Meet debut novelist Brenda Haas and her book, Finding Sutton's Choice, a contemporary fiction that is perfect for book clubs and readers who want an emotional character-driven story
The most important advice I can offer aspiring authors is to not give up and to pivot, as needed.
Here at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven, we love the chance to meet and interview authors. It’s a great way for readers to discover more about their favorite authors and see what it takes to write and publish books. Brenda Haas is a debut novelist who I discovered through a friend. She has a journalist background and writes with emotion. She agreed to sit down with me for an in-depth interview. So, grab your favorite beverage and join us. Brenda, take it away…
Just as your books inspire authors, what authors have inspired you?
As a child, I enjoyed every Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden mystery I could get my hands on, but the story that resonated with me most was E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web. I believe it had a lot to do with growing up on my grandparents’ farm and treating all the farm animals as my personal friends. When it came to books, I grew to love strong character and setting development. Charlotte’s Web had both. Through the years, I’ve also been inspired by the character depth and immersive worlds of Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird), Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale), Sara Gruen (Water for Elephants), J.R.R. Tolkien, Karen White, Kristin Hannah, and J.K. Rowling.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Finding Sutton’s Choice was the first of six National Novel Writing Month projects I completed. For each, I fulfilled the goal of producing 50,000 words in a single month. It took me more than a year to finish and edit my debut novel, and each remaining project needs so much more work — more scenes, more conflict, and more edits, edits, edits. I hope, within five years, I will have completed and published at least two more works-in-process.
Have you always liked to write?
Actually, no. When I was young, writing was definitely not my first choice of an artistic outlet. When I wasn’t reading a book, I enjoyed drawing and painting. As a pre-teen, I started dozens of diaries, with the intent of documenting all of my childish secrets. I’d usually fill just a page or two before setting it aside, forgotten. It wasn’t until high school English class that I began to enjoy writing. Book reports were my favorite, of course, and I also joined the school newspaper staff. When I graduated from college (Otterbein University), I worked in graphic design for nonprofits and small businesses. Eventually, my clients started asking me to write their content for newsletters, advertising, etc. That’s when I truly realized I had an affinity for stringing words together. My experiences eventually led to me writing for a Pittsburgh newspaper, for many years.
What writing advice do you have for other aspiring authors?
Writing is hard work. To get published, treat your writing like the job that it is and put in the time. I also advise becoming comfortable with critique. Honest feedback may sting, but it will absolutely make your writing stronger.
The most important advice I can offer aspiring authors is to not give up and to pivot, as needed. Looking for representation, I submitted Finding Sutton’s Choice to approximately 100 agents. Though I received very positive feedback, no agent offered to represent me. I didn’t give up. I took a chance on submitting directly to a very short list of indie publishers I came in contact with at a writing conference. That was the gamechanger. I ended up with three requests for a full manuscript, a request to revise and resubmit, and two traditional offers. I ultimately chose Ten16 Press, an imprint of Orange Hat Publishing. They offer both traditional and hybrid options. My traditional publishing experience with this mid-size press has been fantastic. I feel I’m part of a family instead of just a number. I could have given up after 100 agent rejections, but I pivoted and changed my path.
If you didn’t like writing books, what would you do for a living?
Teach writing at the college level. I have come to find that I truly enjoy helping others learn. Giving author presentations, book club discussions, and writing workshops has become one of my favorite aspects of the debut author journey. I love to answer questions about the craft of writing, and I wouldn’t have a published book on the shelf if it weren’t for the generosity and advice of other authors. I try to pay that forward.
Are you a plotter or a pantster?
I am neither a plotter or pantser… or maybe both ;) A plantser? I always know what my beginning and ending might look like (or what I think they might look like) before I start a project. On postcards, I then jot down ideas for potential scenes and character interaction. If I’m feeling particularly organized, I’ll fill postcards with my characters’ detailed backstories, prior to beginning the project. That is about as much plotting as I do. Next, it’s a matter of starting somewhere in the story (and typically not at the beginning). I don’t often write fiction linearly. I prefer to choose a crucial character-focused scene that piques my interest, in that moment, or a high-stakes emotional scene which serves as a catalyst of change. I then build additional scenes around it and watch my story grow. It’s like a tree with so many roots just below the surface, sometimes exposing themselves when the ground shifts. When I’m editing, I re-arrange scenes until the order makes sense. This is how I do my most creative work. Writing random scenes more spontaneously, instead of “in order,” allows my characters to surprise me.
