Susan Isaacs
Susan Isaacs
Susan Isaacsis an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter. She was born in Brooklyn, New York to Helen Asher Isaacs a homemaker, and Morton Isaacs an electrical engineer. At Queens College, she majored in English and minored in economics. After college, she worked as a senior editor at Seventeen magazine and also as a freelance political speechwriter...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth7 December 1943
CountryUnited States of America
began extent fully joined learning novelist rote
We joined a Conservative synagogue. I began learning through engagement, rote and reading. Suddenly, I belonged... well, to the extent that a novelist can ever feel she is part of a group; we may be part of a minyan, but we're not fully merged into the community.
candles catholic december decorating housewife jewish private sabbath turns
My first novel, 'Compromising Positions,' was a whodunit. The protagonist was a Long Island Jewish housewife who turns private investigator. But she was Jewish the way I was: lighting Sabbath candles but envying her Protestant and Catholic friends' December decorating options.
I wanted to be a cowgirl... But, you know, it was pointed out to me that, you know, growing up in Brooklyn, there wasn't much opportunity... for cowgirlery.
far opportunity people reacting women
I like to show ordinary people reacting to extraordinary circumstances. It's an opportunity for adventure, and I like women to have adventures. There's been far too little of it with women.
dollars earn hate hollywood laughed nonsense people thousands unhappy work year
I hate when people say, 'Oh, they laughed all the way to the bank.' That's nonsense because the most cynical, unhappy people are Hollywood screenwriters. They earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for work that's never made.
befriend criminal good inherently lawyer married people thinks
I am married to a happy camper. He's a criminal lawyer who thinks people are inherently good and will befriend him. His father, at 93, is the same way.
complete experience matter sad work
For a novelist, no matter what, it's a complete work, even if it's not published. But if you write a screenplay, and it's not performed, then it's a sad and frustrating experience.
future maybe next shoulder tap
Could there be a cowgirl in my future? You know, I never know what character is going to come and tap me on the shoulder and say, 'Hey, tell my story.' So maybe the next one will have boots.
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Being a novelist is the adult version of a kid creating a make-believe world. But unlike a child, a writer of fiction has to come up with a structured story, one that has as much meaning for others as it has for her.
coherent life novels suddenly
As for writing novels - it's what I've done for 30 some-odd years. I can't suddenly say I'm going to take up golf. I need something in my life. As long as I can write a coherent sentence, I'll keep at it.
With my middle-class metabolism, the suburbs were where I always wanted to be.
begin character plot
There is no 'right' way to begin a novel, but for me, plot has to wait. The character comes first.
great neck
There are so many different worlds in Long Island. That's why it's so fascinating. Between Great Neck and Montauk, there are 10,000 worlds.
lose time track
There are days where I lose track of time, of place, of everything else, because I've been transported to another universe.