Author Updates

Aloha Friends!

I often joke that I am on my 5th upgrade - that my operating system gets completely rewritten every ten (or so) years - and I become the “less glitchy” version of myself.

1.0 Susan was a little girl singing at church and dreaming of a life beyond WV. 

2.0 Soozan was an actress/singer drinking and drugging her way through NYC.

3.0 Susan was an NYU grad hustling to launch her playwriting career.

4.0 SJ was a wife, new mom and TV showrunner in Los Angeles.

5.0 Susan was a widow in Hawaii, hiking and traveling the world with her daughter.

But since it’s my birthday today - I’m announcing the release of an unexpected 5.5 upgrade.

For my 55th year in this body, on this spinning rock, hurling through an infinite Universe, I will be revisiting my life in theater - not just as a playwright but as a performer. 

(Eeek. Even typing those words makes my stomach swirl with fear.)

In August, I’ll be returning to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, this time with my new play, ALREADY HERE.  

For those of you unfamiliar with the Fringe, it is the largest gathering of all us theater-weirdos in the world. We all converge on Scotland for an entire month and run around like chickens to see the 4,000 productions happening from 10 am to 2 am every day. It is utter chaos and it is fantastic.  

I will still be writing and sharing Uneven Ground with you. Book Two is nearly done and Book Three is on the whiteboard, ready to move from concept to page. 

But I also invite you to join me on this journey back to Scotland, to share with you the new (and totally unplanned) ways that grief and healing express themselves in my life - and in Cecilia’s.

Cecilia turned 14 in November and this is a pivotal year. The year when she lives more of her life without Clayton than she had with him - and that’s been hard for me to accept. I see her growing (so tall and beautiful) and getting her portfolios together for high school admissions - it seems impossible seven years have passed without him, but here’s the proof: Ceci at 14. Time doing what time does. 

She is determined to go away to boarding school, to an arts conservatory program where she will focus on animation and storytelling. I am ill-prepared for life as an empty nester. I wasn’t expecting Ceci to launch at 15. I’m doing my best to convince her to apply to LACHSA (LA’s high school for the arts) which would keep us together for four more years. 

But Ceci is her mama’s daughter.

And I know that means she’s a dream-chaser. 

She will soon be on her way.

Seems, maybe, we both are.

I appreciate your unwavering support and love as Cecilia and I continue to grow and evolve as artists and humans. I hope your 2026 brings you unexpected, somewhat terrifying, opportunities for magic as well. 

Much Love,

Susan

For More information on Already Here and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival: