Susan McGuirk
Author Interview - Susan McGuirk
Author of Dear Missing Friend
In DEAR MISSING FRIEND (Sea Crow Press; May 19, 2026; Historical Fiction), Susan McGuirk has written an intimate, epistolary saga of passion, resilience, and 19th-century life. Through letters exchanged across oceans and Manhattan streets, Irish immigrant Catherine McGuirk navigates love, ambition, and heartbreak.
It's 1845, and Catherine McGuirk has left Ireland and a shipboard proposal behind, determined to forge a new life in America. Amid the bustling height of the whaling era, she marries a dashing sailor who vows to give up life on the sea. But when he vanishes westward in pursuit of gold, she is forced to chart her own course as a governess in Manhattan society. Torn between her ambition, the vanished whaleman she married, and the now-wealthy suitor she refused, she must navigate love, loss, and the tides of a changing world.
Author Interview - Susan McGuirk
Author I draw inspiration from:
I draw inspiration from my fellow historical fiction writers. I even have a free newsletter on Substack dedicated to them called the Storied Sisters Society. Each week I highlight a different historical fiction heroine. Some of the posts I’ve done include authors like Marie Benedict, Kate Quinn, Kristin Hannah, Jennifer Chiaverini, Madeline Martin, Kristin Harmel and Fiona Davis.
Author Interview - Susan McGuirk | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
I don’t have a favorite place to read a book, but I do have a most convenient one. It’s in bed before I go to sleep, on my phone. Also, I read on it while waiting in lines, waiting for appointments and as a passenger in cars. It’s not very ideal or aesthetic, but it works.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
I would love to get stuck in an elevator with Sybil Van Antwerp from The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. At this point, Sybil is highly popular, but as a character being widely admired was not her reality. Why has she struck a nerve with so many people at this particular juncture? She’s opinionated, prickly, and frankly too honest - which is usually a recipe for being despised. Yet, based on blockbuster book sales, it seems she is practically America’s sweetheart.
Maybe it’s because in our AI riddled world, where we can’t figure out what’s real from simulacrum, where digital is supplanting reality, our heroine Sybil reminds us that authenticity matters. She is proof that being your own person still resonates, maybe now more than ever.
Author Interview - Susan McGuirk | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I never had a eureka moment with writing. When I was a kid, I wanted to make movies, inspired by my dad who worked in television. Instead, I grew up and got a job in HBO programming where I wrote about movies. That prompted me to write a screenplay, and later a failed blog, and much later a book.
The last book I read:
The last book I read was for the latest episode of the Storied Sisters Society. It’s our Spring Epistolary Festival, and next up was The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan. It features another difficult heroine, but in a much different way than Sybil Van Antwerp. Venitia Winthrop is an entitled teenage beauty intoxicated by her hold over boys. With World War II as the backdrop, she is forced to grow up, challenged not just by her war job, but by an enigmatic spy. The Festival ends on my Pub Day, May 19th, where I turn the tables on my own epistolary novel, Dear Missing Friend. It will receive the same Storied Sisters treatment, as fair as I can make it.
Author Interview - Susan McGuirk | The Last Book I Read
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
A character that I would have liked to be childhood friends with was Ramona Quimby in the long running series about her by Beverly Cleary. She had a lot of the same faults I did, like frequently being in trouble in school but not knowing why. She was lousy at following rules, her hair and clothes were messy, she usually had scrapes on her knees and loved to ride her bike – all traits I related to.
Author Interview - Susan McGuirk | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
If I wasn’t an author, I’d still continue writing the Storied Sisters Society newsletter on Substack. I traded writing about films for writing about historical fiction books, and I’m still enjoying it.
Find more from the author:
https://www.instagram.com/susan_mcguirk/ h
ttps://bsky.app/profile/susanmcguirk.bsky.social
https://susanmcguirk.substack.com
About Susan McGuirk:
Susan McGuirk
Susan McGuirk posts about historical fiction heroines on her blog “The Storied Sisters Society” on Bluesky, Substack, and on her website, www.susanmcguirk.com. Susan worked at Anthology Film Archives, a historical film museum, where she received its Film Preservation Award and serves on the Board of Advisors. She honed her writing skills at HBO, composing hundreds of in-house film reviews. After running a media mentoring program at City College of New York, Susan accepted the President’s Award. She lives with her husband in New York City. DEAR MISSING FRIEND is her debut novel.
