Susan owes her existence to the convergence of two diverse lines of strong women. Her maternal grandmother came from meager origins and was a working mother; her paternal grandmother flew small planes and is said to have once met Amelia Earhart at a Chicago airfield. Her own mother became a stringer for the New York Times, returning to journalism once her children were teenagers. She insisted on stict rules of ethics and grammar, something Susan appreciates more now.

Susan earned a B.A. in International Relations from Brown University and a J.D. from Case Western Reserve. Her dream of becoming Perry Mason never materialized, though she did manage to emulate his physique. After a short stint in a small firm, she practiced mainly environmental law, serving in two state Attorneys General and one County Attorney Office, as well as the Department of Justice. In another period, she wrote for a criminal law biweekly publication where, in addition to other duties, she was the unofficial science writer, interviewing forensic experts and even created a ballistic evidence guide for lawyers. She has taught legal writing to Paralegals and English as a Second Language to adult learners, true labors of love which she remembers fondly.

After becoming AARP eligible, she finally went all in to her creative side, first getting an Acting Diploma from The National Conservancy of Dramatic Arts in DC, followed by an MFA in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. While working on her first assignment—making a list of books which most impacted her life—she was surprised to rediscover inscriptions her late mother had written encouraging her to pursue writing. One was dated after she was actually in law school shattering her belief that her parents had wanted her to be a lawyer. She is now happily doing what she wanted to do all along. When not writing or reading, she is an avid (though unskilled) bird and nature watcher.