Author’s Choice with Suzanne Stauffer

Please welcome Suzanne back to Author’s Choice.

Dear readers, here’s where you get to play along. The author will tell us two truths and one lie (ed comment –I randomized the order). At the end of the questions, we’ll reveal what really happened. Remember, we write crime fiction, so lying is in our nature . . .

Two Truths, One Lie

Truth or Lie? I am an only child of two only children.

Truth or Lie? I worked part-time as a police dispatcher when I was in high school.

Truth or Lie? I attended seven elementary schools in four states and one territory.

Eight Quick Questions

Now for some fun insight into today’s author. Here are eight forced choice questions.

1.          Writing soundtrack: silence, instrumental music, or lyrics you can sing along to? Silence, except for the music in my head. Prudence Bates, my MC, loves going to jazz clubs and speakeasies and dancing the latest dances, so I can’t help but hear those tracks running through my head – once I’ve found them online.

2.          Character inspiration: people you know, completely imagined, or "no comment"? People I know, definitely. They might not recognize themselves when I’m finished with the character, but they were the inspiration. I’ve been struggling to develop the victim of my next novel, and it all came together when I suddenly remembered my cousin’s grandmother.

3.          Research rabbit holes: fascinating detours, necessary evil, or dangerous procrastination? Fascinating detours that can become dangerous procrastination! This is one of the reasons that I write historical fiction – it’s an excuse to do that historical research into the minutiae of everyday life. And that includes the popular music and dances of 1929, as well as Prohibition Era cocktails.

4.          Multiple projects: one at a time, juggle two, or chaotic multitasker? One at a time. If I get stuck on one and absolutely cannot make any progress, I will often take a break and write something else, but I won’t go back to the original until I’ve finished that one and I won’t start a third.

5.          When you're stuck: walk it out, talk it out, or sleep on it? Walk it out or sleep on it – and that may be more than one night. If I do talk it out, it’s with myself. Sometimes on a walk. Which leads to some strange looks from fellow walkers. What I don’t do is try to “power through.” That’s worse than a waste of time, as it can blind me to the actual solution.

6.          Book endings: tie it up with a bow, leave some threads dangling, or burn it all down? I’m writing a series, so I have to leave some threads dangling, but only those that will be picked up in the next volume. I can’t say that it’s all neatly tied up with a bow, but the major questions have been answered. I’ve written several short stories about “what happened next” to some of the characters.

7.          Killing off characters: ruthless, agonizing, or they have plot armor? Agonizing or ruthless, depending on the character. I recognize that sometimes, sympathetic characters have to die, but I try to make it as painless as possible. I’d much rather kill off a died-in-the-wool villain. As for plot armor – I find that boring. If I know that the character won’t die, where’s the suspense?

8.          Describe your book to strangers: elevator pitch ready, awkward fumbling, or change the subject? I’m getting better at having the elevator pitch ready, but there’s still some awkward fumbling, especially when they respond to the elevator pitch with a blank stare. I don’t know whether I wasn’t clear or they are struggling to find something nice to say.

About the Book

Enough about you, let’s turn to three questions about your book.

Q: If your main character in this novel showed up at your door right now, what would be the first thing they'd say to you (and would it be a complaint)?

A. “Please don’t put my mother and cousin on one of my Detours!”

Q: What's one thing you hope readers take away from this book?

A. That New Mexico really is the Land of Enchantment. All of the sites they visit in the book still exist – come and see for yourselves.

Q: What question did you want me to ask, and what is your answer? 

A. When is French Toast a la Santa Fe coming out? October 13, 2026.

The Big Reveal

Now let’s see how good a sleuth (or guesser) our readers are. Please reveal all.

The lie is that I am an only child of two only children. I’m the oldest of 5. My mother was the 12^th of 13. My father was the oldest of just 3.

I was a police dispatcher on weekends for the Clearfield City Police. It consisted mainly of barking dog complaints and requests for vacation house checks. I did have to memorize the 10-codes. And, yes, my father was in the military, so I attended that many elementary schools – Puerto Rico, El Paso, Hill Air Force Base (Utah), Columbus,(Ohio), Lawton (Oklahoma), and two different elementary schools in Clearfield (Utah).

Here’s a blurb for and some links where you can find Suzanne's latest:

Book Blurb for French Toast a la Sante Fe

In 1929 New Mexico, Prudence Bates joins ten other Detourists, their Courier, and driver, on the three-day Fred Harvey Indian Detour from Las Vegas through Santa Fe and to Albuquerque. During the trip small, valuable items belonging to the Detourists begin disappearing, and a retired Australian school teacher falls into a kiva.

Or was she pushed?

Prudence begins to suspect that someone is trying to kill her fellow traveler and wonders where the flapper from Kansas City disappears to at every stop. Or is La Llorona haunting the Detour? And what secrets are the two German men hiding? Prudence is determined to solve the mysteries and uncover the truth.

[Amazon]      [Bookshop.org (Indy Bookstores)]

Want to know more?

For more information about Suzanne Stauffer https://www.southwestwriters.com/suzanne-stauffer/