Writing Plans for 2019 #amwriting

Posted on January 9, 2019 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

I have lots of plans for 2019 but the biggest and most important has to be completing the Silence Sea Chronicles trilogy and publishing book 3!

For the next few months I will focus purely on this trilogy, which will consist of:

Reading and making notes on The Lost Sentinel – book 1
Reading and making notes on The Sentinel’s Reign – book 2
Reading the draft of The Sentinel’s Alliance – book 3
Completing the draft of book 3 as per my outline and notes.
When the draft is completed and ready for my beta readers I want to focus on the map of the Silent Sea. At some point I plan to commission someone to produce a map but I’ve decided it’s more important to finish the books first.

Any advice you can give about map making would be gratefully received!

Once the book is edited etc, there will be all the usual jobs involved in publishing a new book.

Future writing plans in 2019

I like to set out some of my goals for the year, even though I know I probably won’t have time for everything. It feels good to have a record and I love to tick things off a list!

Write the prequel to Silent Sea Chronicles
Release all four books in the Silence Sea Chronicles as a box set
Republish all my paperbacks with ISBN’s and through a publisher Waterstones recognises.
Approach indie bookshops as well.
Keep trying to get my books into the libraries.
Read ‘Writing Short Stories to promote your novel’ by Rayne Hall and action what I learn.
Re-read the 72k partly written novel I am desperate to finish and actually finish it!
Outline and draft the novella prequel to the above novel using the techniques I’ve learnt from Couch to 50k and Take off your pants – See below.

Other writing related plans

Reviews

Review Couch to 50K by Rachel Tonks Hill once I have used the technique and discuss if it helped my writing.

Review Take off your pants by Libbie Hawker once I’ve used the outlining techniques for some novel ideas. (By the way I chose this as my favourite writer’s guide of 2018 in this post.)

Review ‘Writing Short Stories to promote your novels’ by Rayne Hall, as previously mentioned.

Embrace my self publishing journey by

Contacting more reviewers
Organising a blog tour for the release of book 3
Buy KDP Rocket and use it to help with my book categories, keywords, ads etc.
Work on getting audiobooks produced for all my books.
Create a landing page on my website
Decide if I’m ready to set up a mailing list / newsletter
Go to writing events including Winchester and Gollancz scifi / fantasy.

Non writing plans for 2019

Find a way to get more sleep.
Fit in some exercise as often as possible.
Get out with the family more.
Read what I feel like reading without pressure as per my reading goals posted here.
Fall in love with my garden again
Be more adventurous cooking

That’s about all I can think of for now. I like to review my goals every quarter or mid-year, so it will be interesting to see how far I get with this list. As I stated at the start, the most important thing is working on book 3. Anything else will be a bonus!

Happy new year to you all and good luck with your own goals whatever they might be.

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#Bookreview The Lost and the Chosen by Ivy Asher #tuesdaybookblog #urbanfantasy

Posted on January 8, 2019 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

I stumbled on The Lost and the Chosen as the series title is the same as my fantasy book The Lost Sentinel – book 1. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but even after reading the blurb, I knew I had to read it, and I’m so pleased I did. First the blurb…

Blurb

My name is Vinna, and I’ve been keeping a lot of secrets.

You would too if you’d experienced some of the weird shit I have: red-eyed monsters chasing me, markings on my body appearing out of nowhere, a strange power that crackles colorfully over my skin from time to time, and don’t get me started on the weapons I can conjure up almost out of nowhere.

Lucky for me, I have yet to meet someone whose ass I couldn’t kick, inside the ring or out. I put that to the test when I run headfirst into a fight that brings all my secrets, and reality as I know it, crashing down around me.

Now, I’m looking for answers and trying to piece together what the hell is going on. Paranormal is my new way of life. It’s not going to be easy, and I’m not exactly welcome.

That is, until I meet the boys, and trust me, they are anything but boyish.

I’m up against elders who think I’m too powerful, a family who views me as a threat, and something lurking in the shadows that’s been coming for me my whole life.

There’s not a chance in hell I’m going down without a fight. I’m not lost anymore, and I’m about to show this world exactly what I can do.

Author’s Note: This is the first book in The Lost Sentinel Series and ends with a cliffhanger. This book is a medium burn reverse harem story, intended for ages 18 years and older. This story contains strong language, sexual situations, and violence.

My Review

First off, this is a very attractive cover and sets up a picture in your mind of Vinna and the story to come.

This is very different to anything I have read before. I see it as Urban fantasy, though the author classes it as Paranormal Romance. I think readers of most genres would enjoy this book, so don’t be put off by classification.

Vinna is a likable, kick-ass heroine right from page 1 when we meet her preparing for a fight. We learn she’s earned quite a sum of money in these arranged fights, besting opponents much bigger than she is. After the battle, she stumbles on a fight outside, between Casters and shifters.

From here the story gets even more interesting as she joins the Casters in their secret town, Solace. The community of Casters and shifters live under a magical barrier hiding them from the normal human (nons) world.

I found Vinna’s immediate friendship and attraction to a group of young Casters difficult to accept at the beginning, but stick with it; everything is explained and makes perfect sense. Especially now as I re-read the blurb and see the mention of a reverse harem! The title of the book also becomes clear.

