We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Suzanne Redfearn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Suzanne below.

Suzanne, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think the key to success is being willing to get up no matter how many times you are knocked down or how many times you fail. There are very few people who succeed the first time out, and the most successful people I know possess an elusive combination of self-belief and perseverance, something I affectionately refer to as “audacious optimism.” Regardless of what anyone else says or the obstacles in their way, they still believe they can do it and that ultimately it is going to work out.

There’s not a successful author I know who doesn’t have a story of rejection, either from an agent or publisher. The only time I was ever fired from anything was when I was let go by my first editor. My second novel hadn’t sold well enough. So I gave up. Who needed it? And I thought maybe she was right; maybe I wasn’t good enough.

For almost a year, I licked my wounds and turned my back on a career I loved. Until… a spark for another story niggled at my brain and kept niggling. I sat back down at the keyboard and set to work. It took me a year to finish, not a small investment, but that book turned out to be an international bestseller and went on to be published in twenty-four languages. Audacious optimism–despite all evidence to the contrary, deep in my heart I believed I had a story worth telling and the ability to tell it.

Suzanne, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am the bestselling author of six novels: WHERE BUTTERFLIES WANDER, MOMENT IN TIME, HADLEY & GRACE, IN AN INSTANT, NO ORDINARY LIFE, and HUSH LITTLE BABY. my books have been translated into twenty-four languages and have been recognized by RT Reviews, Target Recommends, Goodreads, Publisher’s Marketplace, and Kirkus Reviews. I am the recipient of the Best New Fiction Award from Best Book Awards and have been a Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

“We read to know we are not alone.” C. S. Lewis said that, and it is at the heart of every good story. When you write, you open a window to a shared experience between you and the reader. It is the prevailing principle that guides every story I write: Make them a part of it. Make them care. Make them wonder. Make them feel… happy… angry… worried… sad. Make them ask questions of me… of the characters… of themselves.
Reading has a direct correlation to an increase in empathy. It is a medium that allows us to walk in another person’s shoes and experience what they are experiencing. It gives us unfettered access to their heads and their hearts, thereby allowing us to experience their innermost thoughts and feelings. It is extraordinarily powerful, and the reason that, for me, no other experience matches the emotional impact of escaping into a really good book.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Before becoming an author, I was an architect, and what I loved most about architecture is the same thing I love most about being an author. The idea of something that started in my head being tangible and out in the world for others to experience never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday, I was the Zoom guest for a college writing class in Alabama. For three weeks, the class had been discussing my book, debating and analyzing it. The questions they had were fascinating, and the rabbit holes they’d gone down and concepts they had explored filled me with joy. A germ of an idea, which then turned into a story, had turned into this amazing shared experience and thrilling discourse.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.suzanneredfearnauthor.com
• Instagram: suzanneredfearn
• Facebook: Suzanne Redfearn author

Image Credits
Lisa Hughes Anderson April Brian