Susan Furlong Books In Order

Publication Order of Bone Gap Travellers Books

Publication Order of Georgia Peach Mystery Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Susan Furlong is an American Author that writes mystery novels. Furlong is best known for the Georgia Peach and Bone Gap Travellers series.

+Biography

Susan Furlong was born in 1967 in Battle Creek which is in Michigan. Raised in North Dakota and a graduate of Montana State University where she studied Spanish and French, the author has lived all over the United States with her husband and four children, though they have called Central Illinois home for quite a while.

That might explain why so many of the author’s books are set in Illinois.

A writer of short stories and novels, Susan Furlong was a high school language teacher. When she finally left the education sector, she started to carve out a path for herself in the freelance writing market.

It wasn’t long before Furlong tired of academic writing and decided to dip her toes into fiction writing, with great results. Furlong has been recognized for her efforts as an author of cozy mysteries. She has also seen her short stories make appearances in magazines like ‘Woman’s World’.

+Literary Career

Susan Furlong’s publishing career began when she wrote a short story set in the mystery genre and it garnered the interest of ‘Untreed Reads Publishing’. It was around that time that Furlong began to refer to herself as an author.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t written before. Rather, that was the first time someone other than her friends and family read and appreciated her fiction. Of course, back then Furlong had no idea just how much discipline it took to be a professional writer.

She had operated within the publishing arena for a long time, but outside the field of fiction. And she knew that there was an element of discipline involved. In fact, she was ready for it.

What she did not count on was the amount of juggling she would have to do to get her novels out on time, especially in light of her active family. The author has since mastered the art of writing and marketing her books even while keeping her husband and her children happy.

Susan Furlong will admit that she had an easier start than most. Her first story was accepted on the initial submission. Knowing how difficult it had been for other authors to get their short stories published, her immediate success shocked Furlong, though she was also quite pleased.

It took her a while to realize that novels were a wholly different ball game. She had to wait three years to find a publisher willing to take a chance on her first book.

Furlong doesn’t know when the writing bug bit her. She knows she always had an active imagination. But there was no one point where she decided that she would write fiction for a living.

The author had no real intention of leaving her teaching career behind for the sake of publishing. In fact, she only departed from teaching because of the birth of her first child.

Caring for him was hard work and so she committed to staying home and giving him her attention. But their income needed to be supplemented so Furlong took some freelance work.

She initially worked to translate instructional pamphlets into Spanish. Then she began contributing to travel blogs. She even got a few academic gigs along the way, this including participating in the compilation of medical dictionaries.

Her big break came when she was hired to work as a ghostwriter on a series that a pair of writers had begun but couldn’t finish. It would take two decades for Furlong to finally depart the academic writing arena in favor of producing fiction.

By that time, she had four children in total.

Susan Furlong is a very goal-oriented author. With such an active life, it takes a lot of effort on her part for Furlong to care for her family and get her writing done. She primarily works late at night and on the weekends.

Furlong never sacrifices her family but she also endeavors to meet her deadlines. She knows she needs to keep producing fiction if she wants to have her contracts renewed. On good days, Furlong can spend six hours of her day writing. She admits that she doesn’t always do that impressive a job of juggling her goals.

More often than not, Furlong depends on luck to meet her deadlines.

The author’s biggest achievement was landing her agent. Susan Furlong treasures that moment over even the publication of her first ever story. Not only did they get along, but Furlong knew the agent had great connections and a reputation for honesty. Having someone so competent working on her behalf allowed Furlong to sit back and focus solely on writing her novels.

The journey hasn’t been easy. The author had to weather a number of rejections and negative opinions; each time she would pick herself up and choose to learn from the harsh comments rather than shrinking away and giving up on her dreams.

While Furlong makes money from her books, she admits that the earnings are not enough for her care for her family on her own. However, unlike many of her peers, Furlong never expected to get filthy rich from publishing. And she believes that she has garnered as much financial success as would be expected from someone of her writing abilities and genre.

+Peaches and Scream

Nola Harper goes home to contribute to the running of her family’s peach farm in the wake of her parent’s absence. However, things in Cays Mill, Georgia are anything but peachy.

The recent harvest was poor. Expenses are skyrocketing and the Harpers are not sure how much longer they can keep things going. It doesn’t help that people have a poor opinion of Nola because of her past as a wild teenager.

It is poor luck that she is the one to find the remains of a local businessman in the peach trees. His murder raises many questions.

+Rest in Peach

The biggest event in Cays Mill, Georgia is fast approaching. Nola Mae Harper is having a hard time preparing for the grand opening of her new shop even as she manages the upcoming Cotillion dinner.

Preparations for the Annual Peach Cotillion take a turn when the despised mother of the equally despised Peach Queen of the town is murdered. People think Ginny did the deed but Nola is certain of her friend’s innocence. So she makes it her goal to find the killer before he ruins the festivities.

One Response to “Susan Furlong”

1. june achenbach: 3 years ago

   I just finished you Peach series. I was hoping to find out what the fight was about between Ida and Maudy.

   Reply