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In 1992, she wrote the
critically acclaimed Work of Her Own: How Women
Create Success and Fulfillment Off the Traditional
Career Track. "I think that book was ahead of its
time," she admits now. "At that time, a lot of
women were still struggling for a foothold on the
career track. Today, more women have jumped off the
track - bailed out - and found success on a
different realm."
Susan Wittig Albert has been a
pioneer in women's achievement in a true sense both
on and off traditional career tracks. At the age of
21, she was the mother of three and a freshman in
college. Excellent undergraduate earned Susan a
prestigious Danforth Graduate Fellowship and a move
to Berkeley, California , where she earned a
doctorate in only four years, though as she writes
in Work of Her Own, she and her husband were
divorced a week before her oral
examinations.
Her early academic achievement
led to a fast and hard climb up the career ladder,
teaching at the University of Texas, earning tenure
in a mere four years, and marrying again along the
way - an architect who was equally committed to his
career. She writes that ten years after receiving
her doctorate, she accepted the vice presidency of
SWT - and she and her second husband
divorced.
Somewhere in the midst of this
successful career Susan said, "I looked at myself
and realized that this was not the fast track to
happiness, fulfillment, or true reward. I was
lonely, empty, and sad."
She asked for - and received - a
leave of absence - to re-energize, to rest,
reconnect with her grown children, spend time with
her parents, make some friends, and find
herself.
That year, she recalls, was
Susan's first extended free time in her entire
adult life - and she used it well. After that year
of reflection, Susan went back to SWT and resigned
her vice presidency to pursue a career as a
writer.
"It is something I enjoyed, I
had passion for, and was work I hoped would support
me without consuming me," she said.
This month, as her ninth China
Bayles mystery hits the shelves and the best seller
lists, Susan looks back on that decision with no
regrets.
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 Susan Wittig
Albert
photo by Bill
Albert
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She married to Bill Albert (also
a career leaver) and they moved to Bertram, Texas,
about as far off the beaten path as they could get.
She writes in Work of Her Own, our earnings during
the first year were only 20% of our combined former
salaries, but we earned enough to support the
lifestyle we had chosen."
Susan and Bill were committed to
partnership and a life together, rather than
climbing a ladder toward some perception of
success. They worked six hour days on writing
instead of sixteen.
And perhaps most importantly, as
artisans, they learned to derive their status "from
their competence rather than from the manipulation
of others or of bureaucratic systems."
Susan said, "Our health improved
dramatically in those early years. Chronic back
pain that I had suffered from for years
disappeared. Headaches that had once been daily
routine were nonexistent. And Bill's blood pressure
dropped twenty points during that first
year."
And now, dozens of books later,
Susan Albert has truly found Work of Her Own and
celebrates those decisions that brought her to this
point every day.
The week she left SWT, Susan
walked into the local bookstore and headed for the
young adult section. She loaded up a double armful
of "chapter books" and carried them to the
cashier.
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"I studied the plots and structure
of those books. I wrote a few sample chapters and sent them
off to the editors of several of those series- and stand
alone- books. And surprisingly, I got a call from one of the
editors offering me a chance to write for them. I started
slowly but before long was cranking out a book a month," she
laughed, as the waitress set a decedent slice of Katz's
carrot cake before us.
"When I was 12 years old, if you had
asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have
told you 'Nancy Drew,'" she said, as we dug into the carrot
cake.
So it's easy to see why one of the early
highlights of her newfound writing career was ghostwriting
Nancy Drew mysteries as Carolyn Keene.
"Bill and I were approached by the
publisher and asked if we would be interested in writing
some Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books," she said. "Of course
we were!"
And so, during the mid- to late- 80s,
they contributed to the annals of Nancy Drew and the Hardy
Boys with such titles as The Haunted Doll House and Heart of
Danger.
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In 1992, Susan wrote the
nonfiction Work of Her Own, which was published by
Putnam, and in 1996, Writing From Life: A Journal
of Self-Discovery for Women , her second nonfiction
work led to a series of Story Circle workshops and
seminars focusing on personal narratives and
designed for women.
