Char (1RadReader59) asked Susan Mallery:

Do you run you story line down with anyone before you try to get it down on paper or do you just go straight in and do it? Was it hard that first time you had to let someone read it? And where did you start first when wanting to get published?

Susan Mallery Hi, Cal. I plot my stories very thoroughly. At this point, I don't write a book until it's sold. I write a thorough synopsis and send it to my editor and agent for approval. It is hard at first to let other people read your work because so much of you is on that page, if they say they don't like it, it feels like they're saying they don't like YOU. But in order to be a professional writer, that's something you have to accept. You are putting a piece of yourself into the world and allowing it to be judged.

When I first decided to become a writer, I studied the market. I read everything I could and took every class I could to figure out where I should submit and what I should submit. I racked up a lot of rejection letters from publishers, magazines... sometimes I got two or three rejections on the same day. Those were not fun days. But I kept at it, I kept practicing and learning and studying, and I was able to sell.

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