I’m Susanne Paola Antonetta. Welcome! I write fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. My books deal in psychiatry, neurodiversity, madness, and science, especially physics and consciousness. And memoir. I contribute to media like the Huffington Post, Ms., the New York Times, The Hill, and currently write a blog/column for Psychology Today called Mad Woman Out of the Attic. And I serve as nonfiction editor of the awesome Orison Books.

Some things I believe, in no particular order: that literary citizenship extends beyond me; that science is amazing and has more to say about our daily dilemmas and deep fears than most people think; that action movies rule; and that cats may be God’s best shot at perfection.

And speaking of literary citizenship: this brings me to the big news that the Dorothea Buck book I’ve been working on is OUT. Part of my latest book project has been uncovering and sharing the life of Dorothea Buck, a German woman diagnosed schizophrenic and sterilized by the Nazis at nineteen. Buck was an activist fighting psychiatric abuse, biological psychiatry and related psychiatric reductionism. She wrote a brilliant autobiography, On the Trail of the Morning Star: Psychosis as Self-Discovery. The book is now out in English. It is Open Access so you can buy a physical copy for $24 or download a free copy.

The price is so right you can “buy” one for friends and family.

My latest book is The Terrible Unlikelihood of Our Being Here, out in early 2021 from OSU’s Twenty-First Century Essay Series. This book mashes up family memoir, psychiatric abuse, and science. The Devil’s Castle is at the press and due out at the end of 2025.

I have an irregular blog that mostly talks about writing and publishing (sign up here), some strategies to succeed, and honest talk about living as a writer. Each of my books represents dozens of rejections and re-toolings. You can make all this easier and increase your chances.

You can contact me here with requests for readings or class visits, or with your own rejection stories. Or tell me about you and your work.

For my book A Mind Apart I asked random people how they think. Not the what—the how. And the answers were fascinating. One person had an inner elevator that stopped at certain floors for particular topics, eg, family problems might be fifth floor. Another person had an inner government that actually debated. And yet another passed thoughts through differential equations.

Write me if you want to share how you think. I’m collecting answers for a book project. I’d love to know.

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