1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE RETIREMENT PLAN
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
When three wives realize the only thing standing between them and their dream retirement are their husbands, they hire a hitman to kill them for their insurance money, unaware their husbands are already up to something, and they’ve hired the same hitman for a job of their own.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
The location isn’t specifically given, but the clues are there that it’s a mid-sized northeastern tourist town on the Atlantic coast.
The wives dreamed of a sunny retirement, so they needed to live in the north to warrant their longing for the escape of warmer weather. As well, the husbands needed a shared interest, and place to chat and fishing and boating solved that problem. So they needed to be near water.
Originally it was near a great lake (I live on Lake Ontario, and have a cottage on Lake Huron), but as the plot came together, they needed to on the ocean. (it’d be a spoiler if I explained more!)
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely.
While Pam’s the main protagonist, her girlfriends are right there with her, and I would jump in a van with them anytime. They’d have great snacks and stop for a lot of bathroom breaks.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Feisty, witty and warm.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Casinos really do get ripped off by employees. The heist in this book is based on a true story from Florida. Those couples were caught because they bought new cars, houses and prepaid for college educations.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I seem to take a two steps forward, one step back type of approach. At the start of each writing session, I go back and read what I wrote the previous day then clean that up as I go along. By the time I’m at the blank page, I’m at full speed and ready to go.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Greasy cheeseburgers.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
We have a den on the main floor that used to be my boys’ homework room. During Covid, I started working from home, and made it into my workspace.
My desk is an Ikea countertop set on 2 filing type cabinets, with an extra-large monitor. There’s a huge window to the backyard to my left. A love seat is behind me and a dog bed beside me and my dog, Kramer, goes from one to the other throughout the day.
A round coffee table holds stacks of my TBR books, and I try to keep a vase of cheerful flowers.
On my right there’s a 10-foot-wide bookcase. I stuck two nails in a shelf and hung a white board where I can stick plot post-it notes.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Agatha Christie. I started reading her when I was about 11, and her books turned me into a committed reader.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard.
I re-read it just before I started writing The Retirement Plan. His characters, pacing and sense of fun were an inspiration.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Before the book went on submission, I heard from my agent that there was early interest. While I worried that maybe the book wouldn’t deliver when the editors finally read it, I’m an optimist. But still – you never know. So, I was hugely relieved when a few hours after it had gone out, we zoomed for an update, and she’d already heard that pre-empt offers were coming. My thought was – I read about this, and now it’s happening to me!
But the moment I’ll never forget, was when, after sending out 198 queries (98 for book 1, 52 for book 2, 48 for this book –even though I had several requests for the full manuscript on this one, nothing was happening), I finally received an email from an agent asking for a ‘call’. I flung my head back and stared at the ceiling as relief washed over me. I thought ‘Finally! Finally! Someone likes my writing. Am I going to cry?’ I didn’t, but it was a true moment of validation. That YES. Finally, someone in publishing thinks I can do this.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Mystery, suspense, thriller. But I can get pulled into any good story.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Fargo. Can you even think about Marge Gunderson without smiling?
15--What is your favorite season?
Summer. Never met a beach I didn’t like.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
The best is with my sons. It’s a great feeling to see the things I did for them as children (cards, gifts, cake – with buttercream icing!) come back to me, from them.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
TV show – Barry. It’s a fact, I find fictional hitmen interesting.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Italian.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Read. Go to the beach. The best is to read at the beach.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
This book is about 60 somethings, and the next is about 40 somethings, with bad things going on in their neighborhood.
Three best friends turn to murder to collect on their husbands’ life insurance policies… But the husbands have a plan of their own…
After thirty years of friendship, Pam dreams of her perfect retirement with Nancy, Shalisa, Marlene, and their husbands—until their husbands pool their funds for an investment that goes terribly wrong. Suddenly, their golden years are looking as dreary as their marriages.
But when the women discover their husbands have seven-figure life insurance policies, a new dream forms. And this time, they need a hitman.
Meanwhile, their husbands are working on their own secret retirement scheme and when things begin to go sideways, they fear it’s backfired. The husbands scramble to stay alive…but soon realize they may not be quick enough to outmaneuver their wives.
Mystery Amateur Sleuth | Humor [William Morrow, On Sale: May 6, 2025, Hardcover / e-Book , ISBN: 9780063398016 / eISBN: 9780063398023]
A Wildly Entertaining Madcap Crime Comedy of Errors
Sue Hincenbergs is a former television producer who has worked on multiple award-winning programs ranging from sitcoms to lifestyle. She oversaw the content on two national daily shows, including Canada’s longest running morning show before turning her talents to live music specials. And then she started writing. Her darkly humorous crime debut was acquired in major six-figure deals in the UK and US & Canada, before being snapped up by multiple foreign territories for translation rights. The film rights have been optioned by an acclaimed Hollywood studio with seasoned A-list producers at the helm. The novel will be published across the world in May 2025
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