Forever With Me, a must read by Susan Hutchinson

I read Forever With Me in the space of a day (interruptions included).  I never read memoirs but I read this one. It is witty, to the heart. You laugh, and you cry.  I won’t say more for fear of saying too much. Now, we’ll hear from Susan:

Tell me three words that describe yourself starting with A, B, and CNot following the ABC thing, I’m competitive, goal oriented and creative. I just don’t want to think too hard to come up with the ABC thing! Which genre or genres do you write or prefer to write? And why?So far, I’ve done a memoir, and I’m currently working on an amusing look at my husband ala Erma Bombeck, and a romantic comedy. I have a strong sense of humor, which came out in the memoir, even if the subject matter wasn’t particularly funny. Humor is my go to coping mechanism. Always has been.I’m not sure that I will settle for just one genre because I read more than one genre. Before I’m through, I’ll probably end up doing at least one historical romance, one mystery and one great American novel because we all secretly want to be Hemmingway.What gets your creative juices flowing?Since I often see things through the lens of my sense of humor, I usually start writing because something someone said or did strikes me as funny. Usually, it’s my husband. Other times it’s because I read something that I think would have been better if presented another way. Before you freak out, I don’t mean stealing plot lines. I read – a lot. 412 books in 2020, but that was a unique year as everyone knows. But with all the books I read, I often run across things that make me wonder why the author pushed the plot or a character one way when it would have been so much better if it had been pushed another way. An author friend of mine once told me that there were basically only 5 or 6 stories out there with a million different variations. My mind shoots to those variation at the speed of light sometimes. Who would you love most to meet ‘in person’ and why?I think I would have liked to have met my great great grandmother. She was brave enough to get on a boat in the 1840’s and emigrate from Ireland to the United States. Tales have been told from generation to generation about what she and my great great grandfather faced when they arrived here, separately I might add. They didn’t meet until they were both on the boat sailing up the Hudson River, even though they were from the same county in Ireland. Do you have a favorite snack that you like to munch on while writing?I can’t eat and write at the same time. Kind of like walking and chewing gum. But I drink gallons of water!Do you have a hobby? I paint, mostly portraits, dancers, athletes, etc., but I do a lot of flowers and a few landscapes as well. Painting is my zen move. It centers me, calms me, distracts me. My medium is acrylics on canvas.Do you read your reviews on your books? Do they influence your story at all? Since this is my first published book, you betcha! Considering that my first book is a memoir, the reviews don’t necessarily influence the story because it is what it is. I suppose if the criticism involved delivery, I might change my approach to a future story because what’s the use of sharing the story if you are the only one who appreciates it. But I’d only let that happen if the majority of reviews pointed out the same weak spot. What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?I’m not sure it’s necessarily a quirk, but I tend to write things the way I hear them in my “head voice”. Since I have a rather irreverent sense of humor with a healthy dose of snark, my writing tends to flow that way, too.Do you have another profession besides writing?I am quite happily retired. Up until three years ago, I was an executive director for a large non-profit overseeing the division that provided housing for low income older adults. It was a rewarding career but could be very emotionally draining. After 35 years of working in that field in one capacity or another, it was time to hand it over to someone with more energy than I had left.If you could go back in time, where would you go? That’s a tough one. I’d love to go back to Regency England, but I wouldn’t last very long there, I’m afraid. I’m way to independent and would never learn my place. Besides, I like my lounge pants too well and I hate wearing hats and gloves. And don’t get me started on deferring to the male in the room. I’m much better off stayingi n modern times. At least, my husband just sighs and says “yes dear”.What’s the one thing you would do if you could be your character for a day?Well, since the “character” in the book is me, I think I would have paid more attention to the signs that my older daughter was in emotional trouble and insisted on staying with her when she refused to let me.What was the inspiration for “Forever with Me”?The real-life experiences of losing two of my adult children. It’s been 15 years since my younger daughter died; ten since the older one. I had fooled myself into thinking that I had fully come to terms with what had happened to them until I sat down to write something else. This is what came out instead. The experience was cathartic and all those loose ends that have been dangling for years are neatly trimmed and put away now. The feeling are still there, but I have a much better perspective on them now. Will there be more books in your series, or can you tell us about any previous books? This isn’t a series kind of a book, but my next book, Life with David came out of itWhat is your favorite part of this book and why?I don’t necessarily have a favorite part of the book itself, but the comments I’ve received from people who have read it have become very important to me. It’s not so much the praise, though that is very nice. It’s the comments from people who have gone through something similar or are going through it now. For some people, the book is helping them cope. It’s helping them understand that what they are feeling or thinking is very normal. That grief isn’t a linear process, it’s a roller coaster and that’s ok. That’s what makes this book special for me.What are you currently working on?I’ve actually got Life with David about two thirds finished. David is my husband, not the father of my daughters, and I’m not sure I would have gotten through those horrible moments without him. Friends told me he deserves a medal. Others told me he deserved a book. I’m fresh out of medals, so book it is. David is a funny guy. My interpretation of him is funnier. I’m his fifth wife. He’s given me plenty of material to work with, trust me. I hope to have it published by March.My other book, as yet unnamed, is a romantic comedy featuring a missing laptop/flash drive, a smutty book not quite finished, a hot lawyer, a cute activities director and a few senior citizens gone wild. I’m shooting for April on this one.

 

Back Cover Blurb

For the majority of us, life runs a normal course of ups and downs.  For some, it’s a career that makes us happy.  For others, it’s family.  For the lucky ones, it’s both. Everyone goes through times when something will throw you off course.   But what happens when life doesn’t merely throw you a curveball, but a bomb?

This is the story of an average woman who was thrown not one bomb, but two and how her extraordinary well of good humor and positivity got her through the loss of two daughters over a five-year time span.  The author takes you on a journey laced with humor and wit through a life that normally wouldn’t have distinguished itself from anyone else’s but gave her the strength to get through any parent’s worst nightmare — twice.

Prologue

I wasn’t going to write this book; at least, this wasn’t the one I was planning on writing. This just ended up being the one I wrote. I’ve always been an avid reader in my adult life when I could be the one who chose what to read instead of having a teacher making that choice for me. I thought I might write a nice, fun romance novel because I like nice, fun romance novels. Or maybe I’d write something ala Erma Bombeck since we seemed to share the same quirky and irreverent view of the mundane. I miss Erma. Instead, I wrote this book because I needed to get this story out of the way first.

This isn’t a book that’s only full of doom and gloom. It actually has some nice parts in it, too. Well, I think they are. On the whole, I’ve had a good life and hope to continue having one for quite a while longer. It may have had some horrible moments in it, but aside from those, I’ve been lucky to have wonderful people populate my personal landscape. Some are still here, others aren’t. This is a book about a couple of them who aren’t, what they meant to me, and what losing them felt like. I hope it’s also a testament to my tenacity and my deep well of positive thinking, even when there wasn’t much positive energy to place in the bucket that I was trying to fill at the time.

Over the years, people have called me strong. Even amazing. I’m neither. I’m just someone who went through some horrific events in her life and chose to push my way through them in order to get to the other side in reasonably decent shape. It was a good choice, one I’d recommend to others going through horrible events in their lives. Be warned, it wasn’t easy. It’s my story, not a DIY on surviving loss. This isn’t a book which tells you how to get to the other side.

This is a book which tells you that you can.

About the Author:

Susan Hutchinson retired from her job as Executive Director of Affordable Housing after 35 years of helping low income older adults maintain their independence.  An avid reader and accomplished artist, she lives in St. Louis, Missouri with her husband.  She continues a close relationship with her remaining child and has five grandchildren and one great grandchild despite being too young to have one of those.  Life will always give back if you let it.