Motivated by music

I am inspired by music, are you?
When I want to sit down and get some writing done, music is by far the most motivating factor for me. It can't just be any kind of music, mind you. Ideally, if I'm working on my fantasy Raven series, it needs to be slightly eerie and dark.
As I have such a huge music collection, I have created a playlist on iTunes specifically for when I need to be motivated. My first song of choice is always that fantastic track from the 1980s movie The Lost Boys, called Cry Little Sister by Aiden... that one really gets me going.
Others include some tracks from the Twilight saga, particularly Lykke Li's Possibility. It's absolutely brilliant.
As my first book, Raven, is set in Canada, I also love to listen to native American music such as tracks by Roberto Carlos Nakai... it helps me to really put me in my character's shoes, surrounded by the beauty of North America. It is inspiring in so many ways. I have the same thing with many celtic songs too.
I think it's pretty obvious that I am inspired by the music of the movies. The Lost Boys, Twilight, Hope Floats, Practical Magic, Lord of the Rings, Edward Scissorhands, The Time Machine, Premonition and the Chronicles of Narnia are just a few that I love. There are hundreds of others that I could listen to all day! I am in awe of the people that create such beautiful sounds. Sounds that can literally cause the imagination to go into overdrive just by hearing the first few seconds of a piece of music.
Some other artists and songs that help inspire me in my quest to write include:
Carol Tatum
Impressions of winter
Lisa Gerrard
Vangelis
Enya
Cancao do Mar by Dulce Pontes
Salve me by Libera
Raven by Lisa Marie Presley

Of course I have other tastes in music for when I'm not writing. In fact my tastes vary wildly. Smooth jazz (Stacey Kent, Michael Buble, Ella Fitzgerald, Melody Gardot, for example) is perfect in the warm summer months with a cool glass of white wine on the terrace.
Country music (Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts for example) is great for dinner parties.
While cruising in the car, a good dose of Lady Gaga is just perfect! She certainly plays a bizarre character but having seen her interviewed on Oprah, she appears to be quite a sweet girl. Her music is awesome.
As a young teenager I couldn't get enough of Guns n Roses, Def Leppard, Whitesnake and the like. Now though, I can only listen to their ballads (the rest just seem like noise).
The 90s was an interesting decade for music, one which I recall with fondness, as it was in 1992 that I met and fell in love with my husband. So I have lots of great memories from our early days together! Seal, Lisa Stansfield, Alanis Morisette, Mariah Carey, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls and Take That were just some of the things we were listening to at the time. I also loved RnB but my husband wasn't so keen. There is one song, though, that we both remember well because it was to that song that I was dancing alone on the dance floor when he first spotted me. It was Fantasy by Black Box. The memory gives me the shivers!
Funnily enough, when we got married in 1998, our entertainer forgot to ask us what song we wanted for our first dance. Imagine our shock (and disappointment) when we were ushered to the dance floor to the sounds of Ave Maria! Now that makes me shiver, but for entirely different reasons. Now though, we have our own song and every time we hear it, we share a sneaky look between us. The song? Take That's Rule the World.
Oh, how music can affect us.

A website of my own

I discovered a great website today, www.wix.com. It enables you to create your own website using all kinds of great gadgets or widgets or whatever you call them!
I have had a go using one of their own templates and I have to admit I'm pretty pleased with the result. It has enabled me to put up the first chapter of my book, Raven, for people to have a look.
Let's hope I get an uber cool literary agent stumbling upon it some time soon, eh? A girl can dream, can't she?
Anyway, check out my site if you have the time and let me know what you think...

http://www.wix.com/suzyturner/web

It was through a fellow authonomist, and all round seriously talented woman, Shalini Boland, that I found the site. Perhaps my favourite book so far on authonomy is by her. It's called Hidden and it's amazing!
So a shout of thanks out to you Shalini!

Check out Shalini's site www.shaliniboland.co.uk

My Weeping Willow poem to be published!!

I'm thrilled to bits!
I've just received a letter about a poem I submitted to a competition quite a while ago. In fact I had forgotten all about it. But lo and behold, this letter arrived yesterday telling me that my poem had been chosen to be published in an anthology that is due to be published in December.
Proceeds of the book are in aid of the Golden Grove Appeal, which aims to purchase the Golden Grove Mansion, to turn it into a much-needed facility for the treatment of injured servicemen and women, so I am thrilled to bits that my little poem, The Weeping Willow is going someway to help a very worthy cause.
The book is entitled 'United in Inspiration: The Golden Grove Appeal Poetry Collection'.

