Bio: The Long Version​

Susan's new book, Mothers in Arms, winner of Book Pipeline’s 2024 National Unpublished Book Contest for Nonfiction, began as a feature article she wrote for The Guardian, “Police killed their sons. Their unmovable friendship uncovered a system of lies.” That article went on to be nominated for the 2022 International Online Journalism Awards and highlighted on an Emmy-winning primetime KSHB-NBC TV news story, “Bonded by Tragedy.” At 80,000 words, Mothers in Arms led Sam Zeff, reporter and host for NPR Kansas City, to write, “I thought I knew the story, but Susan’s reporting and storytelling enlightened me even more. This book needs a deal.”​​

 

Susan guest-lectured in two African American Studies classes at William Jewell College, Kansas City, MO, about her book’s exhaustive research and findings. She’s also appeared on TV, radio, and in print interviews with KSDK-NBC’s Show Me St. Louis, Fox2Now, NPR St. Louis, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Riverfront Times, and the international Autism Radio podcast: Hope Saves the Day for her three original plays, performed at the historic Gaslight Theater in St. Louis, MO and the Missouri History Museum. Sold-out performances raised over $50,000 profit for the charity, Action for Autism.

 

She’s had an editorial in The New York Times, and her essays and short stories have been published in The Carolina Quarterly, The Galway Review in Ireland, and other well-known publications. She was a top 5 finalist for Slate Magazine’s “Stories that Need to be Told.” She has publicly interviewed Dr. Adrienne Christian, award-winning poet nominated for two Pushcart Prizes, and Alyssa Ogi, editor of Tin House. Out of hundreds of alumni, Susan was chosen as the 2022 residency emcee for Pacific University’s MFA in Writing Program, Portland, OR. For half a year, she researched and conducted in-depth interviews with 21 award-winning authors/faculty members, wrote profiles for, and then introduced them over six nights of their public readings.

 

Susan gave the 2019 commencement address for the University of Illinois Department of Communication, where she has served as a guest lecturer. She’s also been a guest speaker at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT's) Systems Thinking in Action conference, MIT's LeaderShape Program for incoming freshmen, and numerous business leadership conferences. She has an MFA in Nonfiction and Fiction from Pacific University, Portland, OR; a postgraduate from Vermont College of Fine Arts; and an MA and BA from the University of Illinois-Champaign, Summa Cum Laude. She currently lives with her husband in Kansas City.