Susanna Beard
Speaker Topics
Other
Locations Covered
South East, London
Fees
£75 - £150
Availability
Short Notice
Profile Bio
After a long career in public relations, Susanna took the six-month Writing a Novel course at the Faber Academy, and her first psychological thriller, What Happened That Night, was published in 2017. Since then she has published seven more and achieved best-seller status with her novel, The Perfect Neighbour.
She writes dark, contemporary stories with strong female characters, often set in interesting places. She is a regular interviewee on radio, at literary festivals, in libraries and at book club meetings.
Talk Description
Wrestling with the Octopus
My talk covers the ups and downs – and the struggles – of becoming a published author. Since I was seventeen, I dreamed of being a novelist, but with no encouragement and no clear path, my career went in another direction.
It wasn’t until rather late in life that I had my ‘now or never’ moment, when I decided that if I didn’t try, I would always regret it. At last I had the time and the space to dedicate to my dream. But how on earth was I to start?
I describe how I became a student again, how I learned how to start – and finish – a novel, and what it took to keep myself going. The ins and outs of the strange, mysterious publishing world, the wrestling with plot and character and pace within a single story, the joys and the disappointments all authors experience along the way.
With eight psychological thrillers now published and the ninth on its way, I talk about my inspiration for these novels, how I found first an agent and then a publisher and the many things I’ve had to learn about becoming a ‘proper’ author.
Other Talks