
Susan Stoderl
- 5 days ago
- 1 min
From Writing Art Songs and Opera to Middle-Grade Fiction | Prairie Girl (2008)
During my second career, after singing and running a small opera company, I began composing art songs and opera. In 2008, I wrote about...

Susan Stoderl
- Mar 10
- 2 min
Writer’s Life | Self-Promotion—Only One Word For It
YIKES! (That’s the nicest word I could think of.) Are you telling me I have to get out there and talk to people and collaborate with...

Susan Stoderl
- Feb 14
- 2 min
A Most Unusual Writer’s Life | Charles, Duke of Orléans (b. 1394–d. 1465)
In 1406, Charles and his first wife and cousin were married. He was twelve, and she was seventeen and already a widow. She died of...

Susan Stoderl
- Jan 17
- 2 min
What I Would Do Differently | Part 2: Know Why You Are Writing
Knowing why you write before, during, and after self-publishing a book is important. The reasons why you write determine what story you...

Susan Stoderl
- Nov 18, 2022
- 3 min
Confessions of a Self-Care Avoidance Expert
After putting out my first book last week, I had an endless list of things to do to market it. I was overwhelmed and exhausted and could...

Susan Stoderl
- Nov 2, 2022
- 2 min
The Week Before Sophia Comes Out
I was deciding what to write about today and then it occurred to me. What else could I write about but my anxiety about getting...

Susan Stoderl
- Oct 28, 2022
- 1 min
The Dreaded Finding
One of the nastiest words in the writing world has to be "typo." I discovered that today, but luckily it was me who found it and it's...

Susan Stoderl
- Oct 7, 2022
- 1 min
Writer's Life Update
#middlegradedetectivefiction, #middlegradefiction, #middlegradezoobooks, #indieauthor

Susan Stoderl
- Sep 24, 2022
- 2 min
Sophia Autobiographic? Nah... Well Maybe a Little
Several weeks ago, I scribbled a brief article on an interview by Writers Cooperative with the author, Amy Tan. She spoke about the...

Susan Stoderl
- Sep 22, 2022
- 1 min
Self-Publishing = Chaos
#selfpublishing, #indieauthor, #sophiaofthebrightredsneakers, #middlegradefiction, #middlegradeadventure


Susan Stoderl
- Aug 24, 2022
- 1 min
Fanny Fern Tales | Getting Up the Wrong Way, Part 2
Part two in my Fanny Fern Tales series is based on her humorist columns published in the New York Ledger in the 1850s-70s. The articles,...


Susan Stoderl
- Aug 17, 2022
- 1 min
Fanny Fern Tales | Getting Up the Wrong Way
This will be the first in a series of readings of Fanny Fern's columns which were published in The New York Ledger. Excerpt two will be...

Susan Stoderl
- Aug 3, 2022
- 1 min
Self-Publishing | A Merger of Two Biggest Publishers
As many of you may know, the U.S. Department of Justice is suing to block a merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster. If...