> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://lifeonwords.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Susan Wiggs: 60-Plus Novels and What They Cost - URL: https://lifeonwords.com/susan-wiggs-60-plus-novels-and-what-they-cost/ - Published: 2026-08-12T09:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-05T06:15:59.000Z - Description: Susan Wiggs sold her first book in 1986 while teaching full-time with a one-year-old at home. She's since written more than 60 novels, won three RITAs, and hit the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. We talk about what that life has cost — a decade of… - Author: Terry Heath - Tags: Podcast, #rs-0a4ace55-533b-491e-9bd5-066b357cad04, Susan Wiggs [▶ Listen to this episode](https://lifeonwords.com/susan-wiggs-60-plus-novels-and-what-they-cost/) · 1h 1m Susan Wiggs sold her first book in 1986 while teaching full-time with a one-year-old at home. She's since written more than 60 novels, won three RITAs, and hit the *New York Times*, *USA Today*, and *Publishers Weekly* bestseller lists. We talk about what that life has cost — a decade of television, some friendships, the steadiness of a predictable paycheck — and what it's given back. Also: the insecurity that never leaves, the bicycle wreck that nearly stopped her, and why she says you have to be ready when your luck comes around. **Key topics** - What she peeled away to make room for book after book - Why she told almost no one she was writing a novel - "Writers are one of the most insecure populations I can think of" - *Wayward Girls*, the Good Shepherd homes, and New York's look-back law - Why she'd rather be called a writer than an author - Operation Baby Lift, and the book she's researching now - The 2025 bicycle accident and a year of recovery - Book signings where nobody came **Timestamps** 02:03 A decade of TV, and the friendships that went 03:30 Uncertainty, anxiety, and the stress of being a sole proprietor 05:30 Creative gratification, and writing first drafts by hand 06:20 A stranger in foreign sales who sold her books around the world 07:34 What it cost her family — and her daughter's honest verdict 09:38 Texas in the eighties, and a first husband who wasn't a patron of the arts 10:15 Why she kept the novel to herself until she could point to a publisher 12:14 Confidence, insecurity, and never quite dropping the backup plan 14:19 Where the next book comes from — and Operation Baby Lift 16:47 On the term "women's fiction," and why she says commercial novels 18:18 Writer vs. author, and why the distinction matters to her 19:19 What she'd be doing if the writing hadn't taken 20:56 What she gave up: a predictable schedule, and health coverage 22:25 A typical writing day, and the four-hour limit 24:40 Admin, social media, and the other hats 27:14 "You don't want to be just a life support system for an imagination" 28:44 Stephen King, James Lee Burke, and why envy isn't the word 29:50 *The Carrot Seed*, the first book she ever read alone 30:53 What she'd tell her younger self — and what she wouldn't 33:15 The advice she got, and where to find the straight story 35:24 The imprint that closed, and the launch slot that opened 37:35 When paperbacks came out like magazines 40:30 A million words of apprenticeship, and avoiding writing programs 42:10 Whether it's harder to start now 43:28 The bicycle wreck, the airlift, and the year after 46:02 Beach-read covers with unplanned pregnancies inside 49:39 Her process: the pitch, the synopsis, and leaving room to be surprised 52:32 What people get wrong about writers' income and hours 54:29 The most unglamorous thing she did this week 55:59 The signings where nobody came 59:27 What's next: an eclipse in the North Sea ### Books mentioned [![Wayward Girls: A Novel](https://lifeonwords.com/content/images/2026/08/cover-9780063118263-3.jpg)](https://bookshop.org/a/94291/9780063118263?ref=lifeonwords.com)[Wayward Girls: A Novel](https://bookshop.org/a/94291/9780063118263?ref=lifeonwords.com)Wiggs, Susan [![The Lost and Found Bookshop A Novel](https://lifeonwords.com/content/images/2026/08/cover-9780062914118-3.jpg)](https://bookshop.org/a/94291/9780062914118?ref=lifeonwords.com)[The Lost and Found Bookshop A Novel](https://bookshop.org/a/94291/9780062914118?ref=lifeonwords.com)Susan Wiggs [![Sugar and Salt A Novel](https://lifeonwords.com/content/images/2026/08/cover-9780063211193-3.jpg)](https://bookshop.org/a/94291/9780063211193?ref=lifeonwords.com)[Sugar and Salt A Novel](https://bookshop.org/a/94291/9780063211193?ref=lifeonwords.com)Susan Wiggs [![The Carrot Seed 60th Anniversary Edition](https://lifeonwords.com/content/images/2026/08/cover-9780060233501-3.jpg)](https://bookshop.org/a/94291/9780060233501?ref=lifeonwords.com)[The Carrot Seed 60th Anniversary Edition](https://bookshop.org/a/94291/9780060233501?ref=lifeonwords.com)Ruth Krauss