Susan Petrone is a fiction writer, playwright, and freelance writer and editor. Her fiction has been published by Glimmer Train, Featherproof Books, Muse, and Whiskey Island. Her plays have had performances and/or readings at the Cleveland Playhouse, The Lamb's Club (New York, New York), St. Johns College (Annapolis, Maryland), and several smaller non-Equity houses in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition, she is a regular feature contributor to Cool Cleveland. She holds a master's degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Cleveland State University and lives with one husband, one daughter, and three dogs in Cleveland, Ohio.

Other hobbies that may be of nominal interest:

June 22, 2009

Local Author Fair June 27

Check out Loganberry Books Local Author Fair on Saturday, June 27 from 12-4. I'll be there, selling A Body at Rest, along with 36 other area writers. Check the Loganberry websitefor more details.

A Body at Rest also received a generally favorable review from Austenprose (although I think it wasn't enough in the Jane Austen fan fiction realm to completely satisfy them). 

May 14, 2009

Midwest Book Review gave A Body at Rest a great review in the May 2009 issue of its Small Press Bookwatch!

 "The road brings it all out. "A Body at Rest" follows Martha and Nina as the two college-educated young women who hit the road after they grow dissatisfied with their lives. Their trip is not a usual one, as they find the literature they both love so much impacting their journey. A tale of a quarter life crisis and what emerges from it, Martha and Nina's adventure is enthralling, entertaining, and will give readers much to relate to, making "A Body at Rest" a highly recommended read."

April 11, 2009

A Body at Rest provided the jumping-off point for a nice essay at The Nervous Breakdown

March 28, 2009

A Body at Rest is getting some great reviews

If you've heard about A Body at Rest and are curious as to whether it's something you'd like, here are links to some of the reviews of the book.

Cool Cleveland.com liked it (and also conducted a nice interview)

Michele at A Reader's Respite really liked it.

As did Meg at WriteMeg!

The Loud Librarian wasn't sure (and that's cool too)

I also did an interview with Dee Perry on WCPN's Around Noon program (90.3 FM/Cleveland's NPR affiliate). Wanna listen to the interview?

So there you have it. A lot of good press and some incredibly positive reviews. If you're a former Liberal Arts major wondering what to do with your life or if you're just a reader looking for something that's funny and different, I hope you'll take a little leap of faith and buy my book. I think you'll like it.

March 24, 2009

A Body at Rest Is Out!

Well, the official release party isn't for a couple more days (Thursday, March 26), but the book is now available online at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com. I'm working to get it into more local indie bookstores in the Cleveland area; you could also special order it from any chain bookstore (Drinian Press distributes through Ingram). Did you know that March is Small Press Month? Why not celebrate by buying a book from a small press?

I have to say that I'm incredibly excited by the experience of releasing this book. People I know (and some I don't know) are all helping me to promote it. It's gratifying to realize that people think my work is worth an investment of their time and/or money. And it's humbling. Thanks to everyone who's helped me.
 

February 10,2009

Two Book Signings for A Body at Rest

In addition to the signing and launch party on March 26 at 7:00 p.m. at Mac's Backs in Cleveland, I'm going to be part of a local author book fair at Borders Books and Music at Sandusky Mall (4314 Milan Rd, Sandusky, OH) on Saturday, March 21 from 1-3. Please stop by and say hello if you're in the area. Pre-order forms for A Body at Rest are available HERE.

February 3, 2009

A Body at Rest Reading and Release Party

The official release date for A Body at Rest is Thursday, March 26. Please come and help me celebrate the release of my first novel at Mac's Backs, Cleveland's awesome indie bookstore, located at 1820 Coventry Road in Cleveland Hts. (Phone: 216-321-2665.) The reading will start at 7:00, with time to chat afterwards. Don't forget that you can download a pre-order form from Drinian Press HERE.

 

December 28, 2008

A reading and book release news

I'm doing a reading of a new novel-in-progress on Monday, January 5, 2009, at Heights Arts (across from the Cleveland Heights main library) at 7:00. I'll be reading with Bob Dolgan, former sportswriter for the Plain Dealer. Also on the bill is a short monologue, "Throw 'Em Smoke," written by Dick Holody and Margaret Hunt and performed by Joe Verciglio.

A Body at Rest will be published in spring 2009 by Drinian Press. Download a pre-order form HERE. :) 

September 28, 2008

A Body at Rest has found a publisher!

I am delighted to say that A Body at Rest is going to be published by Drinian Press, a small regional publisher located in Huron, Ohio. I just received the contract in the mail from them a couple days ago. I don't have any details yet about the publication date, but will certainly share them with the rest of the world as soon as I have them. 

 

June 4, 2008

New article

I have the lead article in this week's issue of Cool Cleveland. It's an interview with Cathy Boyle, the Director of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, which is a regional arts and culture district funded by revenue from a tax on cigarettes. It's a controversial tax to some, even though it was passed by the voters. Read more about it HERE

 

May 6, 2008

What happened to the oral tradition?

I did a reading last night with my friend and fellow fiction writer, Toni Thayer. We read at Heights Arts (Cleveland Heights, OH) as part of Dobama Theatre's First Mondays series, which usually features play readings and occasionally poetry readings. We were the first fiction writers to be featured. There were only about 15 people, but they were incredibly attentive and receptive. We each did a short question and answer after each story and people actually asked questions. All in all, it was a good evening. I only knew a couple of people in the audience, so it's always nice to have your work be introduced to new people.
 
I've gone to a number of readings in the past few months as an audience member. Most recently, I went to a reading/book signing with Mary Doria Russell at The Lit in Cleveland. Now this is a woman who's published four novels that have sold hundreds of thousands of copies. She's been nominated for a Pulitzer Prizer. And I think there were about as many people at her reading as there were at mine. Why is it that you can get a ton of people for a play reading or a poetry reading but only a handful for a fiction reading? Is it because we think of fiction as a solitary occupation? I admire poets' economy of language, but personally I'd rather hear fiction read than poetry. I think that's because I "get" fiction in a way that I don't "get" poetry.
 
I wish I had some amusing anecdote to share about the reading, but I don't. I guess that's probably best, since amusing anecdotes frequently involve personal humiliation, and personal humiliation is kind of a drag, you know?
 
Enough listening to me whine and babble. I'd much prefer if you went HERE and read some of my work. If you like it (or if you don't), feel free to drop me an email.
 


April 13, 2008

Easy suggestions to help new authors and save literature at the same time

The more I look at the publishing world, the more I realize what a closed world it is. The mid-list hardly exists anymore, and unless you're one of the handful of huge names, you don't have a publishing contract and have to hope and pray each time you write a book that your agent can sell it (if you even have an agent).

There seems to be this resistance on the part of much of the book-buying public to move beyond the big names published by the major publishing houses. I wonder if part of the problem is that there isn't really a proving ground for young/new authors like there is for young bands (bars/festivals) or new filmmakers (film festivals). People rarely go to readings, you don't hear new literature read when you're waiting in the dentist office (and while they might have Rolling Stone or Entertainment Weekly, they don't have Glimmer Train or Tin House other lit journals). There isn't the public forum for writers to test the waters, see if they're any good, and polish their craft. And in most cities, there really isn't a culture of going to readings or of reading new voices in literature unless they've been recommended by the NY Times Book Review.

Herewith, a few suggestions you can do to help rectify the situation: