#AtoZChallenge Q – Quality #photos from West Midlands Safari Park

Posted on April 20, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

Q is a tough letter in the A-Z Blog Challenge. I’m sure lots of other people have struggled too.

I’ve cheated by falling back on my second love next to writing – Photography. I’m really grateful my blog has given me the opportunity to share these photos rather than having them sitting on my hard drive never to be seen.

I choose to focus on Quality Close ups from West Midlands Safari Park. We’ve visited here almost every year for the last 12 years. I’ve filled memory cards with shots and it’s been quite a task to choose my favourite. Some are not the best Quality, but they are Quirky (managed to get in a 2nd Q!)

Here goes…

I’ve lost the will to go to West Mid since they got rid of their wolves. I blame Robin Hobb for my wolf obsession, ah Nighteyes… if you’ve read the Farseer books you’ll understand.

Also check out my post on my favourite writing retreat with wolves, if you’re as mad on them as I am!

Giraffe would like the last word…

Hope you’ve enjoyed the pictures.

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Tomorrow – R for reviewers

Check out other A-Z posts here

#AtoZChallenge P – Proofreading Top 10 checklist

Posted on April 19, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

Proofreading is one of the hardest stages of writing for me. I love drafting and editing, but to read each word and sentence and analyse it’s components is difficult. It’s too scientific for my creative brain, but an important process that needs to be done before considering publication.

Back in August last year, I devised a checklist to tackle the final proofread of Visions of Zarua. My original post was here.

Looking back, I’m quite pleased with it as a ‘how to’ guide. It worked brilliantly for me, but I do have to warn you that a couple of tiny errors still slipped past this stage (slap wrist). Luckily with KDP & Createspace it’s a simple matter of updating the corrected file and within 24 hours the revised book is on sale. However, we should all aim to produce the best book we possibly can from the start and there really is no excuse for letting those errors slip past. My biggest advice is don’t skim at this stage. Focus and stay alert to stop those pesky mistakes from ruining a readers experience.

Proof reading Top 10 Checklist

Use a hard copy – it’s too easy to skip over errors on the computer.
Read aloud – but make sure the neighbours can’t hear you.
Read it slowly, word by word – at reading pace your brain skips over words it expects to see and doesn’t pick up the errors.
Use a ruler or blank page to highlight the line you’re reading – this ensures you don’t get ahead of yourself.
Keep focused and hydrated by drinking lots of water – this helps keep you awake, and the trips to the toilet provide plenty of short breaks.
Use a colourful pen to highlight the error, mark the sentence in the margin and fold the corner of the page over – triple insurance against the error being missed when updating on the computer.
Avoid all distractions – escape from the phone and the internet.
Keep a notebook handy – it’s great to make notes of any last minute niggles you need to sort out.
The main edit should already have been done at this point so focus on errors with grammar, spelling, punctuation, word choice and spacing.
And finally, there’s no harm in resetting the computer spell checker and giving it one last go.

Used with my Editing Search & Destroy Checklist posted during the E challenge, you should catch most of the errors.

Have you got any proofreading tips to share?

Good luck!

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Quality close ups I want to share.

Check out previous a-z posts here

#AtoZChallenge O – Orange (a celebration of colour)

Posted on April 18, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

Orange is a special colour in my household. My daughter’s name, Amber is on the colour wheel between gold and orange (according to Wikipedia) and my son used to have an obsession with the colour. The obsession controlled him and the choices he made, and if he didn’t get the orange cup or plate at nursery all hell would break loose. Thankfully he’s calmed down a bit now. Now some pictures to celebrate orange.

Orange sky at our favourite family holiday destination, Worcestershire.

Butterflies

Orange flower technically red but looks orange(ish)

I’ve taken better Robin shots, but this scruffy fellow is kind of sweet.

The next pictures are not great quality but I was sitting across the river, in the rain. I was so happy to capture the Kingfisher and his/her young. This year I promise myself I’ll get better shots.

Battle of the orange beaks

Orange scents

The rose smells beautiful, but I’ve no idea what variety it is. The Mexican Orange blossom (Choisya) above will soon be awash with small white flowers that smell gorgeous. It’s a wonderful shrub that flowers at least twice a year.

Feel the heat and hear the crackle of the fire

Finally orange taste

Orange Vitamin C shake

I really enjoy making things with fresh ingredients. Whether I have grown them myself, or bought them from the shop. This is a little vitamin pick me up drink. It tastes really good drunk straight away.

Start with:
Chop it up (only used half a carrot)
Stick it in the blender. And this is the result.

It’s really good with a bit of ice, but even better with a shot or two of vodka!

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Next time Proof reading.

Check out the other A-Z blog posts here

#AtoZChallenge N – Notebooks I’ll never use

Posted on April 16, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

I have always loved notebooks and stationery. Always!

