Originally an East Coast resident, Susanna moved to San Anselmo when it had a hardware store, a five and dime, a shoe repair shop, a car parts shop, two department stores, and two pharmacies downtown. While raising her young family in the 70s, she became a free-lance journalist, and, disappointed with her prospects in that realm, she turned her attention to a different field; math, science, and engineering.

Engineer

Despite a history of poor grades in high school, Susanna brushed up on her math skills and went back to college for a second degree, taking classes with peers fourteen years her junior. Seven years later, in 1987, she graduated Summa Cum Laude from San Francisco State University with a degree in Electrical Engineering.

Over the next fifteen years she designed electrical systems for projects throughout the Bay Area. In 2000 she opened her own business and hasn’t looked back since. Some examples of her recent local electrical design projects include:

• Cowgirl Creamery, Petaluma, California, a cheese making facility.

• Electrical plans for Marin County Veterans’ Auditorium Path of Travel, with Fani Hansen, DHA architects.

• Plans have been developed and construction is about to begin on the Marin County Administrative Building South Arch project where she did the electrical design.

Susanna has developed electrical plans for grand residences in Kentfield, Belvedere, on the Gold Coast on Broadway in San Francisco, Sea Cliff, as well as Atherton and Woodside.

That’s her day job. Her other work is her love, writing. She’s been at that for longer.

Writer

For many years, Susanna studied with Melba Beals (one of the Little Rock Nine and a great teacher) and Jim Frey (How to Write a Damn Good Novel), and wrote two memoirs and one and a half novels. She also attended many writers’ workshops in Maui, Squaw, Utah, New Mexico and California.

Frustrated with her progress, she embarked on writing short stories for the joy of it and concentrated on reading stories at open mic readings. Two years ago, in June of 2011, she read her first Sheriffs’ Call story to a packed house at Peri’s (Pints ‘N Prose) in Fairfax. That story is the first in her collection of short stories, entitled Point Reyes Sheriff’s Calls, coming out soon from HD Media Press.

She’s read at the Healdsburg Literary Guild, SOCO coffee in Santa Rosa, performed at Odd Month Readings in libraries in Sonoma County, read at West End Wednesdays in San Rafael, at Redwood Writers Salons, Redwood Writers Vintage Voices Anthology Launches, Pints ‘N Prose at Peri’s in Fairfax, Saturday Night Special in Berkeley, Get Lit in Petaluma, performing at least four readings a month for the last few years. She is grateful for the support from all the organizations where she was allowed to try out her work.

She’s been an invited presenter at Quiet Lightning, Why There Are Words, Aqus Café in Petaluma, Writing Without Walls, Lip Service West in Berkeley, Pints ‘N Prose, and other venues.

Many of her stories, inspired by the Sheriff’s Calls section of the Point Reyes Light, are humorous, some are sad and some are just plain quirky. She asks, “How can I run out of material with the intriguing people of West Marin as my inspiration?” Her success with short story writing has come as a complete surprise, and came on the heels of over twenty-five years of struggling with writing novels and memoirs.

Here are some links to her presentations:

Quiet Lightning, November 7, 2011

Writing Without Walls, December 2011

Writing Without Walls, March 17th, 2012

Lip Service West, November 9, 2012

Sojourns and Compendiums, Book Passage, Corte Madera, November 12, 2012

Why There Are Words, February 9th, 2012

Pints ‘N Prose, January 17, 2012

Why There Are Words, Nov. 14, 2013