Susan Kelly

Biography
On Professor Kelly's website she writes, "I knew I was going to be a writer before I could write. My earliest books were squiggles on a piece of paper, which I then illustrated with crayons. Then I’d “read” the squiggles and explain the drawings to my mother and father, who were very admiring of these pre-school literary efforts. When I did actually learn to write, I spent most of my elementary school career grinding out short stories, all science fiction, mysteries, or horror tales. In high school, I wrote mostly about the anguish of alienated youth. I’m very happy that all of this stuff ended up in a landfill somewhere.

"I was born in New York, grew up (mostly) in Andover, Massachusetts, lived for four years in Scotland, and while there acquired a Ph.D. in English literature (Medieval) from the University of Edinburgh. The doctorate enabled me to teach at the college level, which I have done, with great enjoyment, at Tufts, Harvard, and Hampshire College. I’ve also taught arrest/incident report writing at the Cambridge (Massachusetts) Police Academy, where I learned that police work in real life is far more interesting than anything you see in the movies or on television.

"For a long time I lived in Cambridge, which was an experience I plan to write about shortly. I’ve always thought that if you stood in the middle of Harvard Square, sooner or later everyone you’d ever known or heard of would pass through your field of vision.

"My novels to date, all of which have as their protagonist a crime reporter named Liz Connors, are The Gemini Man, The Summertime Soldiers, Trail of the Dragon, Until Proven Innocent, And Soon I’ll Come to Kill You, and Out of the Darkness. The Gemini Man received an Anthony Award nomination for Best First Novel of 1985. My non-fiction book is The Boston Stranglers. I’ve also done articles for The Writer and other publications, including Folklore, The African American Review, and the Japanese edition of Penthouse. My short stories appear in Sisters in Crime I and Sisters in Crime III."

Spring 2009
IA-0208-1 Writing for the Mass Media

To view course description visit: Writing for the Mass Media

January 2009
IA-0123-1 Writing from Personal Experience

To view course description visit: Writing from Personal Experience

Fall 2008
IA-0147-1 Literary Journalism

   IA-0195-1 Writing About Crime

To veiw course descriptions visit: Literary Journalism and Writing About Crime

Selected Publications
The Boston Stranglers (2002)

Out of the Darkness (1992)

And Soon I'll Come to Kill You (1991)

For more description visit www.susankellywriter.com

Current Projects
Director Brian DePalma is considering a film adaption of The Boston Stranglers, screenplay by Alan Rosen.