Sue Fliess

The long version (if you're up for it):

I think I’ve always wanted to be a writer, but it wasn’t until recently that I figured out what kind of writer I wanted to be. I’ve been writing in some form most of my life. As a child, I wrote poems for my family, and as a teenager I wrote about unrequited love. During college, despite my obvious lack of psychology qualifications, I wrote a “Dear Sue” column for my university newspaper, trying my best to solve friend traumas and heal heartaches. I was constantly collecting quotes and sayings from books, poems - even greeting cards - that spoke to me in some way, and plastering them to my walls. I guess I just liked being surrounded by words.

And that was never more true than when I accepted my first job as a publicist for Penguin’s adult paperback division. I wrote press releases, pitch letters, and met and worked with many amazing authors, editors and members of the media. During that time, I joined a writing group in Manhattan where I worked with a very talented group of writers. When I moved to the Northern California Bay Area, to the heart of Silicon Valley, I held positions including copywriter, Marketing Communications Manager, and Director of Marketing for companies large and small, low to high tech. But even as I wrote product datasheets, signage copy, newsletters and web content, there was a part of me that yearned to write my own stories again.

It wasn’t until I accepted the non-paying-but-constantly-rewarding position of stay-at-home mom of my two boys (now 6 and 7 1/2 years old) that I was able to start writing for myself again. When my first child turned two years old, he had an insatiable thirst for all things outer space. And I was inspired to write him a story about it. That, coupled with the encouragement and advice from a children’s librarian and friend, as well as local authors, was when I began my adventure into writing for children. And I’ve been hooked ever since.

I am a member of the Author’s Guild and SCBWI and in both 2007 and 2008 received Letters of Commendation from the SCBWI Barbara Karlin Grant for Picture Book Writing for two of my stories. I was also accepted into the 2008 Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature (RUCCL) based on my young adult novel work-in-progress. I have contributed over fifty articles to Education.com and many articles and book reviews for Travelmuse.com, Bay Area Parent and Writer's Digest.

In my spare time I like to spend time with my family, travel, play tennis, sing, run, lead a children’s writing critique group, and write as much as I can. I’ve also been known to buy great shoes now and then. I volunteer in my boys' classrooms, where I help students learn the nuances of our complicated English language, so they may find joy in books. I am thrilled and proud to now be able to contribute my own stories to the wonderful worldwide library of children’s literature.