Member Spotlight: Susan Ashline

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Someone recently referred to my books as “entertainment.” My books are true crime and memoir, and cover deep and controversial topics. I heavily research the subject matter and share those results with the world. It’s fantastic that people think my books are written in a way that’s entertaining, but I don’t put them out into the world for entertainment. My intent is to enlighten and spark change.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? I step away from the computer and return when I’m in writing mode. But if I’m on a deadline crunch, I write everything down (albeit poorly), and when I go back to it, my mind is usually refreshed and all I have to do it edit what I wrote when I was producing junk.

What is your favorite time to write? I prefer to write in the morning, hot coffee mug in hand—caffeine-assisted creative thinking.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? “Write it anyway.” Before I embarked on writing a book, I contacted a prolific true crime author with several questions–hurdles to writing this particular book. He didn’t have all of the answers, and told me to “write it anyway.” I did. I ended up with an agent and two book deals (and counting).

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? Not AI. The way technology has made it easy for writers to connect with each other through social media; and by extension, meet and network in person. We’re also incredibly lucky to have instant access to everything we need to know about how to get an agent, how get traditionally published or to self-publish; and topics related to the process of writing.

Susan Ashline’s A Jacket Off the Gorge: True Story of the Biggest Liar is out November 28 with Post Hill Press.