Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
A. I write both fiction and nonfiction books, focusing on how diverse women are positioned in society, what they long for and how they navigate a path in a patriarchal culture. I am interested in what women feel as mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, exes, friends, rivals, and lovers.
I have published thirteen nonfiction books under my real name, Susan Shapiro Barash. These titles include: Tripping the Prom Queen, The Nine Phases of Marriage and A Passion for More: Affairs that Make or Break Us. I have published four novels under my pen name, Susannah Marren. These titles are: Between the Tides, A Palm Beach Wife, A Palm Beach Scandal and my new novel, Maribelle’s Shadow.
I have been featured in newspapers, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post and Chicago Tribune, and I’ve been a guest on the Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS, CNN and MSNBC. For over twenty years I taught in the Writing Department at Marymount Manhattan College and have guest taught creative nonfiction at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College.
I served as a literary panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts, as a judge for the International Emmys, and as Vice Chair of the Mentoring Committee of the Women’s Leadership Board at the JFK School of Government, Harvard.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “Maribelle’s Shadow”?
A. Maribelle’s Shadow is a story that has been with me for a long while. I’ve written several different versions over the years, always knowing the beginning and the end. This is a story of three adult sisters and their mother and so my ongoing research on sisters (having written a book called Sisters: Devoted or Divided and my study/book about mothers and daughters called You’re Grounded Forever but First Let’s Go Shopping), resonated with this narrative. While writing this latest version, I knew it should be told through the three sisters’ eyes, in their three voices. Thus the book alternates between Maribelle, Caroline and Raleigh. It is a suspense story and I wanted it to move quickly. I was conscious of what constitutes a page turner.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
A. I love to read different styles of fiction and nonfiction, from different eras. I am influenced by dramatic stories about women. Among this group for the classics, I admire the work of the Bronte sisters, Edith Wharton, Jane Austen, Thomas Mann’s novel, Buddenbrooks, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Contemporary fiction that has influenced me includes novels by Isabel Allende, Margaret Atwood, Amy Bloom, Marion Keyes, Jo Jo Moyes, Joanna Trollope and Bruce Wagner. For nonfiction, I have admired the work of Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Cheryl Strayed, Elizabeth Gilbert.
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
A. There are a few places that are special to me. I love New York City. It is the energy and the amount of culture that is offered, the diversity and constant curiosity that one always senses. It is a large and vibrant place in every way. The museums: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MOMA, the Frick, Guggenheim and Whitney, make it memorable. I also love South Florida—the Palm Beach/ West Palm Beach/ Lake Worth area. They are beautiful and inviting. I grew up on a barrier island on the Jersey Shore called Long Beach Island. The beaches and ocean there are pristine and wide, it is an exquisite place.
Q5. What inspired you to write the book ‘Maribelle’s Shadow’?
A. I was inspired by watching sisters and wondering what lurks beneath. This includes my mother and her two older sisters and friends who have sisters. The sister bond is so strong and striking that when it goes wrong it is haunting and profound. What can come between sisters, what can drive a wedge, where does the mother fit into these scenarios? I applied this to Maribelle’s Shadow, asking what loyalty is, what is betrayal, why the lies and at what price. How could sisters who were once so close be at odds? Why would a mother play favorites? I had written a book/study on why women keep secrets and lie for the cause, titled Little White Lies, Deep Dark Secrets: the Truth about Why Women Lie, and what I uncovered was stunning. I knew it could apply to the Barrows sisters, who are the characters in Maribelle’s Shadow.
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘Maribelle’s Shadow’?
A. All in, for the final published version, it took two years.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your books?
A. Readers can buy my book in trade paperback, ebook, and kindle.
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Maribelle’s Shadow’?
A. This is the third book in my Palm Beach novels trilogy. The first two are A Palm Beach Wife and A Palm Beach Scandal. Originally this book had ‘Palm Beach’ in the title too and then the publisher, my agent and I discussed it. We thought maybe a departure in terms of the title and the jacket design was in order. Since what happened to Maribelle’s young handsome husband, Samuel, is at the center of the book, we chose the jacket design for its mysterious elements and decided her name would work well for a title. Btw, each of these three novels is a stand alone book. They do not need to be read in any order.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
A. When I write fiction I feel as if I’m in a movie in my own mind.The story is mine to tell and feels original and fresh for that reason. As I write I consider the reader and her/his takeaway. I favor surprise endings because despite that we are all raised as ‘good girls’, meaning we are encouraged to believe if we do the right thing, we’ll get the right result, life is messy, especially for women. My characters have some unpredictable challenges ahead, and they learn that there are no guarantees. How each sister and their mother approach the fall out of Samuel’s unexpected death is what drives the story.
Q10. What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?
A. I have been given sound advice by my mentors and it is the same advice that I would give an aspiring writer. To write no matter what, to make time for it and to believe in yourself and the books you are writing. Never give up.
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