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MEET SUE FLIESS (3/2011)
by Bonnie O'Brian

What books influenced you most when you were growing up?

Sue Fliess

One of my favorites was SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE. I was so worried that he’d never see his Mom and Dad again – it struck a chord. I also loved all Shel Silverstein’s poems, even the ones that scared me. Some of my favorite picture books were not that well known like CREOLE, about a creature in the woods seeking acceptance, and a book called THE ADVENTURES OF THE THREE COLORS, which sparked a real interest in art for me – I still have both books today. I loved WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS, and adored DEENIE and ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT’S ME MARGARET? HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS was also a favorite.

Did you write stories when you were growing up? at school? Or at home as a hobby? As a young child, or as a teenager, or both?

I wrote many poems as a child, mostly for my family, and as a teenager writing poetry became an outlet for me. I wrote poetry for a literary magazine in high school, throughout college (I wrote a Dear Sue column of all things), and even wrote poetry into my first year of work after college. But it wasn’t until I joined a writing group in New York City while working there, that the group encouraged me to try writing something other than poetry - a novel. That novel (for adults) is still unfinished, but it planted a seed in me that I could write other things and challenged me to take on longer works.

When you went to college, were you already pursuing a writing career? (or a career in illustrating? or just art in general?)
 
I did not pursue a writing career, but rather, art. I thought I wanted to be an illustrator. I learned to paint at the early age of 8 – I think the paintings are still hanging around my parents’ house! I went to school to pursue a career in illustration, but about halfway through college I had a change of heart – and changed my major to marketing communications, keeping fine art as a minor. I still love to draw, and aspire to illustrate my own books one day.
 
What was your first job when you graduated from college?

Ironically, I was a publicist for adult books at Penguin USA (at the time I worked for Berkley Paperback Books). Now that I am my own publicist for my books, the experience has paid off in spades.

What are the topics of some of your books?

The topics of my books vary greatly. I’ve written picture books, middle grade (writing one now) and young adult. Though I’m only published in the picture book genre right now, I hope that changes. I’ve written about robots, nature, fractured fairy tales, guinea pigs, death, toys, trucks and farm animals. When I get an idea, I try to write and see where it takes me. Sometimes it takes me nowhere, and sometimes I’ll start with one idea and end up with a completely different one. I love that writing is full of surprises.

Do you do other types of writing - for example, educational, nonfiction, magazine work?

I’ve written - and still write – for many types of outfits. When I was trying my hand at children’s books, I wrote for a parenting website called Education.com as well as a travel website called TravelMuse and Bay Area Parent Magazine, all located in Silicon Valley. I wrote journalistic articles, book and product reviews and travel destination pieces. I write (on a volunteer-basis) articles for my neighborhood’s newsletter, covering human interest stories, and most recently I’ve been writing for a gift-giving startup called  Cloverbyclover.com and I’m a part-time copywriter for eBay. I just recently sold an article about rejection to Writer’s Digest Magazine that was published in their February 2011 issue.

Do you work on more than one book at a time?

Almost always. The trick is not abandoning one of the stories altogether. You hear it all the time: writers are mid-way through a book and they get a brilliant idea that simply cannot wait another second. Before too long, they are mid-way through that book and another idea pulls them away too. And none ever get finished. So, I try to be disciplined about it by sending versions off to my critique group on one, and while that’s being reviewed, I go back to the idea I was working on before I stopped for the other one. For me, it keeps every project exciting and often it’s just the break I needed to re-inspire or rethink the direction it was going. There is value in letting one idea simmer and working on another idea can give me the space I need.

What are you working on now?  When do you expect to start submitting it
to publishers?

I am working on four stories right now – three picture books (a sheep, a nature-themed story and a fractured fairytale) and one young middle grade about a guinea pig in a pet store. My goal is to have drafts of all of them to my writing group this April, and final copies to my agent shortly after. Hopefully she’ll begin submitting these stories by summer.

When is your next book going to be in book stores?

SHOES FOR ME! (Marshall Cavendish; $12.99) is in bookstores now, and my next two picture books, A DRESS FOR ME! (Marshall Cavendish) and TONS OF TRUCKS! (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), will be available in bookstores next spring, likely the March/April timeframe.