Episode Details

There's a particular kind of growth that doesn't arrive with fanfare. It arrives in the margins of a book at midnight, in a journal entry no one will ever read, in a single sentence that catches you off guard and stays. This episode is for anyone who has felt a little far from themselves and forgotten that words can bring you home.

Yusuf sits down with Susan "Susie" Gooch, novelist, retired English teacher, dyslexia advocate, and author of The Carrington Affairs and The Nonnegotiable. Susie shares the moment in eighth grade that taught her the power of the written word, how journaling lets students say things they didn't know they needed to say, why no one ever regrets time spent with their family, and the simple practice of asking yourself who you actually want to become. A warm, story-led conversation about reading as self-care and writing as self-discovery.

About the Guest:

Susan Gooch is a novelist, retired English teacher, and literacy advocate from Searcy, Arkansas. After more than two decades cultivating a love of reading and writing in her students, she now writes full-time. She is the author of The Carrington Affairs (Book 1) and The Nonnegotiable (Book 2) in The Carrington Series, with a third novel, The Dirty Birds Book Club, on the way. A voracious reader who finishes over two hundred books a year, she shares her favorites through her "Y'all Have Got To Read This" feature on Instagram. Susie is dyslexic, married to her high school sweetheart of nearly forty years, mother of three, and "Mimi" to four granddaughters.

Key Takeaways:

• Good writing doesn't go out of date. When a story nails the human condition, it connects across centuries and continents because people are fundamentally the same.
• Reading is communication. Telling a child "we're not reading people" gives them permission to opt out of becoming a fuller version of themselves.
• Journaling lets you say what you didn't know you needed to say. Quiet writing has a way of unburdening you in places conversation can't reach.
• You can choose the woman, the man, the person you want to be. The books you read and the ones you write are part of how you reinvent yourself daily.
• Start small. You wouldn't walk into a gym and try a four-hour workout with four hundred pound weights. Begin with a joke book, a short article, a single page. Build the habit before you scale it.
• The world is running. The peace is in being still long enough to actually be with the people, the pages, and the moments in front of you. No one has ever died wishing they spent less time with their family.

Connect With the Guest:

• Website: https://www.susangooch.com
• Instagram (@susangoochauthor):