Susan Elizabeth Phillips Books

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Susan Elizabeth Phillips is an American author that writes romance novels. Born in 1948 in Cincinnati, Ohio, she attended Ohio University (BFA in theater arts) before landing a teaching position at a local high school.

She left to become a stay-at-home mother when her first child came along. Susan’s husband Bill was in college when they met. He was studying engineering. The author is not afraid to admit that she had no idea what engineers did.

She went so far as to ask him whether he spent his days fixing toasters. Bill was a dedicated husband. Despite various obligations, he was present for the birth of their first and second child.

Susan’s foray into publishing was accidental. The family had abandoned Ohio for Central New Jersey because of Bill’s job, and Susan shared a street with her best friend, Claire.

Susan and Claire took great pleasure in reading books and gushing about them to one another. Eventually, they decided to write a novel together. The pair spent the next few weeks plotting the story as they rode their bikes.

But once they actually sat down to write the book, Susan and Claire quickly realized that they knew next to nothing about writing. It took them four hours to pen three sentences.

However, they had no intention of giving up. They created a system that began with the pair carefully plotting each scene. They would also role-play the dialog. It would then fall on Claire’s shoulders to take notes and then write what they had discussed on her typewriter.

Susan would inspect the draft and make changes where necessary. She was not afraid to throw entire drafts away, forcing Claire to start over. Their friendship shouldn’t have survived this process, but it did.

Rather than waiting to finish the book, the best friends decided to call Dell Publishing’s editor with only half a manuscript in tow. The woman in question was nice enough.

In fact, after asking a few questions, she requested a sample of their story, which Susan was more than happy to provide. However, the subsequent request was a little more challenging.

The editor wanted a synopsis. This was a problem because Susan and Claire had no idea what was supposed to happen in the next chapter, let alone the ending of the novel. They were not prepared to write a synopsis.

But they went ahead and wrote one. To their utter shock, Dell Publishing accepted their submission. The author secured a book deal practically overnight, a development that makes her peers in the industry jealous because some of them have to struggle for years to land a friendly publisher.

The pair spent the next 12 months finishing the novel. They published the manuscript using the ‘Justine Cole’ pen name. Although, ‘The Copeland Bride’ is out of print today.

Susan and Claire’s partnership did not survive. Writing was not Claire’s passion. She went to law school and became a US attorney, leaving Susan to persevere by herself in the publishing arena.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips Awards

Susan has won several Rita Awards.

Best Susan Elizabeth Phillips Books

The author had to make adjustments after Claire left. She found that writing was not as fun. But she had so many stories in her head that she couldn’t stop writing. Susan’s best books include:

It Had To Be You: No one expected Phoebe to succeed. They were all too quick to dismiss her as a dumb bimbo. Her father was no different. Rather than disinheriting her, he gave Phoebe a football team even though she knew nothing about sports.

But she would only keep the team if they won. If she lost, her annoying cousin would gain control over the Chicago Stars.

Dan Calebow was not amused by the idea of Phoebe running his team. But the coach couldn’t bring himself to write her off because of his intense attraction for her.

Kiss an Angel: Alex Markov bit off more than he could chew. Daisy’s father wanted her to marry the humorless but handsome man, and she did not have a choice in the matter.

The only other option was to go to prison. To Alex, Daisy was just a spoiled brat he needed to tame. When he took the woman away from her uptown life, he had no idea that he had finally met his match.

When Does The Next Susan Elizabeth Phillips book come out?

Susan Elizabeth Phillips doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Simply the Best and was released on February, 13th 2024. It is the newest book in the Chicago Stars Series.

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