Susan L. Katz

Author Interview - Susan L. Katz

Author of Pole Dancers at the Red Barn

Pole Dancers at the Red Barn is a novel-in-stories about people reinventing themselves through found family. At its center is the Red Barn, a laid-back, no-nonsense pole-dancing venue on the outskirts of Easton, Pennsylvania. Readers are introduced to the Barn’s owner and five featured dancers, who perform on the pole, engage with the audience, and turn the stage into a place of truth.Their performances captivate, but it’s what happens offstage—reckoning with their mothers’ choices, buried fears, and long-held silences—that drives the book’s emotional power. Spanning the 1940s through the 1980s, the stories explore how intergenerational conflicts are confronted and resolved. Each story reveals a struggle against poverty, violence, or prejudice and the determination to build a life that means something. A sense of hope emerges as the performers embrace their authenticity and find acceptance within a community of understanding. Each story is accompanied by one of my original photographs serving as an emotional touchstone.

Author Interview - Susan L. Katz

Author I draw inspiration from:

One author whom I love to read is Elizabeth Strout. I especially love short stories, and I find her collections down-to-earth, compelling, and attentive to larger existential issues. She shows how seemingly ordinary lives can reveal profound emotional and universal truths. Olive Kitteridge and my Name is Lucy Barton are two of my favorites.

Author Interview - Susan L. Katz | Author I Draw Inspiration From

Favorite place to read a book:

I'm most comfortable reading on my living room couch where, through a large window, the daylight brightens the page.

Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:

I just finished reading Circe by Madeline Miller. If we were stuck in an elevator together, I could imagine Circe using her witchery to get the elevator moving. I could also imagine her giving me a potion to calm my nerves after witnessing her magical powers.

Author Interview - Susan L. Katz | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With

The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:

I remember, as a child in grade school, writing a poem to my mother about my fears of being killed in a nuclear war. I knew I had something to say. The idea of becoming an author became more defined in high school when I wrote a story about Sarah Heartburn and my teacher loved it.

Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:

I see the value in each. Hardback will last longer than paper back; however, paperback is easeir to hold and travel with. Audibooks are new to me as I like to hold books in my hands, but they can be helpful to have when walking or driving.

The last book I read:

I'm almost finished with Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment. The despair and disillusionment is palpable. Raskolnikov's inner dialgue is consuming.

Author Interview - Susan L. Katz | The Last Book I Read

Pen & paper or computer:

I like to have two to three hours during the day to write, revise, and correspond. If I’m deeply involved in a story, I may go right to the computer when I awake. Sometimes I’ll continue thinking about a story throughout the day and return to it at night, after watching some TV—my time to relax and let things settle.

I usually print out my story, read it, revise it, and then return to the computer. I may print out a story several times during the writing and revision process.

I also work with a writing partner. We meet every two weeks, exchanging our manuscripts the week before so that we have time to read and prepare for our session, which usually lasts two hours.

Book character I think I’d be best friends with:

A book character I think I'd be best frineds with would be Vivian Gornick in Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick. I think we'd be good friends because we're both observant and attuned to emotional dialogue. We're also psychogically minded, so I imagine our conversations would have the depth and honesty that make me feel alive. I think we'd notice what's happening beneath the surface and have a lot to say about people, relationships, and the complexities of being human.

Author Interview - Susan L. Katz | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With

If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:

If I weren't an author, I'd be a photographer.

Favorite decade in fashion history:

One of my favorite decades in fashion is the 1940s. I love the padded shoulders and the hemlines.

Place I’d most like to travel:

I'd love to see Portugal. It's one country I have yet to visit. The landscape, the wine, and the people are all part of what draws me there.

My signature drink:

I love Campari, straight up with a twist of lime.

Favorite artist:

My favorite artist is Cezanne. I love his still lifes, landscapes, and portraits. They reveal his unique perspective and his use of color to create layers of depth and character. I visited his home in the south of France and walked around his property. I felt as though I were visiting an old friend. I also enjoy seeing his paintings at the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Number one on my bucket list:

I play Bridge. I'm looking forward to traveling to bridge workshops, combining my sense of adventure with my love of the game.

Anything else you'd like to add:

I am driven to explore life’s complexities through my writing, my work as a psychotherapist, and my photography. Across all three, I am guided by the Socratic idea that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” I’m interested in looking beneath the surface of people’s experiences—asking what shapes us, what connects us, and how we can change.

About Susan L Katz:

Susan L. Katz

Susan L Katz is an alumna of the Writers’ Institute at the City University of New York and the New Directions Writing Program in Washington, DC. She holds an MS in Counseling, an MSW in Social Work, and an MFA in Photography. Her stories have been published in the New Directions Journal of Fiction and Poetry. Susan is also a photographer; her photo essays are housed in the Museum of the City of New York, the Bronx Museum of Art, and the library of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. For forty years, she worked as a psychotherapist and published articles on human development, addiction, and group therapy techniques. Susan lives in Rhinebeck, New York.