Q&A: Suzanne Redfearn, Author of ‘Hadley and Grace’

Suzanne Redfearn, the author of In an Instant, delivers a heart-pounding and emotional roller-coaster ride of self-discovery in the tradition of Thelma and Louise.

We chat with Suzanne about her new novel Hadley and Grace, writing, and more, PLUS  we have an excerpt from the first chapter at the end of the interview!

You can find Suzanne on her website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Hi, Suzanne! Tell us a bit about yourself!

Hello. Thank you for inviting me to join you. I am the author of four novels: Hush Little Baby, No Ordinary Life, In an Instant, and Hadley & Grace. I like to write modern tales of morality—ordinary people put in extraordinary circumstances that make the reader wonder what they would do if put in a similar situation. I was born and raised on the east coast but moved to California when I was fifteen. I currently live in Laguna Beach with my husband where we own two restaurants: Lumberyard and Slice Pizza & Beer. In addition to being an author, I am an architect specializing in residential and commercial design. When not writing, I enjoy doing anything and everything with my family—skiing, golf, tennis, pickleball, hiking, board games, and watching reality TV. I am an avid baseball fan. My team is the Angels. 

When did you first discover your love for writing?

It was accidental. I had an idea for a story after an evening out with a girlfriend and decided to jot it down. I stayed up until three in the morning that night writing, then the next night and the night after that. Seven months later, I had my first (albeit extremely poorly written) novel. I was thirty-eight.

Your latest novel, Hadley & Grace, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Adventurous, heart-warming, unexpected, emotional, thrilling

Now tell us a little more! What can readers expect?

Needing to escape her abusive marriage, Hadley flees with her two kids, knowing it might be her only chance. A woman who can’t even kill a spider, Hadley soon finds herself pushed to the limits as she fights to protect her family.

Grace, new mother of baby Miles, desperately wants to put her rough past behind her for good, but she finds it impossible when her path crosses with Hadley’s, and her quest for a new start quickly spirals out of control and turns into a terrifying flight for survival.

Stronger together than apart, the two find their fates inextricably entwined, and as the danger closes in, each must decide how much she is willing to risk for the other.

A powerful story of self-discovery, Hadley and Grace is the heart-racing tale of two women facing insurmountable odds, racing to stay one step ahead of the trouble that is chasing them, and discovering new kinds of love and family along the way.

What inspired you to write Hadley & Grace?

The idea for Hadley and Grace came from my enduring love for the movie Thelma and Louise. I wanted to write the same sort of exciting, road-trip adventure that also had an underlying theme of self-discovery and empowerment. As it turned out, I couldn’t actually tell the story as it was originally conceived by the talented Callie Khouri. Fortunately, we’ve come a long way from gawking truck drivers, bar-thug rapists, and patronizing do-gooder cops as typical male stereotypes. So, while the plot is similar—two women on the run who become accidental outlaws—the story turned out very different, a modern retelling that, while still thrilling and unexpected, is much more about family and redefining yourself.

What challenges did you face while writing and how did you overcome them?

The plot was complicated in the sense that these two women, who started out as strangers, needed to very quickly come to rely on each other and form an inextricable bond. Keeping them from going their separate ways, especially in the beginning, took some out-of-the-box thinking.

What’s next for you?

I’m working on a story called MOMENT IN TIME. It is a story about impossible choices between friends and a continuation of the journey of two of the characters from IN AN INSTANT (Mo and Chloe), told eight years after the first story. Here is a summary:

Truth or justice? How do you choose, especially when choosing the first comes at a cost to someone you love?

Eight years ago, on a fateful winter night, Mo Kaminski and Chloe Miller’s lives changed In an Instant when two people they loved died in an accident and they survived. Now, at twenty-four and twenty-six, they face another sudden rip in their world when their good friend, Hazel, becomes the victim of a date-rape they both feel they might have been able to stop.

When the perpetrator becomes a victim, suspicion falls on Mo, and things quickly begin to unravel. Hazel is heading for trouble, and Mo’s sole concern is with saving her with no regard for herself, while Chloe walks a tightrope between the two.

Lies spin into betrayal, and Mo’s relationship with the love of her life, Kyle, is strained to its breaking point. While Chloe finds herself wondering if she is brave enough… or deserving enough… to take another chance on love with Hunter, a kindred spirit she believes might be one of the few people in the world truly able to understand her.

But when things grow dire… the question for both becomes: how far will they go to protect a friend?

Suzanne Redfearn continues the story of these two remarkable women whose courage and sorrow will touch you deeply as they face another crossroads that will further test both their characters and souls.

Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?

My two favorite recent reads were DEAR EDWARD by Ann Napolitano and THIS TENDER LAND by William Kent Krueger.

Will you be picking up Hadley and Grace? Tell us in the comments below!