Susan C Shea won a writing contest - and the prize – a year’s  membership to Mystery Writers of America convinced her that writers were such lively off beat people she’d like to be one too.

Fast forward to today and Susan publishes two different mystery series – one set in the glitzy San Francisco art world, and the other in an out-of-the-way French village.

Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Susan explains why creating mysteries is like composing songs, how “writing what you know” works for her, and shares the authors she loves to binge read.

But before we talk to Susan, just a reminder that the show notes for this Binge Reading episode can be found on the website, The Joys of Binge Reading.com

That’s where you’ll find a full transcript of our discussion, plus links to Susan’s books and website, as well as details about how to subscribe to our podcast so you don’t miss future episodes.

Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

Why writing mysteries is like composing songs

How 'writing what you know' worked for her

Her passion for all things French

Why parity for women mystery authors is important

The writers she admires most

What she'd do differently second time around

Where to find Susan C Shea: 

Website: http://susancshea.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susancshea

 Twitter: @susan_shea 

What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny: But now, here’s Susan. .  Hello there Susan and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us.

Beginning at the beginning  -  was  there a “Once Upon A time moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction?  And if there was a catalyst for this, what was it?

Susan: Yes there was a catalyst, actually. I won a writing contest a long time ago and the prize was a year's membership in the Mystery Writers of America. I was living in San Francisco, and I started going to the San Francisco meetings and I met all these wonderful people! Lively, curious, bright and a little off beat, who were published mystery writers. And I would go every month to the dinner, and became friends with some of those people who are still my friends. I thought, I'd like to do this too!

Susan C Shea - mystery author

Jenny: Fantastic! So you just sat down and started writing?

Susan: Well, sure I did. But I was also raising kids and working full time. That's easier said then done, to sit down and start writing. I had a lot of false starts, but I kept being encouraged by the members of Mystery Writers and the local chapter who said "persevere, don't give up, keep writing, keep reading". It sorted of gestated in me for a long time before I actually decided to take the plunge - to quit my day job and start writing full time.

Jenny: Great. And so you were naturally drawn to the mystery genre it sounds like, right from the beginning?

Susan: Yes, I really was. I think one of the things I like about mysteries is that there's a structure and there's an expectation. It's sort of like listening to a piece of music where you know where the bridges are, you know where the verses, you know where the choruses are. There's a kind of pleasure in the rhythm of that. That appealed to me both as a reader and a writer.

Jenny: That's a great analogy. I'd never thought of it that way before. It is a very good way to look at it. You’ve currently got two different mystery series on the go – one set in a picturesque French village, and the other in a prestigious San Francisco art and antiquities museum . .  How did you get going on these?

Susan: Well the Dani O'Rourke series set in a museum in San Francisco was the first one I did, and I had for a long time been debating how to structure a story and who the protagonist was going to be.

Dani O'Rourke mystery - Book Three

I had been a fundraiser,