Goodreads asked Susan Strecker:

How do you get inspired to write?

Susan Strecker Most of my books start with titles and most of my titles come from songs. My first book, NIGHT BLINDNESS, is named after a David Gray song, although I'd had the book almost completed before I named it. The idea for my first book came to me in the years after my father's death and I needed an outlet for my grief.

My second book (March 1st, 2016) came to be in a very roundabout way. I was driving with my kids and heard a great Red Hot Chili Peppers song called Scar Tissue. I thought it'd be a fabulous title for a book, so I started writing. Unfortunately, I had nothing but a title- no plot, no story, no characters. Nothing, but a title to go on. Ironically, after consulting with my publishing team, we changed the title to NOWHERE GIRL.

I love love love the story of how my third book, NIGHT FALLING, was born. I live with my husband and two kids in a great little town named Essex. Shortly after we moved here in 2009, I noticed a store downtown called The Wicked Kitchen. I thought that was an amazing name for a store in quaint, little Essex, Connecticut. Then I imagined how great it would be to create a book whose main character lives in a conservative town and has a store named Wicked. In the spirit of Picasso's thought that "good artists borrow and great artists steal," I am not ashamed to admit that I stole The Wicked Kitchen's name for the purposes of my book. In my story, Wicked's cover story is that they sell candles. Get it- Wicked? I crack myself up.

One day last summer my kids and I were riding our bikes downtown and while we were at a stop sign, I turned and saw my favorite kitchen store. Only, I noticed something I never had before. It's not called The Wicked Kitchen. It's actually called The Weekend Kitchen. In my defense, the font is a fancy script and the moment I turned forty, I noticed I couldn't see anything anymore. Nevertheless, I got a great book out of my mistake.

My fourth book came to be because of the famous TV show, Sex and the City. As we all know, for six seasons, Carrie referred to her on-again, off-again boyfriend as Mr. Big. I wanted a book with a character named Whatshername. So, I created BLUE ON BLACK around a girl who had a boyfriend who had a girlfriend named Whatshername. Silly, I know. But, it's been a lot of fun to write it and all of them.

Thanks for reading!

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