Sue DeMarinis Author Talk

Sue DeMarinis was born in Brooklyn, New York to first generation Italian-American parents. Her family told stories, louder than necessary, using their words and their hands (not as sign language, mostly for emphasis). Some of Sue's family traditions were replaced by the experiences of the 1960s and the opportunities that came after, but her inherited storytelling craft remained. Sue moved out west in the late 1970s and picked unconventional lifestyles, careers and family choices. After 30 years of telling stories to her chiropractic patients, she has retired and now finally has time to write them down.

 "The Baby Between Strangers" (Original edition titled -"Oh, Baby!") is Sue DeMarinis' debut novel. It is the culmination of stories Sue experienced during her outrageous attempts to have a baby at fifty, paralleled by the fictional story of her adopted daughter's teenage birth mother, Ana. This story is heartwarming, sometimes funny and often unbelievable. One woman is a hopeful empty-nester, the other a budding environmental advocate. The baby between them challenges both of these female protagonists to prove their strength and determination through adversity and life-changing choices. 

"The Station Master's Wife" is Sue's second novel (available on Audible and in print). After researching her Victorian home in Ashland, Oregon, Sue discovered significant events about the house and the original owner's lives. This historical fiction weaves actual events with a creative version of the life events of the protagonist, a pioneer woman from Southern Oregon. It reveals the scandals that followed the wife of the first Ashland Railroad Depot Manager from the 1880s - 1930s. It is a story of how perseverance, resourcefulness and love can overcome betrayal and upheaval in an era when women didn't have many choices.

"The Feathers of Fortunato: Secrets, Success and Survival of an Italian Immigrant Family" was written after Sue discovered her father's handwritten stories of his childhood in early 20th century New York City. This, her third novel, was titled after her ancestor's hat business which imported their eco-friendly feather adornments from her great-grandfather Fortunato. Follow the family, from rags to riches, as they find the American dream and lose it when society falls from prosperity to poverty in 1929. However, these Italian females refuse to fail and through their cunning connections, with Broadway stars and Mafia men, they create a family legacy of success. Follow this family as they take a ride with flappers, bootleggers, and war heroes through transitions in fashions and the progression of technology, and eventually help land a man on the moon.

"Hidden in Haarlem: Love and Survival in Nazi-Occupied Holland", Sue's fourth novel, was woven from a story told to her by a 95-year-old WW 2 Dutch Resistance survivor. Captivated by his humble recounting of survival under the Nazi regime and his family's acts of citizen sabatoge, Sue entwines historical facts with little known details of what regular folks did to survive in a war zone. For many Dutch families, the war was not just on the front lines. Everyday people became unlikely rebels behind the scenes, defying a ruthless enemy by hiding Jewish refugees, Allied pilots, and Dutch work-draft dodgers. The Resistance brought together many characters and sometimes led to enduring love.