Susan Joy Clark

Goodreads Author


Born
The United States
Website

Genre

Member Since
June 2010


Susan Joy Clark is a reporter with a local newspaper in Northern New Jersey. Like Jack Donegal, she is a bit of the dreamer type. She enjoys singing in the choir and leading the puppet ministry at her church, dance exercise and, of course, writing stories. She is an avid reader, always carrying her Kindle around, reading an assortment of books including mystery, historical fiction, humor, 19th century literature and various non-fiction. She loves to play board games with friends as well as online trivia games or crosswords. She is the author of two books, And the Violin Cried, a youth novel, and Action Men with Silly Putty: A Jack Donegal Mystery.


To ask Susan Joy Clark questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

Susan Joy Clark As a Jane Austen fan, I suppose I should answer Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, but I actually tend to like the clergymen/romantic heroes in Jane Aus…moreAs a Jane Austen fan, I suppose I should answer Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, but I actually tend to like the clergymen/romantic heroes in Jane Austen -- Edward Ferrars and Edmund Bertram. I'll say my favorite couple is Eleanor Dashwood and Edward Ferrars from "Sense and Sensibility."

Eleanor Dashwood is a bit like me. She keeps much of her emotion to herself, is calm and steady and tries to have a pacifying effect on the people around her. Edward is a gentle, kind soul, a little shy, and such a contrast to his arrogant and pushy sister. Eleanor's sister Marianne makes fun of Eleanor for what seems to be her complacent understated affection for Edward. "You like him? You greatly admire him?" In truth, Eleanor and Edward have a slow-building beautiful friendship, and their relationship will need this basis in friendship. Of course, Lucie Steele comes into the story to cause complications, and it is very satisfying to see Eleanor and Edward finally come together in an engagement at the end of the book.(less)
Susan Joy Clark Usually my ideas start out small and then snowball. It's hard to explain the entire creative process.

I suppose the character of Jack Donegal is a "typ…more
Usually my ideas start out small and then snowball. It's hard to explain the entire creative process.

I suppose the character of Jack Donegal is a "type" that has been in my head for quite some time. I like the dreamy inventor type and creative types of all sorts. I enjoy stories about true life inventors or great minds of the past that have some quirks also.

My father is a retired electrical engineer and inventor with 44 patents. One day, a coworker of his suggested that he would make a good toy and game designer, but my father worked in a completely different area. I suppose I found toy design more relatable than what my father actually did which sparked the idea of a dreamy toy inventor. The character is, however, not at all equivalent to my father. Jack Donegal is really my invention, and he is not exactly like anyone I know in real life.

My Jack character first appeared in a short story, and I didn't think about making it a mystery until a friend suggested it to me.

Somewhere along the line, I decided Jack needed a friend who was almost his complete opposite, more complementary than similar, and Andy Westin was born. I now feel I like Andy just as much as I like Jack.

I also returned to a light and humorous style I used in college when writing stories for my friends and family.

Their adventures came from ... I don't know where! Once I had the characters, it was easy to build a story around them. The story incorporates a lot of my little interests in antiques and nostalgia, art and art history, foreign languages, etc., etc. (less)
Average rating: 4.17 · 12 ratings · 2 reviews · 5 distinct works
Action Men with Silly Putty...

by
3.75 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2015 — 2 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
And the Violin Cried

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2007
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Lit Club Mystery (A Gra...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
Rate this book
Clear rating
Action Men and the Great Za...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2017
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Journey of Digory Mole

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings2 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
More books by Susan Joy Clark…

The Art of the Prank

“They somehow look more impressive on canvas,” said my roommate, Ryan, standing beside me and staring at the three easels and what was propped on them. “And in frames,” he added.

“As opposed to the prototypes?” I asked. I sipped my black Gevalia coffee.

Ryan scratched his head, fluffing his sandy blond hair. “I don't think it's called a prototype in regard to painting.”

“Preliminary drawings then?”

