On school nights in Aberdeen, South Dakota, Sue hid under the covers, switched on her flashlight, and turned the pages of her favorite books. Reading made her quiet world rich and colorful. She studied human nature with Sommerset Maugham, Jane Austen, and Upton Sinclair and wandered the galaxies with Ursula Le Guin, Isaac Azimov, and Harlan Ellison.
But Sue settled on Earth selling reservation systems to hoteliers in Los Angeles and Virginia until she moved to the quirky, artsy beach village of Gulfport, Florida, a home she loves. There she relentlessly pokes at her keyboard and waits, hazelnuts in hand, for her rescue squirrels to scrabble down the sprawling oaks in her backyard.
Sue’s mom came to live with Sue and her open-hearted partner. Within a few months, her mother’s life, filled with friends and quilting and church, drifted away into dementia. Pinkie’s Turnabout came from Sue’s experience caring for her mother which involved lots of love, sadness, aggravation, patience and laughter. And, just like Pinkie’s Jack, her fuzzy rescue cat, Arlo, befriended her mother and still sprawls in front of the monitor on Sue’s desk. He’s her favorite muse.
Sue’s novel, Pinkie’s Turnabout, received the Gold Royal Palm Literary Award for middle grade unpublished fiction, was a finalist in the Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition, and long-listed for the Yeovil Literary Prize and Regal House’s own Kraken Book Prize. She has received Honorable Mentions from Writers of the Future and SCBWI’s Rising Kite competition.
In addition to the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, Sue is a member of and volunteer for the Florida Writers’ Association and a member of the Skywriters, a fiercely supportive critique group of award-winning authors. She has attended wonderful workshops at Highlights, Writer’s Digest University, SCBWI, FWA, and Keep St. Pete Lit.
Regal House Publishing and Fitzroy Books are delighted to bring you Sue’s novel Pinkie’s Turnabout in 2026.
