The Sugar Ticket: Meet Author Susan Jean Ricci

The Sugar Ticket, by Susan Jean Ricci

Susan Jean Ricci joins us today for another edition of Meet the Author. Her character, Cindy Layton, leaves me grinning, laughing, and crying as she charges from one misadventure to another. I recently read one of Susan’s short stories in the Cindy series and corresponded with her about it. Afterward, we thought, hey, this would make a great interview. So here goes!

What inspired you to write Cindy’s adventures?

It was all my muse’s fault! Here I was, minding my own business while writing a journal about my Internet dating misadventures. Suddenly this Cindy person began intruding on my thoughts and butting in with her own opinions on how I should be turning my posts into a fictionalized accounting about conquering Mid-Life Adolescence. I couldn’t shut her up, so I just let her take over.

Tell us more about the series and who would enjoy it.

The series is called Cindy’s Crusades and is about a 50ish woman who finds herself twice divorced and a bit jaded about relationships, and romance in particular. Then she meets Jay DeMatteo, a man with a similar past who tries to convince her it’s never to late too pursue a meaningful relationship.

I’m hoping anyone who’s been railroaded in a relationship or who are lucky enough to be enjoying a solid, permanent relationship can relate to my characters and their memory cemeteries/baggage. I try to keep a harness on my Cindy-Muse, but she sometimes gets carried away and there’s no stopping her.

The characters feel so real. As I read about their trials, tribulations, comic mishaps, and triumphs, I wondered how much you pulled on your own experience.

Cindy could possibly be my alter ego, except I try not to take myself that seriously. I tend to steer my Cindy-Muse into a more humorous arena, because as an author I like to entertain and embellish. True, some of Cindy and Jay’s adventures have actually happened, but not to such extensive escapades as I pen. I only have to say to my Muse, What If? Then she goes crazy!

What do you think makes for great fiction? How do you try to achieve that in your own writing?

Gosh, I think any creative process, especially while writing fiction needs focus, devotion, and passion in order to be successful. Plus, I have a great imagination. My worst faults with my writing are procrastination, social media hopping, and allowing distractions to interfere with my creativeness. Once those issues are discarded on a daily basis, anyone with the drive and ambition I strive for can succeed. And I know I’m not alone with these issues.

Who are some of your biggest influences as a writer?

My mother was my first fan and champion when I began writing as a child. I typed up a neighborhood newspaper on an old Underwood, using carbon paper for the copies. I called it The Hill Weekly, and it was filled with neighborhood gossip. My mother sent a copy to President Kennedy and his secretary sent me back two autographed photos – one of the President and the other of his family. Then along came my current husband, whose faith and encouragement fills me with an incentive I never thought was possible.

Who’s your favorite character?

Ha! I have a few – Rhett Butler, Mitch Rapp from the Vince Flynn series, and Gabriel Alon from the Daniel Silva series.

What’s ahead for you?!

I’m working on the third book in the Cindy’s Crusades series. More importantly, I’m writing about what it’s like to be raised with a handicapped sibling and eventually becoming his Guardian (no working title as yet), which is a role I’ve been fulfilling my entire life. I hope to have both out by the end of the year. Thank you for asking.

Synopsis of The Sugar Ticket:

Cindy Layton and Jay DeMatteo are back again! The Sugar Ticket chronicles their marital journey as the two twice-divorced adults learn to embrace the sweetness of their present. When the inevitable complications arise, will the DeMatteo’s gently overcome their obstacles by alleviating the sour taste of the past through the light-hearted humor you enjoyed in Dinosaurs and Cherry Stems, or will they sweep their issues under the proverbial taboo-topic carpet?

Find out how these two mid-life adolescents meet their daily tribulations head on, as they conquer their fears, secrets revealed, and the most fundamental challenge of all – remaining in love forever.

About Susan Jean Ricci:

Susan Jean Ricci and her husband Joe live in a lovely New Jersey town near the sea. Together they have seven children and nine grandchildren.

An award-winning, internationally read, From Women’s Pens author and humorist, Susan is best known for her series of works titled Cindy’s Crusades that includes two novels, Dinosaurs and Cherry Stems and The Sugar Ticket, the short chronicle Twilight and Chickadees, and a collection of short stories titled Heart Marks the Spot. She has also published what she refers to as her sometimes controversial rants in the Asbury Park Press. Her nonfiction articles have appeared in Parenting Teen Magazine, Aim Intercultural Magazine, and Good Dog Magazine. Susan has won several awards via the Writer’s Digest 78th Annual Writer’s Contest and the Philadelphia Writer’s Conference. Her short stories A Super Sandy Christmas and Two Miracles For Christmas are appearing in Annie Acorn’s 2014 Christmas Treasury and are on sale now.