I’m just sharing a quick update today. For any audiobook lovers / reviewers, there’s a new blog tour run by Rachel’s Random Resources. Sign ups for this 1 day tour are happening now. You can get the full info here Love, Loss and Life In Between audio blog tour.
The audiobook came out last month and I’m really excited to see what reviewers think. It’s a collection of short stories and has a run time of just over two hours, a perfect listen when you are pushed for time.
Please check out the page above for the full details, a sample and info on how to sign up. The blog tour date is 17th March 2023.
I am not great at sharing reviews, which is a shame as I know how important they are to authors, so I’ve decided to try a monthly wrap up post to share what I’ve been reading through the month. I also plan to share any progress on my writing projects as well as trying to stick to a quarterly plan.
January Update
Reading
I’ve made a good start to the year and my Goodreads goal of 26. Reading 4 books this month has set me up well.
The Fifth Sun Series by Talis Jones has kept me entertained and I’m looking forward to the final installment.
Writing Romance Novels and Love Stories has given me plenty to think about and work through with The Mermaid Hotel Series.
Rules for dating a Romantic Hero was a quick read and enjoyable. A good choice to get someone into reading who is daunted by bigger books.
Christmas Kisses by Alison May was a great read. I loved how the three novellas were interlinked and how it all came together at the end. Very enjoyable.
Writing
My new audiobook came out in January –Love, Loss and Life In Between. I have free audio codes available for reviewers, so please get in touch.
Romance series
Book 1 has a new title (formerly known as Evie’s Song) – Secrets and Love Songs at The Mermaid Hotel. It really fits the story and the genre. Feedback so far has been brilliant. What do you think?
I’ve also decided that I’ve been mentally putting the book in the wrong category – thinking of it as Contemporary Women’s fiction when it’s closer to the Cosy Seaside Romance genre.
I’m still editing the above and have quite a bit of work to do on the descriptions and layout of the novel.
Other Writing
Starlight Prophecy – No progress
Other writing – Nothing to report.
Other relevant writing news
I have joined the Romantic Novelist Association’s New Writers Scheme, which turned out to be easier than anticipated. It means I can send ‘Secrets and Love Songs at The Mermaid Hotel’ to a reader in March and get new professional eyes on the story.
I have subscribed to Mslexia, the women’s writing magazine and taken out their special Salon membership which has various perks throughout the year.
I have signed up to the RNA’s course ‘Writing a series with a coastal or countryside setting’ taught by Jessica Redland (I’m reading one of her books for the first time and loving it!). I think this course will be really helpful as I plan the rest of The Mermaid Hotel Series.
Plans for February
Books I hope to read this month
Writing projects for February
Complete the latest draft of Secrets and Love Songs at the Mermaid Hotel in preparation for the New Writer’s Scheme.
Write something new for my writing group meeting mid-February.
I think that about sums up my plans for February. Short and sweet!
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic fantasy, heart-warming romance and short stories
At the weekend I was lucky enough to feature on Becca’s blog – Avoiding reality of books. My interview discusses my writing journey, where I get inspiration and questions about genre amongst other things. See the full interview here.
This is a short post this morning, so don’t forget to check out Becca’s blog where she has her series 7 questions with an author, book reviews and more.
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic fantasy, heart-warming romance and short stories
I’m excited to announce my latest audiobook is now available on Amazon, Audible and iTunes – narrated by Sandie Keane. It has been a pleasure working with Sandie and I hope you enjoy the result.
Don’t forget if you purchase the ebook you can get the audiobook for a discounted price.
Alternatively, I’m looking for reviewers to share their thoughts on the audiobook and have free audio codes to give away. Please get in touch to request this by leaving a comment or using the contact form.
Whether you plan to read or listen to Love, Loss and Life In Between, I hope you enjoy the collection. Do let me know what you think, just like these reviewers did.
Amazon Reviewer – ‘This is a lovely collection of short stories, you can have heart-breaking, heart-warming and shocking moments all in one collection.’
Amazon reviewer – ‘A quick-paced collection of wonderful little stories that are all so different and capture the difficult task of moving on after loss and tragedy…’
Thanks for reading.
Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic fantasy, heart-warming romance and short stories. All social media links can be found onLinktree
As it’s the start of the year, it’s time to set myself some reading goals. Last year I was very comfortable with a 25 book target. In 2023 I don’t plan to up it by much, just going for 26 books. I’m hoping that is a practical target to fit around my writing and whatever else the year throws at me.
