Writing Update September 2020 and some writing goals #amwriting

Posted on September 1, 2020 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

It’s September and we’re into the last 4 months of the year – that’s scary! Like most people I think I’ll be glad for 2020 to be over.

To help me through I’ve decided to plan my writing projects for the rest of the year. I’m not setting huge goals, so hopefully I can stick to them.

First it’s always nice to look back and see what I have achieved this year (and gloss over the fact I had originally planned to have published two books by this time in 2020)!

Achieved in 2020

I finally set up my mailing list with Mailchimp. This is a task I’ve been putting off for years. I haven’t started advertising it yet, but if you want to join please follow the link here. I’m working on some free and exclusive stories for my mailing list subscribers set in the worlds of my novels, so there’s a great reason to join me.

My big news for 2020 is that the audiobook for The Lost Sentinel is coming very soon! We’re just waiting for approval from ACX and then it will be on sale through Amazon, Audible and iTunes. Watch this space for more info.

Last month The Lost Sentinel hit number 1 bestseller in several free categories in the US, UK and Canada. It was a pretty big deal for me and I shared a post about how it happened here.

What’s to come

I’ve been writing a romance novella that I hope to publish in 2020. It’s a departure from my preferred fantasy genre but it’s been keeping me sane during lockdown and I’m really excited about it. I have yet to have beta readers feedback so I’m not even sure how good the story is, but I do have my editor booked in very soon so I need to get on with it!

Those short stories for my mailing list subscribers need to be a priority after the novella has gone to beta readers.

I’m writing a spy story with a friend. We’re not sure how long it will be, but I’ve already suggested we publish it at some point. This will be my friend’s first self published book and it’ll be great to share a joint project with the world. Again, testing out a new genre is exciting as well.

I have other romance novella ideas that I hope to start drafting over the coming months, but I really must get back to my first love – Fantasy! Which leads me to…

My planned trilogy. If I can just get on with it I might be able to publish the complete trilogy in 2021. That is a big ask, but book 1 is almost complete (if I don’t end up planning any major rewrites) and book 2 only has about a 1/4 to go. Book 3 is another matter, but I’ll worry about that later.

There are always more projects in the back of my mind including the book of short stories I’ve been itching to put together and a non-fiction book on writing and self publishing that keeps rearing up and forcing my attention away from other things. These are ideas I’ll sort out one day, I’m just not sure when.

Other News

Silent Sea Chronicles has a blog tour running from 6th to 12th September. Run by Storytellers on Tour, there will be some fun Q&A’s and lots of reviews and promo posts hitting over the week.

I’m also planning an Audiobook 1 day event for The Lost Sentinel in the next few months with the help of Rachel’s Random Resources.

I’ve signed up for an online social media course to help me understand some of the platforms I’ve been ignoring, so hopefully I can learn a few tips to reach a wider audience.

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I think that’s about all I should consider for now before I dig myself an even bigger writing hole to get lost in.

Tomorrow I have a book post from a debut author to share and then I’ll be blogging about my reading plans for the rest of 2020. Thanks for stopping by.

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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy

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10 Writing tips during writing slumps / lockdown #writingtips #amwriting

Posted on June 11, 2020 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

Everyone has days when they just can’t find the inspiration to write.

I’ve heard from writing friends that they’ve found it especially hard to find any creativity over the last few months what with lockdowns and the pandemic. Thankfully I haven’t suffered with lack of inspiration but I have found it hard to adjust to having family around during my writing time and helping / nagging two teenagers about their home school lessons can be draining.

I thought it would be a great time to share some of the tips I’ve found helpful now and in the past to help me keep my writing mojo.

10 Tips to writing through a slump

Allow yourself time to write. Giving yourself the permission to write frees up your subconscious and hopefully your creativity.
Write anything and see what arrives on the page. Lately I’ve managed to write some short stories by just starting with whatever comes into my head.
Experiment to find the right time to write. Are you most creative first thing in the morning, evening, in bed at night? I’ve discovered first thing in the morning before I even get out of bed is my optimum creative time, though I used to love writing before I go to sleep too.
Find the right medium to get down your ideas. For me that’s pen and paper or in a beautiful notebook. Maybe you like to type directly on your laptop, put notes on your phone or maybe a diary or journal.
Typing up ideas you’ve scribbled down and giving them a working title can really get the creativity going as you see the story emerging on the page.
Use idea spinners; Title prompts, picture prompts, story cubes, online sites, competition story prompts, news articles, or whatever springs to mind as your pen hits the paper.
Have a writing journal or a place to scribble down ideas or bits of stories. When you are stuck for an idea it’s great to be able to flick through your past scribblings and see if anything inspires you.
Maybe it’s time to revisit an old novel or short story attempts. I like to print them off, or even better send them to my ipad or kindle. Then, armed with a notebook and pen, I can read through them as a normal book and make notes on what needs changing or expanding.
Sharing stories with critique partners can help you find out what’s not working and talking it through may just inspire you to finish it. One of my beta reader’s recently pushed me to reconsider the whole mood of a story and I realised making my character so morose was stopping the reader from connecting with her.
Write with a friend. You can spur each other on. This is something I’ve been doing with one of my writing buddy’s Jackie. She decided to start sharing the story on her blog to force her to write more. Here are the links so far; The day of the Badger (working title) Part One , Part Two.

A few points to remember

Write now. Edit later.
Don’t think too much about the story. Allow your mind to work as you go along and be amazed at the story that unfolds.
Don’t hold back.
Don’t expect it to be a wonderful first draft. The fun is in the editing, at least it is for me!
Enjoy yourself. Writing and creating is the best natural high there is.