Do you read your reviews? Do you respond to them, good or bad? Do you have any advice on how to deal with the bad?
I do read my reviews but rarely respond, unless it comes to me as a private message. The positive ones are such a blessing, but even a bad review can have a takeaway. I’ve been very grateful for the 5-star reviews I’ve received, but reading is a very subjective experience. I respect that. Not every book will appeal to every reader, and not every review must be a 5-star. Not that we want them, but “bad” reviews keep things honest. Ha! In moderation, of course:)
What is your best marketing tip?
Be publicly available. Consistent, in-person exposure has helped my marketing tremendously. In my debut year, I attended more than 40 bookish events… book signings, book club discussions, library presentations, writing workshops, independent bookstore readings, book fairs, arts festivals, etc. I hustled to add those events to my calendar, and I showed up. I’ll answer writing and publishing questions anywhere, anytime. It allows my readers to get to know me. A positive interpersonal connection with me, the author, may lead a reader to recommend my book to a friend.
What is your least favorite part of the publishing / writing process?
Begging for reviews is my least favorite part of publishing. I’ve had hundreds of supporters buy my book, read it, and tell me how much they enjoyed it, but posted reviews are incredibly hard to come by. I didn’t realize, until I debuted my novel, just how important reviews are to growing a global audience. Boosting Amazon and Goodreads ratings is key (FYI - neither site requires the book be purchased from it, to add the review). The best way a reader can support a favorite indie author is to post a positive review.
Do you have a favorite spot to write? What is it?
Armed with a lukewarm cup of tea perched on the windowsill, a ready supply of notepads, and my Australian Shepherd at my feet, I do nearly all of my writing and editing from a couch in my all-season porch room facing Lake Erie. The lake has been my writing inspiration for more years than I could possibly count. In every season, the view is such a welcome distraction, and Lake Erie’s personality changes as frequently as Mother Nature chooses. I sometimes find my writing mimics that Lake Erie energy, on any given day.
Is there a certain type of scene that’s harder for you to write than others? Love? Action? Racy?
I had a somewhat difficult childhood and am self-consciously uncomfortable when writing flashback scenes for Charlotte, the main character in Finding Sutton’s Choice. Younger Charlotte is a wee bit whiny, immature, insecure, and often angry. Her memories of past hurts are sometimes my own, so those scenes are particularly difficult to write… but also the most cathartic. Fortunately, my main character is given an opportunity to grow. But will she take that opportunity?
Is this your first book? How many books have you written prior (if any?)
Finding Sutton’s Choice is my first published novel, but I did complete, and unsuccessfully submit to agents, a young adult novel more than 20 years ago. That story eventually got shoved in a drawer and will probably never again see the light of day. Though it was an amateurish clunker of a book, I learned so much about story structure and writing tight dialogue from that project. My debut novel, Finding Sutton’s Choice, was much easier to complete, when I decided to try again.
What are you working on now? What is your next project?
I’m currently editing the next Sutton Family story, tentatively titled Sutton’s Second Chance, which is set 15 years in the future. You can expect a few of the same relatable characters and many new ones, all living their best (but equally messy) lives in the little Lake Erie town of Lakeside, Ohio. Additionally, I’ve been working on personal essays about my lake life. I hope to bundle them for future publication.
Do you write naked?
Absolutely not. Did I mention the big window facing Lake Erie? Naked Brenda would likely scare the fishermen (or even the fish). I AM known to start working early in the morning and get “in the writing groove” to the point that I fail to take off my pajamas—a nice flannel set with 100% coverage—until very late in the day.
What is your biggest failure?
My husband would say learning stick shift. My children would say learning patience. I would say learning when to use “affect” versus “effect.”
Have you ever been in trouble with the law?
Perhaps. There was a “skinny-dipping-while-slightly-intoxicated” incident once at the Marblehead Lighthouse on Lake Erie. It was decades ago while I was in college and still thought I was invincible. I also didn’t own a pair of flannel pajamas, back then, so what can I say? Fortunately, I was an excellent swimmer. No charges were filed, and we’ll speak no more about it.
Have you ever gotten into a fight?
