Sue Buchanan

When best-selling children's author Sue Buchanan thought her life was over, it was really just beginning. Diagnosed with breast cancer and saddled with a grim prognosis, conventional thinking would have told her she was as good as gone. However, Sue is anything but conventional! Now, nearly 30 years cancer-free, Sue spreads her crazy brand of hope, and humor, wherever she goes.

What might have been Sue's epitaph was instead the catapult that launched a new world of opportunities. Her triumph over the disease and her new lease on life are chronicled in her book, I'm Alive and the Doctor's Dead, and that was only the beginning. Today she maintains a full itinerary of speaking engagements and has authored numerous other books. Sue encourages her listeners to face a crisis head-on, then reclaim their lives and come out on the other side enriched ... and hopefully laughing! 

Beyond her claim to fame as a true survivor, Sue Buchanan's self-proclaimed spiritual gift is exaggeration. Her flamboyant sense of style (which sometimes includes colorful feather boas) is as much a part of her persona as her tell-it-like-it-is delivery. Outrageous and overstated? Perhaps. But don't let that "dumb blonde" act fool you. Sue is also a savvy businesswoman. Prior to her "second life" as a writer and speaker, she served as vice president of Dynamic Media, Inc., a company specializing in computer authoring, video production and corporate meeting planning. Clients included several Fortune 500 companies.

Rather than a speaker, Sue prefers to call herself a cheerleader and in that role has been sponsored by such groups as The Susan G. Komen Foundation, American Association of University Women, The American Cancer Society, Glaxo and Amgen Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly and other medical and civic groups. She speaks at Christian women's conferences and retreats, with such topics as "A Party Begins in the Heart," "If I Can Write a Book, You Can Write a Book" and "I Don't Know Whether to Pray or Eat a Two-pound Box of Chocolates." Sue's message is simple: "One of God's best gifts is the gift of laughter!"

In her book The Bigger the Hair, the Closer to God, Sue reminds you to take hold of your thinking and give yourself permission to unleash the person inside you ... the person you always dreamed you would be!

Award-winning children's books include: I Love You This Much (with Lynn Hodges) and Mud Pie Annie (with daughter Dana Shafer); both are best-sellers. Recent releases are: That's Not All I Want for Christmas, That's Not All I Found in the City, and another book in the "I Love You This Much" Series: Dear God, It's Me. Sue's newest children's books includes a CD and is titled Count Yourself to Sleep. Also new to the shelf is Angels Watching Over Me, sharing the wonder of angels and the comfort angels bring.

Sue is also the "gossip columnist" for Homecoming Magazine! Sue lives in Nashville TN with her beautiful Katrina rescue cat, Princess. She has two daughters.  Melinda lives nearby and Dana lives in heaven ... and in her mama’s heart.