I hope these tips have inspired you to write.

Do you have any great tips to share?

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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy

You can follow me on

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Writing update #amwriting #amediting #indieauthor

Posted on October 23, 2019 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

2019 has been a busy year for me. Despite feeling as though I haven’t been doing much writing, as I look back I realise I’ve achieved a lot – publishing the final book in my Silent Sea Chronicles trilogy, producing the box set in ebook format and working with my narrator on the audiobook of Visions of Zarua which came out in July.

I’ve been involved in 3 blog tours to promote the above mentioned publications and have run several book stalls and pop up craft shops.

I’ve attended two major writing events this year – London Book Fair and Winchester Writers Festival and also ran a book stall at Hastings Literary Festival.

I’m off to Prague in a few days. I plan to see the translated version of Visions of Zarua in the bookshops and explore the city. I’ll be sharing lots of pictures upon my return.

Another major event has happened in my life and she is the reason I haven’t been able to write much over the last few months…

Daisy. She is a crazy puppy who has stolen much of my writing time but she has also stolen the hearts of the family. She still has a lot of growing to do and lots of training ahead of her, so who knows when I’ll find time to get fully back into writing.

At the moment I’m continuing to edit a novel that I started a few years ago. The working title is Child of Destiny and it may turn out to be a standalone dual timeline story like Visions of Zarua. The comments from beta readers so far has been positive and all three of the agents / publishers I saw at the Winchester festival with the first chapter were happy to see more when its complete.

During the summer I spent time looking over the third novel I wrote back in my early twenties. I’ve formatted it into one document, spell checked it and prepared it for a read through. It’s a whooping 200k and needs a huge edit but I do see potential in it and look forward to seeing just how much work is needed to pull it into shape.

Finally, I’ve really got the urge to write a hero again. I have a couple of story ideas that fit the bill and I want to develop them whilst I complete Child of Destiny. I think it’s important to have more than one project on the go and preparing writing for the three writing groups I attend certainly keeps me busy!

That’s it on the writing front for now. I’ll leave you with another snap of Daisy. It makes a change from all the book posts!

10 Tips for re-reading your novel after publication #indieauthor #amediting

Posted on February 27, 2018 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

A few weeks ago I re-read The Lost Sentinel (Book One in the Silent Sea Chronicles). I loved the experience of reading my own book in paperback, and I had the brilliant idea to use post-it notes to highlight things as I went along. These may have been facts I wanted to check in book 2, reminders for planning book 3 and the prequel, spelling or grammar niggles, places where the Astral Plane was mentioned etc.

I loved the blue post-its matching the cover, but I soon discovered the disadvantages of this method. I didn’t write on every note exactly what I was supposed to be checking. Going through it afterwards, not all the highlights made sense and I couldn’t find any problems with the text. Having suffered this problem, I thought it would be a good idea to share my top tips…

10 TIPS FOR RE-READING YOUR WORK AFTER PUBLICATION

First decide why you are re-reading and what you want to get out of the experience.
Don’t be scared! If, like me, your book has been read and reviewed you have those reviews to fall back on. Perhaps they have flagged up issues you need to address, or maybe you can just read them as a confidence boost.
You have to let go when you re-read. So you’re suddenly not happy with the placement of a comma, or you think a sentence could be rewritten a little better. Ask yourself is it really that big a deal? I’m never satisfied with my writing, so I decided that I had to overlook some of the little niggles or I’d end up rewriting the whole thing! I did make a couple of changes, but this wasn’t an exercise in making The Lost Sentinel better, I wanted to read the sequel straight after to ensure the books worked as a series. (Thankfully they do.)
Have a notebook handy to jot down any facts that need to be checked, or issues to work through.
Post-it notes are great as they allow you to mark a section you have an issue with and let you get on with reading without breaking the flow. BUT make a note of the point you’re highlighting! It saves time later on.
Colour coding the post-its is a quick and easy shortcut. I went back and did this afterwards. I used different colours to represent book 2, 3 and the prequel. A different colour for the scenes that featured the Astral Plane, and finally any changes that needed working through were transcribed into my notebook to work through later.
Be prepared to love and hate your own writing. I had ups and downs re-reading The Lost Sentinel. When I was feeling down, I looked back over those reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. It’s always good to be reminded that others have enjoyed the book and loved your characters.
Don’t forget to celebrate your achievement. Publishing a book is amazing. Enjoy holding it, reading it and savour the whole experience.
Once the re-read is done you have to decide what changes are really necessary. Then you’ll need to update the e-book and paperback files before re-submitting them to your chosen platforms, in my case Amazon and Createspace.
Finally, double-check everything you’ve changed is correct once it has been published. It’s worth taking your time and making sure the book is the best you can make it. Then hopefully future re-reads won’t result in more changes.

I will probably go through the above process when I’ve finished writing book 3, and for any future books in the Silent Sea Chronicles. Hopefully next time around it will go more smoothly. And I hope you can take something helpful from this as well.

Have you any tips to share when re-reading your published work?

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Silent Sea Chronicles is a heroic fantasy series set on the magical island of Kalaya.

Book 1 – The Lost Sentinel is available now at Amazon.

Book 2 – The Sentinel’s Reign will soon be sent off to my second wave of Beta readers. And then after a final edit and proof read, I will hopefully be ready to publish by May. Closer to the date I will have a cover reveal – I can’t wait to share the amazing cover with you.

Thanks for reading. I hope you will continue you follow my journey as an indie author.