Location: United States
Member Since: Nov. 28, 2009
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Susan Cogan


Biography

I am a full time novelist and occasionally do some graphic design to entertain myself.

I left home at the age of sixteen and hitchhiked to New York where I worked for a while as a welder in the ship yard. When they discovered my papers were phony I decided to try acting and eventually landed a bit part in Cats. I wrote my first novel backstage at the theater waiting to say my one line. That manuscript found honorable work as a hotel drawer liner.

I worked my way to Europe on a tramp steamer and back packed through France, Serbia, Romania and Transylvania, occasionally singing show tunes to pay for pens and paper.

I tried to run with the bulls in Pamplona but a young Spaniard offered me an evening of Chianti and dancing and wouldn't take "no" for an answer. So we sat on a balcony watching young men get trampled. The Chianti was delicious and so was the Spaniard.

When war broke out I became a correspondent and drove an ambulance. I had a torrid affair with one of the Australian NATO peace keepers and eventually left him for an Italian socialist who wanted my help standing for parliament. He lost but he kindly paid my plane ticket to La Paz, Peru.

The novel I wrote in Peru was sadly eaten by a lama one night during a rebel incursion. During my time with the revolutionaries, I learned graphic design so I could make their posters, flyers and t-shirts. I also wrote a novel about my torrid affair with the guerrilla leader. The manuscript was burned during a CIA drone attack.

In New Orleans I became a stenographer for Vampire LeStout. I carried a serious torch for him but he said I wasn't his blood type. I think he had a taste for the Y chromosome if you know what I mean. I asked him to read the manuscript of my next novel and I found it a few days later in the back of the garden with a stake driven through it.

During my year in Tibet, I happened to be surfing the internet one night when I found the absolutely perfect man on Ebay. The bidding was fierce and ended up wiping out my savings but I won and we now reside in a secluded villa in Norman, Oklahoma.

And, after the first sentence, not a single word of the above is true.

Where to find Susan Cogan online

Website: http://www.coganbooks.net
Twitter: CoganBooks

Where to buy in print

http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Brassfield-Cogan/e/B002BLWIDI

