Susan McBride

Jennifer Apodaca: Susan McBride, welcome to ReadersRoom.com's Introducing... I'm very excited to have the chance to chat with you today!

Susan McBride: Thanks, Jen! I'm very happy to be here.

Jennifer Apodaca: Let's get right into your latest book, Blue Blood, which is the first book in your Debutante Dropout Series. Can you tell us a little about it?

Susan McBride: Oh, gosh, I just love Blue Blood. It was the most fun I've had writing a book, that's for sure. The protagonist, Andy Kendricks, is a debutante dropout, much to her socialite mother's chagrin. When an old private school chum is accused of murdering her boss, the owner of a restaurant called "Jugs" -- think Hooter's -- Andy dives right in to help clear her name, even donning lavender hot pants and a stuffed bra in the process.

Jennifer Apodaca: Great! Can you tell us how you came up with the Debutante Dropout herself, Andrea "Andy" Kendricks? Rumor has it that you did a little college spying on some actual debutantes!

Susan McBride:Oh, Jen, you found me out! Yes, Andy has a lot of me in her. I pledged Pi Beta Phi at UT-Austin back in the 1980s and I had pledge sisters who were Highland Park (Dallas) debutantes. They used to practice their curtsies in study hall.

Jennifer Apodaca: That's hilarious! Now let's talk about Andy's mom. The relationship between Andy and Cissy is a riot, but Cissy has a few surprises for Andy. How did you manage to make the relationship so real, yet funny?

Susan McBride: That was pretty much a stroke of luck. I wanted Cissy to be a true blue blood, an honest-to-God Dallas socialite. Yet I wanted her to be a good mother, really love her daughter, despite the fact that Andy wasn't living her life the way Cissy had dreamed.

Jennifer Apodaca: You really hit the nail on the head with that relationship! It's so refreshing not going through the usual angst!

Susan McBride: Thanks so much! I have a mother who's very down-to-earth, so making Cissy real was a challenge. Particularly since she does wear Chanel and Mikimoto pearls (daily) and does the social scene with gusto, and Andy is so different from her.

Jennifer Apodaca: Now Andy does shock her mom a bit when she goes "undercover" and actually uncovers more skin than she's accustomed to revealing. Was that as much fun to write as it was to read?

Susan McBride: That's an understatement! Yes, Andy often shocks Cissy, but I think Cissy is proud that Andy is so loyal to her friends and really is courageous. It was a hoot to write Blue Blood, most definitely!

Jennifer Apodaca: Proud and a little bit sneaky in a very fun way!

Susan McBride: Oh, yes, Cissy can be just as sneaky as Andy, maybe more so. Andy learned from the master.

Jennifer Apodaca:So true! Yet Andy is her own woman, and does it her own way. Two very different women. You did a great job with them!

Susan McBride: Thanks! Well, it was fun to deal with characters like this, in a humorous novel, after the darker Maggie Ryan Mysteries.

Jennifer Apodaca: Speaking of that, your debutante series is fun and light, but you are clearly a woman of many layers. The Maggie Ryan series is darker. Can you tell us a little more about that?

Susan McBride: I'd love to talk about Maggie a little. She's very dear to my heart, although she's the polar opposite of Andy Kendricks (and me, to be honest). Maggie was born after I got the idea for And Then She Was Gone, which was originally written as a stand-alone. I knew I needed a police detective as the protagonist and Maggie Ryan really just "came to me" one day. She is very complex, kind of brooding, and has few friends. She had a rough childhood, which is the reason she was led to police work. She wants to represent the victims, particularly the young victims.

Jennifer Apodaca: So the young victims strike a deep cord with Maggie--because of her childhood?

Susan McBride: Yes, because her childhood was abusive and tough, she's a true survivor. She's trying to move forward and deal with her past at the same time. Very tricky stuff. My childhood was more like Andy Kendrick's...though more middle class! My parents are good people. We moved around a lot so the family is very tight.

Jennifer Apodaca:Does that make Maggie more of a challenge to write than Andy?

Susan McBride: Oh, yeah. Andy is pretty much there for me, in a really easy spot to reach. I do have to dig deeper for Maggie. It's definitely not as pleasant, but it's very challenging. And I do love to flex those literary muscles! I think writing what's uncomfortable can be so rewarding when you're through.

Jennifer Apodaca: Absolutely, and it takes a very special talent to write two dramatically different women!

