TAP into author SueBird Sparrow

 

FIA presents Talented Artful People

 

TAP into creativity 🎭🎨

This month we’re featuring SueBird Sparrow

 

SueBird Sparrow is a visually-impaired author and extroverted introvert living out her current incarnation in human form in New Orleans, Louisiana. When not telling tales, she can be found dancing to blues music, memorizing drinking toasts in diverse languages, or transcribing the epic poems whispered by her companion tortoise, Gordon Ramsay.

 

Her horror, suspense, paranormal and speculative fiction short stories have appeared in many anthologies, magazines and journals. SueBird has also written a children’s book series featuring an adventurous blind reptile entitled, Marcelle, the Intrepid Iguana, that teaches children about being brave and kind.

 

Her latest novel, a supernatural thriller, The Devil Drinks Monsoons, (Bayou Wolf Press) is available wherever books are sold. She’s currently working on the sequel, in addition to a historical revenge saga and another supernatural thriller about an immortal and immoral cat.

 

*Book blurb:

In turns both darkly humorous and shockingly gruesome, The Devil Drinks Monsoons will chill your blood even as you find yourself laughing out loud.

 

Grumpy private investigator Richard is secretly ridding his beloved New Orleans of the offenders on his “List” in a variety of inventive ways that favor his bad back. Molly, recently blinded from an accident and nursing a broken heart, moves in next door to Richard, in search of a new start. When Molly’s newborn baby attracts the attention of Richard’s lady friend, (who, unbeknownst to him, is a vampire queen), he obliviously entangles himself in a dangerous power struggle between the humans and the dark forces that fester just beneath the surface of daily life in The Big Easy, where magic flavors everything and nothing is easy.

Excerpt:

“Does this look like a stab wound to you?” Candi’s lank blonde hair fell across her face as she bent to squint at her thigh. A cheap crucifix dangled from a chain around her neck.
“Jesus H. Christ on a stick,” Richard sighed. “Give me strength.”
He turned down the old radio. Placido Domingo sang Puccini pianissimo while he heaved himself out of his rocking chair. He shuffled to the edge of the porch to glare down at her.
Candi hiked the left side of her short shorts up higher and threw her leg up on the third step from the bottom.
She’s limber, he thought, I gotta give her that. But Christ, I guess you gotta be limber to do all that fancy pole dancing they do these days. He liked a good dancer as much as the next guy but why were they always asking him for free advice? You’d think he’d be able to get a little somethin’ somethin’ out of these situations but somehow it never worked out that way. Can’t even enjoy my morning coffee on my own goddamn porch, he thought.
He adjusted his suspenders, grasped the wrought iron handrail and descended the stairs one at a time. It was going to be another humid scorcher.
“What the hell did you do now, Candace?”
Bent over her leg like that, Candi looked like a ballerina at the barre, except this ballerina was decidedly worse for wear and gingerly prodding a crusty thigh gash oozing blood.
“Did you even clean that?” he asked.
“It really hurts, Dickie. You think Imma get the tennis?”
“Christ Almighty, stop calling me that. And it’s ‘tetanus.’ And stop that poking.  Let me look.” He leaned close to her emaciated thigh, patted his pocket for glasses that weren’t there.
“It could be a stabbing,” he grunted.

 

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[FIA] When you created the title for your book, was it difficult to come up with your title? What was your process and what was your motivation for this title?

[SBS] There’s a very potent alcoholic drink made at the Port of Call bar in New Orleans called a “monsoon.” It’s always served in a very recognizable cup that factors into the story, therefore the title wrote itself.

[FIA] What would you say are the key themes of your book?

[SBS] The three key themes of The Devil Drinks Monsoons are: resilience, independence, and family.

[FIA] What inspired this book?

[SBS] I was having dinner with my neighbor, who is a private investigator, and he mentioned that a woman had shown him a gash on her leg and asked, “Does this look like a stab wound to you?” I was immediately inspired to write that down and the story flowed from there.

[FIA] Why was it important to you that this book be shared with the world?

[SBS] I wanted to try to capture the unique quirkiness of New Orleans to share with others who love it as much as I do.

[FIA] Were you traditionally published or self-published? Can you share with us what lead you to this decision and how it has worked out for you so far?

[SBS] My book was traditionally published by Bayou Wolf Press, a small independent publisher, in October, 2025. I had also received a contract from a larger publishing house, but I decided on Bayou Wolf Press because I felt more of a rapport with the publisher and also their contract gave me more control over things like the cover design, etc. I have never regretted my decision.

[FIA] If your book had a play list, what would it be and why?

[SBS] My book actually does have a play list! I played it at the book launch party. It’s comprised of songs such as “Moon Over Bourbon Street,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Down in the Swamp,” “St. James Infirmary,” and “Voodoo in the Bayou.”

[FIA] If there was one person you could pick to say this book was meant to impact who would they be and why?

[SBS] I had fallen in love with New Orleans years before moving here, as many people do. This book is for everyone who shares that love – the locals who grew up here and the tourists who can’t wait to come back.

[FIA] What was the moment you felt this is really happening and you felt your book was actually becoming a reality?

[SBS] I received contracts from two different publishers within two days of each other. What a great week that was! That was when I realized there was a possibility my book could actually become a reality.

[FIA] Give us one fun fact or event that made it all worthwhile: the writing, editing, time, and effort? What made it fun? What was stressful? why is it all worth it in the end?

[SBS] Almost every aspect of this book was fun! I’m a pantser, not a plotter, so whenever I sat down to write, I never knew what would happen or where the story would go. I was just as surprised as my readers at what the characters were doing! That was a lot of fun for me. The only part that wasn’t quite as fun was the submission process, but even that wasn’t really stressful because I worked in sales before retiring, so I’m used to rejection, it doesn’t bother me. To me, rejection just means I need to try harder.

 

Visit SueBird on the web:

www.SueBirdWrites.com