Susan, how do you write such great dialogue. It's so real, character unique, and believable.

I've always felt that the trick to writing great dialogue was not to try to create it organically. Many lines of dialogue in my books are something I've heard someone say, in passing or in an intense moment. Sometimes, gems of dialogue are nothing snippets you just hear in ordinary moments of living. Store them away. I bet you'll have a character someday who
will be perfect for it.

Simple statements are important to character creation: While traveling in Italy, my son-in-law Drew, kept saying over and over again, "Susan, when we get to Paris, you have to have Un Croque-Monsieur!" I must have heard it twenty times. Didn't have a clue what that was, but Drew is a vegan, couldn't order it, and it was a happy memory for him. The meal he used to get when dining out with his high school French club. OK, I'll order Un Croque-Monsieur in Paris.

So, we land in Paris, check into our boutique Hotel, trot across the street to have dinner on the patio of a charming Paris  Cafe. I order my Un Croque-Monsieur and when it comes, I stare at it. All through Italy Drew told me I had to order this. I have my glass of fine wine, I'm in a Paris  Cafe, and this is what Drew wants me to eat?

It's  a freaking grilled ham and cheese! Really Drew?

But it is so my character, Alan, to pour a fine bottle of wine, set a beautiful table, cook, and then serve a grilled ham and cheese and call it Un Croque-Monsieur.

Really? It's a freaking grilled cheese! It's a small snippet of dialogue in my book, but the small touches often give your characters the most realness and believability. Don't ignore the small moments when your characters converse.