to each other, but I seldom talk to them. They are in their world, and I am in mine. I'm a voyeur, I guess — I stalk them.

What advice would you give other writers?
Write because you love it. It’s too much work to do it for any other reason.

How did you decide how to publish your books?
That's a sad story, really. I tried hard to get published "traditionally." I had an agent for a while. I was told my books were too "quirky," or didn't "fit a genre." So then I went to small publishers — a couple of them went out of business. Then I self-published through Pronoun –and THEY went out of business. Now I'm back to the small publisher again — Water Dragon Publishing. They've promised not to go out of business.

What do you think about the future of book publishing?
The future of publishing? Well, there is one! I may be a science fiction author, but I am no clairvoyant. I can't predict where all this AI stuff will take us. But people will want stories, and people will create stories, and somehow the two will have to get together in some way.

What genres do you write?: science fiction, fantasy, YA and adult

What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print

Website(s)
Susan McDonough Wachtman Home Page Link
Link To Susan McDonough Wachtman Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on Smashwords

Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
YouTube

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.

Filed Under: Interviews With Authors Tagged With: Fantasy, novel, novella, Science Fiction, short stories, Speculative, Susan McDonough-Wachtman, YA

Sign up for our Featured and Bargain Books Newsletter

Sponsored Ad

Click to buy today!

Fiction

  • Fiction
  • Action & Adventure
  • Drama
  • Fantasy
  • Historical
  • Horror
  • Mystery/Suspense
  • Paranormal
  • Romance
  • Science Fiction
  • Women’s Fiction

Sponsored Ad

Click to buy today!

Nonfiction

  • Art/Photography/Coffee Table
  • Biographies & Memoirs
  • Body/Mind/Spirit
  • Business Books
  • Cooking and Food Books
  • Crafts and Hobbies
  • Educational/How-to
  • Essays
  • Faith and Religion
  • Gardening Books
  • Health & Fitness
  • Humor
  • Inspiration and Photography Books
  • Pet and Animal Books
  • Science and Math
  • Travel

Sponsored Ad

Click to buy today!

For Authors

  • Authors: Tell Readers About Your Book
  • Author Interview – Tell Us About Yourself
  • Advertise Your Bargain Books
  • Advertise Your Free eBook
  • Advertise Your PermaFree Book
  • Mega Submit Multi Site Submission
  • Universal Link Tool for Amazon Books
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
  • BookGoodies News

More Good Stuff

  • Featured Books
  • Reading Room
    • Interviews With Authors
    • Buyer’s Guides
  • Giveaways from BookGoodies

 

Click here to have your book featured

 



Are you looking for ebook deals? We have them! We also have free ebooks - check them out!

Copyright © 2025 BookGoodies Network