“I Read more of this blog post »
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Action Men with Silly Putty Action Men and the Great Za...
(2 books)
by
3.89 avg rating — 9 ratings

Five Little Peppe...
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
Pronghorns of the...
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
Oil and Marble: A...
Rate this book
Clear rating

 

Susan’s Recent Updates

Susan Joy Clark rated a book it was amazing
Constable on the Hill by Nicholas Rhea
Rate this book
Clear rating
Susan Joy Clark rated a book it was amazing
Blandings Castle by P.G. Wodehouse
Rate this book
Clear rating
Susan Joy Clark rated a book it was amazing
Mr Finchley Discovers His England by Victor Canning
Rate this book
Clear rating
More of Susan's books…
Marcus Tullius Cicero
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”
Cicero

P.G. Wodehouse
“[On writing Jeeves and Wooster stories]:
You tell yourself that you can take Jeeves stories or leave them alone, that one more can't possibly hurt you, because you know you can pull up whenever you feel like it, but it is merely wish-full thinking. The craving has gripped you and there is no resisting it.
You have passed the point of no return.”
P.G. Wodehouse, The Jeeves Omnibus Vol. 1: Thank You, Jeeves / The Code of the Woosters / The Inimitable Jeeves

P.G. Wodehouse
“I merely called for my hat and stick in a marked manner and legged it. But the memory rankled, if you know what I mean. We Woosters do not lightly forget. At least, we do - some things - appointments, and people's birthdays, and letters to post, and all that - but not an absolute bally insult like the above. I brooded like the dickens.”
P.G. Wodehouse

P.G. Wodehouse
“I mean, imagine how some unfortunate Master Criminal would feel, on coming down to do a murder at the old Grange, if he found that not only was Sherlock Holmes putting in the weekend there, but Hercule Poirot, as well." ~ Bertram "Bertie" Wooster”
P.G. Wodehouse, The Code of the Woosters

P.G. Wodehouse
“I don’t know if you have had the same experience, but the snag I always come up against when I’m telling a story is this dashed difficult problem of where to begin it.”
P.G. Wodehouse, Right Ho, Jeeves

154447 Support for Indie Authors — 16098 members — last activity Sep 20, 2023 02:08PM
Officially 15k Members Strong & Climbing!! Building and supporting a community of self-published authors dedicated to both sharing experiences and le ...more
29 Mystery Lovers! — 1782 members — last activity May 06, 2023 02:31AM
Rain-on-the-windowpanes, chains-in-the-attic, figures struggling on the moor...this group is for fans of mystery! Find a book series, chat over s ...more
103713 Authors & Reviewers — 7883 members — last activity 4 hours, 51 min ago
A&R is about helping authors promote their books. If you are a reviewer or a blogger, and you don't mind writing a honest review, then come and join u ...more
179474 Owls Be Reading — 124 members — last activity May 13, 2019 03:11AM
A book club that features an array of genres! Monthly pick will be announced the month before!
56962 Book Bloggers of Goodreads — 2973 members — last activity Sep 19, 2023 08:33AM
This is a group for the book bloggers of Goodreads and authors seeking reviews. Book bloggers: post events, reviews, giveaways, ask questions, share l ...more
132819 Quiz Town — 904 members — last activity Nov 20, 2019 12:15AM
Welcome to Quiz Town! Here you can take a numerous amount of quizzes and share your results. Sometimes they can be really accurate. Here in Quiz Town ...more
93144 David Ruffle's Sherlock Holmes group — 297 members — last activity Jul 14, 2023 10:59AM
Feel free to pop by and ask questions about my books, about Lyme Regis and about me! Or all matters Holmesian. Or anything.
5989 Clean Reads — 5011 members — last activity Sep 24, 2023 03:23PM
This is a group for people who love to read a good book, but don't want to have to put it down one chapter in because of things that, if it were a mov ...more
10003 Short Story Contests — 216 members — last activity Jan 20, 2018 04:14AM
Welcome! This group is for people who enjoy writing, and would like to exercise their writing talents. We will have one contest per week, where ev ...more
15522 Weekly Short Stories Contest and Company! — 317 members — last activity Sep 20, 2023 08:03AM
Every two weeks we have a different contest in both short stories and poetry and a poll to see who wins after each contest. No prizes except bragging ...more
More of Susan’s groups…



No comments have been added yet.