About J.Suzanne Frank
Me in a snapshot.
I’ve always been an observer. Weird details fascinate me. I am addicted to personality tests. I’m the person who talks to servers, because no one should be invisible. Doctor Who phrases pepper my conversation.
I believe we are each on a Hero’s Journey. All different phases for all the different parts of our lives. All the time.
My favorite thing is connecting people to other people, books and ideas. I read and learn constantly. I feel I need the nonstop flow of words and ideas in order to produce them.
I see connections everywhere. To me, identifying and understanding them deepens my appreciation and joy in the world. Or the story.
Or whatever the topic is.
That awareness adds a sparkle to all I see.
And I really LOVE sparkle!
About My Series
Ibises and women
The moment when I decided I must follow all ibises and especially a near-extinct one in Morocco, is lost. The consequences are far-reaching, however.
“Laws of Migration” is my first women’s fiction, my first story that is generated entirely from character’s need, and probably the first time I wrote a broken character.
This book happened the same time I started investing in female relationships. It’s when I became aware of the fragility of the world we’re in. It’s when I started working with heartsore adults who were trying to be the best they knew to be.
And sorta failing.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I was also building the stage design for this upcoming series. The ibises have a lot more to say!
(Me in Morocco, wielding binoculars. Bald Ibises on the shore. )
Time Travel
History. Beauty. Chloe and Cheftu, my first (character) loves. This series was born because of my great lifelong love of ancient Egypt. It was the book I wanted to read, but couldn’t find. (And I read EVERYTHING on ancient Egypt!) Chloe is a final incarnation of a character I began in grade school.
I wanted her to be an artist, so she could experience the wonder of Egypt when it was still colorful, and the language was still spoken.
She needed to be some kind of ‘brat’ so she could adapt to falling back in time a few thousand years.
And I wanted her to be adjacent to Egyptian knowledge, but not an expert. (Her sister is.) I wanted Egypt to be a new world she’d explore.
By the time I finished the first book, I couldn’t bear to say goodbye to my newlyweds (spoiler alert!) and fortunately my editor– and readers!– felt the same way.
We had a good run for four books, and I thought it was over.
For me, as a writer, each book needed to explore another facet of them as people within pivotal moments in history.
The first, Reflections in the Nile, was bright and romantic. The second, Shadows on the Aegean, was dark and sexy. The third, Sunrise on the Mediterranean, was luminous and tender. The fourth, Twilight in Babylon, was hot and provocative.
Where to go from there?
Hang on … they were just getting started! All new adventures coming soon!
Style and Mystery
I grew up on Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and the other ten or so kids series about solving crimes. I graduated to romantic suspense, at the pen of Helen McInnes, Victoria Holt, Barbara Michaels and everyone else whose book featured a brooding hero and a dramatic location.
Writing one was inevitable!
Also inevitable, it wouldn’t be brooding, it would be kinda funny and filled with wacky characters. (Also, “wacky’ would be an accurate description.)
These are available on Audible! And the hero, Dallas O’Connor, comes from a large, sprawling Texas family. While you haven’t seen anything from her in a while — she’s been on the other side of the world with hobbits!– she’s coming home soon!
(My exact thought before I descended 100 feet through the earth: I wonder if I’m claustrophobic?)
