Celebrate Lit Blog Tour - Mabel And The Little Green Men by Susan Kimmel Wright (Give.away) (2024)

1. What was the inspiration for this book?
I’ve always enjoyed stories that combine the three elements of mystery, humor, and what I would call “the unexplained.” One example is the old Bob Hope/Paulette Goddard movie, The Ghost Breakers, which combines a supposedly haunted Cuban castle, a zombie, mysterious criminal goings-on, and of course, lots of comedy. I’m always looking for a way to add quirky elements to my stories just for fun—and, of course, I always treat them with a lighthearted touch! My friend’s had two unexplained sightings, which made me think “UFO fever” in Medicine Spring would provide lots of opportunity for mild chills and wacky humor.

2. What drew you to write in this particular genre?
I came by it honestly! Mysteries were my mother’s favorite reading, and she, my sister, and I used to pass cozy mysteries back and forth. I was blessed to start reading during the Golden Age of children’s mysteries, but believe I first sampled adult mysteries with an Agatha Christie paperbackMurder, She Said, from a Scholastic book order in about 6thgrade, followed byMary Stewart’s romantic suspense.

​3.How long did it take you to finish writing this book?​
Because I’m writing a series, books need to come out roughly one year apart, which means I have less than a year to complete a book, including plotting it out and doing any necessary research. Meanwhile, edits and promotion continue for my completed books, and I also spend time reviewing audiobook recordings for approval, so it’s a tight pace!

4. Tell us a little bit about yourself, your family, friends.

I’m a country girl, born and raised in northern Appalachia—southwestern Pennsylvania, where my books are set. I attended Shanksville-Stonycreek schools (actually all twelve grades plus kindergarten—which did not exist when I was growing up—all occupy the same building), and I graduated in a class of thirty-eight. You may be familiar with my tiny school from reporting on the crash of Flight 93 on 9-11.I’ve been married over fifty years to my husband Dave, a civil engineer. I was a lawyer before “retiring” to raise our three kids, whom we adopted as infants from Honduras. We stayed in Honduras for a month when we adopted our son. For the second adoption trip, I was there three months, two of which I spent with our two baby girls, after Dave and our then two-year-old son returned to the States. I was so grateful my tiny school began teaching me Spanish in elementary school, and I’d gone on to minor in it, in college. It certainly got a workout!Now, our kids have grown up, and we’ve acquired a son-in-law and a granddaughter (and numerous animals). We currently have three dogs and a cat—one of the dogs is a dead ringer for Barnacle in my books, and the cat you’ll see on my book covers could have been modeled after our cat.I help lead a weekly Bible study and sing in the church choir. My husband and I also love to travel. We’ve been to forty-two states and over a dozen countries. Last year, we took a wonderful rail tour of Switzerland.I have precious friends from just about every era of my life—including some from grade school, as well as college and the law firm. Of course, I also have lots of church friends and writer friends. I especially treasure time once a month at our local tea shop with my writers’ group.

​It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a…UFO?

Have you ever looked up at the night sky and seen something you couldn’t explain? What did you—or would you—do? Call a friend? The police department? Post a picture on social media? Or maybe you’d keep it quiet, trying to convince yourself it was a figment of your imagination.

InMabel & the Little Green Men, I had so much fun giving Mabel a UFO encounter and then seeing where it led her, while more sightings and the arrival of a TV documentary crew turned the small town of Medicine Spring topsy-turvy. Wacky characters and situations kept surprising me too!

My best friend has had UFO encounters—twice. Once, while sitting at her desk studying, she looked out to see a strange light hovering beyond her window. Another time, she spotted a large object in the sky ahead of her while driving home alone from a movie. Alas, though I’ve scanned the skies for years, this has never happened to me!

My friend is far from the only sane person to report seeing a UFO. Every year, hundreds of sightings are reported in the US, including many from police, ministers, military pilots, and others not known for fabrication or flights of fantasy. The term UFO (unidentified flying object), as well as the now-preferred term UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), both simply refer to an airborne object that can’t be readily identified. Neither term has anything whatsoever to do with flying saucers or “little green men.”

Most UFOsareeventually explained—some as atmospheric events, deflated balloons, or experimental aircraft. But the mystery fascinates me—especially for the handful that have never been satisfactorily explained.
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While I’ve never personally seen a UFO, many people in my area reported the 1965 crash of the Kecksburg “space acorn,” an event now celebrated with an annual festival benefiting the fire department. Do you have a UFO story in your town?

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