About writer Brenda Haas

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Currently a magazine feature writer and freelance editor, I spent many years as a reporter and columnist for Penn Franklin Publishing Company, a Pittsburgh press. 

My work has also appeared in Leisure Living Magazine, The Beacon, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and My Outer Banks Home magazine, among other publications. 

When not writing or editing, I can often be found behind a camera, capturing the Lake Erie life that inspires me. My husband Mike and I also enjoy sailing, playing cards, and taking walks with Joey, our lively Australian Shepherd.

I grew up in Coshocton County, Ohio, and received my Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communications from Otterbein University (1991). I currently live in Lakeside, Ohio, the setting for my debut novel, Finding Sutton’s Choice. The circa-1870s Chautauqua resort community attracts generations of annual vacationers, artists, and educators. 

Interested in keeping apprised of news about me, FINDING SUTTON'S CHOICE, or my next novel? 

Follow me on social media or reach out using the contact form. 

FINDING SUTTON'S CHOICE, winner of the Literary Titan Gold Book Award, two International Impact Book Awards (2025, Aging and Women's Fiction categories), and the PenCraft Seasonal Book Award for Fiction (Winter 2026), released May 30, 2025, through Ten16 Press at Orange Hat Publishing. It also received a KIRKUS Reviews "Get It!" recommendation.

A troubling message pulls Charlotte back to the Lake Erie home she escaped.

It’s been ten, long years since her abrupt departure, and, with a cryptic voicemail, 28-year-old writer Charlotte Sutton finds herself back in her hometown of Lakeside, Ohio. Only this time, her estranged father doesn't recognize her, and a surprise half-sibling has taken her place. 

Chuck Sutton—newspaper editor, retired baseball player, and the town’s most beloved celebrity—is thought to have Alzheimer’s Disease. The community newspaper is also on the verge of closure, and a childhood friend holds a decade-long grudge. 

Despite all this, there is Lakeside. The quaint waterfront community, flush with ivy-covered cottages and vintage charm, hasn’t changed even as everything else in Charlotte’s life has shifted. She intends to stay only long enough to get her father’s affairs in order.

But, to reconcile her past and unearth family secrets, Charlotte must reconnect with Chuck through his Alzheimer's diagnosis and reevaluate her own misconceptions about growing up in the small Ohio town that still holds her heart.

Finding Sutton’s Choice explores complicated parent-child relationships, failing mental health, and the domino effect family choices have on who we become. 

I am available for author presentations, book signings, book club discussions, and writing workshops at brick-and-mortar retailers, libraries, or a location near you. Online opportunities are also welcome.

I have presented numerous writing workshops (both fiction and nonfiction) and critique sessions at libraries, schools, and social clubs. I am able to speak on a variety of writing topics and would love to do so for you and your group.

Interested in having me discuss the writing journey, personal essays, publication submission, character or setting development, or something else, entirely? Let's connect. 

I am happy to customize my fiction or nonfiction speaker content to support your needs.