Susan Leon on Crime Fiction, Forgiveness, and the Ripple Effects of Loss – The Writing Coach Ep. 227

Today on The Writing Coach podcast, I'm joined by author Susan Leon to discuss her debut novel, If They'd Only Known. Susan's book is a dark, emotionally layered crime novel set in Northern Ontario, exploring the ripple effects of a child abduction and murder across a family, a community, and the decades that follow. But while the book uses the shape of a crime story, our conversation goes much deeper than plot. We talk about: grief, trauma, forgiveness, acceptance, and what it means to write dark material from a place of wisdom rather than despair. Susan shares how her own life experiences shaped the emotional heart of the book, how real conversations with detectives, veterans, and families touched by loss informed her research, and why she believes forgiveness is not about excusing harm, but about freeing yourself from the weight of carrying it. We also get into the writing journey itself: learning how to structure a novel after years of collecting scenes, discovering which character's story she was really telling, navigating historical research, working with beta readers, and finding community through writing programs and fellow authors. This is a conversation about crime fiction, yes, but it's also about the power of stories to help us process pain, make meaning, and maybe even move forward. Check it out now.