Please help me welcome today’s guest, Susie Black…
How an Apparel Career Led to a Writing Gig
Like the protagonist in my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, I am a ladies’ swimwear sales executive. The most critically important skill a sales exec must have to succeed is to be a good storyteller. Fortunately, I’ve been telling stories since I learned how to talk. One thing I was told repeatedly as a sales executive was to know your product inside and out. I heard the same thing when I started writing cozy mysteries: write what you know. If you don’t know it, either do the research and learn it, or don’t dare to write it. Whether you’re an author or a sales exec, you’re selling yourself, and readers, like buyers, can sniff out a phony in a heartbeat, and then you and whatever kind of story you’re telling are toast.
I came to write in the cozy mystery genre because I love solving puzzles. My parents would certainly confirm I have always asked a lot of questions, and I am naturally curious (some narrow-minded people say I am nosy…go figure…LOL). So, writing mysteries was the natural next step for me to take. Since I’d never written a novel before, the only thing I knew to do was to apply the same storytelling skills I’d successfully used hawking bikinis to writing a tale. It turns out that how you present an apparel line is the same way you write a story. Both have a beginning, a middle, an ending, and a point of view.
So, where did my story ideas come from? From the start of my career, I have kept a daily journal that chronicles the quirky, interesting, and often challenging people I’ve encountered as well as the crazy situations I’ve gotten myself into and out of. The protagonist of the Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Holly Schlivnik, is based on me. The journal entries are the foundation of all my writing for the stories that comprise the Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series. With a dollop of imagination, a pinch of angst, and a decades-long career chocked to the gills with juicy characters, I had more stories itching to be told in my daily journal than time to write them.
Who could push a sales exec to dream of murder and mayhem? Who else but a buyer? After completing a rather challenging conversation with an important but difficult account, I imagined how good it would feel with my hands around her scrawny neck, squeezing the life out of her. While the notion of knocking off my annoying customers was wildly appealing, a horizontally striped prison uniform making my four-foot, eight-inch body look like a barbershop pole and a fire hydrant had a child wasn’t a pretty sight. The viable alternative? Writing humorous murder mysteries set in the Los Angeles garment center. Brilliant and cathartic! In one fell swoop, eliminate a pain-in-the-patootie buyer, avoid life in prison, and still get the order. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Very interesting article, Susie. Thank you for sharing. And now, tell us about your book…
Brings a whole new meaning to a killer party.
Blurb:
Mermaid Swimwear President Holly Schlivnik attends an industry Hanukkah party to honor Rapido Swimwear CEO Leni Waxman as the Mount Cedars Hospital Woman of the Year. The guest of honor collapses and dies in the middle of the event. An autopsy confirms that Leni expired as a result of poisoning by coming in contact with a purposely contaminated dreidel. There is no shortage of suspects—Leni had no problem destroying anyone who threatened her position as the top dog in the swimwear industry. When Holly’s business partner is wrongly arrested for Leni’s murder, the irreverent sales exec can’t mind her own beeswax. The wise-cracking snoop sticks her nose everywhere it doesn’t belong to flesh out the real killer. But the trail has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster, and nothing turns out how Holly thinks it will as she takes on a ruthless killer hellbent on revenge.
Excerpt:
I leaned over to Queenie and pointed to Leni. “Take a gander at Leni. Something’s wrong with her.”
Queenie followed my index finger with her eyes. “Yeah, she’s white as a ghost and perspiring.”
Gary snapped, “Maybe the old broad is nervous.”
Buddy took his seat and pointed to Leni. “Something is wrong with that woman.”
Mira shrugged. “Or perhaps the emotion of sharing the loss of her sister took its toll.”
Gary clucked his tongue. “Don’t let her fool you with her sad story about her sister. I wouldn’t be surprised if she made the whole thing up to add some dramatic context to her acceptance speech. Leni Waxman has a heart of stone, and only ice water runs in her veins. She is incapable of loving anybody but herself. She’s probably going through menopause and having one helluva hot flash.”
Seeming to rally after taking several restorative gulps of water, Leni tottered on unsteady feet over to a large glass-topped table piled high with door prizes. She pointed to the stack and said in a remarkably normal voice, “Okay, folks, the last thing on our party agenda is the auction of these wonderful door prizes donated by all you generous vendors. Dig down deep in your pockets and let’s see some high bids. The proceeds are going to buy a library of books for the daycare center in the new hospital wing.”
She leaned over to pick up the first item, but it slipped through her fingers. Leni bolted straight up and stumbled as she clutched her midsection and let out a blood-curdling scream. She gagged and vomited down the front of her dress. Leni fell forward and collapsed onto the table. The stunned crowd went as silent as a cemetery when the glass top shattered and the door prizes scattered across the ballroom floor.
Hadassah Waxman jumped up and screamed, “Oh My God, No!” Morty and Barry rushed to Leni, but Doctor Levinson pushed them away. Levinson yelled, “Somebody call nine-one-one!” Then he sprang into action. He carefully pulled Leni out of the glass shards and laid her stiff-as-a-board body on her back. He held his palm over her mouth. She wasn’t breathing. He pressed his thumb first on the inside of her wrist and then on the bottom of her throat, but detected no pulse. He put his ear to Leni’s chest but didn’t hear a heartbeat. He commenced CPR, but she failed to respond.
Ten minutes later, two paramedics, pushing a stretcher loaded with life-saving gear and accompanied by a pair of LAPD uniforms, rushed into the ballroom. The hushed crowd held their breath as the medical first responders reached Levinson, still working desperately to revive Leni. The two pulled resuscitation equipment out and prepared to work on the supine guest of honor. The doctor’s shoulders slumped with defeat. Levinson’s eyes filled, and his voice cracked as he waved the two off. “It’s too late. She’s gone.”
Naturally, I burst out laughing.
Buy link: https://books2read.com/u/m2jl7d
About the Author:
Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries.
She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector and sailor. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and has one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect.
Looking for more? Contact Susie at:
Website: www.authorsusieblack.com
E-mail: mysteries_@authorsusieblack.com
Contact Links:
Blue Sky: @hollysusiewrites.bsky.social
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Author Alicia Dean 