An Interview with Susan Beth Miller

I live and work as a clinical psychologist in Ann Arbor, Michigan. My new book, for emerging adults, will be published in the fall of 2024. I have published two prior novels, A Beautiful Land and Indigo Rose, and five psychology books: When Parents Have Problems, Emotions of Menace and Enchantment, Disgust: The Gatekeeper Emotion, Shame in Context, and The Shame Experience.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

My earliest writing-related memory is of an exercise my fourth-grade teacher had her students complete, which involved starting with a noun, for example “garden,” and building up a complex sentence, full of interesting descriptors, from that simple beginning, so that what started with the single word, “garden,” might become “an enormous, sprawling garden filled with brilliant red flowers and visited by honeybees and hummingbirds.” I was fascinated by what I could create out of words. That exercise started me on the path to writing (and may have encouraged an early love affair with adjectives, which I’ve had to overcome).

What inspired you to start writing this book?

The book took shape from some moving experiences with a young college student who had lost his mother to cancer when he was quite young. Years later, when in college, he had to confront the complicated impact of the painful loss, which had affected many parts of his life, including his sexual identity and relationships. A great many things were added to, subtracted from, and altered from that initial story.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

Finding the book’s title, By the Way, I Love You, was a challenge. My publisher nixed every single title I proposed and I was not enamored of their title suggestions either. In the end, we chose a title that conveyed the protagonist’s struggle to express her feelings directly, especially feelings of affection, and one that hinted at her edgy voice.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

The soundtrack might feature a sharp-witted song, “Lola,” written by an old New Orleans singer-songwriter, Chris Smither. The book’s main character, Leslie, knows that song and its lyrics speak to her. The soundtrack might also include some John Coltrane since Leslie and her best friend have a great adventure at a Detroit jazz club, and Coltrane’s soulfulness would convey her passion.

Describe your dream book cover.

I’m waiting now to see some proposals from the cover designer. I love abstract art so wouldn’t mind a cover that works abstractly with color, line, and maybe some printed words. My taste in art and design is eclectic but I know what I like (and don’t like) when I see it. I’m looking forward to seeing what the book evokes for the cover artist.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I am a clinical psychologist. The work of a therapist and that of a fiction writer are closely related since both occupations center on character and narrative. The two activities constantly inform each other

What books did you read (for research or comfort) throughout your writing process?

I worked on the book for a long time and read quite a few books during that period. I read a lot of fiction. While writing my book, I read a wonderful, 2005 YA book, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. I also read a stunningly good novel, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, as well as two fine books by Maggie O’Farrell: Hamlet and The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox. Add to that list The Silence by Don DeLillo, Paradise by Toni Morrison, and both Wonderland and Wild Nights by Joyce Carol Oates. So, I had a pretty terrific fiction diet. Most recently, I read a nonfiction book, Projections, by Karl Diesseroth, a moving and extremely thought-provoking book by a psychiatry and bioengineering professor who treats and researches atypical brain states including autism, mental illness, and dementia.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

My perfect reader is anyone willing to sit down and give their attention to a work of fiction. I hope readers will relate to the young adult characters in my book, especially the irreverent but passionate main character, Leslie, who is trying to forge a new life for herself, in college, while shackled by the difficult aspects of the life she has led, especially the loss of a somewhat-distant mother she can’t fully understand. Leslie encounters many hurdles but she has a dogged persistence; she cares deeply about the people in her life and also about a wild place she has come to love and is determined to protect. The friendships she makes—some of the complicated—fill out the cast of characters.

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.