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Last edited by bitnapper
July 12, 2024 | History

Susan Childress

Using blunt scissors, pages from a Big Chief tablet, a borrowed stapler and a Number Two pencil, Susan Wiggs self-published her first novel at the age of eight. A Book About Some Bad Kids [I still have this-CL] was based on the true-life adventures of Susan and her siblings, and the first printing of one copy was a complete sell-out.

Due to her brother's extreme reaction to that first prodigious effort, Susan went underground with her craft, entertaining her friends and offending her siblings with anonymously-written stories of virtuous sisters and the brothers who torment them. The first romance she ever read was Shanna by the incomparable Kathleen Woodiwiss, which she devoured while slumped behind a college vector analysis textbook. Armed with degrees from SFA and Harvard, and toting a crate of "keeper" books by Woodiwiss, Roberta Gellis, Laurie McBain, Rosemary Rodgers, Jennifer Blake, Bertrice Small and anything with the words "flaming" and "ecstasy" in the title, she became a math teacher, just to prove to the world that she did have a left brain.

Late one night, she finished the book she was reading and was confronted with a reader's worst nightmare—She was wide awake, and there wasn't a thing in the house she wanted to read. Figuring this was the universe's way of taking away her excuses, she picked up a Big Chief tablet and a Number Two pencil, and began writing her novel with the working title, A Book About Some Bad Adults. Actually, that was a bad book about some adults, but Susan persevered, learning her craft the way skydiving is learned—by taking a blind leap and hoping the chute will open.

Her first book was published (without the use of blunt scissors and a stapler) by Zebra in 1987, and since then she has been published by Avon, Tor, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Warner and Mira Books. Unable to completely abandon her beloved teaching profession, Susan is a frequent workshop leader and speaker at writers' conferences, including the literary institution Fields End and the legendary Maui Writers Conference. Her novel The Charm School was voted one of RWA's Favorite Books of the Year. She is the proud recipient of three RITA awards for Lakeside Cottage, Lord of the Night and The Mistress, and is often a finalist for the prestigious award. Her books appear regularly on numerous "Best Of" lists.

Susan enjoys many hobbies, including sitting in the hot tub while talking to her mother on the phone, kickboxing, cleaning the can opener, sculpting with butter and growing her hair. She lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest with her family.

Born 1958-05-17

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  • Cover of: Snowfall at Willow Lake

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  • Cover of: Summer by the sea
    Cover of edition summerbysea00wigg Cover of edition summerbysea00wigg Cover of edition summerbysea00wigg_377 First published in 2004 17 editions

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  • Cover of: Home Before Dark
    Cover of edition homebeforedark00wigg Cover of edition homebeforedark00wigg_0 First published in 2003 17 editions

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  • Cover of: Fireside
    Cover of edition fireside0000wigg_l9u6 Cover of edition fireside0000wigg Cover of edition fireside00wigg_314 First published in 2009 17 editions

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  • Cover of: Lakeside Cottage
    Cover of edition lakesidecottage0000wigg Cover of edition isbn_9780739456484 Cover of edition isbn_9780739456842 Cover of edition lakesidecottage00wigg First published in 2005 16 editions

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  • Cover of: The Ocean Between Us

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  • Cover of: Halfway to Heaven
    Cover of edition halfwaytoheaven00wigg_0 Cover of edition halfwaytoheaven00wigg First published in 2001 14 editions

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  • Cover of: The horsemaster's daughter

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  • Cover of: Table for five
    Cover of edition tableforfive00wigg Cover of edition tableforfive00wigg_0 Cover of edition tableforfive0000wigg_t6n7 First published in 2005 13 editions

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  • Cover of: Apple Orchard
    Cover of edition appleorchard0000wigg_o0b7 Cover of edition appleorchard0000wigg First published in 2012 13 editions

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  • Cover of: The drifter
    Cover of edition drifter00wigg First published in 1998 13 editions

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  • Cover of: That summer place

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  • Cover of: The summer hideaway
    Cover of edition summerhideaway00wigg First published in 2010 12 editions

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  • Cover of: The lightkeeper
    Cover of edition lightkeeper00wigg_819 First published in 1997 11 editions

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  • Cover of: The maiden's hand
    Cover of edition maidenshand00wigg_048 First published in 2009 11 editions

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  • Cover of: The mistress
    Cover of edition mistresschicagof00mira Cover of edition mistress00wigg First published in 2000 11 editions

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  • Cover of: The Beekeeper's Ball
    Cover of edition beekeepersball0000wigg First published in 2014 10 editions

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  • Cover of: The You I Never Knew

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  • Cover of: Passing through paradise

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  • Cover of: The Firebrand (Mira Historical Romance)

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Born 1958-05-17

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Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
July 12, 2024 Edited by bitnapper merge authors
April 8, 2012 Edited by CGN Edited without comment.
April 8, 2012 Edited by CGN Added new photo
September 3, 2008 Edited by RenameBot fix author name
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user initial import