#NewRelease from Susan Poole - OUT OF THE CRASH #AuthorInterview

Today we're celebrating a #NewRelease from Susan Poole - OUT OF THE CRASH. This is Susan's debut novel and is published by The Wild Rose Press. She's stopped by for an #suthornterview and talks about OUT OF THE CRASH and whole lot of other things. Thanks for being here, Susan. It's fun to get to know you!

Where did you get the idea for your new novel? (the one you’re promoting in this interview)

Out of the Crash was inspired by two separate but similar tragedies that occurred in my hometown. I watched the aftermath of each incident unfold and read comments on social media in awe of how bold (and cruel) people could be. As quickly as the local media reported on the stories, people formed conclusions about the alleged offenders. What they were doing at the time of the accident. What kind of people they were. And what type of punishment they should endure. Despite a legal system built on the principle of innocent until proven guilty, the drivers of each car became targets of public scrutiny. Ultimately, some of those conclusions had merit; others did not. But it made me sad how easily people jumped to the worst-case scenario. I felt compelled to speak out but didn’t know how.

I also couldn’t help peppering myself with questions about how I would feel if wrapped up in similar circumstances. What if someone I love had sustained injuries in one of those crashes? Or someone close to me had been behind the wheel of one of those cars?

As a mom, I pictured myself trying to defend one of my kids if they’d been responsible for someone else’s grave injuries or even their death. Would I wholeheartedly support my child’s actions under any circumstance? Would I accept the truth even if it destroyed the future I’d foreseen for my family? And how much consideration would I give to the pain suffered by the victim and the victim’s loved ones?

Why did you choose this genre?

I enjoy writing in the Women’s/Book Club Fiction genre because it allows me to explore life’s moral grey areas—to delve into complex characters and situations and challenge the notion of absolutes. I love to examine the intricacies of human decisions and emotions, highlighting that life is often more complicated than it may first appear. I also like that this genre usually sparks lively discussion and debate, and it’s the genre I most widely read myself.

What do you want readers to come away with after they read your book (the one you want to promote in this interview)?

I would like readers to understand the dangers of jumping to conclusions too quickly. There are countless contexts where I see people taking unyielding sides. It’s black or white. Right or wrong. Us versus them. Life doesn’t seem that clear-cut to me, and storytelling provides the opportunity to give voice to those who might be misrepresented or misunderstood.

In writing Out of the Crash, I set out to convey how multi-faceted the human experience can be—to debunk any suggestion that there’s ever only one side to a story. In a time when the media bombards us with compelling headlines and summary talking points—typically just scratching the surface of a news event—it’s more important than ever to at least avoid passing judgment until the whole story becomes clear.

And finally, I want readers to see that it’s never too late for forgiveness—of others and especially of ourselves.

What genre have you never written that you’d like to write?

Historical fiction. I have an idea for a story about Wilhelm Roentgen, the inventor of the X-ray. He happens to be a distant relative of mine, and I have all sorts of research on his career and family. However, the idea of trying to do justice to his accomplishments—even through a fictionalized account of his life—is intimidating. I’ve been putting it off for some time but hope I can someday muster up enough courage to tackle what I see as a challenging genre.

Do you have any words of advice to beginning writers?

Oh, gosh. There’s so much. If I had to pick one singular piece of advice, I’d have to say that it’s to have more confidence in your own gut instincts. If your goal is to become published, like mine was, it’s too easy to try and write to please the industry. While there are definitely standards to follow and levels of excellence to aspire to, don’t compromise your story to obtain a publishing contract.

Several times, people suggested that I change critical pieces of my manuscript, and it’s hard to know when to make a change or when to dig into what you think is best. It’s easy to get lost in all the feedback until you end up not recognizing your original intentions.

But now that I’m promoting my first book, I realize how important it is to believe in what I put out there. If I had succumbed to some of the suggestions I was presented with, I may not have felt as passionate and excited about sharing my book with the world as I do now.

