Member Spotlight: Sue Strachan

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? I love telling stories and writing is another tool of expressing this. Writing can evoke a number of emotions — good or bad — like no other medium. It can take you out of the moment and into another world, or bring harsh realities to life in an unexpected way.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? I move to a different location. I have a favorite coffee shop in New Orleans that usually does the trick. That and a deadline!

What is your favorite time to write? It has evolved over the years. I was once a sworn “night-owl” writer. Now, it needs to be morning.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Just start writing. People get hung up on how to open a chapter and don’t start. (This still happens to me.). If you have an idea for something that you think is later in the book, just go ahead and write it. And then go from there. My latest book definitely did NOT go linearly, meaning I didn’t write Chapter 1, then Chapter 2, and so on.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? There is still a yearning for original writing. I think AI has us all worried, and we should be, but I believe that original thoughts, ideas; books that are well-researched are what bring readers back to actual live writers. Writing also provides an escape — for both the writer and the audience — that can take the edge off of everyday life.

Sue Strachan’s The Obituary Cocktail is out now with‎ LSU Press.