about me
I am an author, youth librarian and Publishers Weekly contributor. My debut novel, Reasons to Hate Me (coming Fall 2025), won the 2022 SCBWI YA Work-in-Progress Award and the 2022 Tallahassee Writer’s Association Seven Hills Literary Contest in the YA category. In addition to these awards, my fiction has been recognized by Book Pipeline and the Searchlight Writing for Children Awards and published in Ladybug, Cricket, and The Seven Hills Review. I currently serve as Regional Advisor to the New Mexico chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).
A graduate of the College of William and Mary, I am living my best nerd life, and when I’m not writing a book (or reading someone else’s) you might find me doing a crossword puzzle or singing the soprano line of a Baroque fugue. I live in New Mexico with my husband, my children, and an 80-lb. bulldog who fervently believes she will fit on your lap.
true stories
Minimal Context
01
In my defense, if he didn’t want to spend dusk in a cemetery watching the alleged vampire’s grave for signs of movement, he shouldn’t have said “I’m up for anything” when I asked what he wanted to do on our date.
#StillTogether
02
As he neared the fence, my complacency began to waver. Surely, he couldn’t clear it now that I’d raised it to 8 feet high! Then, I was watching his tail disappear over the top, out of our backyard and into the desert beyond.
#Superdog
03
It was with great pride that I accepted the award from my high school band teacher. After all, “Most likely to wear a bizarre velour outfit and put on an incomprehensible play with her highly intellectual friends” was the superlative I’d wanted.
#LifeIsShort #WhyWasteItBeingNormal
04
If you microwave an orange for 5 minutes on high, it will make a horrible whining, hissing sound as the juice inside it boils, and then it will explode. If you microwave a plastic fork for 5 minutes on high, it will melt and start to burn, and your assistant principal will smell it and head your way, and you’d better hope you’re faster than she is.
#ProTip
#CafeteriaBoredomCure
05
It wasn’t the day I graduated high school. Not the day I graduated college. Or grad school. It wasn’t even at 3am while I was on the phone with poison control because, after staying up binging Star Trek, I was so exhausted that I accidentally brushed my teeth with anti-itch cream. No, it was the next evening when I decided I’d better go to bed at 10 to avoid having to call poison control two nights in a row that I realized I had grown up.
#Adulting
06
Applesauce is excellent during a food fight. Glass jars are not, especially if you should happen to trip and somehow crush them with the weight of your behind.
#AtLeastTheScarIsCool
say hi!
I love connecting with readers and fellow librarians, writers, and educators! Just fill in the form below. I respond to everyone personally, but that means I’m always a little behind, so I appreciate your patience.
for business inquiries:
Rights: Susan Hawk at Upstart Crow Literary Agency
Interview, article, and guest post requests: PR [at] susanmetallo.com
Speaking Engagements, Workshops, and Author Visits: see my events page.