Susan VanHecke is an award-winning author of books for adults and children.
Susan's books for adults and young adults include:
* Roadwork: Rock and Roll Turned Inside Out (Hal L...view moreSusan VanHecke is an award-winning author of books for adults and children.
Susan's books for adults and young adults include:
* Roadwork: Rock and Roll Turned Inside Out (Hal Leonard, 2007)/Raising Hell on the Rock 'n' Roll Highway (Omnibus UK, 2009), memoir written with rock photographer Tom Wright, foreword by Pete Townshend of the Who. Of Roadwork, Barnes & Noble Booksellers CEO Steve Riggio said it's "probably the best book on rock & roll ever published."
* Rock 'n' Roll Soldier (HarperCollins, 2009), young adult war memoir written with Vietnam veteran Dean Ellis Kohler, foreword by Graham Nash, a Cooperative Children's Book Center pick for Best Biography/Autobiography. www.RocknRollSoldierAMemoir.com
* Three Steps to Heaven: The Eddie Cochran Story (Hal Leonard, 2003), bio of the rock trailblazer written with his nephew Bobby Cochran. www.ThreeStepstoHeaven.net
* Race with the Devil: Gene Vincent's Life in the Fast Lane (St. Martin's Press, 2000), bio of the rock 'n' roll pioneer, adapted into an award-winning screenplay. Revised and updated edition released in 2016 as Race with the Devil: The Gene Vincent Story.
Susan's books for young people include:
* Esquivel! Space-Age Sound Artist (Charlesbridge, 2016), picture book biography of musician and stereo sound pioneer Juan Garcia Esquivel.
* Under the Freedom Tree (Charlesbridge, 2014), a Junior Library Guild Selection about the contraband slaves of the Civil War. www.UndertheFreedomTree.com
* Raggin' Jazzin' Rockin': A History of American Musical Instrument Makers (Boyds Mills Press, 2011), an American Library Association Notable Children's Book. Sales benefit music-in-schools effort SupportMusic, run by the NAMM Foundation. www.RagginJazzinRockin.com
* An Apple Pie for Dinner (Two Lions, 2009), picture book retelling of an English folk tale, illustrated by Carol Baicker-McKee. www.AnApplePieforDinner.com
Susan's writing has also appeared in numerous national/international publications, including Old House Journal, Spin, Creem, Goldmine, Kerrang, and Reflex magazines and the Washington Post. For fifteen years she was an arts and entertainment reporter for the Virginian Pilot, the major daily newspaper of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. Susan is a certified copyeditor and editorial services provider. www.SusanVanHeckeEditorial.com.
Susan holds a BFA degree in film and television production from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and has worked in the fields of publicity, promotion, and advertising. She is a member of Biographers International Organization, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and the Editorial Freelancers Association.view less