Yes. Hair-pulling, name-calling failure of a throw-down with an entitled college roommate who never paid the rent on time, never cleaned the bathroom, and never did her dirty dishes. Not proud of that fight, but one must appreciate my scrappiness. I’m only 5’1”, and she was at least a head taller and much more physically fit.
What is your biggest fear?
As an author, I fear rejection, of course, but my biggest personal fear is leading a life without purpose or impact. I want to leave a positive mark on the world around me and the people I love, before I’m no longer around to do so. I’m hopeful my writing provides a means to that goal.
What do you want your tombstone to say?
“BRENDA HAAS — She DID, because they told her she COULDN’T.”
What literary character is most like you?
Jo March, of Little Women, is my spirit animal, so, obviously, I must be hers, as well.
What secret talents do you have?
Not so secret, but I have an incredible knack for filling in movie dialogue just before it happens. It’s very hard to watch a new movie with me, because I usually know exactly what a character is about to say. Writer brain is to blame.
What’s on your bucket list (things to do before you die)?
I haven’t been to Stratford-upon-Avon since I was a teenager on tour with the All-Ohio State Fair Youth Choir. I’d love to return to Shakespeare’s birthplace as an adult, now that I’m old enough to fully appreciate just how incredible it is to walk in the The Bard’s footsteps. Plus, I do love a good British cuppa Earl Gray.
What were you like as a child? Your favorite toy?
As an only child raised by a single parent, I was awkward around kids my own age. My friends were the characters in my favorite books and a menagerie of stuffed animals (more than 50, at a time). Each stuffed animal received a name and backstory. I was also obsessed with the live animals found on my grandparents’ farm — a revolving collection of mouser barn cats, an Irish Setter or two, and a nearly tame duck who liked to wander into the farmhouse and watch television. I thought the lambs, piglets, and calves were cute… from a distance.
Thank you, Brenda, for the insightful interview. I loved getting to know you better. I especially liked the answer to your tombstone. Readers, scroll below to read more about Brenda’s release. If you’re in a book club, this is a must-read. She’s even available to meet and chat with your book club via Zoom.
Title: Finding Sutton’s Choice
Author: Brenda Haas
Genre: Contemporary Fiction (Book Club)
Publisher: Ten16 Press, an imprint of Orange Hat Publishing
Book Blurb:
A cryptic voicemail message draws Charlotte back to the Lake Erie home she escaped.
It’s been ten, long years since her abrupt departure, and, with a cryptic voicemail, 28-year-old Pittsburgh writer Charlotte Sutton finds herself back in her hometown of Lakeside, Ohio. Only this time, her estranged father doesn’t recognize her, and a surprise half-sibling has taken her place.
Chuck Sutton—newspaper editor, retired baseball player, and the town’s most beloved celebrity—is thought to have Alzheimer’s disease. The community newspaper is also on the verge of closure, and a childhood friend holds a decade-long grudge. Despite all this, there is Lakeside. The quaint waterfront community, flush with ivy-covered cottages and vintage charm, hasn’t changed even as everything else in Charlotte’s life has shifted. She intends to stay only long enough to get her father’s affairs in order.
But, to reconcile her past and unearth family secrets, Charlotte must reconnect with Chuck through his Alzheimer’s diagnosis and reevaluate her own misconceptions about growing up in the small Ohio town that still holds her heart.
Excerpt:
Charlotte Sutton glanced at the buzzing phone lying beside her on the window seat.
Area code 419. Lakeside, Ohio. Frowning, she set her laptop aside and silenced the call, placing her cell face-down.
It’s nothing. A telemarketer.
Or was it? In recent weeks, she’d received more than one dropped call from her Lake Erie hometown—an unlikely occurrence on any day of any week of any month. A boy—a teenager—had left a message the night before. He’d stumbled through a request to discuss Chuck and hung up without giving his name.
Charlotte hadn’t returned the call. If some star-struck, wannabe athlete required her esteemed father’s advice, autograph, or approval, he was looking in the wrong dugout. He’d need to do a search of “Chuck Sutton,” “retired baseball player,” “author,” “shitty dad,” or some-such combination. She wasn’t Chuck’s publicist.