There is a lot of swearing, but it fits with Vinna’s personality and feels natural. There are also a lot of sexual references and steamy moments, thus the 18+ warning.

I loved the magic and action running through the book and especially Vinna’s ability to conjure weapons from nothing. The last few chapters flew by as I raced through to find out what was going on. The half unexpected twist at the end choked me and I shed quite a few tears before being disappointed that the story was over and I would have to wait for the next book.

This was a fun and entertaining 5 star read. I recommend if you like modern day fantasy settings and stories with shifters, vampires and witches.

Check out The Lost and the Chosen now on Goodreads and Amazon .

Have you read this book? What do you think of urban vs paranormal fantasy?

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Note – The author states the second book is due out in January 2019 so we shouldn’t have long to wait to continue Vinna’s story. I can’t find any reference to it yet, but I’ve followed her on Amazon so that should inform me when the new book is released.

I’ve had a search around for a website / twitter for Ivy Asher but cannot find anything. If you know when the next book is coming out, please let me know!

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this review. As I stated in my post yesterday, I won’t be posting many this year unless I read tons of books I love of course!

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My reading plans for January 2019 and beyond #amreading #fantasy

Posted on January 7, 2019 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

Though I managed to reach my Goodreads target of 35 books in 2018, I decided to go for a more conservative figure in 2019. I want to focus on writing much more and don’t want to stress about reading. I’m aiming for 30 books.

I hate to be restricted in what I read so reading to a list doesn’t suit me. I found that the books I planned to read last year just didn’t happen. This year I want to go with the flow and read whatever takes my fancy.

That mindset will take over as of February, because I do have a couple of books that I need to read in January.

Currently reading my first ever ARC from Netgalley – The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan. The official release date is 17th January and I want to post a review then. The book is going well so far, and is a very different kind of fantasy for me.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman is my January book group choice, and I’ve been wanting to read this one for ages so I’m looking forward to it.

I still have to read the book I won a few months ago – City of Lies by Sam Hawke. As a competition winner, I feel it’s only fair that I review this book once I’ve read it, but it is a big book and I keep unintentionally pushing it down my tbr list.

And there is a non-fiction book I’ve been meaning to read for ages ‘Writing short stories to promote your novels’ Rayne Hall’s writer’s craft series.

Plus I cannot forget to mention that I’m planning to re-read my own books (The Lost Sentinel and The Sentinel’s Reign) to fully immerse myself in the Silent Sea Chronicles ahead of completing the draft of book 3 – The Sentinel’s Alliance. I’m really excited to get stuck in, and can’t wait to show off the cover of book 3!

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My thoughts on reviewing…

I fell out of love with reviewing books in 2018. I felt I didn’t have enough to say and some of my reviews were just going through the motions. So this year I only want to review books that I really loved and just have to share with you. I also want to read more writer’s guides and plan to review them and how they’ve helped me. I read a couple late last year. Once I’ve used the techniques mentioned I will share my thoughts on how they worked for me.

Tomorrow I will be sharing my first review of the year so you know it’s got to be a good book! Please stop by then.

2018 Wrap up – My writing year in review #amwriting

Posted on January 2, 2019 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

2018 has been a major year for me and it’s been good to look back over the highlights and have the opportunity to share them with you.

The year started off with a huge bang when I was approached by Albatros Media, a major publish in the Czech Republic. They are publishing a Czech translation of my debut novel, Visions of Zarua in the fall this year. 2018 saw one of my dreams come true and I earned (and spent) my first ever advance! I hope to be able to share a cover reveal with you very soon, I think the czech cover is perfect.

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I received my first full MS request from an agent. This was a huge high point, though I’m very sad to say that I haven’t heard back from her since.

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I published book 2 in the Silent Sea Chronicles – The Sentinel’s Reign at the end of June 2018 and it’s been seeing quite a lot of action on Kindle Unlimited, but unfortunately reviews are very slow to follow.

Please check the blurb and reviews on Goodreads and feel free to get in touch if you would like a copy to review.

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In November I celebrated the 3rd birthday of Visions of Zarua with a birthday blitz hosted by 25 blogs and organised by Rachel’s Random Resources. It was a great day and I highly recommend Rachel’s services. I received 10 new reviews and had so much fun answering questions, writing guest posts and sharing extracts. Click here if you want to see the tour hosts involved and for Rachel’s info. I also posted about the day here part 1 and part 2.

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I went to the Gollancz Writers’ Day. It hasn’t led to any breakthroughs with agents or traditional publishers, but it was a lot of fun going to an event centred around my genre. I spoke to other writers, bestselling authors, editors at Gollancz and a top agent. I feel more confident about attending days like this in the future. Here’s my review of the day.

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I dusted off some of my favourite short stories, had them edited and beta read and then entered some competitions. So far, nothing has come from it but I have been inspired to produce my own short story anthology at some point in the future.

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On a non-writing related topic, I lost 2 stone with Slimming World and feel so much happier about myself. I’ve tried dieting on and off for years, but it was only joining a group that really helped me reach my target weight and keep to it. I recommend it if losing weight is one of your new year’s resolutions.

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In conclusion 2018 was a slow writing year, but I plan to change that in 2019. I hope to share the new technique I’m hoping will increase my output once I’ve tested it fully.

Join me next time where I will post about my plans for reading, writing and life in general for 2019. See you then.