In 1992, Susan Wittig Albert
wrote the first in a series of mystery novels
featuring herbalist China Bayles, a former
successful Houston criminal attorney who abandoned
her career and opened an herb shop in Pecan
Springs, a small university town located half-way
between Austin and San Antonio, Texas. (Sound
familiar?)
Susan describes her protagonist:
"China wants the things that many contemporary
women seek: a quieter life, rewarding work, a close
relationship, friends, and community. Each of the
mysteries has a signature herb that is connected to
a major theme, and each is liberally sprinkled with
information on growing and using herbs."
China Bayles has catapulted
Susan Albert into national bestseller circles and
onto "must-read" booklists across the country.
Publishers Weekly calls the novels "page-turners"
and The Los Angeles Times book reviewer calls her
most recent release " one of the best-written and
well plotted mysteries I've read in a long
time."
Fans of the China Bayles books
look forward to what has become an annual event -
the release of the newest installment in China's
life. While each book stands alone as a well-told
tale, readers have watched China evolve over the
past decade into a beloved friend and the neighbor
we wish we had.
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The China Bayles Mystery
Series
Thyme of Death (1992) --China's
first adventure. A friend dies--murder or suicide?
Witches' Bane (1993) --China and
Ruby discover that the supernatural isn't funny.
Hangman's Root (1994) --Animal
rights, academic politics, and murder--a potent
mix.
Rosemary Remembered (1995) --Who
remembers the victims of crime?
Rueful Death (1996) --Grace,
forgiveness, and the mystery of community.
Love Lies Bleeding (1997) --China
learns a tough lesson in love.
Chile Death (1998) --Hot stuff,
folks! (Funny, too)
Lavender Lies (1999) --Mystery,
murder, and a wet 'n' wild wedding
Mistletoe Man (2000) --What's
Christmas without mistletoe? What's life without
Ruby? Join China as she faces both of these
difficult questions.
-
from the official China Bayles website:
http://www.mysterypartners.com
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Susan Albert and her husband Bill
have developed a good routine for their writing. "Bill is
great at plotting the mysteries. We work on that first, of
course. And then I sit down to write. It takes 62 days to
write a China Bayles book," she said, off the cuff. "It's
fairly simple math - each book is 85,000 words, and I write
about 1,500 words a day. Given a little time for rewriting
and research, that takes two months."
"The rest of the year is spent promoting
books, lecturing, researching and working on other projects.
Susan and Bill Albert write another successful mystery
series together under the pen name Robin Paige.
Susan describes the Robin Paige Victorian
mystery series: "They are set in the late 1890's and feature
two sleuths: Kate Ardleigh Sheridan and Sir Charles
Sheridan. Kate is an Irish-American woman who writes
penny-dreadfuls under the pseudonym of Beryl Bardwell. Sir
Charles is a landed peer and amateur scientist with a
special interest in new forensic techniques, such as
fingerprinting, ballistics, toxicology, and photography. In
each book of the series, Kate and Charles meet notable
figures of their time. "
As China has grown and developed as a
character, Susan admits that loyal readers have taken
ownership and tend to be even protective of her. "I have
gotten e-mails and letters from readers who take exception
to some of the directions I have 'allowed' China to go. I
appreciate their loyalty and enjoy the comments. And I am
reminded of once when I was writing a Nancy Drew mystery and
I had her cry in one scene. My editor sent the chapter back
for revisions along with a note that said ' Our Nancy never
cries.' Well, I said, I think she should."
Susan thinks one of the secrets to
China's success has been that the character has been allow
to grow as have the supporting characters in the
stories.
The books are written and planned with
seasonal releases in mind. The current Mistletoe Man is set
during the Christmas season and is the perfect read for
curling up in a rocking chair near a crackling fireplace. As
critics rave about the latest China Bayles release, Susan is
busy wrapping up the next book, tentatively titled Bloodroot
Fall, which will come out in May or June.
China has grown through gentle
transformations into Texas-style splendor as she has evolved
into a best-selling protagonist and Susan couldn't be more
pleased with the success. "Honestly, China's success has
surpassed any of our expectations and now I am just glad I
went with herbs for the titles instead of the letters of the
alphabet," she laughed. "We're all wondering where Sue
Grafton's going to go after Z is for...?"
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