Mystery
Date Published: May 17, 2017
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing
Tucson, Arizona – Eighteen-year-old Matt Garrison is harboring two terrible secrets: his involvement in the drowning death of his 12-year-old cousin, and a night of drunken sex with his best friend’s mother, Crystal, whom he finds dead the following morning. Guilt forces Matt to act on impulse and hide his involvement with Crystal.
Detective Winston Radhauser knows Matt is hiding something. But as the investigation progresses, Radhauser’s attention is focused on Matt’s father. Matt’s world closes in when his dad is arrested for Crystal’s murder and Travis breaks off their friendship. Despite his father’s guilty plea, Matt knows his dad is innocent and only trying to protect his son. Devastated and bent on self-destruction, Matt heads for the lake where his cousin died—the only place he believes can truly free him. Are some secrets better left buried?
Redemption Lake is a novel of love and betrayal. It’s about truth and lies, friendship and redemption, about assuming responsibility, and the risks a father and son will take to protect each other.
Interview
Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want
Readers to Grasp?
Redemption Lake is about an eighteen-year-old boy who is
unable to forgive himself for the death of his 12-year-old cousin. He holds
himself responsible for the drowning, even though he, too, was only twelve.
After making a scene at his mother’s remarriage, he gets drunk with his best
friend’s mother and they end up in bed together. They are both shocked and
stunned by what they’ve done. She won’t let him drive until he has slept off
some of the beer. When he awakens, she is dead. It is a book about truth and
lies, betrayal and forgiveness. And how sometimes the most important person we
must forgive is our self.
In Redemption Lake, I’d
like my readers to see that Matt is human, that he’s made some terrible
mistakes, but that forgiveness and redemption are possible if he is willing to
take responsibility and face up to the truth.
I’ll also like to say
that I’m so grateful to my readers. I had no idea how much it
would mean to me to have a reader write a review or send me an e-mail about how
much they enjoyed the book. It means so much more to me than money—just to know
someone enjoyed and was moved by my story.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging
in your writing?
Writing is hard work. It takes dedication and a willingness
to spend long hours in isolation. There are times when family issues get in my
way. Balancing can be difficult. And I’m often torn. I want to be the best
possible wife, mother and grandmother. But I’m also driven to be the best
storyteller I can be.
How many books have you written and which is your
favorite?
I’ve written 8 novels
so far. I’d say my favorite is A Bend In The Willow because, more than any
other of my books, this one draws from my life, what I’ve learned, what I’ve
loved and what I regret.
If You had the chance to cast your main character
from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?
I would choose Timothy
Olyphant (from the Elmore Leonard Netflix series, Justified) to play Winston
Radhauser because of his rugged good looks and the way he fills out a pair of
jeans and a Stetson.
When did you begin writing?
I don’t think I decided to become a writer. I believe I was
born a writer. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing. Let’s face it,
writing is isolating and doesn’t pay very well. I’m not sure many people would
choose to write if they could avoid it or were of sane mind. When I was a little girl, my father won a
Smith Corona portable typewriter in a poker game. He gave it me. It came with
45 rpm records guaranteed to have you typing. It was the beginning of my life
as a writer. I taught myself how to type with the help of those records and
starting writing poems and stories. I’ve never stopped. I went back to college
after my children started school. This time I majored in creative writing.
How long did it take to complete your first book?
It generally takes me
about a year to complete a novel. I’m trying to work faster these days because
I now have a publisher and that has changed everything. I recently read a book
about a woman who’d taken her productivity from 2,000 to 10,000 words per day.
She gave some very helpful hints about writing faster. And I strive to get
2,000 words a day now. It doesn’t always happen, but I am writing faster than
in the past.
Did you have an author who inspired you to become
a writer?
I believe the first
book I ever read that inspired me to be a writer was To Kill A Mockingbird. I was a child when I read it, but it remains
my favorite book. Atticus Finch was such a wonderful character. He fought hard
for what was right, for what he believed in, even though he knew victory was
impossible. He was a man you never forget. He touched my life. I wanted to touch
the lives of others by creating my own memorable characters.
What is your favorite part of the writing
process?
The best part of the
writing process for me is when I get totally immersed in the fictive dream and
all concepts of time disappear. People ask me if it is lonely being a writer
and sitting in front of a computer screen for hours on end. Yes, it can be. But
once the dream has captured you, it is thrilling, filled with excitement and
adventure, and there is absolutely nothing I’d rather be doing.
Describe your latest book in 4 words.
Mysterious,
heart-wrenching and human.
Can you share a little bit about your current
work or what is in the future for your writing?
I have just completed
the edits and handed off my 3rd manuscript to Tirgearr Publishing. It is the
second in the Detective Winston Radhauser series. Detective Radhauser (whose
first wife and son were killed by a drunk driver) has remarried a woman he met
in Redemption Lake. They moved to Ashland, Oregon and now have a 4-year-old
daughter. The second book in the series is entitled, When Time Is A River. I’m currently working on the third (River of Silence) which we hope to
release in early 2018.
About the Author
Susan Clayton-Goldner was born in New Castle, Delaware and grew up with four brothers along the banks of the Delaware River. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona's Creative Writing Program and has been writing most of her life. Her novels have been finalists for The Hemingway Award, the Heeken Foundation Fellowship, the Writers Foundation and the Publishing On-line Contest. Susan won the National Writers' Association Novel Award twice for her novels and her poetry was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies including Animals as Teachers and Healers, published by Ballantine Books, Our Mothers/Ourselves, by the Greenwood Publishing Group, The Hawaii Pacific Review-Best of a Decade, and New Millennium Writings. A collection of her poems, A Question of Mortality was released in 2014 by Wellstone Press. Her novel, A Bend In The Willow, was published in January 2017. Redemption Lake, the first in a 3-book detective series, will be released May 17, 2017. Prior to writing full time, Susan worked as the Director of Corporate Relations for University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona.
Susan shares a life in Grants Pass, Oregon with her husband, Andreas, her fictional characters, and more books than one person could count. In her spare time, Susan likes to make quilts and stained glass windows. She says it is a little bit like writing, telling stories with fabric and glass.
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