Have you ever read novels by a dynamic author like Suzy Langevin? Her tales make your heart melt. With Trip Ashworth in the coming tale AMERICAN ROYALTY, you’ll fall in love with this engaging hero. Look for the release in April. You’ll enjoy many hours of love and fun. Her intriguing locations in the novels were found with Google Maps. Who knew you could do that? Well done, Suzy! What made you choose the art for your book covers? They make for a lighthearted vibe, offering a relaxing read.
For my two indie titles, THE COWBOY CHRISTMAS GLOW UP and A WHITE LIE CHRISTMAS, I designed the covers myself! I really enjoyed the indie process because I got to try out lots of new skills, like cover design and formatting, that I hadn’t before. It was gratifying to hold my book in my hands and know I had done the whole package. My titles that are coming from Rowan Prose Press are the work of their cover design team, and I’m thrilled with them! Rowan is an exceptional small press that values input from authors at every stage in the process, and we got to provide a lot of feedback for our covers. I love them all, but the ones for the SOUND OF SUMMER series, due out next year, really blew me away with how beautiful and perfect for the stories they are.
When you are writing, do you play music in the background or do you prefer the quiet?
I usually listen to music. I have playlists that are curated for my projects so I can get the right “vibe” for each book, especially since I’m often working on multiple projects at one time. My Spotify Wrapped each year is a roadmap of whatever stories I was working on.
Do you do a lot of research on your scenes to be like places you care about?
I do! Geographical accuracy is super important to me. Being from the Boston area, nothing takes me out of a story or show set locally than getting the details about the city wrong. So I’m always very careful to make sure I’m getting neighborhoods and locations right, and describing them as closely as I can to real life. Google Maps street view is my friend! In general, I do a lot of research. I’m working on a book set in the world of college basketball, and even though I’m a huge basketball fan already, I’ve been watching YouTube videos of players during March Madness and right before the draft to try to get in the headspace of a young guy who’s entire world is about to change drastically.
If you were to be your female character, would you fall in love with your hero, and what would attract you to him?
In my new release coming April 14, AMERICAN ROYALTY, I would definitely fall for Trip Ashworth! More than anything else, I’m attracted to intellect. I love people who are smart, but also passionate about the things they invest their time and energy into, and that’s Trip to a T. He’s slow to warm up for a lot of reasons that are spelled out at their relationship unfolds, but at his heart, he wants to leverage his intelligence and privilege to help others, and that’s always sexy!
When you create your villains, are there parts of you that connect with them?
Absolutely! I love writing antagonists that have really compelling reasons for acting the way that they do. People are incredibly complicated, and I try to write villains that believe they’re actually the hero, and that they are in the right, or have been wronged. (They’re not always wrong, either… my heroes and heroines are never perfect.) In fact, the whole reason that THE SOUND OF SUMMER became a series after I finished book one was that I found the antagonist, Tony, so interesting that I knew he had more story to tell, and book two became his ‘redemption arc’ of sorts. When my critique partner, who HATED him in book one, declared she loved him in book two, I knew I’d done it. 🙂
Have you ever been rejected when seeking to be published, and if so, how many times (if you keep count)
Oh, gosh. I could probably pull up Query Tracker and do some math, but maybe it’s better not to know! My book AMERICAN ROYALTY had generated SO many “close but not quite” moments… dozens of agent full requests with no offers, three editors taking it to acquisitions that resulted in a no. I had all but given up on it and moved onto querying my next manuscript when I got the offer from Rowan Prose to publish. It landed in the exact right place with my publisher Kelly Moran and editor Shakera Blakney, so it was worth the wait! And that’s led to a great working relationship with Rowan that will see five releases between now and the end of 2027.
How fast can you write a full novel and how many words would you reach?
I am a fast drafter, thanks ADHD! For novel length projects, between 75,000 and 85,000 words, I’ve had several that I’ve written in just about a month. My novella length projects, around 40,000 words, usually take about two weeks to draft before editing, which is actually harder for novellas to keep below that 40k mark!
With your adventurous spirit, what is the most exciting thing you’ve done? (like jumping out of a plane?)
I have a chronic joint condition that limits the physical thrills that I chase, but as a lifelong performer, I’ve gotten to do some pretty exciting gigs! When I was in college, I had the chance to sing with both the Boston Pops orchestra and in European Capital of Culture celebrations in Cork, Ireland. I also had the opportunity to perform at Penn State University in front of a crowd of 100,000 people as a member of my college marching band. And of course, what will forever be the most interesting thing about me, I was a contestant on Jeopardy!
When you were on Jeopardy, was it difficult to answer questions about Latin words?
It was difficult to answer ANY of the questions! What you don’t see at home is that all three contestants know the answer to the majority of the clues. So, at that point, it’s not about what you know, but how you ring it. You’ve got to be fast, but not TOO fast, because if you try to ring in too early, you get shut out for a fraction of a second, and that’s enough time for the other super capable contestants to ring in ahead of you. Add the adrenaline of the whole experience, and my brain was soup by the end of my taping!
Do you use Latin words in your novels?
I don’t think I’ve put in any Latin yet, which is odd because I’ve actually written quite a few lawyers into my stories! In the book I’m working on now, one of the characters is an artist, so there’s a handful of Italian and French art terms, but nothing Latin that I can remember. Maybe I’ll have to sneak some in!
Thanks so much for having me!
Wonderful interview, Suzy! I can’t wait to pick up a book to cherish. Well done!
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