Montague Woman moved to write book by spooky house

By Susan Harrison Wolffis The Muskegon Chronicle MONTAGUE, Mich. (AP) -- From the moment she set foot in her century-old house high up on a hill in the center of Montague, Susan Newhof sensed "a rather unnerving presence" in the place. "Nothing bad. Nothing malevolent," she remembers, "but there was definitely the sense of being not alone here." That feeling was especially strong one day when Newhof stood in the middle of her living room, and, in a voice more authoritative than frightened, she told the unseen spirits to "Get out!" Almost simultaneously, she remembers thinking to herself: "Susan, you need to write about this, and it has to be so big and bad and scary that it will be done and over with." From what others have said about her book, "Spirits & Wine," she succeeded. "A little too spooky for comfort," readers say. (This writer agrees: It will scare the heck out of you.") Published by University of Michigan Press, the novel tells the story of a young couple who buy an old house in a small West Michigan lake town, only to find it haunted by the dramatic secrets of its past inhabitants. The couple -- John and Anna -- are determined to discover the answer for themselves, at the risk of their own safety. Newhof, who was born and raised in Grand Rapids, has written poetry and stories from the time she could first read. Her path to professional writing was long and took a few detours along the way. As she puts it, after 21 years of "sampling" various college majors, she graduated from Michigan State University at age 39 with a bachelor's degree in English. At the time, she was working in the regional communications office for the American Red Cross in Lansing -- a job that took her to Washington, D.C., to work as a national press officer for the Red Cross when Elizabeth Dole was its director. One day in D.C., she ran into Paul Collins, a man with whom she had gone to her high school prom. It was love at second sight. The two married and moved to West Michigan, away from the big city, back near their families. Newhof, author of the travel guidebook "Michigan's Town and Country Inns," is compiling information for the guidebook's fifth edition as she toys with another novel and continues her "day job" as a communication consultant. "Spirits & Wine" is Newhof's first venture into the land of fiction. It was inspired by the home she shares with her husband and the two cats and two dogs they've rescued. "I love writing," she says. "To me, words are pure joy. It doesn't matter if it's a press release, the guidebook, a story I'm working on. ... To move around the words and get them in just the right place, well, that's such joy." "Spirits & Wine" was started 14 years ago, but life got in the way, and Newhof didn't get the push to finish it until her mother moved in three years ago. Gloria Newhof, to whom the book is dedicated, loved to read but no longer could see, so Susan Newhof and her friends would read to her. One day, there was nothing in the house they hadn't read -- except an unfinished manuscript in Susan Newhof's office. Every morning, her mother would ask to hear what came next. This fall, Newhof is busy attending book clubs and book signings throughout Michigan. At each stop, she encourages other writers by asking a simple question: "What are your stories?" Then, she tells them about the house in which she lives, a house that once held too many secrets and a spirit that yearned to be discovered in print. And if you ask, she'll tell you she really doesn't like scary books or movies. Newhof has been known to snap a book shut or leave a room mid-movie if things get too frightening. So she's slightly mystified when people tell her "Spirits & Wine" is a little too spooky for comfort, unnerving even. "I've been surprised when people say it's scary," Newhof says, a big smile breaking out on her face, "but then, I know the ending." Published: Wed, Oct 26, 2011