Author Interview (and a Giveaway!): Elma Schemenauer & Song for Susie Epp
Please join me in welcoming Elma Schemenauer to the blog today to talk about her new novel, Song for Susie Epp!
Elma (Martens) Schemenauer—also known as "Elma Mary from the Prairie—grew up in a Mennonite family halfway between Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. After teaching in Saskatchewan, Montana, and Nova Scotia, she moved into a writing and editing career in Toronto.
Elma is the author of 78 books. Their topics include faith, family, Mennonites, community life, history, mystery, and adventure. Her most recent book is the novel Song for Susie Epp. One of the story's settings is a flatland prairie community like the one she grew up in. The other is a mountainous semi-desert community like Kamloops, British Columbia, where she lives now. Song for Susie Epp features some of the same characters as Elma's earlier novel Consider the Sunflowers. You can connect with Elma on her website.
SONG FOR SUSIE EPP by Elma Schemenauer
GENRE: Women's Fiction (Clean with mild language)
PUBLISHER: Farland Press
RELEASE DATE: June 17, 2024
PAGES: 314
It's 1970. Bashful Susie, a pill addict's daughter, sets out to build a better life for herself. Fellow Mennonite Simon loves Susie's courage—and her. He proposes. But marrying him comes with a pushy, sanctimonious mother-in-law. She manipulates Susie and Simon into leaving their beloved British Columbia grassland and moving to her Saskatchewan farming community. There, a shocking secret plunges Simon into depression and drinking. As Susie struggles to find a way forward, she gains a new resilience, empathy, and understanding of faith and freedom.
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Hi Elma! Welcome to the blog!
Elma: Apples raw or in desserts with lots of cinnamon and not much sugar.
Carrie: I love a good, crisp, sweet apple!
Elma: Winter. Walking in the cold and snow invigorates me. I return thankful for my warm home and eager to start writing again.
Carrie: i feel the same way!
Elma: High craggy mountains. I also like lower, earthier mountains like what I see in my semidesert city of Kamloops, British Columbia.
Carrie: the mountains are my happy place – one of my bucket list places to visit is British Columbia!
Elma: Soup, especially Mennonite plum soup like what Susie makes in my novel Song for Susie Epp. I also enjoy cabbage borscht like what Tina makes in my novel Consider the Sunflowers.
Carrie: plum soup sounds interesting!
Q: Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?
Elma: Revision. I'm seldom happy with the first draft of what I write. I rethink, rejig, and rewrite until it's better, hopefully.
Carrie: that can be a good – and tedious – superpower lol
Q: Tell me some good books you've read recently.
Elma: God's Not Dead by Rice Broocks. In the School of the Holy Spirit by Jacques Philippe. Wife-in-Law by Haywood Smith. The Other Woman by Sandie Jones. Down Clearbrook Road: A Girl in a BC Mennonite Village by Anne Konrad
Carrie: that's a good mix of themes and genres!
Q: Writing spaces are as diverse as authors and books. Where is your favorite space to write?
Elma: A converted laundry room. There's barely enough space for everything I've got crammed in here—desk, bookshelves, computer, printer, armchair, and little bed for naps. But I love this room. It gets lots of sunlight and overlooks my husband's flower and herb garden.
Carrie: that sounds lovely!
Q: Which of your main characters in Song for Susie Epp is most like you?
Elma: Susie. She's a wallflower who peels herself off the wall and faces challenges that encourage her to grow in faith and confidence.
Carrie: i love that!
Q: Did you have the whole plot outlined before you started writing, or did you let the characters dictate what came next?
Elma: I often let the characters dictate. Among characters who did a lot of dictating were Susie's bossy mother-in-law Adeline and larger-than-life music teacher Ross.
Carrie: the bossy mother-in-law sounds like a handful!
Q: What is one of your favorite quotes from Song for Susie Epp & why do you love it?
Elma: The following quote comes after a quarrel with her fiancé's mother causes Susie to arrive late for her wedding.
Pastor Warkentin stood broad-shouldered in a charcoal suit, his black hair silvery above his swarthy face. He smiled, gazed out over the congregation, and admitted he'd been late for his own wedding thirty years earlier. Several people chuckled, probably recalling the event or at least having heard the story.
The pastor continued. "My wife, Tina, was a believer when we got married. But I'm sorry to say I was a doubter. I didn't come to the Lord until years later." The pastor's eyes searched my face and then Simon's. "However, I think you two are both believers." He paused, waiting for a response.
Simon and I glanced at each other and nodded.
The pastor scanned the congregation. "Salvation through faith in Christ is a priceless gift." His voice rumbled through the church. "Simon and Susie's love for each other is also priceless."
I said a silent Amen.
The pastor launched into his sermon. One of his main points was that Simon and I should let our love inspire us to treat other people in a loving way. I prayed it would, especially with regard to my mother-in-law.
I like the above quote because it gives insights into Simon and Susie's relationship and beliefs. It also foreshadows conflict between Susie and her mother-in-law.
Carrie: the pastor sounds like a good man!
Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me! 
Before we say goodbye for today, tell us what's coming up next for you.
Elma: I'm working on a novel about a Toronto author and editor whose fiancé fails to show up for their wedding. Why? I'm still figuring that out.
Elma Schemenauer is offering a digital copy (epub or pdf) of Song for Susie Epp to one of my readers! (Void where prohibited by law or logistics.) This giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower's giveaway policies which can be found here. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.
What about you? What makes you want to read Song for Susie Epp by Elma Schemenauer?
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