Susan McBride: I really appreciate that compliment. It will be very interesting to hear from readers who've read Maggie and then read Blue Blood.

Jennifer Apodaca: You said Maggie started out as a single title, how did it develop into a series?

Susan McBride: Yes, And Then She Was Gone was just one book in my head when I started writing it. It was a finalist in the St. Martin's Malice Domestic Contest (though hardly a cozy) and won the National Writers Association's annual contest. Then it won a contest sponsored by a small traditional press called Mayhaven. It was published as a result--and sold out its first printing. So they asked me to do another Maggie book. That's all they wanted.

Jennifer Apodaca: Congratulations on your contest wins! And this brings me to my next question. You have your Maggie books with a small press, then you moved to HarperCollins/Avon with the Debutante Dropout series. How did that come about?

Susan McBride: I was looking for agents in 2002, as I was in the process of writing a third Maggie book (Walk into Silence). I had one sentence in a query letter about Blue Blood, then called Death and the Debutante Dropout, which ended up being what my current agent asked to see...and ultimately signed me for. She started sending Blue Blood around in October of 2002, and I had the Morrow/Avon three-book deal by November. It was a very good Thanksgiving that year, I must say!

Jennifer Apodaca: That's amazing! And it sounds like a near perfect Thanksgiving! Readers can see more about your books at www.susanmcbride.com. Now let's talk a little bit about your life as a writer. Can you share with us a little about what your writing day looks like?

Susan McBride: Since I just got through three months of writing daily, nonstop, to meet my January deadline, that'll be easy! I've realized that, once published, it's awfully hard to find time to write. With promotion and real-life, time gets tight. But I was lucky to have October through December free from travel, so I literally wrote every day, from when I got up until bedtime. Though, I must confess, I do a lot of "thinking," which means cleaning the house, doing laundry, emailing, whatever it takes to get in the mood. My prime writing time has been from four o'clock until ten o'clock. Usually I'm most productive as it gets later, and I'll write five pages in a couple of hours. But I do aim for five fresh pages a day (after going through what I've written the day before and tweaking).

Jennifer Apodaca: So you do use goals to keep you motivated? And the deadlines probably keep you motivated too!

Susan McBride: Yes, my five-pages-a-day goal is always on my mind. And I'm such a stickler for deadlines, so that really does drive me. It was especially tough writing on deadline through the holidays. I feel like I missed 'em practically! But I'm really happy with how The Dallas Diet Club turned out--the second in the Deb Dropout Series--and now I can breathe! I'll be traveling starting in early February to promote Blue Blood, and it's nice to have that done before I go on "tour."

Jennifer Apodaca: I don't believe that I mentioned that the first book in the series, Blue Blood, comes out at the very end of January, right?

Susan McBride: Yes, the official pub date is January 27...I can't believe it's so soon!

Jennifer Apodaca: You must be so excited! So what is next for Susan McBride?

Susan McBride: I'm going to enjoy promoting Blue Blood, that's for sure. And in between I've got a great idea for a big fat stand-alone, so I'll work on that. The third Deb Dropout book isn't due for a long while, so I'm going to have a great time with whatever happens with Blue Blood...and, hopefully, I'll meet lots of nice folks out on tour!

Jennifer Apodaca: I heard another rumor that you don't tour alone, is that true?

Susan McBride: I try not to, if I can help it! I put together the Deadly Divas a few years ago to make gigs more fun, so Denise Swanson, S.W. Hubbard, Letha Albright and I will be doing lots of events this year...and Elaine Flinn is joining us for some Monterey-area events around Left Coast Crime. We love having "Honorary Divas"--hint, hint! Let me know when you're free, Jen.

Jennifer Apodaca: Thanks so much, Susan! That sounds like fun! Is there anything else you would like to tell your readers?

Susan McBride: Just that I can't wait for them to read Blue Blood. I'm so looking forward to hearing from them after they've read it. I hope they love it as much as I do (or close to it!). And thank you, Jen, and to ReadersRoom.com.

Jennifer Apodaca: Well, Susan, I read Blue Blood and I loved it!

Susan McBride: I am so glad to hear it!

Jennifer Apodaca: Thank you, Susan, for doing this interview with us today. It's been a real pleasure and I know the book will do really well.

Susan McBride: Thanks so much, Jen. It's been wonderful talking to you.

Copyright 2004 by ReadersRoom, LLC. All rights reserved.