I have some books carried over from last year that I want to read so I already have an idea of some of my reads. I plan to stay away from Netgalley and requesting books even though it’s a great way to read books by my favourite authors before they are published. Saying that, if the publishers marketing teams contact me, I’m not sure I’ll be able to resist the pull of a shiny new book or two!
My TBR for 2023 so far
Fantasy
Urban Fantasy
Romance
Writing guides
That is just a taster of the books that I’ve wanted to read for a while. I have a ton on my kindle which I haven’t even looked through yet. I’ll see how I go with this lot first.
What do you think of my selection?
Have you set yourself a reading challenge this year? Do you usually meet your targets?
Whatever and however you read, I hope you enjoy lots of books in 2023!
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic fantasy, heart-warming romance and short stories
Let’s hope it is a less dramatic year for world events and closer to home that the cost of living crisis eases for those struggling households.
I’m hoping for a mild new year as I hate the cold weather, though I do love the look of a frosty morning and walking through freshly fallen snow as long as it melts by the next day.
I’m not really one for making new year’s resolutions, though I did briefly consider trying for a dry January. My husband wasn’t so keen on that idea, maybe next year.
I’m looking forward to making some big progress with my writing in 2023 and shared my plan in a previous post here. I hope you will join me for the ride.
Do you make new year’s resolutions? And more importantly, do you stick to them? Wat are your hopes for the new year?
It’s been a good reading year for me. I completed my Goodreads challenge of 25 in plenty of time, getting to 28 books in total. It’s not the biggest target, but I’m pleased I made it.
I’ve read a mixture of romance, urban fantasy and fantasy with a couple of thrillers, a how to book and a graphic novel thrown in.
You can check out all the books I read on my goodreads challenge here.
I’ve been transported to some amazing locations and different worlds, I’ve been entertained and kept up too late at night on many occasions!
I try to read as many books as I can by fellow indie authors or those published by small presses, and I’ve discovered new to me authors whose work I will be searching out in the future.
I haven’t reviewed as many books on my blog as I would have liked in 2022, but I try to leave reviews or at least ratings on Goodreads and Amazon because as an author I know how important these are.
Looking back over the list on Goodreads, I find it almost impossible to pick a favourite. But If I had to, I think I would say The Switch by Beth O’Leary. I only picked it up because so many agents rate her work and having read this book I can completely see why. I highly recommend it.
Did you meet any reading challenges you set yourself? Have you got a favourite read you can recommend?
I will be back in the new year with some of the books I plan to read during 2023.
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic fantasy, heart-warming romance and short stories
As this year draws to a close, I’m planning my writing aspirations for 2023.
This year has been very much focused on short fiction, but I’m determined to make 2023 the year I work on my longer fiction projects = the fantasy trilogy and my contemporary women’s fiction series set in Cornwall.
I have a few housekeeping issues that need addressing too, so I’ll list them first in the hopes of getting those tasks out of the way asap.
To Do List 2023
Publish all three short story collections as Large Print Editions – this is an experiment to hopefully make the books more appealing to libraries.
Consider whether it is worth producing all books in hardback format. They look beautiful but it costs more. Will libraries be more willing to stock hardback versions?
Approach libraries to stock my books.
Get the audiobook of Fantasy Short Stories produced.
Update all books with details of my new releases in 2022. This will involve updating the format of the books with the new style table of contents Amazon now requires.
Ensure all ARC copies I have to offer reviewers are updated versions as per above.
Contact more reviewers for both ebooks and audiobooks.
Attempt to join the RNA when the New Writers Scheme opens in January.
Writing Plans 2023
The Mermaid Hotel Series
Book 1 is pretty much complete and a much stronger book than it was this time last year. I’ve decided to approach agents and publishers direct to see what the feedback is like before deciding on the self publishing route. Once I make my decision it will be full steam ahead!
I need to develop the drafts of books 2 and 3 and hope to publish them in 2023 if that is the path I choose.
Work on the series bible, complete a series timeline, work out the arc of the series and draft the other novels asap.
Starlight Prophecy Trilogy
If I could just get over the block in my planning I could finish the first two books in 2023 and start planning book 3. I would also love to start publishing this series in 2023.
To achieve my goal, I need to strip the idea back to its basic premise and work out the series arc as well as for each individual novel. I also need to brainstorm the books with my husband as that usually helps me figure out plot issues.
Other writing
Short fantasy series – I have a couple of characters that arrived on the paper some years ago and I really want to get their story written. It feels like a strong contender for a short series, perhaps around 50k per book.
