Yorktown Author Pens Third Supernatural Novel
Being an author is not something that was on Susan Berliner’s bucket list, but after leaving her 20-year job as promotion manager for a local advertising publication, the stories in her mind just keep coming.
“It’s nothing that I thought I would ever do. My husband thought he would be the novelist,” said Berliner, who lives in Yorktown with her husband Larry, a retired English teacher. “I never expected it. It just developed.”
Berliner explained her book writing efforts were triggered in 2006 when she found an old article she had clipped about a dust devil incident in Maine where the owner of an auto body shop was killed. Soon after, Berliner hit the computer and wrote “Dust,” where a deadly weather storm takes on a life of its own. Her second book, “Peachwood Lake,” conjures up a ferocious creature terrorizing a quiet town.
Her most recent book, “The Disappearance,” is an action-packed time travel thriller where a woman is arrested for the murder of her missing boyfriend and she sets out to discover why he framed her.
“My books are set in reality but they always have one fantasy element to them,” Berliner said. “I always enjoy reading science fiction and horror kind of things. I just have all these story ideas and when I sit down to write the characters kind of take over. It’s very strange and it’s very exciting.”
Berliner also has two other books in the works, one called “Corsonia,” which is a mind control novel, and “The Touchers,” which she calls her doomsday novel.
A longtime freelance education writer, Berliner said she treats her novel writing as a full-time job, not a hobby. She said getting the word out and marketing her books is often frustrating.
“Writing is the easiest and most fun process. Everything else is difficult and painstaking,” she said. “Promoting is the hardest part because there are so many authors and go books out there.”
All of Berliner’s books are available on-line and in e-book form by visiting www.susanberlner.com. She is doing a virtual book tour for “The Disappearance” this month and making several personal appearances, including Friday, December 7 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Drum Hill in Peekskill and Thursday, December 13 at 7 p.m. at a Meet the Authors Night at John C. Hart Library in Shrub Oak.
“Being a novelist, unless you’re a best seller, you don’t make much money. You don’t get rich doing it,” she said. “Writing of any sort is very fulfilling. It’s a great experience.”
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.