#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 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 A – Amber’s Method: Top 5 #writingtips

Posted on April 1, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

Amber’s Method on how to create characters and stories.

(Background – Amber is my 9 year old daughter, but she’s already teaching me a thing or two about writing.)

1. Start with a name.

She uses name books to look up interesting male and female names.

I prefer to make names up, another reason I love the fantasy genre, but I often find the names are not unique and are used in unexpected places. My current W.I.P ‘Garrick’ is actually a London theatre and a nearby road I’d never heard of before. ‘Brogan’ has been an ogre in Sherk. ‘Rike’ has been used in Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire trilogy.

2. Use pictures off the internet to create an Inspiration File

If she wants a particular type of character like a fairy or mermaid, or maybe a dark haired 10 year old, she’ll put in the search and look through the pictures. She then copies the pictures into a file that she can use to describe the character and refer to when she needs to. This also works for settings and objects.

My method has always been looking for faces and places in magazines and plastering them around my wall. Unfortunately my workspace is in the kitchen so everyone has to put up with my mess. Using a computer file would be a lot tidier and I would have it will me all the time.

(Pinterest – I used this to give me inspiration for the cover of Visions of Zarua. It’s a great resource, and one I want to put to better use for future books.)

3. Write the story – don’t edit until then end!

I’ve often said to her are you going to change that word (I hate seeing a word underlined in red) but she says ‘No, I’ll edit it at the end.’

4. Don’t show it to others too soon.

I have not been allowed to read her work yet.

Sometimes it makes sense to show restraint and get the work ready for others to see. Also talking about the WIP too soon can kill the spark of inspiration.

5. If you’re stuck use picture prompts, or read other books for ideas.

My daughter has shown me a picture prompt site called Pobble365.com that has a picture for each day of the year to use for inspiration. It also give you a starting sentence or words, and asks questions that can spark story ideas. It’s used in school, so is aimed more at children, but it’s still a fun way to spark story ideas.

I’m looking forward to applying these tips to my writing in the future.

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Tomorrow I’ll be discussing Beta Readers, and then onto some more crafty posts. Right now its off to Hampton Court to spent the day steeped in history and beautiful buildings. I hope to have some interesting pictures to share for ‘H’.

(The pic is of a beautiful fountain at Witley Court, Worcestershire. It’s my picture prompt for the day!)

Please leave comments and I’ll get back to you this evening. I’m looking forward to checking out some new blogs on this challenge.

#BookReview – Wild Ruins by Dave Hamilton

Posted on January 22, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

The first thing that drew me to this book was the title, Wild Ruins. I’ve always loved ruins and this book has over 300 of them to discover. Then there is the amazing cover, which drew me in, not least because it’s just like an image I have in my head for my current WIP – Search for the Sentinel.

This is a very easy to use reference book with chapters focusing on counties i.e. Cornwall, Hampshire and Isle of Wight.

A nice touch are the pages at the beginning where the author suggests the best ruins for things like foraging (a favourite pastime of mine), picnics, beautiful walks, the weirdest and strangest ruins and the best for children and families. The book has lots of inspiring pictures, maps, ordnance survey grid references and post codes for sat nav.