Writer Of The Week: Sue Hassett
Sue made her “Friend” writing debut with her story “Standing Out”. It appeared in Special 253.
Tell us about your short story writing.
I loved writing stories as a child, but only began writing seriously just before the millennium when I enrolled on a Writers’ Bureau course. At the time I was looking for something new to do. I wrote a lot of stories and was lucky enough to have several published in a magazine.
After a while though I moved on to doing other things, like researching my family history, and didn’t start writing fiction again until the lockdown. At this point I enrolled on an online writing course which really got me writing again. After the pandemic was over I joined a local writing group which I still enjoy and find a great source of inspiration and encouragement. And since then I’ve had a number of stories published in writers’ magazines and of course recently in “The People’s Friend”.
Who are some of your favourite authors?
I’ve always read widely, and studied English literature at college. Two of my favourite classical authors are Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte. Over the years my taste in books has varied a lot. At one time I read vast numbers of historical novels and Daphne du Maurier was another favourite. I belong to a book group now, so read many authors I may not otherwise consider. I recently discovered Amor Towles for example. Some modern writers I enjoy include Kate Atkinson and Deborah Moggach, but I also like Kate Morton, Katherine Webb and Rachel Hore among many others.
Did you always want to write fiction?
Apart from childhood scribbling, I never really considered writing fiction until the late nineties. Though I read a lot, I don’t think I ever saw myself as a writer.
Do you have a writing room at home?
I use a spare bedroom as an all-purpose study with lots of book shelves, a desk and a small writing table. And this is where I keep my laptop which I use for developing and editing my stories. I usually write a rough draft first in a note book, and I can do this anywhere in the house.
What are your future writing plans?
I recently began writing poetry as well as stories and I also enjoy writing occasional articles. I would love to continue with all these and hopefully see more of my work in print. I’m not sure at the moment if I want to write a novel, but I would like to try writing some longer stories.
Thank you, Sue! You can catch up with all of our Writer Of The Week here.
