I Wrote a Book 17 Years Ago; My Daughter Made Me Publish It: a conversation with Susan Kleinman

What happens when you write a novel, put it in a drawer, and your adult daughter stages an intervention? In this episode, Laura welcomes Susan Kleinman, author of All Afternoon, who shares her journey from magazine writer to fiction author, and how her daughter's tough love pushed her to finally publish her book.Susan grew up learning that money means values in action. While there were limits on clothing—no more than $15 per skirt—her mother took her to a book warehouse where Susan could fill a cart with 50-100 books. This clear message about what mattered shaped everything.After a published cover story in college and a 10-city book tour at 25, Susan's career didn't follow the typical upward trajectory. It looked like the letter U—starting high, dropping to steady magazine work, then rising decades later. When magazines folded during the 2008 crisis, she pivoted to fiction, winning a Sarah Lawrence fellowship and drafting "All Afternoon" in 2010.The book went through agents, rejections, COVID delays, and her father's death. At 59, Susan quit writing entirely. She made collage cards, slept late, thought she was happily retired. Then her daughter flew home: "You need to get a job. You seem aimless." Her daughter read the manuscript and insisted: "You have to get this book published." Now 61, Susan is self-publishing, learning marketing, connecting with bookstagrammers, and receiving reviews from strangers that make her cry.Key Takeaways:💡 Money is how you put your values into action. Susan's parents taught her this explicitly—there were strict limits on clothing, but unlimited books. This wasn't about their financial situation; it was about what mattered. Charitable giving was non-negotiable, but so was thinking deliberately about expenditures that create a life that fits who you are, not just what you want in the moment.💡 Career paths aren't always linear. Susan's career graphed as a U, not an upward trend—high success at 25, decades of steady but quiet magazine work, then a dramatic rise again at 61. She lost work during the 2008 housing crisis when decorating magazines folded, pivoted to fiction, then quit entirely before returning. The traditional career trajectory doesn't apply to everyone.💡 Sometimes your family sees what you can't. When Susan thought she was happily retired making cards and drinking coffee slowly, her daughter flew home and said, "This is an intervention. You need to get a job. You seem aimless." Her daughter's emotional intelligence caught what Susan couldn't see—she needed purpose and goals, not just leisure. Sometimes those who love us most can see our truth.💡 Time is not renewable—spend it deliberately. Susan's grandfather, a European immigrant, told her at 86: "Sometimes life is very long, but even so it ends." This shaped her approach to saying yes to opportunities even when tired or crabby.Guest: Susan Kleinman is a writer and author of All Afternoon, a novel set in 1978 about a woman confronting what she wants from life. Resources:All AfternoonFacebookInstagramWebsite