Speaking Engagements
Ms. Adair was professional, confident and prepared...well researched on the topic she presented to her audience, and she supported her presentation with slides and summary handouts. She encouraged questions from the audience...she is poised, knowledgeable and approachable. I would not hesitate to recommend her. — Angela, workshop student
I give keynotes, presentations, and workshops to adults and kids about history, folklore, literature, and writing. I also lead educational tours of historical sites. My audiences meet in museums, libraries, schools, colleges and universities, and other venues for cultural exchange and heritage organizations. My topics spark conversations about historical legacies, community, and citizenship.
Contact me about speaking for your group.
Sample Engagements
History
“Into the Lion’s Den: William Hooper’s Harrowing Mission to Crown-Occupied Wilmington”On 28 January 1781, redcoats occupied the port town of Wilmington, North Carolina. The regiment caught the state’s patriot government by surprise, enabling the capture of some patriot leaders. William Hooper, signer of the Declaration of Independence, escaped at an agonizing cost. Suzanne Adair, author of an award-winning mystery series set during the Revolutionary War in North Carolina, discusses Hooper’s voluntary return to Wilmington half a year later—while the British still controlled the town.
Folklore/history
“Oh, Those Tea Parties!”During the American Revolution, patriot men wantonly destroyed tea to make a statement to the British. Patriot women also used tea to communicate with the British—but in a more subtle fashion. Suzanne Adair, author of an award-winning mystery series set during the American Revolution in North Carolina, discusses how ladies’ tea parties in the Old North State underscored the ways that women of the Revolution controlled the economy and blindsided the British.
Suzanne Adair spoke on William Hooper (“Into the Lion’s Den”) last year at the Joel Lane Museum House, combining her authorial gift for storytelling with a passion for the fascinating, little-known history she presented. We are delighted to invite her to speak again this year for Women’s History Month, presenting “Oh, Those Tea Parties!” — Lanie Hubbard, Director, Joel Lane Museum House, Raleigh, NC
Literature
“Ladies of Crime: Detective Dames and Femmes Fatales”Award-winning historical mystery novelist Suzanne Adair takes a look at some of the fictional women of the twentieth century who paved the way for the sketchy, prickly protagonists in modern bestsellers like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.
Tours
“Hillsborough History and Regulated for Murder”
Regulated for Murder, book #2 of Suzanne Adair’s award-winning Michael Stoddard American Revolution Mystery series and a standalone read, is set in Hillsborough, North Carolina, in February 1781. The town has preserved a number of its 18th-century buildings and sites. With Suzanne Adair as your guide, walk the tour and immerse yourself in the complex history underpinning this mystery—selected as one of Suspense Magazine’s “Best of 2011” reads.
Our lifelong learning group enjoyed strolling the streets and trails of historic Hillsborough, NC with Suzanne as we learned about events in history of which many of us were only vaguely aware, if at all. Suzanne is a very enthusiastic, energetic guide and having her point out sites that are featured in her novel “Regulated for Murder” was especially interesting. — Joan Hardman-Cobb, Assistant Director, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at North Carolina State University
Writing
“Plotting with the Hero’s Journey”Does your manuscript bog down or feel incomplete? Thousands of years ago, storytellers in the Western world integrated character patterns from the unconscious mind into a twelve-stage framework that we now call “the Hero’s Journey.” Award-winning historical mystery novelist Suzanne Adair delves into the challenges each stage of the journey bring to a protagonist and explains why omitting even one stage can cripple your manuscript.
Speaker Fee
I have independently researched the American Revolution for over twenty years and been published since 2006. My speaker fee is based on subject-matter expertise and my estimation of how long the work will take. This includes preparation, administrative costs, and travel. If your budget is tight, please feel free discuss it with me. There are often ways to reduce costs.