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Susan has a BA in English Literature and Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh and an MA in Teaching from Chatham University. She has released 3 novels, all published by Black Opal Books.
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Bloomberg Business
In Recognition of World Bipolar Day, Novelist and Mental Health Advocate Susan Sofayov Releases DEFECTIVE on Kindle Unlimited
Also seen in AP News, GlobalNewsWire, and BioMedReports.
Defective
Her mood swings drove away her would-be husband. Can she slow life down before she’s left behind?
Maggie Hovis battles herself daily. Scrambling to pick up the pieces after something possesses her to pelt a shoe at her fiancé, the law student quickly takes up the suggestion to see a therapist. But she’s crushed when she receives a stigmatizing Bipolar II diagnosis and fears her shot at normal just died.
Now saddled with a label and terrified she’ll end up like her institutionalized great aunt, Maggie delves into her family’s storied history of mental illness. And with tensions at a breaking point and her emotions on a hair trigger, she worries what others say is true: she’s permanently broken.
Can she learn to fully accept herself and decide her own future?
The Kiddush Ladies
Life-long Jewish friends Naomi, Miriam, and Becky are approaching middle-age gracefully and are content—despite a few hot flashes and mood swings—until life tosses each woman a crisis.
Jerusalem Stone
Everything she knew just crumbled. Can she rediscover her strength from thousands of miles away?
Julie Wasserman’s whole world is in pieces. Already reeling from the loss of her job, part of her heart shattered when her twin brother died on the way to provide consolation. Determined to honor her sibling, she takes his dream trip to Thailand… only to be pestered on the beach by a hunky dreadlocked Israeli intellectual.
Though she’s drawn in by his ripped abs, not even his renowned work and a surprise visit to Jerusalem can keep Julie’s guilt-ridden mind off her brother’s fatal accident. But the nearer she draws to the alluring man and his spirituality, the more she wonders whether she truly deserves happiness.
Spellbound by a stranger, can Julie learn to love and heal?
Kind Words
“When picking up a book about mental illness, one doesn’t expect to fall in love with the characters, doesn’t expect to laugh with them, and certainly doesn’t expect to get so caught up in their lives that you want to tell them that they truly are worthwhile human beings. I loved this book. It has helped me to understand one of my dearest friends who lives with mental illness and takes medication for it. I commend Sofayov for writing with such gut-wrenching honesty while teaching us all a great big lesson about compassion.”
“A tale of loss, grief, and romance with surprising twists and turns in the plot that readers won’t see coming. It begins with awesome images of the beach and the reader is immediately introduced to Julie and Avi. I loved the character Avi — handsome, but with a sense of humor and persistence that makes it impossible for Julie to ignore him. The themes of death, loss, grief, solitude, and love are handled with great skill and they are ingeniously embedded in the story. Susan Sofayov’s writing is exquisitely good, with descriptions that are vivid and that conjure up beautiful images and scenes. The author shows a great gift for setting, plot, and character, but it is her ability to unveil strong emotions in the characters that got me. An impeccably good and moving story.”