Silent Sea Chronicles – I’d love to revisit this world in 2023. Whether that is with short stories or longer works, I won’t know until I write them. I do know that I want to finish the prequel and I have ideas for future stories that need exploring.
Later in the year I may decide to write some more short stories for publication too. Another Christmas themed one, or paranormal stories maybe. I have a few romance ideas that need developing as well, though what length they’ll turn out to be I’m not sure yet.
For the start of the year I want to focus on just the two series, but everything else can still simmer at the back of my mind until I’m ready to get on with them.
Other Plans
Get a part time job. The cost of living crisis is taking its toll so at some point it looks like I’ll have to take the plunge into the workplace again. It’s a big decision for me as it will take away from my writing time. Somehow, I’ll have to be more organised. That, or we need to win the lottery!
That about sums up my plans for 2023, though no doubt something else will come along and distract me.
Whatever the new year brings, let’s start positive and have fun!
See you again soon for some of my favourite reads of 2022.
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic fantasy, heart-warming romance and short stories
I love to look back over the year’s achievements before planning the next year’s goals. 2022 has not had all the publishing success I was hoping for but I have achieved a lot and can’t grumble too loudly!
Publishing three short story collections is pretty good going and I’m particularly proud of the latest one – A Christmas Wish. It was such fun to write 8 stories in just over a month and I proved to myself that if I set my mind to a task anything is possible.
Although I didn’t get my romance series out into the world, I have got book one in a much stronger place and I’m still really excited about the series working as a whole. I have yet to decide how best to approach the publication of it. I love self publishing, but would an agent and traditional publisher have a better chance reaching more readers?
I’ve also just found out the RNA (Romantic Novelist Association) are opening the New Writers scheme in January so that is another opportunity I need to explore. I’ve heard how brilliant it can be, so it’s worth giving it a shot. It’s all about who gets online the quickest, so I think it will be as hard to join as getting tickets to a Coldplay concert in the Albert Hall – something I tried and failed to do this year!
As the above are all small books I’ve experimented with publishing hardback copies and I have to say they look fantastic on the shelf and are lovely to read. The biggest drawback is the cost.
I’ve also recently managed to get ‘A Christmas Wish’ and ‘Love, Loss and Life In Between’ produced into audiobooks. Watch this space for the release date of the later. I am on the look out for audio reviewers, so please leave a comment below, or use the Contact form if you are interested.
Fantasy Short Stories is more difficult to produce in audiobook as it focuses on characters from previous books that have already been narrated wonderfully by different narrators. I’m thinking that is an issue to resolve in 2023.
Other events / achievements in 2022
I attended a fantastic writing retreat in the summer run by Janet Gover and Alison May, met agents at Winchester, attended the local Christmas fair with my new books (see the post here), and have stuck to meeting with my library writing group almost monthly, only missing once when I had Covid back in March.
I’ve enjoyed several blog tours run by Rachel’s Random Resources which are a great way to celebrate a new publication and share it with reviewers.
I’ve also enjoyed taking part in the Advent Train Story through December where 24 flash fiction stories were shared by different authors. Here’s the link to my story. There are some great stories amongst them so you can check out the list on Ari’s website (Ari was the mastermind behind it all).
The year has flown by with many plans left unfulfilled, but that just means I need to get my head screwed on and focus more next year.
My plans for 2023 will follow shortly. It’s a post I enjoy writing even more than this one!
Thanks for reading and enjoy what’s left of 2022.
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic fantasy, heart-warming romance and short stories
It’s Christmas Eve. I have the smell of baking flapjacks making me hungry and flashing Christmas lights brightening the dull English day, along with some festive music playing in the background. I’m taking a quick break from the usual preparations to wish you all a wonderful day tomorrow.
I also have some important news to share – the audiobook for A Christmas Wish is now live! I got the news late last night so this is the first chance I’ve had to share it. I’m really excited to see what people think of my first audio short story collection. A big thank you to my narrator Emily Lynn for turning it around so fast and for doing such a great job.
Plus to make the day even better I woke up this morning to a lovely review from The Strawberry Post. Here’s a snippet – ‘I devoured each one and am looking forward to reading them again. They all make for such wonderful reading at this time of year… eight wonderful heart-warming tales with such perfect endings!’
Writing these stories and seeing my characters preparing for their own Christmas celebrations has really made me appreciate my own family time at Christmas. I’m really looking forward to this year’s big day and hope you all are too.
Have a wonderful time whatever you are doing and see you next week with my writing and reading round ups of 2022!
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic fantasy, heart-warming romance and short stories
Suzanne Rogerson Author 