Published by Susanne Severeid through iUniverse
The Death of Milly Mahoney
Susanne Severeid
Summary of the book
A gritty, fast-paced murder mystery, set against Southern California’s entertainment industry, pitting tabloid journalist Trix Donovan against a desperate killer with secrets from the past.
Author Bio
Susanne Severeid has had a many-faceted career: beginning as a fresh-faced young model in California, working her way up through major television commercials, acting in popular t.v. shows, anchoring documentaries, and writing.
In her thirties, she moved to Holland from Los Angeles with her European husband and continued her career very successfully. She was first signed by a top talent agent to perform her one-woman cabaret show about the life of Marlene Dietrich (The Days of Dietrich), and later starred in a popular European nightime soap. Susanne worked regularly as on-screen presenter for an international business news program, hosted documentaries, and was the "face" for scores of major corporate industrial films. She also worked as an international radio journalist, and did voice-overs for top commercial accounts. She
was a course lecturer in Public Speaking at the University of Amsterdam, anchored an Emmy Award-winning documentary for PBS-TV, and worked as media consultant for top corporations, chairing major international conferences and moderating panel discussions.
Now back living in the U.S., she is concentrating on her family and writing. Her first novel, The Death of Milly Mahoney, a murder mystery set in Southern California, is gathering acclaim.
She is currently working on a sequel,
as well as on her second children's book.
Story about the story
For me, it was a good time to get into writing. My life had been very hectic working non-stop in the
performing arts field, including several years in Europe, and I'd reached a point where I just really
wanted to spend more time at home with my young son and husband. I'd been wanting to write a
book for some time, a book where I could make use of some of the colorful characters and situations
I'd come across while a young model and actress in Hollywood, but not an autobiography. I love
writing fiction because it gives you so much more freedom. Since I'd already sold some articles and
a children's book (published by a major European publisher), it just seemed like perfect timing.
The hardest part about the process of writing The Death of Milly Mahoney was forcing myself, really
disciplining myself, to actually finish it, and then to do the difficult work of editing, proofing and
polishing, especially since I'm a stickler for detail. I really can make myself crazy with all that.
There were days when I was ready to chuck the whole thing, and there were days when it was so
frustrating because of all the other demands on my time.
One thing I really enjoyed during the process was my decision to participate in our local Citizen's
Police Academy. I wanted to make sure that I got police and judicial procedure right in my book,
and I learned so much. I really dislike it when authors don't take the trouble to get things right
or have characters behave in ways, or say things, that they would never do or say in real life. I
was really pleased when I got an email from a former L.A. Police Commissioner/detective who
said I'd really nailed it in terms of accuracy.
I learned that I love the creative "flow" of writing, it's like a high for me. And, from the beginning,
I truly believed in Milly. I always felt it would make a great book and movie, and I was determined
to get it out there!
Why you choose to go “indie”
I spent several months following the old route of trying to get an agent, who would get me a publisher,
and it soon became clear to me that it was a waste of time. At least at that point it was, because I
had no contacts in the literary field at all. Let's face it, these people are flooded with material and it's
virtually impossible, as an unpublished author, to get a decent agent to read even your query (much
less manuscript), and nowadays virtually no desirable publisher reads or considers any manuscript
unless presented by a powerful agent.
Some author friends were encouraging me to go POD with Milly, and the feedback I was getting on
the manuscript was really terrific. I mean, people were telling me things like, "I don't care how you
do it, this book is too damn good not to be published!" So that certainly helped.
I initially approached the world of POD and self-publishing (with all its "vanity press" baggage) with
a lot of trepidation. But after I researched it, I became aware of the enormous changes that have
taken place in just the past couple of years. I managed to find the few POD companies who are legit
to work with and am enormously grateful to people like Victoria Strauss (www.sfwa.org/beware/) and
the people who put together the website: http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/. These are
invaluable sources of information to help writers make their way through the shark-infested waters
of self-publishing. I ended up going with iUniverse and have really gotten full value from them. They
saw me through every step of the way, assisted me with everything, and they still give me continuing
advice on how to market Milly! I read a major editorial recently that said most interesting books
right now are coming out of the self-published and indie field.
Biggest mistake(s)
Wasting too much time in the beginning trying to get an agent. I should have gone POD right away.
At least it gives you the book in your hand as a tool and you can start getting some reviews. I would
also caution writers about certain small independent publishers; some of them basically operate the
same as a POD, and they lack the clout for store placement or promotion, and you can actually be
better off self-publishing rather than have them go bankrupt on you, tying up your work, or screwing
you over as has been known to happen. Or they want your manuscript on an exclusive basis while
they take their sweet time and have it lay in a slush pile for months. I've always been an entrepreneur,
so I wasn't scared off by the basic idea of POD or of the hard work involved. Who ever said it would
be easy? I was more concerned about the nuts and bolts and certain obvious drawbacks: having to
entirely market your own book, not being easily obtainable in books stores, etc.
Best thing(s) that happened
Easy, and in this order:
1. Deciding to go with iUniverse and then fullycommitting to that decision. It gave me a
professionally finished, good-lookingbook that I could submit and market, rather than an
unwieldy box of 300-some,double-spaced, loose-leafed pages.
2. The wonderful break of the rave review by PODDY-Mouth(http://girlondemand.blogspot.com/2006/06/death-of-milly-mahoney-by-susanne.html), and the subsequent mention in Entertainment Weekly magazine ("Picks of 2006") .
3. Being signed by top agent Frank Weimann of The Literary Group. I've been thrilled with the
progress of The Death of Milly Mahoney and the fact that people seem to be enjoying it.
Word of encouragement to other upcoming “indie’s”
I encourage you to move toward your dream and not let anyone, or anything, discourage you. There
are many ways to reach your goal and independent publishing is turning out some of the best of what
is out there in the marketplace right now: edgy and inventive. But be realistic and educate yourself;
do your research about which path is best for you and make a smart, well-informed choice so you
don't get ripped off. Believe in your dream, in yourself, and in your book. Make sure that your
"product", the final book, is as polished as it can possibly be. And most importantly, believe that what
you have to say is important, and then follow your passion and do it.
In The News
Please check out this recent article about Susanne at
http://www.sequimthisweek.com/currentstw.pdf
Contact Info
Frank Weimann, The
Literary Group International
www.theliterarygroup.com
(212) 274-1616
The Stanford Building
51 East 25th Street, New York, N.Y. 10010
