Fast forward. A couple manuscripts and a couple hundred agent rejections later, Sue started a new book in January 2023. She dabbled at it while working fulltime on The Juno Awards, and when she wrapped in mid April, she decided not to take on another show, but to invest in herself.

She hit the keyboard hard and a few months later she had a new novel and a new mantra —

Shoot for the stars.

Finding an agent was a whole different skill set and she shares that process in her posts ‘How I Got A Book Deal’ Parts 1 & 2, and My Query Letter— but she found her dream maker. And she, in turn, found publishers who instantly embraced the manuscript with enthusiasm beyond even Sue’s hopes.

The Retirement Plan will be published by Little, Brown Book Group in the UK, William Morrow in the US, HarperCollins in Canada, and by several other fabulous publishers around the world in May, 2025.

As Sue wrote the book, the story played out in her head like a movie, and she’s ecstatic the film rights have been acquired by an acclaimed studio with seasoned and visionary producers attached, who intend to bring the story to the big screen.

Without a doubt she couldn’t have written the book without the support of her husband Andy, who’s too afraid to read it, but knows the plot inside and out, and her sons Jack, who knew she could do it before she did, Luke who helped her figure out the beats of blackmail by just nodding and sipping a beer while she talked and moved post-it notes around, and Walker, who suggests if she ever becomes an Uber driver, her passengers most likely won’t want to discuss her plot points.

Her sister Jan, and sisters-in-law Frances and Kim who were her first beta readers (even if Kim couldn’t finish the first 2 books — how’s that for objective feedback?) and her brother, Bob, who magically became her #1 fan after hearing this book had sold, and read his first novel in …. well, ever.

The Retirement Plan is — Three girlfriends in their ‘60’s realize the only thing standing between them and a beachfront retirement, is their husbands. So they hire a hitman to kill them for their seven-figure insurance payouts, unaware their husbands have hired the same hitman for a job of their own.

Some retirement plans, you don’t discuss with your accountant.

….more