When were you first published and how did that happen? Was it a long or short journey?

Out of the Crash is my debut, and it definitely did not happen overnight. I’ve written two other novels worth counting (because the actual first, which was written more than a decade ago, is completely unstructured and in retrospect, reads more like pages and pages of stream of consciousness). I tried to find literary agents for all three of these projects, but it wasn’t until I learned about small press publishers that I found someone willing to take a chance on a newbie like me and offer me a traditional publishing contract. I will be forever grateful to The Wild Rose Press for helping me finally bring my book baby into this world.

What is the hardest part of being a writer for you?

Now that I’ve committed myself to being a full-time writer, the hardest part is creating balance for myself. There’s nothing I enjoy more than sitting at my laptop and noodling away at my characters or my plot. Sometimes that means I forget to walk the dogs, load the dishwasher, or make time to exercise and eat write. I’m trying to be more intentional about taking breaks from my writing but so far, all I can report is that I’m a work in progress.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I started out as the quintessential pantser, but I’m learning to infuse more strategy into my work. I’ve taken several courses on plotting and am currently working with a book coach to finetune an outline for my next project. I can already see how that could make writing my way through a new story a bit easier, because the worst part of the revision process for me is having to reengineer plots points to hit a certain way.

How many books do you have under the proverbial bed? Will they ever see the light of day?

I have three books under the proverbial bed. The first one will NEVER see the light of day, but it was time well spent as I learned so much in writing that first “flop.” I still believe in my second and third manuscripts. In fact, while I queried them both a bit with no success, I’m currently working with a critique group to improve that third story in hopes of finding a place for it soon.

Do you write in the same place every day or do you like to change it up?

Have laptop, will travel. Not only can you find me writing all around my hometown—in coffee shops, the library, and maybe even a bench overlooking Lake Erie during the summer months—but I also “travel” throughout my house (which drives my husband nuts). I typically start out each day at the kitchen table, but when I’m ready for a break, I’ll move to the outdoor patio, my upstairs office, or even my husband’s office when he’s out of town. It keeps me moving and I need the change of scenery.

Tell us a bit about you.

Where do you live, and how long have you been writing?

I live in Cleveland, Ohio, where I was born and raised. After graduating from Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio, where I intended to major in English but switched to Psychology at the end of my first year, I worked in the nonprofit sector before enrolling at the University of Buffalo School of Law. I practiced real estate law for a hot second before becoming a stay-at-home mom. My husband and I were blessed with two daughters and one son, all of whom are grown and doing their own thing.

Many of my earlier career goals took a back seat to raising our family, but empty nesting (and a flexible consulting business) allowed me to revisit a longstanding dream—becoming a published novelist. I realized that no matter what I was doing professionally, I always migrated toward the writing aspects of my job, so around the time I hit 50, I finally decided to get more serious about it.

But as a chronic overthinker, I spent too much time deliberating whether I had enough time or talent to follow my true passion full-time. I finally swallowed my self-doubt and wrote a rough draft of my first manuscript. The satisfaction I felt after hitting that milestone carried me through two more unpublished novels, hundreds of rejections from literary agents, and bottomless disappointment over whether I’d ever see my dreams come to fruition. I’m over the moon to announce that my fourth manuscript released this summer and proved to me that hard work and perseverance can pay off.

Do you have any pets?

I grew up a cat person but became a dog person when our oldest daughter convinced us to get our first dog when she was in kindergarten. Katie, our Bichon Frise, lived to the age of 15 and brought so much joy to our family over the years. Now, we have two dogs—Phoebe, a Shih Tzu, and Theo, a Yorkie Poo. Neither one of them are ever too far from me. In fact, Theo is sitting on my lap right now as I try to type this answer.

Name two authors we might find you reading when taking a break from your own writing.

Jodi Picoult or Taylor Jenkins Reed

What are two (or more) of your all-time favorite books in any genre?