Shoving the ungracious thought back into her closet full of demons, Charlotte turned her attention to the old brownstone apartments across the street. A glint of rare November sunshine reflected off the metal fire escape snaking from a rooftop martini bar to the Pittsburgh sidewalk below, where people in business attire scurried like an army of ants. In equal numbers, tourists and locals meandered from shop window to shop window. A homeless man squatted on a cardboard square on the stoop of an abandoned storefront. To her left, Charlotte glimpsed a small section of the Roberto Clemente Bridge, its straw-colored arch an icon of the city of black and gold. She could even see a corner of the baseball stadium. Ironic, really. She hated baseball—something her father would never understand.
Charlotte had lived in the condo alone since her mother remarried and moved on. The place’s views were its biggest selling point, but the novelty had dimmed in the past year. It was like watching a cityscape video on a loop—an endless, streaming melting pot of faceless strangers, all different but all the same.
She drained the remains of her coffee, hurried across the room, and plunked the mug into the sink. The sailboat etched onto its side served as a niggling reminder of the call from the lake.
It’s nothing. Absolutely nothing. Charlotte returned to the window and glanced at the bricks of the baseball stadium.
“Dammit.” It’s probably something. She snapped up her cell and retrieved the message.
“Hello,” the caller said. “My name is Jake Forrester. I’m trying to get in touch with Charlie Sutton.”
Charlie. The use of the familiar, masculine moniker sent a twitch up Charlotte’s spine.
“We haven’t met,” Jake said. “I’m a friend of your father’s. I understand you’re quite busy, Charlie—”
“Aah, hell no.” Charlotte dropped the message and threw the phone onto the cushions. This Jake person, who had no right whatsoever to use the wretched, awful nickname, sounded... crisp and business-like. Definitely not a teenager. He was a reporter. Had to be. She’d endured countless interviews when she was still under her father’s roof. Chuck had always introduced her as his daughter “Charlie,” as if Charlotte was a derivative of Charles. God, she hated the name. And nicknames, in general. They’d been as common as trailer parks and fishing poles when she was growing up. Scooter and Babs and Bubbles and Pop-Tart. Everybody had a nickname. Charlotte had been saddled with more than one.
It doesn’t matter. Not anymore.
Charlotte tucked a short wisp of dark hair behind her ear. Dismissing her past, she returned to her laptop and carefully scanned the final draft of her essay about growing up an only child. Finding no errors, she pressed “send” to her editor. A faint smile edged her lips with the click of the button, and her gaze shifted to the opposite wall. The framed two-page spread of her first published magazine article hung there. Her miniature headshot stared back at her.
Charlotte’s smile faded. Even from a distance, she recognized the acute resemblance to her father.
“This is bullshit.” She grabbed her keys and the spare to the apartment down the hall, pulled the door shut behind her, and hurried to #517. Expecting no one home, she gave a light tap and shoved the key in the hole. A muffled woof greeted her from the other side. Charlotte entered, and a large blur of light fur bounded toward her.
“Good boy, Alfredo. How’s my buddy?” She bent down to the Labrador retriever circling her legs. “You’re just what I need right now. Elliot still at work, huh? Wanna go for a walk?”
She pulled a leash from a wall hook, ignoring the flicker of guilt that pushed her toward the door. There would be an awkward conversation. No avoiding it. Her ex would see this as a sign—a grand sign of reconciliation and invitation.
It was not a sign, and there would be nothing grand about it.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Amazon buy link –
https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Suttons-Choice-Brenda-Haas/dp/1645382389
Ten16 Press direct publisher buy link –
https://www.orangehatpublishing.com/product/finding-suttons-choice/
Barnes & Noble buy link –
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/finding%20sutton’s%20choice
Goodreads –
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/235173980-finding-sutton-s-choice
Author Biography:
Author Brenda Haas lives in Lakeside, Ohio, the setting for FINDING SUTTON’S CHOICE, which earned the 2025 Literary Titan Gold Book Award. A magazine feature writer, editor, speaker, and photographer, Haas spent many years as a reporter for a Pittsburgh press. Her writing has appeared in Leisure Living Magazine, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and My Outer Banks Home magazine.
Social Media Links:
LI: @Brenda Haas - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenda-haas-8b9b109/
IG: @WriterBrendaHaas - https://www.instagram.com/writerbrendahaas/
FB: @WriterBrendaHaas - https://www.facebook.com/writerbrendahaas
BSKY: @WriterBrendaHaas - https://bsky.app/profile/writerbrendahaas.bsky.social
X: @HaasBren - https://x.com/HaasBren