Susan Fales-Hill knows how to make an entrance. While a senior at Harvard, she had a fortuitous meeting with Bill Cosby– and arrived with a parody script and audio tape she’d prepared. “I knew you don’t just go meet someone and show up with nothing but a smile,” she says. “I thought, this is an opportunity; show him your stuff!” That performance earned her a job as a writer’s apprentice on The Cosby Show.
She went on to work for A Different World–becoming its head writer/co-executive producer– followed by 15 years as a television producer and writer. Next, she shifted to prose, writing the critically-acclaimed memoir, Always Wear Joy, about her late mother, actress and performer Josephine Premice. Now, she’s turned to fiction. Her debut novel, out this month, is One Flight Up, a juicy, fun-filled take on the lives of four multi-cultural girlfriends. Think Sex and the City, with an international twist.
Here, Susan shares a few of her secrets in work and in fashion (she’s been named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame).
Inspired by: friendships; textiles; books by Charles Dickens; the painting of her mother in the mezzanine at the New York Public Library (her go-to writing spot).
Style trademark: blouses with dramatic poet sleeves; bias cut gowns for evening
Writing motto: Don’t get it right; get it written.
Work look: “I get dressed to write: slacks, dresses, maybe even a suit.”
On following your bliss: “Don’t think you’ll necessarily become a multi-millionaire by doing what you love. You might just have the gift that you get to do what you’re passionate about. It’s a risk you’re taking.”
Footwear: Flats by Tod’s. “I don’t believe in wearing flip-flops– except at the beach or leaving the nail salon!”
Fitness routine: Reformer pilates, three times a week.
Beauty must: Perfume. “My first love is Amazone by Hermes.”
To learn more about Susan (and peek inside her swoon-worthy “closet”), visit www.susanfales-hill.com.
