Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Phelan
Hi Susan, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was built for story. It’s how I see the world. And yet, somehow, it took me a long time to realize my passion and purpose. Having a book with me at all times, you’d think it would strike me. If there is a book, there is an author of said book. And yet, no. It didn’t hit me that there were people behind these awesome tales.
But maybe that was a good thing. I raised five children as a stay-at-home mom and had to curtail my reading to picture books, short magazine stories, and the stories I made up on the spot when tucking my kids in bed. If I’d ventured into a novel, no one would have been fed, no diapers changed, and they could have drunk floor cleaner in front of me without me noticing.
I may not have figured out that I was a storyteller at a young age, but I did realize my other, related, creative side. In junior high, as our gym class was changing, we talked about what we’d be when we grew up. I announced, to my surprise as much as anyone’s, that I was going to be an actress. From junior high through college, I pursued life on the stage as often as I could. And due to a friend’s father, I even had an audition in NYC for a commercial. After spending all morning fancying myself up, with my friend’s help, I was deemed too old.
Perhaps it was my one professional rejection that made me decide to be practical in my choice of college major – Biology. Very practical. The one job available near me was picking cranberries for a company that studied cranberries. So instead, I became a bank teller and counted other people’s money.
I soon after became a wife and mom, feeling blessed to be able to stay at home most of their early years.
When my youngest was four, I had something stuck in my head that I eventually wrote down. It was a picture book. And the stories haven’t stopped being stuck in my head and needing to be written down to keep my brain from exploding. And when a daughter decided she wanted to get a film agent, I decided it was time to fulfill my junior high dreams.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
A smooth road? Very few things that are worth much come with a smooth road. Bumps and potholes are hard but make us stronger and keep the journey more interesting.
Acting is a constant journey to break down walls we’ve built as protection and allow our vulnerability to shine through. In some ways, it can be like therapy. And learning to accept rejection without feeling personally rejected seems to be a never ending process.
With writing, my biggest bumps and potholes have also inspired personal growth. Imposter Syndrome hits so may of us. Even very successful pros, across disciplines suffer from it. George Gershwin, one of my favorite composers, asked two classical composers to teach him. The first ask George how much money he made and suggested Gershwin teach him. The second said it was better for Gershwin to be a first rate Gershwin than a second rate someone else.
The other self imposed pothole is my desire to be nice to my protagonist. As my daughter once said of my lead character, reading a rough draft, “I’m not worried for her.” So I am constantly having to push my comfort level and throw more challenges into my main character’s life so that she, or he, may grow, as I hope I continue to grow.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have a t-shirt that says, AWKWARD IS MY SPECIALTY. Maybe I’m know for that.
While I act in commercials and a number of different kinds of projects, I’m most often known for a fun teen romantic comedy made a number of years ago called, YOU’RE SO CUPID, in which I play the drama teacher. This fun show has twin teenage girls, whose father is Cupid And they use inherited matchmaking skills with their friends, until they both fall for the same boy. This cute movie has found a long life on streaming services. I’m also noted for the Lifetime Christmas movie, HOT CHOCOLATE HOLIDAY, as the female lead’s mother. I have friends who say it has become a Christmas tradition for them to watch every year. While I’ll act in many types of movies, my heart is in Hallmark style movies and teen comedies. In fact, I have three scripts I’m shopping, one of which is a teen comedy mystery and another is a Christmas movie with horses (another one of my loves). The third is a redemptive Western, which I wrote with a partner, Taunya Gren. She added the grit.
In my novel writing, I write mostly for children through teens and have a middle grade novel, Miss Classified, published with Chicken Scratch Books, great for ages of about 9-13. But I also love to teach and hope to add more school visits to my schedule.
If I have a brand, maybe it would be Gentle Humor.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I’m not the first one to say this, but I think good luck is preparation meets opportunity. I have the most control over preparation, and only limited control over opportunity. So I concentrate on preparation.
I’m constantly trying to get better in both the craft of writing and the craft of acting. Specifically right now I’m taking riding lessons to bring my skills from pretty good to great in the hopes that the opportunity will come to ride (and speak) in a Western movie.
While we can have some control over opportunity, we can also keep ourselves open to it by serving others, such as volunteering at conferences, also building friendships, and being willing to try new things that might go big or go bust.
Pricing:
- https://chickenscratchbooks.com/product/miss-classified/
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thesusanphelan.com
- Instagram: suepea5
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susan.m.phelan/
- Twitter: @suepeaZQ
- Youtube: @susanphelan7945
