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Sue Elliott is a successful freelance writer, editor and life coach who lives in the Napa Valley. She writes about wine, food, cars, travel, business and personal growth.

Her latest book, Automotive Custom Interiors Idea Book, was published by Motorbooks and recently arrived in all the major bookstores. You can see sample pages online at www.AutomotiveCustomInteriors.com.

She's also a ghost writer for a famous actor/environmentalist.

Plus, Sue helps people find more clarity, happiness and love in their lives through her life coach practice, through her website LovingMyself.com and through her blog.

Thank you Sue for answering a few questions for us! To start, please tell us about your new book.

Most people have seen kitchen and bath idea books. Automotive Custom Interiors fits into the same genre, but it's the first idea book ever to focus on car and truck interiors.

The book is 160 pages long, all color, with more than 650 photos and captions, plus a huge resources section. The idea was to inform and inspire readers.

This book is also really entertaining. The cars and trucks that I've included run the gamut from low-buck, home-built hot rods to multimillion-dollar automaker concept cars. And the styles range from the ultimate in luxury to race-inspired minimalism, from monochromatic to psychedelic, from totally high-tech to retro, from suede and leather to tuck 'n' roll, from inlaid wood to rusty metal, and from muscle cars to lowriders.

The book was published by Motorbooks, the largest automotive book publisher, and you can find it in the transportation section of major bookstores. It's also available on Amazon.com, of course.

For a sneak peak at some of the pages and links to a lot of the companies whose work was featured in the book, you can visit AutomotiveCustomInteriors.com.

It is unusual for a woman to write about cars...

Yes, it is! I've written for and edited automotive magazines and websites for 21 years now, and there still aren't a whole lot of women in the field.

I actually became the first female editor of a hands-on, how-to car magazine, High Performance Pontiac, back in 1990.

All those years of working on car magazines and websites really helped when it came to choosing vehicles for this book, since I shot about 60 percent of the images myself. I had to be able to tell at a glance if a car was stock or customized inside, and be able to assess the quality and whether the styling would be of interest to readers.

How did you get interested in cars?

My dad owned gas stations when I was growing up, so I was always very much aware of cars. I remember falling love with my first car when I was 3 years old.

I also went to a very car-oriented high school in the L.A. area. My friends and I would cruise Van Nuys Blvd. or cruise Westwood.

After I graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in English, I began working on magazines as a staff editor. I spent a year at a business magazine and a year at a woman's magazine.

Then I decided that if I was going to read a magazine eight or 10 times before it went to print, I'd rather be reading something that interested me. So I started sending my resume to car magazines, and soon enough I became the managing editor of four enthusiast titles at CSK Publishing Co. in New Jersey (now part of Source Interlink Media).

We understand you have helped launch quite a few publications over the years.

Yes, I love creating new magazines and websites from scratch -- coming up with a vision and a look and a tone that will appeal to and benefit the intended readers.

Recently, I helped to create Overhaulin': The Magazine (based on the Discovery Channel TV show), The Barrett-Jackson Experience (about the collector car auctions, which you may have seen on SPEED Channel) and www.CollectorCarNet.com.

Before that, I helped launch www.EnjoyTheDrive.com, which is the consumer website for SEMA (the Specialty Equipment Market Association), as well as several magazines, including Street Performance Compact, Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords and Bracket Racing USA.

Oh, and I created my own automotive collectibles magazine a few years ago called Car Toys, which I later sold to Challenge Publications.

What kind of other works have you had published? 

I am the ghost writer for actor/environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. Our first book, Living Like Ed, is a spin-off of his TV show, Living With Ed. It's full of easy tips for going green. It came out in February 2008 and has gone into its third printing already. Our second book, Ed Begley's Guide to Sustainable Living, will arrive in bookstores on August 25, 2009.

I also write about food and wine -- my other passions -- for a variety of publications. Plus, I write quite a bit about self-help topics.

What will your next project be?

I'm looking forward to transforming all of the short articles I've written for my blog into a book. And I will begin ghost writing a book soon for a very accomplished person in the wine country.

Who inspires you on a personal or business level?

Louise Hay. She overcame an incredibly difficult childhood and a lack of any real education to become hugely successful. She has helped millions and millions of people learn to love themselves more, find forgiveness and heal their own bodies through her books, her movies and her publishing company, Hay House. If you haven't seen her recent movie, You Can Heal Your Life, I highly recommend it.

Is there any aspect to your profession that gets you in touch with your readers directly?

I've certainly had lots of reader interaction as a magazine and website editor - by mail and email and at various shows and events.

But nothing compares with being a life coach. I'm constantly talking to people about the things that matter most in their lives.

Has your writing success helped you in your other role, as a life coach?

Actually, it has. My experience as a writer has perfectly prepared me for coaching.

For one thing, I've become a fantastic interviewer. I ask meaningful questions, listen actively and then ask insightful follow-up questions. I've learned how to hear what is being said, as well as what's not being said.

As an English major in high school and college, I spent a lot of time doing "compare and contrast" work. So, it's effortless for me to spot the recurring themes in clients' lives - including where a pattern in one area (such as work) manifests in another area (e.g., parenting).

Plus, as someone describes the details of a situation, I can quickly see the big picture. I also have decades of practice at gathering a lot of information, then very quickly distilling it and organizing it into the most important points. This technique helps to cut through clutter and confusion.

Also, because I'm a non-fiction writer, it's not my job to editorialize. I don't have a specific viewpoint that I'm trying to promote. Instead, I do the research and find the interesting angle to the story.

It's the same with coaching: It's not my job to tell my clients what to do. The right answers for each of them are already within them.

It's my job to ask good - and sometimes tough - questions, so that we can recognize the stories they've been telling and spot the patterns in those stories.

What type of work is the most rewarding or satisfying for you?

Being a professional writer is an amazing career. I love being able to learn new things, share what I've learned with others and get paid for doing it. I literally get paid to ask people questions. Isn't that cool?

But I must say, of all the articles I've written, the most rewarding are the ones that help people find more clarity and happiness and love in their lives. The ones that make people stop and think and look at life a little differently.

As you might have guessed, coaching people into their own personal a-ha moments is priceless, too. That really makes life worth living!

What can you recommend for writers who are just getting started and are trying to make a name for themselves?

Write about whatever makes your heart sing. There are tons of publications - and self-publishing opportunities - for enthusiasts of all kinds. It doesn't matter if your passion is music or cars or hiking or knitting, follow your bliss. Life is so much richer and more rewarding when you spend it focused on things that you love!

Finally, a most important question: What was the last song you sang out loud when you were by yourself?  :)

"Real Man" by Bonnie Raitt. I love singing, especially blues and Southern rock. It's so empowering. Talk about making your heart sing!

Thank you Sue! We're looking forward to seeing the stories from your Loving Myself blog in print!