I lived in Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles for some time and the Manson story still resonates. At some point I knew I wanted to tackle a similar tale.

Sue Hinkin – 1 October 2025

The Back Flap

When Lucy’s life partner, war reporter Michael Burleson, suddenly leaves the U.S. to take a job re-establishing the cable news network office in Iraq, Lucy is alone with their four-year-old son Henry on her isolated Malibu Ranch. Michael’s sweet but unstable, recovering addict daughter, shows up looking to meet her baby half-brother and establish a relationship with Lucy. Despite Michael’s warnings, Lucy wants to re-kindle family ties and hires the girl to help care for Henry when Lucy is working. Weird things begin to happen at the ranch—her beloved horse is bitten by a rattle snake not native to the region, the animal enclosures are vandalized, and a loaded gun is found next to Henry’s swing set. Lucy doesn’t know that the daughter has fallen under the spell of a sexy, snake-handling cult leader who wants to get rid of Lucy, take her ranch and her son.

About the book

What is the book about?

The Snake Handler’s Wife follows TV photojournalist Lucy Vega and reporter Beatrice Middleton as they fight to take down a sexy, evil, snake-handling pastor and stop his long-time manipulation and exploitation of desperate women.

The friendship between the two women, Mexican-Norwegian Lucy Vega and best friend, African-American Beatrice Middleton, is always the consistent thread. The theme of family, in all of its complex variety, is woven throughout. Lucy’s father, along with her younger brother, were killed in a car accident when she was a child. She struggles with PTSD, survivor’s guilt and can engage in high-risk behavior that is almost suicidal. Now a young mother with her own child and a failing relationship with her significant other, she begins to approach danger in a less impulsive and more smartly measured way.

Bea is the grounding force but twice divorced, she has two teen children and has struggled to be the daughter her Baptist minister father and high school principal mother would like her to be. In this book she discovers they are not the perfect humans she’d always imagined.

When did you start writing the book?

Early 2024. It percolated during Covid.

How long did it take you to write it?

This book took a year to write–that seems to be how long it generally takes me.  Other than my first book which was a 20-year journey.

Where did you get the idea from?

I have always been interested in cults because it is so hard for me to understand how someone could be so entirely captivated by a sociopath. I understand it rationally, but there is a piece of it that is just completely unimaginable to me. I lived in Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles for some time and the Manson story still resonates. At some point I knew I wanted to tackle a similar tale. Also, the current political climate propelled me further as I see sycophantic behavior all around. What is it about humans that make us so vulnerable?

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

I didn’t know how to end it. Would the antagonist survive or die? If he died, who would kill him? How would Lucy and Bea ultimately thwart this psychopath?  And they had to risk everything in the process while as single parents, they couldn’t risk the welfare of their own youngsters. How to pull that off was challenging.

Character development is the most fun for me. In this book I wrote a wild and crazy young woman who is a small-time Tennessee stripper fleeing the law for murdering her sexually abusive father. She gets involved with the cult leader and plays him like a fiddle. I always love writing entertaining secondary characters.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

Both but I always borrow from people I know.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you? 

I started reading Nancy Drew as a kiddo and fell in love with mysteries. I’m a big fan of Michael Connolly, Sue Grafton, and James Lee Burke. They are big influences for me as a mystery writer. Other favorite writers are George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans), Jane Austen, Roald Dahl, Bram Stoker, Leo Tolstoy, Jo Nesbo, Edith Pargeter, and L. Frank Baum. They all tell a helluva story with awesome characters.

Do you have a target reader?

Adult lovers of thrillers and mysteries. The Snake Handler’s Wife also includes sex and romance.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

I had a bad concussion several years ago and I struggle with a chronic brain injury that keeps me dizzy and migraine prone. I still try to write at least a couple hours every day before the dizzies get the best of me. I complete at least ten pages weekly (2500-3000 words) that I bring to my critique group. I consider their feedback, do the editing and then start on the next chapter. They are an amazing group of writers to whom I owe my career. May every writer find a crew of honest, supportive, funny, smart people to hang out with. Colorado has a particularly strong literary community. It doesn’t matter if you write thrillers, romance, non-fiction, or cookbooks, published or unpublished—if you’re a scribe you’re welcomed into the tribe.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

I’m thoroughly an organic writer—called a ‘pantser.’ Occasionally when I get stuck, I start to outline, probably to help me feel a bit in control when everything is untethered. I never end up following any attempt at outlining, however. I recently wrote a historical screenplay and I was forced to do some outlining to make sure I hit every plotline as required. It about killed me but when you’re writing to a specific structure, it really is necessary.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

I edit as I go and end up with a really clean manuscript.

Did you hire a professional editor?

My publisher at Literary Wanderlust, a small traditional publisher in Denver CO, is my editor. She’s terrific.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

No music, I prefer quiet. In good weather my window is always open and I listen to nature. I love bird calls and storms, particularly.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

That’s a book in itself. Yes, I queried agents. When I finished the first book eons ago, I studied Writer’s Digest on how to get an agent. After snail mail (I’m ancient) querying of 99 agents over a year and a half, some with helpful feedback but ultimately rejections, I was done, was giving up. The universe had spoken. But I decided to make it a flat 100 and sent a query to a ridiculously long-reach agent who repped James Lee Burke and Michael Connolly. And he called me requesting the full. I wept. And wept again when he rejected the book because it had too much romance. But I decided to quit quitting and slog on because the fact that the super-agent liked my book told me I had something worth continuing. I met my current wonderful agent, Terrie Wolf, though attending conferences and workshops she was involved with.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher?

I met my indie publisher, Susan Brooks at Literary Wanderlust, though a conference and via contacts in the Rocky Mountain writing community. Writers MUST network even though we’re all mostly painful introverts. It’s not as painful as querying, although it’s close.  I love being an indie, we’re really a team and the author has lots of input all along the line.

Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

It was pretty much a random event.  I met the publisher at a writer’s conference. The more we talked about the pros and cons of small publishers, the more it made sense for me. I don’t want the total responsibility of self-publishing.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

I had lots of input, got ideas from several people. My very artistic publisher pulled the final cover design together.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I winged the marketing for all my books but decided to hire help with the last one in this series. I have worked too hard to have a person with no marketing savvy, such as myself, be in charge of promotion.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

Always go for quality. If you can’t do it right, save your money, beg or barter and hire someone to do that piece of the project that isn’t your strong suit. A good editor is crucial. Also, my indie author friends are making tons more money than my traditional author friends. When you do it all yourself you also get to take all the profit.

About You

Where did you grow up?

I was born outside of Ann Arbor, Michigan post WWII, grew up in the Chicago area and have since lived in Minnesota, Michigan again, attended the American Film Institute as a Cinematography Fellow and raised my family in Los Angeles, later lived in Savannah, GA, and am now in Littleton, Colorado near my beloved extended family, and the best writing community ever!

Where do you live now?

Littleton, Colorado.

What would you like readers to know about you?

I pursued writing late in life—it’s seldom too late to follow your dreams and become what you wanted to be. I published my first book in my sixties.

What are you working on now?

Completed the first book in a new series–a romantic suspense featuring a woman television writer for a TV crime show, a disillusioned LAPD detective, and their quirky Venice, CA neighbors. It’s a bit autobiographical. Also finished a historical screenplay. Fun to try something new!

End of Interview:

For more from Sue Hinken check out her website.

Get your copy of The Snake Handler’s Wife from Amazon US or Amazon UK.