Jul 21

Jul 21 Susan-Alia Terry

Author Susan-Alia Terry

Biography

From a very young age, Susan’s inner world was rich and varied. An avid reader, she enjoyed all sorts of stories, but it was fantastic stories of myths and monsters that caught her fancy. What entranced her about these stories was that anything was possible. Comic books, stories of witches and ghosts – these were the things that sparked her imagination and her dreams. She spent much of her time daydreaming elaborate stories of heroes and alien worlds, entertaining herself for hours on end. Later on, it was the writing of Stephen King that opened up a new world. The characters were real people – the folks next door, or even herself – it was a welcome revelation, even if she found them both enthralling and terrifying.

Consumed by music and a love of the creative arts, she considered making a career out of those passions. In high school and later in college, she participated in the theatre, and also wrote poetry. But it was religion and the larger questions of life that led to her to choose Religion as a major, with the intent to one day enter the ministry.

Upon graduation, she entered the work force as an Office Professional and set aside her creative leanings. During this time she worked in various industries: non-profit, manufacturing, and educational. She continued to write poetry and document her dreams while falling in love all over again with the fantastical through the works of various writers, including Anne Rice, and Clive Barker. A layoff and a desire for more autonomy led Susan to become licensed in Massage Therapy. While the work was enjoyable, it was hard on the body and she was forced to accept that her wrists could not withstand years of strain, and so she went back into office work. A fortuitous move to Santa Fe reawakened her desire to create and led her to explore wheel thrown pottery as a hobby.

Moving back east for family reasons meant that she had to set aside her pottery, but not her desire to create. She spent more and more time documenting her dreams, and writing down story notes and ideas. Even as she did this, she never seriously considered writing as anything more than an occasional indulgence. But in the fall of 2006, a whim and curiosity led her to participate in National Writing Month, and to her surprise and delight, she finished! It was then that everything changed. Writing had become her focus, passion, and purpose. Desiring to learn as much as she could about the craft, she enrolled in a MFA program. Upon finishing the program, Susan threw herself into the completion of her first novel: Coming Darkness, which combines her life-long love of fantasy and vampires with her background in religion.

Susan resides in Charleston, SC with her family, and when not rescuing lizards captured by her “earthly angel” Charlie, she’s working on completing the next book in the Coming Darkness series.