My Story

I have lived in many places and followed many paths—winding, backtracking, then going forward again.

 

I was born in Denver but raised in Southwestern Kansas. My educational background in music, specifically opera, also traveled. I began college at Wichita State University, returned to Denver for one semester, then returned to Wichita to finish my BME in Music Education. The San Francisco Bay area beckoned and I studied there for nine months as an alternative to the flatlands of Wichita. Next, I lived in steamy Baltimore where I earned my MM in Vocal Performance at the Peabody Institute, then apprenticed in opera at Tri-Cities Opera in Binghamton, New York. I have worked as a singer, chorister, arranger, conductor, music director, and opera administrator. However, being the DIY person I am, I couldn’t resist composing three operas to my librettos and writing the words and music for four classical song cycles. However, the written word has always been in my blood.

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Besides Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers series (middle-grade detective books for ages eight to twelve years), Susan also hosts the literacy podcast, Beyond the Books | The Language of Success. Other books in progress include a YA time travel series, The Storyteller, based upon the Scottish Myrddin tales, and an adult historical women's fiction/romance, The Blossoming of Bernice. For more on her books and characters, visit Books & More | Susan Stoderl. To follow her blog, visit Scribbles & Thoughts | Susan Stoderl.