Shore Leave 40 Guest: Susan Olesen

Susan Olesen began publishing her own magazine at the age of fifteen and hasn't stopped writing since, with a current tally of seven published novels, one anthology of shorts, a bizarre viral blog post about blu-ray technology, editing credit on a non-fiction book, and a host of work on the assembly line. In addition, she's a regular contributor to her local library's blog, focusing on books, technology, movies, and music. Her newest novel, Conflicts of Interest, was never supposed to exist - after five volumes to the Best Intentions series, Prisoner of the Mind was supposed to be a one-and-done. That didn't happen, when post-editing rewrites spawned three more volumes and an anthology of shorts. Conflicts of Interest, a story of two governments torn apart by xenophobia, was written in 2015 - long before the subject became a topic of national debate. Sometimes, timing is everything.

When away from the computer Susan has raised three children, three foster children, various unofficially adopted kids, and had started all over again raising her granddaughter, Nugget. If it's hungry or homeless, it will find her.