In answering this question, you’re going to see how scattered my brain can be. There’s really no pattern to this list, but some of my all-time favorite books include:

-        Replay by Ken Grimwood

-        Molokai by Alan Brennert

-        Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

-        Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

-        A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

-        East of Eden by John Steinbeck

-        Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

-        Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

-        Deep End of the Ocean by Jaquelyn Michard

-        And most recently, Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall and Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane

What do you like best about your heroine? (In the novel you’re promoting in this interview)

She loves deeply, even though she doesn’t always know how to show it.

How do you choose the names and physical characteristics of your characters? Do you base them on real people?

I must admit that I don’t put much thought into the names of my characters. I usually just use what pops in my head when I’m writing (part of my overall pantser approach). I think I’m mostly concerned with how those names sound when I’m reading aloud, but now that my book is published, I can see that I did unintentionally use names of real people in many instances. In fact, one of my ARC readers called me out on several of those names, and I had to explain that just because I used a name of someone that we both know, didn’t mean there were any other similarities between those fictional and real-life people.

Questions about you and social media, promotion. Answer as many as you’d like:

How can readers reach you or find you online?

Website: www.susanpooleauthor.com

Instagram: @susanpooleauthor

X (formerly Twitter) @SHPooleWrites

Facebook: Author.susan.poole

Medium (blog): https://medium.com/@shppoole

Amazon Author Central

https://www.amazon.com/author/susanpoole

GoodReads: Susan Poole

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/56480258.Susan_Poole

Tell us a little about your current work in progress.

I’m currently working on a book titled Iris Inked. The story revolves around an older woman who is forced to leave her cherished home due to a degenerative disease. She forms an unexpected friendship with a young aspiring social media influencer, who encourages her to share the stories behind her tattoos in a YouTube series. As their bond deepens, both women are compelled to confront their regrets and the challenges that come with embracing change. The book can be compared to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid and the classic Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. My first draft is almost complete, and I hope to start pitching/querying it in early 2026.

Do you have an event coming up you’d like to tell us about?

I’ll be participating in Loganberry Books Author Alley 2025 on Saturday, August 2^nd in Shaker Heights, Ohio. For more information, check out their website at https://www.loganberrybooks.com/events/author-alley.htm. And if you’re in the neighborhood, please stop by and see me!

Author bio:

Susan Poole is a mother, lawyer, freelance writer, and nonprofit professional. She was awarded the 2023 Rising Star Award from the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) for her debut novel, Out of the Crash. Susan's essays have been featured on popular parenting websites such as Grown and Flown and Scary Mommy. Additionally, she has published two nonfiction pieces: a memoir in Neighborhood Voices and an article about her experience as a wrestling mom in Grapple Alley.

Blurb, OUT OF THE CRASH:

After a fatal hit-and-run devastates their close-knit community, author Caroline Beasley and high school senior Ethan Shawver find themselves at a crossroads as their lives intertwine in unexpected ways. Both are left reeling as they try to make sense of the tragedy that has irrevocably changed their families forever. Caroline struggles with the dark implications of her son's role in the crash, feeling the weight of guilt and despair. Meanwhile, Ethan grapples with the sudden loss of his mother and stumbles upon a disturbing secret that threatens to upend everything he believes. As they each search for truth and healing, they must confront their deepest fears and regrets to find a way forward.

A quote from a favorite paragraph:

“A mother can forgive her child for just about anything, but Kyle needed more than that. She hoped he wasn’t clinging to false hope. Even if the justice system took mercy on him, he may never be able to move forward after crashing into Amy and failing to do the right thing by stopping to check on her. A guilty conscience could be far worse than a guilty verdict.”

Buy links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/susanpoole

Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/out-of-the-crash-susan-poole/1147395104?ean=9781509260515

iTunes: https://books.apple.com/us/book/out-of-the-crash/id6745760039