I collect notebooks and have a shelf full of unused ones. I think I must be the easiest person to buy for. A notebook and pen and I’m happy.

But these three beauties I’ve had on my shelf for at least fourteen years. I can’t bring myself to write in them. Nothing will ever be good enough to mar their beautiful pages. They were not particularly expensive, although at the time it would have been a luxury purchase.

I have to be careful, my daughter has her eye on this shelf. And I’ve seen her eyeing up these books before.

It’s funny, when she saw them on the table she said, ‘So you’re finally going to write in them then!’

No, not today.

Do you love stationery, and do you have anything you just can’t bear to use?

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Links to other a-z challenge blogs can be found here.

#AtoZChallenge M – Mood Music and the Miracle of Life

Posted on April 15, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

I’ve had tons of ideas for the M post in the A to Z Blog Challenge. These are a couple of things that have stuck with me.

Mood Music

I had an Q&A session with Book Savvy Reviews this week, here is the link if you missed it (Q&A). One of the questions was did I have any muse music I liked to listen to when writing. I thought I would share a couple of youtube videos of my favourite atmospheric singer/songwriter/musician. He is a totally talented and I love his music – Ben Howard…

Esmerelda – I love this song. It is simply beautiful.

Oats on the water – Hauntingly beautiful and builds to a dramatic conclusion though not over the top. Just perfect and it gives me goosebumps.

Old Pine – This is another beautiful track with lots of nostaliga to it. Lovely bit of acoustic guitar.

Keep your head up – I feel this song has a bit of a life motto ‘Keep your head up, keep your heart strong’. Brilliant song. This link also plays other of Ben Howard’s songs The Wolves, Only Love.

I love every track on his debut album Every Kingdom. It’s worth a listen, maybe you’ll find some mood music to set the tone for your next writing project. Also check out the EP’s Burgh Island and The Old Pine. I cannot recommend them enough.

Miracle of life

When I moved into my first house 7 years ago and finally got a garden, I went all out growing my own vegetables. My garden even won a prize for a local competition ‘Best Vegetable Garden.’ Not bad for a first effort!

This year has not gone so well; the a-z blog, a kitten that climbs the window sills and will no doubt knock over my propagating trays, trying to market Visions of Zarua, and finish the edit on my next book. Something has to give.

I’m sad looking back on these pictures full of life and greenery that I haven’t put much effort into my garden. But it’s only April, plenty of time to set that straight.

If you want a hobby, gardening is wonderful. Growing from seeds and watching the miracle of life as tiny green shoots appear. Then tending and nurturing the plants as they grow and later enjoying the rewards of your labour, either visually or gathering your crop and eating it.

Time to plant some seeds I think.

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Tomorrow N for notebooks.

Check out other a to z posts here

#AtoZChallenge L – Leaf quiz & Lovely Lilies

Posted on April 14, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

As last weekend provided some lovely sunny weather, I decided to take a few shots around the garden of the spring leaves. I’m a bit of a shrubaholic (if such a thing exists). See if you can guess these leaves… (there’s no guarantee I will remember all their names though!)

There are three shrubs in the picture below – but I only planted two of them.

And remember this?

Now looking more like this

These last ones are special to me. If you’ve read my book Visions of Zarua you might know why. It’s not looking its prettiest at the moment, but give it a few weeks!

Lovely Lilies

Lilies from a visit to Kew Gardens last year. So many beautiful varieties. According to my foraging guide (see F for Foraging post) you can cook and store the seeds of the lily but the rest of the plant is inedible (stringy and horrible I scribbled in my notes, though thankfully he didn’t expect us to try any).

I look forward to your guesses on the leaf quiz.

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Tomorrow M for … mmm I don’t know yet!

Links to previous A to Z posts here

#AtoZChallenge K – Kai’s questions on an author’s resilience

Posted on April 13, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

This post was sparked by a recent year 6 school homework project. The subject was on resilience and my son asked to interview me about the resilience of an author. He also designed a poster of our kitten learning to write, intended to show other students that no matter how hard the task, you just have to keep going.

(I’m afraid to say that Poppy wasn’t as resilient as the rest of us authors, she’s given up a career as a writer and moved to full time bird watching.)

Here are the questions my son asked me and my answers. I may elaborate a little on this post as Kai really didn’t want to write down an answer more than one sentence long.

Kai’s Questions on Resilience

1. What have you overcome when writing your books?

Over the years I’ve had to make myself learn a lot of new skills; editing, formatting for self publishing, I’ve had to tackle social media platforms and learn how to market my book on my own. I’ve also had to get over my shyness and force myself to attend evening writing classes and book groups.

The biggest thing I’ve had to overcome is self doubt, otherwise Visions of Zarua would never have been published.

