Your Next Favorite Author –Susie Black!

She’s Back!

It’s too hot…but just the right temperature for murder.

The United Television Network exiles disgraced investigative reporter Sunny Knight to a remote California desert affiliate. The station owner tells Sunny that, since nothing happens in the middle of nowhere worth investigating, the station doesn’t need an investigative reporter, and she is now the weather reporter. After they have a vicious altercation, the station owner’s bridge partner is discovered dead, and Sunny’s boss is arrested for the murder. Despite her differences with her boss, Sunny is convinced that the station owner didn’t do it. The wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth jumps into action to nail the real killer. But with a clown car full of viable suspects to investigate, will Sunny bring the right one to justice or become their next victim?

Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, multi-award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. She has published ten books in five years, and book eleven is slated for release in November 2026. 

She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and is the mother of one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect. 

Avis: Welcome to Your Next Favorite Author! Today’s guest has truly become one of my favorite authors, and I met her through YNFA. Welcome Susie Black, and she’s back to wow us with another page-turner! Her newest cozy mystery, The Forecast Is . . . Murder! was released in August of 2026. This debuts a new series and a new protagonist for readers to love!

            Let’s find out more! Our first question today is:

Do you have to research the settings you use in your books?

SUSIE: Since the Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series is set in the industry I spent my career in, other than the details of the murder weapon, I do not need to do much research. However, for The Forecast is…Murder! Which is the debut title of The Sunny Knight Mystery Series, I had to do a great deal of research regarding the weather conditions in the California desert, date palm trees, the date industry, and how weather impacts the desert economy. 

Avis: I know how much people love research, NOT! Personally, I do love it, but readers don’t have to worry! Because of your research, the story leaps off the page with desert high temps and water problems currently found in the news and in desert communities. I love how you work these elements into your plot and storyline!

 Let’s move on to our next question:

What is the most difficult part of developing your protagonist and building her character arc?

SUSIE: Because I write books within a series, the most difficult part of developing the protagonist is giving the character specific, recognizable, and unique personality traits that transcend the series and that readers will remember and relate to.

Avis: The job of a good author never ends, does it? But you masterfully develop your new protagonist, Nelly Dean Knight, aka Sunny, who is sassy and determined, and a woman many of us can relate to. She’s someone we’d like to follow into some of the trouble she gets into! 

            Okay, next question please:

What is your biggest distraction to writing?

SUSIE: Without any question, my cell phone and social media. 

Avis: I am laughing out loud right now because your answer is so short and to the point! Enough said! Going down the rabbit hole of streaming, scrolling, and clicking is the bane of many an author! Trying to do research and stay on track, then avoiding the ping of a text? Almost impossible! Life in the tech age for an author has its issues. In spite of that, you are prolific, turning out multiple novels in a year! I don’t know how you do it! Next time that will be my question for you! 

In the meantime, here’s another:

How do you come up with your cover designs, or do you let an artist do everything?

SUSIE: I come up with the cover design ideas and direct the artist in detail as to what my vision is. As a former sales exec, I look at book covers like they are a brochure. This means I see book covers as my business card and first and most important sales and marketing tool. All my book covers are designed to give the reader some information to determine if the story is for them: What the genre is, what the particular story is about, and what the stakes are. Most importantly, my book covers are designed to pique the reader’s curiosity enough to take the book off the shelf for a closer look, hopefully leading to a sale.

Avis: Your beautiful covers are always filled with color and details pertinent to the story, and I want to meet the sassy woman on this cover and see what mischief she’s going to get up to! 

            Here is another question for you:

Does your family support your career as a writer?

SUSIE: Absolutely YES. My husband and son are my biggest fans, greatest cheerleaders, and my go-to men when I need a man’s point of view on how a male character would react to or create a situation. 

Avis: You are so lucky to have that kind of support! I have Carl to keep my male characters based in reality! I often miss the mark. LOL! The support of your family might explain how prolific you are. It takes support from those we love to help us stay on track with the writing!

            We’re down to our final question of the day:

Do you Google yourself?

SUSIE: I do. Sometimes I’m surprised by what I read about myself. LOL

Avis: Another short and sweet response! Next time I’ll ask what you found that surprised you! LOL! It’s so gratifying to see people respond to us and our writing, and to know that we are visible with a quick check on Google. I’m sure you find all good things!

That brings us to the end of another YNFA interview! Thank you so much, Susie, for visiting with us today! I’m sure fans and readers of cozy mystery will love Sunny and The Forecast Is . . . Murder as much as I did! Stay tuned, readers, for book two in The Sunny Knight Mystery series.

Susie Black Social Media Links: 

Blue Sky: https://www.hollysusiewrites.bsky.social

Facebook: Susie Black, author of The Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series | Facebook

Facebook: https://facebook.com/TheHollySwimsuitMysterySeries

Instagram: Susie Black (@hollyswimsuit) • Instagram photos and videos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/authorsusieblack-61941011

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hollysusie1_saved/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/@hollyswimsuit

Substack: https://2650.substack.com  

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B093JXXQR4?ccs_id=f0567e59-38d2-44bc-86b1-01cb40651a7a

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/susie-black

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/21437641.Susie_Black

Review

Susie Black’s latest cozy mystery, The Forecast Is . . . Murder! takes us to the high desert town of Cactus City, where Nelly Dean Knight, aka Sunny, with her Scotty dog, Angus, in tow, finds her destiny. Well, that might be a bit of a stretch, but she does find a weather person job, triple-digit temps, a lecherous lead anchor, a battle ax for a boss, oh yes, and a murder!

            Meant for bigger things, like Pulitzer Prize-worthy investigative reporting, or so she believes, Sunny prepares her weather reports for the local channel, KCTS, owned by Edwina McClintock. Her son Ambrose runs the family hotel, a little flea-bag hotel where Sunny lands when she first arrives in Cactus City. Edwina also owns a date farm, and even if she socializes with her neighboring date farm owner, they are first and foremost competitors. Sunny learns date farming is right up there with water rights and water conservation in terms of controversy and territorial disputes.

            But is water enough to kill for?

            Sunny develops a series of informative programming on water conservation to show on her TV program. She begins gathering information about water shares and water rights possessed by each farm. When Mrs. Sullivan is found murdered, Sunny begins a different kind of research, one that gets her into big trouble in this small, dusty town.

            Susie Black’s latest cozy, The Forecast is . . . Murder! from her new Sunny Knight Mystery series will delight mystery readers and fans alike. Her usual wit, masterful story weaving, and high suspense are all present and accounted for! Five stars for this one!

By Avis M. Adams