I have a story to tell you.  Something incredible happened last fall.  A girl who had never published anything before, had virtually no social media presence or any fame sold her book. And she sold big.

The book came to her like a downpour, it wrote itself between picking up kids and lacrosse practices, playdates and Christmas dinner. The characters co-opted her life with their profundity, their humor and their wild depth.

When I read excerpts in its beginning stages, I felt like I’d been given secret passage into a vivid, sometimes heartbreaking world that felt absolutely real.

This novel, Night Blindness, flew out the door to NY and exploded like first novels almost never do.  Sold in a week, at auction, bookstores and reviewers around the nation began sending overwhelmingly positive reviews. It became an Indie Next pick, was in Germany before the year was out and television stations started calling for interviews.

The girl with the story was caught in a whirlwind she never expected, because here's the beautiful secret (read more..)  like all bestsellers, this book started with a very intimate, personal story. Susan's dad had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She had gone to live with him, and, she told me later, the story started then. The book was a way to move through her grief, to find a friend (her main character) with whom she could share the loss of a great man.

All she’d done was make an offering, shifted truth to fiction and risked penning an imaginary world.

And because of that risk, the book is about to launch. And because I adore Susan and I’m mad about this book, I am inviting you to celebrate with me.

Pre-book sales are every writer's dream, and I've attached links for us to surprise her with as many book orders as we can muster (below).  The byproduct is that you will get a fantastic page-turner before the book sells out of its first printing.  I've also included her October reading schedule, Susan is a blast to be with and she would LOVE to see you in the audience.

And... in the comments below send any note of encouragement, luck or love you have for Susan as she takes her first step on the golden road paved with words.  I will collect them and love her up with them. If you have friends who love to read or need encouragement with their writing, you can give them the gift of forwarding this along to them.

Thank you SO much for doing this. All this love and support we are giving her on her debut will come back to you one million times, in making your own dreams come true and your own small stories come alive.

With Sweetness, Suzanne.

"A beautiful debut filled with perfectly drawn characters, the visceral feel of a New England summer, and a long-buried family secret. I loved every page." –Kristin Harmel, internationally bestselling author of The Sweetness of Forgetting

Pre-pub Sales Outlets for Night Blindness:

Shop Local at IndieBound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250042835, fantastic pre-reviews on this site.

Powells: http://www.powells.com/biblio/9781250042835, you can also read a thorough synopsis here.

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/night-blindness-susan-strecker/1117685335?ean=9781250042835

Live Events:

October 9^th:     12pm Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT- luncheon & signing

7pm at Ballou's Wine Bar in Guilford, CT hosted by Breakwater Books- reading & signing

October 11^th    7:30pm at Madison Beach Hotel in Madison, CT- launch party (this is private but
if you buy a book and send a love note I am sure we can grab you an invite!)

October 16^th    6:30pm at Essex Library in Essex, CT hosted by Essex Books- reading and

signing

PS: my favorite page on Susan’s website is this one: www.susanstrecker.com/twenty-five-things/

Don’t forget to leave your love below!!