{{short description|American author and journalist}} {{Infobox person | image = Suzy spencer 2012.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = Suzy Spencer at the 2012 Texas Book Festival | name = Suzy Spencer | birth_place = Lufkin, Texas, U.S. | other_names = | occupation = Writer | alma_mater = Baylor University | years_active = 1977–present | website = http://www.suzyspencer.com }} '''Suzy Spencer''' is an American author and journalist who made the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list in 1998 with her first true crime book ''Wasted''.
Since then, she has written three additional true-crime books. Her book about alternative sex, ''Secret Sex Lives: A Year on the Fringes of American Sexuality'', was released in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/books/ct-prj-fifty-shades-of-grey-reading-20150205-story.html|title=As 'Fifty Shades of Grey' hits theaters, consider these books|first=Keri|last=Wiginton|website=Chicago Tribune |date=|publisher=}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Spencer was born in Lufkin, Texas, where she graduated from Lufkin High School in 1972. She received a degree in journalism from Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
== Career == She moved to New York City and worked as a reporter/researcher for ''Fortune'' magazine. Two years later, Spencer was in Los Angeles freelance writing and completing an MBA in finance and marketing and a master's in professional writing from the University of Southern California.<ref name="amazon1">{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Suzy-Spencer/e/B000APFWNA |title=Suzy Spencer: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle |publisher=Amazon.com |date= |access-date=2013-02-23}}</ref>
Spencer has appeared on ''Good Morning America'', ''ABC World News'', ''Primetime'', ''Dateline NBC'', Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, Court TV, Oxygen, E! Channel, and ''Katie'' on ABC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://suzyspencer.com/blog/about/ |title=About |publisher=Suzy Spencer |date= 7 July 2009|access-date=2013-02-23}}</ref>
== Books == Her book ''Wasted'' about the 1995 murder of Regina Hartwell in Austin, Texas,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weeklywire.com/ww/11-02-98/austin_books_feature1.html|title=Books: Friends in Low Places (Austin Chronicle . 11-02-98)|first=wil gerken, nathan hendler, doug floyd, amy|last=burnham|date=|work=Weekly Wire}}</ref> made the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list in 1998.
In February 2002, St. Martin's Press released Spencer's book, ''Breaking Point'', about Andrea Yates' murders of her five children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/What-we-learned-and-didn-t-from-Andrea-Yates-8306752.php|title=What we learned, and didn't, from Andrea Yates' case|author=|date=20 June 2016|publisher=Houston Chronicle|access-date=2017-01-01}}</ref> After the book's release, Spencer's press credentials to cover the Yates trial was revoked by the court and she sued.<ref name="texasmonthly.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/a-qa-with-suzy-spencer/|title=A Q&A With Suzy Spencer|author=|date=1 November 2002|work=Texas Monthly}}</ref> The court denied her request, so she stood in line each day with the general public for a daily spectator pass.<ref name="texasmonthly.com"/>
Spencer's memoir, ''Secret Sex Lives'', released by Berkley Books in 2012, was featured at that year's Texas Book Festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2016/01/breaking-point-exclusive-qaa-author-suzy-spencer-andrea-yates-houston-true-crime|title=Breaking Point: Exclusive Q&A with Author Suzy Spencer|first=Suzy|last=Spencer|date=19 January 2016|work=CriminalElement.com}}</ref>
Her book ''The Fortune Hunter'' was the basis of the 2021 Lifetime movie ''Secrets of a Gold Digger Killer'' starring Julie Benz.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rosario|first=Alexandra Del|date=2021-04-01|title=Lifetime Unveils Six Original Titles For Summer Of Secrets Slate With Annabeth Gish, Jennie Garth, More|url=https://deadline.com/2021/04/lifetime-six-original-titles-summer-of-secrets-slate-annabeth-gish-jennie-garth-1234725730/|access-date=2021-11-30|website=Deadline|language=en-US}}</ref>
== Reception == Spencer was called by ABC's ''PRIMETIME LIVE'' program Austin, Texas' best-known true crime writer. Her first four books each earned awards: *''Wasted'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller and Violet Crown Book Award finalist; *''Wages of Sin'' was reissued by Kensington Books in December 2010, 10th anniversary of the book's publication; *''Breaking Point'' was a Book of the Month Club, Doubleday Book Club, Literary Guild and Mystery Guild selection; *''The Fortune Hunter'' was called "riveting" and "blockbuster" by the ''Globe''<ref name="amazon1"/>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.suzyspencer.com Author's website] * {{IMDb name|4136971}} * [https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=au=%22Spencer%2C%20Suzy%22 WorldCat bibliography]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Suzy}} Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:People from Lufkin, Texas Category:American non-fiction crime writers Category:21st-century American women writers Category:American women journalists Category:Baylor University alumni Category:USC Marshall School of Business alumni Category:University of Southern California alumni Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers Category:American women crime writers