Q&A with Susen Edwards

 

 

Susen Edwards is the author of the new novel Lookin' for Love. Her other books include the novel What a Trip. She lives in Middlesex, New Jersey.

 

Q: Lookin’ for Love was inspired by a true story--why did you decide to write this novel?

 

A: When I met “Ava” in 2018 she told me bits and pieces of her life: her marriages, her children, her addiction and recovery, and her prison time in Kenya. She expressed interest in me writing her story but dredging up her past became too painful for her, and we put a halt to the project.

 

Fast forward to 2021 when our conversations began once again. Over the next year Ava’s life unfolded. She spoke of her challenges, heartbreaks, and her search for love and acceptance.

 

Ava’s courage, determination, and salvation will serve as an inspiration not only to women struggling with addiction and loss, but to all women.

 

Q: The writer Ashley E. Sweeney said of the book, “Recovering addicts and members of faith-based recovery programs will find a familiar--yet wholly original--protagonist to cry with and ultimately cheer for.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Ava’s story is unique; yet her struggle with abuse, rejection, and substances will be familiar to many. Lookin’ for Love travels back to the go-go bars of the 1970s; to the heart of South Florida’s drug trade; to a Kenyan prison; and finally, the American Southwest.

 

Through it all she experiences tragedies and joys; and, ultimately, learns the power of forgiveness, faith, and love through recovery.

Q: Did you need to do any research to write the book, and if so, did you learn anything that especially surprised you?

 

A: In addition to weekly interviews with Ava, I did extensive research into Kenya’s countryside, women’s prisons in Kenya, the South Florida drug trade of the 1970s and early 1980s, the “go-go” bar scene of the 1970s, and today’s faith-based communities.

 

In addition to my internet research, I read more than 50 newspaper and magazine articles, and The Underground Empire by James Mills (1986).

 

What surprised me the most in my research was learning that not all high-profile drug dealers of the time were violent and mercenary. Fortunately for Ava, she connected with a group of fun-loving hippies with good business acumen. Our interviews and my research corroborated their non-violent approach to international drug smuggling.

 

Ava’s tale of physical and sexual abuse reminded me that women were considered second-class citizens during the 1960s. As Ava says in the novel: “The 1960s were a time of change, social unrest, and women’s liberation. All of that was slow to reach me. Tom [her first husband] had friends on the police force. Even if he hadn’t, I couldn’t file a complaint. Women were always at fault. Our bruises were self-inflicted or justified.”

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: Lookin’ for Love is a story of one woman’s search for love but it’s so much more. At a time when a staggering number of women in the United States are struggling with addiction, loss, and maintaining their basic human rights, this book provides a realistic and uplifting beacon of hope.

 

Ava’s message is to never give up.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I recently finished the first draft of a sequel to my first novel, What a Trip, and am immersed in the never-ending world of editing (with which I have a love/hate relationship!).

 

I’m also in the process of interviewing a veteran financial advisor, researching his amazing stories, and beginning to write his memoir.

 

Q: Anything else we should know? 

 

A: I’ve been writing memoir and fiction for decades but turning a memoir into a novel has been uniquely challenging. It’s much more than changing names and places. It’s respecting the integrity of my characters and the story, adding and deleting details, while keeping the story intact.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Susen Edwards.