Susan Juby
(from her website)
I was raised in Smithers, BC, Canada and lived there until I moved to Toronto at age 20. I had a brief and unsuccessful career as a fashion design student and, after I worked at a series of low paying jobs, such as server, record store employee, etc., I began a degree in English Literature at University of Toronto, which I finished at the University of British Columbia. After graduating I became an editor at a self-help/how-to book publishing company based in Vancouver. Later, I did a master’s degree in publishing.
When I was a kid I wrote fiction but gave it up for a life of crime. Okay, that’s not true, but I did get seriously sidetracked. That time in my life is the subject of my memoir, "Nice Recovery". When I was twenty, until I got myself together and when I was about 26 I started writing, in the morning before work, first on the bus, then in a coffee shop. This writing became my first novel, "Alice, I Think", which was published by Thistledown Press in 2000.
When I first started writing my intention was to write a book about a teenager who doesn't fit in, but doesn't allow that fact to crush her. The Alice MacLeod series is my homage to oddballs. I wanted to create a character who has the courage and integrity to find her own way and define herself independently of other people. I've always admired people who can do that.
After finishing three books about Alice and her family, I decided that my goal is to write every kind of book I love to read. I’ve always loved horse books. I was a lunatic for horses when I was younger. I owned several horses over the years (for a time when I was quite young I was convinced I was a horse, but let's keep that between us) and I became obsessed with an equestrian sport called dressage. I quit riding when I left home to go to college, but part of me always thought I could have been a "contender". (In retrospect, I'm not sure why I would have thought that.) Anyway, I got a nice pay day when Alice, I Think was made into a TV series, and the first thing I did was rush out a buy a horse and start working on a book about two young dressage riders. The story was initially about two girls, but soon I fell in love with a secondary character, a boy named Alex, and the book became mainly about him. That one is called "Another Kind of Cowboy".
I’m also a maniac for detective novels, which led to "Getting the Girl", a comedy about an inept detective and a high school conspiracy he is determined to stop. Book number six is my memoir. I developed a bit of a substance abuse problem when I was thirteen and I ended up getting clean and sober when I was twenty. Nice Recovery is about that time. The book includes information for people with addiction problems and interviews with amazing young people in recovery. My love for satire and the End Is Nigh novels led me to write "Bright’s Light", which is that rarest of things: a funny dystopian novel about young dunderheads in the last fun place on earth and the alien who wants to save them.
"Home to Woefield", as it’s known in the U.S. and "The Woefield Poultry Collective" as it’s known in Canada, is a comedy about a young woman from Brooklyn who inherits a derelict farm on Vancouver Island. It’s the first of my novels published specifically for adults, though I’d say at least half the readers of my other books have been adults. I hope all my readers will like it. (It does contain quite a bit of swearing. Just be forewarned!) I’ve always wanted to be self-sustaining and able to grow my own food. All I lack is land and skill. The sequel, "Republic of Dirt", is scheduled to be published January 2015 by HarperCollins.
My next teen novel is called "The Truth Commission". It will be published March 2015 by Penguin Canada and Viking U.S. The story is about a group of teens who attend an art high school who start a truth-telling club with consequences both dire and funny.
In addition to my writing, I teach creative writ
“It’s important to give people the benefit of the doubt even if they don’t deserve it.”
“I’ve always wanted to be self-sustaining and able to grow my own food. All I lack is land and skill.”
“Can you dance?Of course, I said, even though I can’t really. I think enthusiasm counts for a lot in dancing and in life.”
“It’s funny how you can be all alone and in danger and then a minute later feel totally safe, like you’ve never been lonely before.”
“People never like to talk about their slower relatives. I got a cousin, twice removed, got webs between his toes, ain't said one word his whole life. You never hear about him in the family newsletter that goes around every Christmas. Hell, nobody mentions me, either, if it comes to that. Families is funny about who they advertise.”
“Sherman: You are the worst.Rick: You taught me everything I know.”
“When I write my book I'm going to tell people that if they happen to forget their wide-mouth jar, they should pee far enough away from their position so it doesn't ruin their hiding spot.”
“Well, at least I can spare myself the ordeal of a whole battery of personality tests. My personality is poor; that much is clear.”
“Not being a big one for having friends, I had no idea what I was going to do with Aubrey, you know, to entertain him.”
“I am not a people person.”
“If you start looking up, they start asking questions.”
“Much as I usually dislike nice, positive people, I have to admit that Margaret isn’t bad.”
“I may never recover. It was like an out-of-body experience. I’m an alien trying on human rituals.”
“I don’t care about this stuff. I’m not even sure I’m a girl. I’m an eye in the sky. I am detached. I’m an idiot.”
“It’s not a good idea to let on about extreme happy feelings. People get ideas.”
“I haven’t been that happy since I became conscious for the first time, you know, when I became aware of myself and got so uncomfortable and everything.”
“I’m already in the late stages of advanced detachment where my mother is concerned. With a little practice I could feel that way about everyone.”
“I think MacGregor might be a genius. Anyone so oblivious to the horror of the human world must be.”
“Maybe careers aren’t something you can really plan for. They just sort of happen, like brown eyes or flat feet. I took one of those career aptitude tests last year, and it showed that I should be a flight attendant or a seamstress. Not a fashion designer or anything, mind you, but a sweatshop worker. Apparently stewardesses and sweatshop workers and I enjoy a lot of the same interests and activities.”
“If you are alive and conscious, you are probably codependent.”
“In the future if my mother tries to shame me with her disapproval, I will let her know in no uncertain terms that I reject her and all of her codependent baggage. I am Codependent No More.”
“If the facts don't fit your theory, just find some new facts.”