Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Salenger

Hi Susan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

Deciding to be a writer was a journey for me. When I retired, 30 years ago or so, I went back to school and took some anthropology classes. The professors were so encouraging about my writing, it changed my course. I had been thinking about entering a Ph.D program in anthropology and one of the professors actually discouraged me. She said, ” Unless you want to be a college professor, why don’t you write instead.” I was taken aback. Plus I got frightened and worried about finding the appropriate writing classes. She said, “You don’t need them. Just write. You’ll learn by doing.”

I began trying to write magazine articles. Then I realized I preferred to go into more depth than the word count in magazines allowed. So based on some of the papers I wrote in school, I decided to turn them into a book. My learning curve was huge and it took me, working part-time, about 10 years to finish it.

I’m in the process of writing book two and I’m amazed at how much more smoothly it’s going. In fact, I realize now that my learning curve was steeper than I knew.

I love what I’m doing and feel so fortunate. I’m 82 and writing is helping my brain stay intact. It’s also giving me a lovely enthusiasm for life and even old age.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

No, it wasn’t as smooth as I hoped or anticipated. I did a zillion rewrites, decided I should quite another zillion times, but somehow found the fortitude to keep going. I was lucky enough to find an editor that was fantastic and she helped me turn what started out reading like a term paper into a book. I think a thick skin and perseverance are necessary ingredients for a writing career.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

I specialize in writing about women’s health. My first book, Sidelined: How women can navigate a broken healthcare system,” is about women patients and helping them communicate more smoothly with their doctors and get more effective healthcare. I interviewed about 60 women and examined what they had in common. I found several behaviors that women shared that do them a disservice and which I explore in the book.

Book two, tentatively titled, “No! It’s not all in your head: Women, gaslighting and the medical community,” is about the medical profession and why women are misdiagnosed so much more often than men. It describes some of the structural reasons misdiagnoses occur.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?

I live near San Francisco in California and there’s a wonderful independent bookstore up here, Book Passage. It has a program for beginning writer and they set me up with my editor which turned out to be a perfect match.
I know other writers who belong to Facebook groups, Instagram groups, etc. and they all have people who can recommend whatever you need.

Pricing:

• In my case, the publisher sets the price

Contact Info:

• Website: https://susansalenger.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susansalenger
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suesalenger
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@grandma.gains

Image Credits

Sean Kane