Words Worth Writing For.

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About the author

Susan E. Wadds

Susan Wadds’ debut novel, “What the Living Do,” won the 2024 Canadian Book Club Award for fiction, was a 2024 Indies finalist, and was shortlisted for the 2024 Fred Kerner Book Award. In 2016, her short fiction won the Writers’ Union of Canada’s Prose Contest. Susan’s work has appeared in various publications, including carteblanche, The Blood Pudding, Room, and Waterwheel Review. A graduate of the Humber School for Writers and a proud member of The Writers Union of Canada and The Canadian Authors Association,

Susan is a certified Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) workshop facilitator and Blue Pencil Editor.

She has lived in four Canadian provinces as well as India, France, and Italy. She’s sort of settled down and currently lives on a quiet river on Williams Treaty land in traditional Anishinaabe territory with an odd assortment of humans and cats.

Publications

What the living do

Sex and death consume much of thirty-seven-year-old Brett Catlin’ s life. Cole, ten years her junior, takes care of the former while her job disposing of roadkill addresses the latter. A cancer diagnosis causes her to question her worth, suspecting the illness is payback for the deaths of her father and sister.

Thus begins a challenging journey of alternative healing that she doubts she deserves. Just as Brett surrenders to the prescribed cure, a startling discovery sends her on a more profound exploration of cause and effect. Encounters with animals, both living and dead, help her answer the question: who is worth saving?

“The most successful and pleasurable writing comes from being in a state of wonder. That fine balance between will and surrender, between skill and letting the pen run free is where the magic lives.”

welcome

upcoming events

Author Reading

Date: December 9, 2025
Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EASTERN
Location: ZOOM

Everyone Welcome!

Fred Kerner Book Award finalists

AWARD CELEBRATION

Date: Saturday, December 13, 1 pm Eastern
Location: ZOOM

Please join us for readings from all 5 authors, followed by the winner announcement.

WORKSHOPS & RETREATS

Writing Your Way In

At Write Your Way In, everyone has a strong, unique voice and a story to tell. My mission is to encourage, support, and protect that voice.

In a safe and creatively vibrant environment, writers at all levels of experience can explore, experiment, and take creative risks.

Write Your Way In Workshops and Retreats refresh and revitalize your love of writing.