Books

The Buddha's Three Jewels    by Susan Cogan
Price: Free! 19890 words. Published on November 27, 2011. Nonfiction.
The Three Jewels of Buddhism are the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. Almost everyone has heard of the Buddha but the other two words, Dharma and Sangha, are usually strange to western ears. In Buddhism, taken together, they are known as “The Three Jewels.”
Black Jade Dragon    by Susan Cogan
Price: $4.99 USD. 50730 words. Published on November 24, 2011. Fiction.
The Way that can be traveled is not the eternal Way. In the South China Sea is an island that is protected by nine dragons. Angie Tanaka has made one of them really, really angry. Angie says: Thievery isn’t actually my vocation. It’s really more of a pursuit. It’s only my day job. I’m really an actress ... just kidding. 　
The Book of Poisons, A Merlin's Gate Story    by Susan Cogan
Price: Free! 6120 words. Published on September 26, 2011. Fiction.
The Chief Priest of the largest temple in Merlin’s Gate needs to die and only one person can do it. Tuila, his wife. For other works by this author go to www.coganbooks.net
The Last Tattoo    by Susan Cogan
Price: Free! 3440 words. Published on September 15, 2011. Fiction.
(3.00 from 1 review)
If you get THAT tattoo and if you get it THERE, it will be your LAST tattoo! Includes an excerpt of BLACK JADE DRAGON, to be released in fall 2011 for other works by this author go to www.coganbooks.net
The King's Best Solder (And Other Stories)    by Susan Cogan
Price: Free! 7070 words. Published on September 13, 2011. Fiction.
Four sword and sorcery fantasy stories, some very dark, some very not.
Wicked They Come    by Susan Cogan
Price: Free! 6020 words. Published on September 7, 2011. Fiction.
Wicked aliens are bad enough. The wickedness in the human heart can be bottomless. Fortunately, so can human courage and goodness. Also check out www.coganbooks.net for other work by this author. Includes the first chapter of BLACK JADE DRAGON, coming Fall 2011
Murder on the Waterfront    by Susan Cogan
Price: $4.99 USD. 78960 words. Published on June 24, 2011. Fiction.
Lady Margaret’s quest to bring a killer to justice leads her out of her art studio to a seedy all-night cafe, a Depression-era tenement, the waterfront, and eventually to the dark underbelly of Chinatown. For other works by this author go to: www.coganbooks.net
The Man Who Needed Killing    by Susan Cogan
Price: $4.99 USD. 87690 words. Published on March 16, 2011. Fiction.
“The author never lets any piece fall into place too easily or illogically, never gives any character an easy out from their moral qualms, and colors details so skillfully that you feel the heat of the Oklahoma drought as surely as each little betrayal's knife wound when Joe realizes a friend has lied.”--Publisher's Weekly For other works by this author go to: www.coganbooks.net
Merlin's Gate    by Susan Cogan
Price: Free! 9070 words. Published on October 18, 2010. Fiction.
Merlin's Gate is a dark world where owning books, weapons or products of modern technology will get you a one-way ticket to The Pit--and all tickets to The Pit are one way. A mini-novel at a tiny price for your snacking pleasure. For other works by this author go to: www.coganbooks.net
The Heart of the Tengeri    by Susan Cogan
Price: $4.99 USD. 92630 words. Published on December 4, 2009. Fiction.
A young queen must save her kingdom from her crazy, homicidal brother and her ambitious wizard. Her only hope of saving her people from her enemies is to find the long-lost Heart of the Tengeri, a fabled talisman that contains the strength and power of the empire. For other books by this author go to www.coganbooks.net
The Hands of the Buddha    by Susan Cogan
Price: $2.99 USD. 10390 words. Published on December 2, 2009. Nonfiction.
(5.00 from 1 review)
This ancient book of Buddhist wisdom is older than the Bible. Rewritten in clear, clean modern language, the words of the Buddha will connect with the modern reader. The Dhammapada has been called the distilled essence of Buddhism. In 423 brief verses, said to be actual sayings from the Buddha himself, you will find inspiration and guidance. For other works by this author go to www.coganbooks.net
The Last Gift    by Susan Cogan
Price: $4.99 USD. 78350 words. Published on November 30, 2009. Fiction.
(5.00 from 1 review)
In this book there's a handsome hero, a bejeweled dagger, murder, revenge, a mysterious fortune teller, the French Revolution, Paris, the guillotine, bordellos, palaces, aristocrats and whores. For other books by this author go to www.coganbooks.net

Susan Cogan’s tag cloud

adventure    aliens    apocolyptic    buddha    buddhism    buddhist    buddhist concepts    buddhist practice    china    cyberpunk    dhammapada    dharma    dragon    dust bowl    fantasy    french revolution    george r r martin    goul    great depression    historical    historical adventure    historical fiction    historical novel    historical romance    hobo    horror    inspiration    magic    meditation    murder    mystery    mystery amateur sleuth    oklahoma    other worlds    poisons    postapocolyptic    religion    revolution    revolutionary war    romance    sangha    science fiction    shape shift    south china sea    spiritual    steam punk    sutra    sutras    sword    swords    tattoo    tolkein    vampire    wizard   

Susan Cogan's favorite authors on Smashwords


Smashwords book reviews by Susan Cogan

  • The New Constitution on Jan. 09, 2010
    (no rating)
    This "constitution" is the template for a heavy-handed government. It abolishes freedom of the press and an independent judiciary. It requires you to sign up on a central database to qualify for any job. It dictates when and where businesses may operate. It automatically disqualifies millions of citizens from voting. It prohibits the formation of political parties. It's a tyrant's wet dream. Or it's brilliant satire.