Being a writer can be a very lonely business; sitting at your computer or in front of the blank page of a note book, developing characters, figuring out plot points that make sense, and writing realistic dialogue. Wondering if your words are going to be ones people want to read or, more often than not, thinking they are absolute rubbish which will never see the light of day.
It’s enough sometimes to make you want to give up this writing dream and go and do something which is less stressful.
There’s a saying that published authors are the ones who never gave up. And that’s certainly true for me. There have been many times when I’ve wanted to give up but something within me has made me carry one. And one of the main things which has kept me going through the long, lonely years, is seeking inspiration from other like-minded writers.
Many years ago I joined an online writers’ group consisting of authors writing short stories for women’s magazines, which was what I was working on at the time. We all offered up our stories for critique and gave and received feedback on our work.
One thing I will say, if you are in a critique group like this, it has to be a safe space with writers you respect. People can be cruel and don’t always give feedback for the right reasons, and being part of a group which contains toxicity can completely destroy your self-confidence. Not all writers’ groups will be right for you, so my advice would be that if the group makes you feel more negative than positive, then walk away and keep looking for one which inspires you and makes you feel nurtured.
It’s not all about receiving feedback though. Sometimes you can learn as much, if not more, from giving feedback to others. And I can honestly say that without this wonderful bunch of ladies, I don’t think I would have become the published author I am today. I had my first short story published as a result of their feedback and went on to have several more.
We’ve all moved on from those stories, but we’re still around to support each other, even if we’re not in touch as often as we used to be.
Today I want to celebrate one of those lovely ladies – Sue H Cunningham.
Sue writes award-winning young adult fiction with humour and a hint of magic. She won the Dudley Teen Book Award 2025, the WriteMentor Children’s Novel Award 2020 and was an SCBWI Undiscovered Voices winner in 2022. She has also been shortlisted/longlisted for other awards including Northern Writers’, Bath Children’s Novel Award, Sussex Amazing Book Awards and Buckinghamshire Book Awards.
Her debut murder mystery, TOTALLY DECEASED, was published October 2023 and supernatural romcom CLOUD NINE followed in February 2025.
I absolutely adored TOTALLY DECEASED and have recently read CLOUD NINE:
The blurb for Cloud Nine reads as follows:
Sixteen-year-old Evangeline has been dead for decades. Her accidentally heroic demise secured her a spot on Cloud Nine, the luxurious top tier of the Afterlife - but it turns out that even paradise
can get boring.
After a century of terminal niceness, Evvy volunteers to train as a celestial guide. Now it's her job to watch over people during their final hours on earth, ensuring they don't screw up their chances of a decent Afterlife.
Evvy isn't averse to bending the rules, and she always gets results - until she makes the fatal mistake of falling for a living boy.
Why can Tom see Evvy when he's not scheduled to depart yet? And how can she make this work when he's alive, she's dead, and fraternising with Beforelifers is absolutely forbidden?
Suddenly, Evvy is facing the biggest challenge of her Afterlife…
Even if these books aren't your usual genre, the way Sue writes characters draws you into the story and the plot keeps you turning the pages.
Her latest book, Neverlast, came out in August. Its on my tbr pile and I can’t wait to read it.
Congratulations Sue xx
Sue can be found at:
Instagram, Bluesky and TikTok @suehcunningham
and X (formerly Twitter) @susywrites
