D.V. Stone
  • D. V. Stone Author
  • Around the Fire Blog
  • Books by D. V. Stone
  • Everythng Else
  • D. V. Stone Author
  • Around the Fire Blog
  • Books by D. V. Stone
  • Everythng Else
Picture
Picture
Around the Fire News
A place to discuss books, writing, lives, camping, and more. Join the Conversation. 
Would you like to be a guest? Sign-up Here.

Around the Fire with Susie Black recently released from the ether of my computer to talk about her newest release.

3/29/2023

 
Picture
Poor Susie Black. You have no idea what I put her through to get this blog out. For some reason my email won't work for some. It must be a stupid filter. Doesn't put people like Susie or my editor ELF into spam, not that would be to easy. They just go to limbo and float in the ether. So, this may be a day late but, I hope you enjoy my guest today.
Nana the Storyteller
If there is an inheritable gene for story-telling, mine came from my mother’s mother. My nana should
have been a writer. No one could tell a story like her. She was the eldest of six children of a modest
immigrant family from Eastern Europe that settled in Boston at the turn of the century.
My great-grandfather was a tailor who managed to clothe, feed, and shelter his children, but there was
precious little left over for extravagances like a day at the cinema for one child, let alone for six. Nana
had a cousin Jenny who played piano at the local silent-movie house and she was able to get a free pass
for relatives. Nana and her next oldest sibling traded off weeks going to the serialized show every
Saturday afternoon and then came home to tell the story to all the other kids.
The other kids hated it when it was my great-aunt’s turn, because she gave a short synopsis and called it
a day. They were thrilled when it was Nana’s turn. She set up two rows of chairs in the parlor like in the
movie house, served popcorn, dimmed the lights and played background music on the victrola as she
recounted the episode of the serial. Nana would take her time, slowly build up to the cliffhanger and
stop talking right before the finale. Nana would wait until my great uncle Murray would yell, “Go on
Rae, go on!” before she’d finish telling the story. Talk about pacing and how to build tension to the
finale? Nana had it down pat.
I had no formal creative writing training when I decided to write my first manuscript. I had a story to tell,
but no clue how to tell it. I heard Nana’s voice in my head talking to me . My long-gone, full-service Nana
had given me all the tools I needed. I started writing, and thanks to Nana, I never stopped. I kept Nana’s
story-telling skills in mind while writing the books in my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series. Somewhere in
the great beyond, Nana is smiling her approval.
Picture

Death by Pins and Needles (Holly Swimsuit Mystery Book 2) 
by Susie Black 
Book 2 of 3: Holly Swimsuit Mystery
Amateur Sleuths
Cozy Mystery

The last thing Mermaid Swimwear sales exec Holly Schlivnik expected to find when she opened the closet door was nasty competitor Lissa Charney’s battered corpse nailed to the wall. When Holly’s colleague is wrongly arrested for Lissa’s murder, the wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth sticks her nose everywhere it doesn’t belong to sniff out the real killer. Nothing turns out the way she thinks it will as Holly matches wits with a heartless killer hellbent for revenge.



Pre-order

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Surfboard-Holly-Swimsuit-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0BXMCS2NN​
​
 From a reviewer
​I binged on this book all afternoon.
 
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2023

About Susie Black 
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. 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: [email protected]
http://twitter.com/@hollyswimsuit
https://www.instagram.com/hollyswimsuit/
https://facebook.com/TheHollySwimsuitMysterySeries​
Kim Janine Ligon link
3/30/2023 12:06:32 pm

There is no doubt you got Nana's storytelling gene. I'm certain she's delighted you did!

Susie Black
3/30/2023 12:18:40 pm

Thank you so much, Kim for the kind words and reading our post. I think you are right. Nana is definitely smiling!
Susie

Anastasia Abboud link
3/30/2023 09:51:26 pm

Absolutely love this post!🥲❤️ I’m sure your Nana is very proud of your talent! You are a wonderfully gifted storyteller. I’m looking forward to reading Death by Pins and Needles!

Cheers, ladies!


Comments are closed.

    Your Host D.V. Stone

    Award winning multi-genre author and blogger. Fantasy, romance, mid-grade. Nothing better than a campfire, book, and glass of wine. Okay maybe there is.📚

    Follow Me!
    Facebook         
    Twitter            
    Instagram
    Pinterest          
    Bookbub         
    Goodreads       
    Newsletter
    Amazon Author Page

    ​tiktok.com/@dvstoneauthor
    ​​www.youtube.com/@DVStone

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021

Contact me