2. Have you ever felt like giving up?

When my work is rejected, or someone doesn’t like it I’ve thought of giving up. But I love writing, and even though it’s hard work and there are rejections to deal with, I could never stop.

3. What kept you going?

My love of writing has kept me going through all the set backs. And the support of my family and friends.

4. What inspired you to become a writer?

I’ve always loved reading and creating my own stories. I first discovered that I loved writing in junior school. My favourite class was English Language / Literacy. I loved the homework! I’d rush home and sit in front of the telly and writes pages. I especially loved it when we were given TITLE PROMPTS for homework. The hardest thing for me was choosing which title, I wanted to use them all.

5. What disappointments have you been through?

My books have been rejected by agents and publishers. I’ve entered competitions and failed to be placed. Each time I have revised and reworked my novels and stories and resubmitted. You can’t give up if you want to succeed.

Extra Note:-

Another reason I decided to self publish was to show my children that you can achieve anything if you try hard enough. I could have kept submitting to agents and publishers hoping for a break, but instead I put in the hard work myself and took control of my own destiny.

Now I have a finished book and I can say ‘I am an author!’ My children can say ‘My mum writes books,’ instead of saying she stays at home and looks after the cats – my son really did say that at school once.

I’ve actually just registered as a self employed author with the tax office. Now I really have to believe it and start writing it on forms instead of falling back on being a housewife.

It was fun being interviewed by my son, and really nice that he thought of me for this homework.

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Tomorrow – L for leaves and lovely lilies.

#AtoZchallenge J – Jam Making

Posted on April 12, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

Plumberry Jam is the perfect summer recipe.

It uses fresh blackberries, plums and cooking apples from the garden or after a foraging trip. I love the added sharpness of the lemon in this jam recipe. It makes a delicious change to the usual sweetness you expect. Original recipe from Clippy McKenna’s book ‘500 Jams & Preserves’.

Ingredients

600g sugar

2tbsp fresh lemon juice

225g each of peeled & chopped cooking apples, de-stoned plums and blackberries.

3 tbsp. water

(The original recipe also adds fresh vanilla which I didn’t have. I didn’t add any vanilla essence despite its appearance in the picture!)

Instructions

Gently boil the water, apple and plums in a pan. It will take about 10 minutes to go soft.
Add the blackberries and lemon juice and cook until soft – 5 to 10 minutes.
Once soft, add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
Cook with the lid off so the mixture starts to reduce and thicken.
Cook on a rolling boil. It will be ready in about 5 minutes.
Check it has a jam consistency. Leave to cool a little before pouring into sterilised jars and seal.

As you can see it made three smallish jars. I’m eeking out the last jar, and can’t wait for the summer to make some more.

I also love marrow, ginger and cinnamon jam. It’s even more delicious than plumberry. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures to share of this, but I’ll do a post about it later in the year.

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Tomorrow I’ve be answering some of Kai’s Questions…

Please check here for links to other a-z challenge posts.

#AtoZChallenge I – Inspiration

Posted on April 11, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

I was lost for Inspiration with ‘I’ and that’s when it dawned on me… Inspiration.

I find getting outside with nature, whether that’s just walking or taking photographs, charges up my creativity. I like beautiful places, but forests have a special place in my heart. These two prints hang in my home, and I love to stare into them and wonder what is waiting beyond the trees.

Pictures and visual aids really get the ideas flowing. A great place to find these pictures is in magazines. Especially as you can cut the pictures out and keep them with you whenever you need a creativity boost.

I subscribe to some really good magazines that have fascinating articles as well as stunning pictures. Lots of my characters, places and ideas have come from these pages.

My top three for inspirations are;

Country file (also love the TV show on a Sunday)

Lonely Planet

Discover Britain.

I wrote a post about this a few months ago. Original post.

In the post I revealed how I covered my writing area with pictures to inspire my WIP. That would be fine, but my desk is in a corner of the kitchen so everyone has to put up with my mess. I think it looks great though. I can sit back and stare at these pictures and escape into the world I am creating.

I told you it was a mess!

Do you have any magazines that inspire you?

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Tomorrow a delicious Jam.

Check here for links to my other a-z challenge posts.

#AtoZChallenge H – Hampton Court

Posted on April 9, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

I took some lovely photos on my visit to this wonderful Royal Palace over the Easter holidays. It was a great family day out, filled with history and fun.

At times I was choked thinking about the people who had lived their often short lives at the palace. I came away wanting to read and absorb every Hilary Mantel and Philippa Gregory book. I haven’t read any before, but my beta readers rave about them, and I really would like to see the past brought to life on the page. (Just bought a 4 book set of P.Gregory)

I decided to keep this post visual and use my favourite shots of the day.

Impressive outside