OFFICIALLY:
Sueanne is inspired by news reports that seem to come out of left field, stories from her cop brother, the weird and wonderful antics of her children, and the idea that even the most unassuming characters have a story to tell. She draws on these concepts to write about ‘normal’ people who find themselves in less-than-perfect situations – and more often than not, dangerous. She dabbles in picture books and short stories across multiple genres when the mood suits.
In 2016, her first short story, ‘You Only Live Once’ was included in an e-book anthology, New Year’s Eve, compiled as a writers’ group project. Her second short story, ‘Wrong Side of the Tracks’ was published in the groups’ Hidden Depths 2017 e-book anthology. In 2019 Sueanne’s prose piece, ‘Before, During, After’, was published in the Hunter Writers Centre Grieve Vol 7 anthology. In March 2021, her short story ‘Sunday Markets’, was longlisted for the Australian Writers Centre Furious Fiction competition. She was shortlisted with an honourable mention in the 2023 Marj Wilke Short Story Award for her story ‘His Loss’.
FOR THOSE WHO WANT MORE:
On writing
Presently, in 2024, Sueanne is editing her third domestic noir, ‘When Secrets Die’.
In 2023, she completed the Faber Writing Academy’s Writing a Novel program.
She has her second domestic noir out on submission: ‘When Mothers Lie’: Twin sisters are ignorant that revenge for their parents’ past is hurtling toward them.
Her first domestic noir manuscript, completed in 2019, is ‘The Victim’: One determined woman. A hell of a past. What if the past can be resolved? Will the answers shatter her world?
Sueanne also has three completed picture books that would love a publishing home:
‘Leo the Rat’ is a heart-warming rhyming story for four- to eight-year-olds. Leo would love some friends—just one friend will do—but there’s one teeny problem … he’s a little bit stinky!
‘Plop!’ is a fun rhyming story for toddlers and preschoolers. Cassie the cow is stuck in the mud and it’s up to Milly and her farmyard friends, Derek the duck, Penny and pig, and Henry the horse to get her out!
‘What Does a Farm Sound Like?’ is a creative non-fiction story written in a lyrical manner for four- to eight-year-olds. It uses onomatopoeia, alliteration and repetition to introduce children to farm life.
On qualifications
As well as a Bachelor of Business (Marketing), Sueanne loves to continue learning, and has completed short courses in creative writing for adults and children, profile writing, magazine and newspaper writing, and copywriting. If it looks interesting, there’s a fair chance Sueanne will enrol.
In general
Sueanne is a wife and mother of three. Her family lives on a grain and cattle farm in Central Queensland amongst the coal mines. Sorghum, chick peas, and wheat are the main crops grown. The cattle were an extension to their farming operations in 2020 and have proven to be a popular addition to farm life.
At home, Thelma (from Aaron Blabey’s ‘Thelma the Unicorn’) the chihuahua thinks she is queen of the household. If you sit down, she’s in your lap. If you have food, she’s at your feet. If she’s outside and thinks she should be in … she knocks on the cat door. Literally. Thelma rules it over Zena the cat who endures the excitement of the small dog in small doses, and occasionally gives Thelma a thorough licking (of the cleaning kind, not the beating kind) while the chihuahua sits there savouring the attention. Thelma has a bigger gal-pal, Ella, a border collie pup, who would like to play ALL DAY LONG with the little dog who looks like an overgrown rat and can sleep inside … in the human’s beds. Ella is constantly looking at her human’s with her head cocked and an ear in the air wondering why they don’t play ALL DAY LONG. Zena does not like Ella and occasionally gives her a thorough licking (of the beating kind, not the cleaning kind). And then there’s Jazzie, the labrador who lives up the road at Sueanne’s in-laws. The dogs love a wander in the countryside … it’s just lucky there are so many acres for them to do so.
Sueanne thinks she could be the next singing superstar and even went on The Voice. Yep. The Voice of the Ocean on the Ruby Princess back in 2017, when world-wide travel was still a thing and cruise ships weren’t known as a pandemic breeding ground. But, she didn’t even make it past the first round of karaoke in one of the bars with her weirdly American-accented version of Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’. Her family thought it was hilarious. Not sure why. It now appears her youngest is following in her footsteps with her love of “singing”.
While a thick and lush green lawn is a source of pride for Sueanne, this is about as much as her green thumb can manage. Trees and other plants learn to become drought-tolerant in her garden, although she has improved at that pesky task of keeping the water up to them. Pot-plants look good on her verandah for a little while … and then they die. Not a good look for a farmer’s wife.
Reading is Sueanne’s most favourable pasttime (other than writing, of course), and in 2018 she decided to start keeping a list of the books she has read. These can be found on the blog as ‘Done and Dusted’ and lists the title and author, but over on Insta you will find a post with a bit more about each book (not a review as such, each post is more to shine a light on the book she has read).
Her family loves to waterski, wakeboard, disc, kneeboard … and the associated camping with friends that comes with it. But they don’t do it nearly often enough! Taking photos of sunsets is another of Sueanne’s favourite things to do.
