Writing Secrets, with Susan Shapiro Barash

Send us a text! We'd love to hear your thoughts on the show. A powerful secret can do more than create suspense. It can reveal what your characters value, what they fear, and how far they will go to protect the lives they have built. In this episode of The Resilient Writers Radio Show, I’m speaking with Susan Shapiro Barash, the author of 14 nonfiction books and five novels.  Susan writes fiction under the name Susannah Marren, and her latest novel, Palm Beach Confidential, explores wealth, privilege, family loyalty, female rivalry, and the lasting consequences of keeping a life-changing secret. At the center of the novel is Lucinda Barrows, a prominent Palm Beach matriarch whose carefully constructed life is threatened when a secret from her past is about to be exposed. Lucinda also has three adult daughters, Maribelle, Caroline, and Raleigh, each navigating her own ambitions, relationships, and place within the family. Our conversation offers a fascinating look at how writers can use secrets to create suspense while still developing emotionally believable characters. Susan explains why a secret cannot exist simply as a plot device. It must grow out of a character’s circumstances, desires, fears, and choices. We also talk about Susan’s decades of research into women’s lives. For her nonfiction books, including Estranged: How Strained Female Friendships Are Mended or Ended, Tripping the Prom Queen, and A Passion for More, she has interviewed hundreds of women across generations and backgrounds. That research gives her fiction a rich understanding of female relationships, social expectations, judgment, betrayal, and survival. Susan shares practical insights into her writing process, from beginning a novel with a clear sense of its opening and ending to discovering the middle as she writes.  She keeps detailed notebooks about her characters, including their longings, clothing, food, relationships, and histories. Once the first draft is complete, she revises chapter by chapter, asking whether the writing is clear, sharp, well paced, and emotionally true. We also discuss the publishing journey and why writers need both persistence and support. Susan reflects on working with publishers including St. Martin’s Press and Meridian Editions, studying with E. L. Doctorow, and returning to a novel she first began during her MFA. She also explains how a skilled freelance editor can help a writer identify structural or developmental problems that are difficult to see alone. In this episode, you’ll discover: How to use secrets to deepen character and strengthen suspense Why wealth and privilege do not protect characters from conflict How nonfiction research can inspire compelling fiction A practical approach to drafting and revising a novel Why outside editorial support can improve a manuscript How to stay resilient through an unpredictable publishing career If you’re writing a novel, revising a manuscript, or wondering how to make your characters more layered and emotionally convincing, I think you’ll find plenty of insight and encouragement in this conversation with Susan Shapiro Barash.