Be It Resolved That. . .

Susan Sleeman here, wishing all of you a Happy New Year. I’m not a person who usually makes New Year’s resolutions. I’ve spent too many years setting unreasonable expectations then breaking them and feeling bad for doing so. But this year something, perhaps it’s God, has been telling me it’s time to make a few changes in my life. So as 2013 rolled around, I took a long look at what I wanted to change.

The old me would’ve instantly chosen the typical New Year’s resolutions of weight loss or exercise. But I’ve already been eating healthier and working toward being more physically active for the last six months, which has resulted in weight loss. Yay! So I had to dig deeper and look harder and that led to a time of great soul searching and prayer.

Resolving to change in the upcoming year is basically the same process characters go through in a book. As the story opens, the character is faced with a dilemma that will change their lives. They may not know it yet, but after the author puts enough obstacles in the character’s path, they realize how important change is to them and they take the steps to make the change. The obstacles in romantic suspense books are often high, and I personally love to make them life-threatening.

Nothing better than almost losing your life to put your priorities in place. For example, in Dead Wrong, my latest release, Kat Justice has lost her birth parents and her adoptive parents. So she worries about losing other people she loves and does everything she can to make sure they come to no harm. Plus she refuses to open her heart to another person for fear of losing them. I won't tell you what causes her to change as it would be a spoiler, but by the end of the book she learns that loving someone is more important than not loving because of fear of losing them.

Though I make my characters experience life and death, I’m so thankful choosing my resolutions didn’t involve a life-threatening situation. So what about you? Did you make a resolution? If so how are you doing with it?

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SUSAN SLEEMAN is a best-selling author of inspirational romantic suspense and mystery novels. Her first romantic suspense title, High-Stakes Inheritance earned a spot on the ECPA bestseller list and her Garden Gate Mystery series, which features Nipped in the Bud, and Read Between the Tines has enjoyed time on Amazon bestseller lists as well. And The Christmas Witness was named a finalist in the 2011 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense.
Much to her husband's chagrin, Susan loves to look at everyday situations and turn them into murder and mayhem scenarios for future novels. If you've met Susan, she has probably figured out a plausible way to kill you and get away with it. Don't worry, she'd never follow through on it.
In addition to writing, Susan hosts the popular internet website www.TheSuspenseZone.com.
She currently lives in Florida, but has had the pleasure of living in nine states. Her husband is a church music director and they have two beautiful daughters, a very special son-in-law, and an adorable grandson.

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