About Susan
I write crime stories about the aftermath of loss – the decades that follow disappearance, the marriages reshaped by silence, the families learning to survive the unsurvivable. These are stories of forgiveness.
Cold Case Crime Fiction —
I want to honor the stories people entrust to me.
About me —
My fascination with human behavior began early. As a teenager, I snuck my mother's True Crime magazines and watched detective shows – Columbo, Ironside, Kojak. But I wasn't drawn to the crime itself.
I was drawn to the psychology: Why do people do what they do? What are the consequences?
I write fiction, self-help, and poetry. But whether the form changes, the core questions stay the same:
“How do people rebuild after devastation? What does forgiveness actually require? How do we find meaning in what can never be undone?”
Why this work —
As I grew older, I moved from fiction (made-up screenplays) to non-fiction (real cases): Forensic Files, Dateline, Cold Case Files. These shows opened a door I couldn't close. I became obsessed not with the crime, but with the families.
Then I watched an episode of Bloodline Detectives about Carla Walker, a seventeen-year-old girl raped and murdered in Fort Worth, Texas in 1974. The cold case was solved 46 years later through genetic genealogy. Glen Samuel was convicted – but by then, he had a family who knew nothing of his past. They were devastated.
At sentencing, Carla's brother (who was a child when his sister was taken) walked over to Glen's grown daughter. He hugged her. He told her it was not her fault. He said he had forgiven her father.
That moment changed everything for me. It was the moment I understood what I actually wanted to write about: not the crime, but the courage it takes to forgive. Not the disappearance, but the journey toward healing. Not the moment of violence, but the decades after. These conversations have shaped me as a writer — not because they were dramatic but because they were true.
My husband and I are living in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Returning to Canada soon.
We live in the present because life is a gift. I write from a desk that is actually an ironing board... I set a timer so I don't sit too long. And I try every day to be worthy of the stories people trust me with.
I’d love to hear your story.