Perchance to dream

After I was made redundant from my job as a magazine editor earlier this year, I wrote my first YA novel. I love to read and write, I always have. And so it seemed like the logical next step in my career. I am incredibly lucky to have a husband who supports me (financially, emotionally, physically!) and so I can devote almost all of my time to making my dream come true: to become a successful published author.

It's by no means an easy process. Once the book is written, it needs editing and often re-writes. That, however, is possibly one of the easiest parts of the process. Step number two is one of the hardest - getting a literary agent. All bestsellers have faced rejection... even JK Rowling and Jodie Picoult. That in itself gives me strength. Knowing that these awesome literary figures were turned down at the beginning of their careers helps me to focus and not take each rejection personally. I have been inundated with fantastic comments about my book on the authonomy website, as well as from friends and friends of friends (people I don't even know), and so I know that there must be agents out there who will be equally excited about it. But it takes time. It's very much a waiting game.

In the meantime, I have been told of the importance of getting out there, getting my name known and mingling with other writers, readers, and anyone else in the publishing world, for that matter. In the 21st Century, we are incredibly fortunate to have a wonderful tool at our fingerstips: social networking sites. Just in the past week I have met some fabulous people, many fellow writers, some published, some not, on the likes of twitter, myspace, facebook, blogger, linkedin, etc. It's fun as well as 'work'. It's the perfect marketing tool ready for when my dream does come true. Because it will.

Facebook Fan Page

I've read that all authors should have a facebook fan page. Yes, I know I'm not a published author but I'm an author nonetheless. I have a completed novel (and several that are currently incomplete) so that makes me an author doesn't it?
So it is for this reason that I have created myself a simple fan page on facebook... in the hope (plan?) that I might generate some... fans!
So if you would like to follow me on facebook, you can either click on the link on the lower right of this blog, or click below and then simply click on 'like'.. Thank you in advance. Your support is very much appreciated.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Suzy-Turner/151091178264050

I've succumbed to twitter

Up until just a few days ago, I wondered what all this Twitter malarkey was about. I just didn't get it. At all.
But then something happened. I'm not quite sure what happened, mind you, but I hopped on over to twitter.com and signed up. It was as if my fingers had a mind of their own on the keyboard. Twitter? What am I doing here? I thought. But the moment I tweeted for the first time, I was hooked. Hungrily reading other people's posts and checking out their links, I found that I had become one of them... whatever they're called. Twitterers, tweeters, tweets...
For me, it's a fabulous way of communicating with fellow writers, as well as literally being inundated with precious information from publishers, literary agents and anyone else in the booklovers world.
It's not all work and no play, of course. Goodness no (actually, there's currently much more playing than working but, hey, a girl's gotta have some fun), I follow a number of magazines like OK, Glamour, Woman & Home as well as some of my favourite celebrities like Tom Hanks, Oprah and even Barack Obama!
I'm still hooked on facebook, don't get me wrong, but twitter is just as invaluable for a struggling writer. Incidentally, I have also signed up on myspace and youtube... after all I need to raise my profile if I'm gonna make it as a bestselling author.
Follow me on:
Twitter: @suzy_turner
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/550687417
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/suzyturner
Look me up on facebook under Suzy Turner (surprise surprise)

Panic over

I've just had a real panic... I heard from a neighbour that there was a dead cat at the top of our road. A tortoiseshell cat.
My 'baby', Hermione, is a little tortoiseshell cat and she was nowhere to be seen. My heart stopped as I trundled all over the place calling out her name. Nothing.
As much as I didn't want to, I had no choice but to walk up the road and see if it was her. I took a towel with me, just in case I needed to bring her lifeless body back. Roxy (my dog) came with me, clearly offering a bit of support. However, there was no cat to be seen anywhere.
I came home and grabbed the car keys... maybe she was further away than I'd thought.
And then, just as I was about to drive off, she appeared! Bushy tailed and frightened by the shepherd's goats and dogs that were foraging nearby.
What a relief! Hermione is okay.
In the past nine months or so, I've lost two 'babies'. Megan, most recently, was an adorable old lady of around 15 years. We picked her up from a local animal sanctuary when she was just 5 or 6 months old so she was very much a part of the family. Everybody loved her. She was so intelligent and had a fantastic character. We do miss her.
Yoda, we lost to a severe case of cat flu about 9 months ago. He was only 4 but he was the closest I've ever had to a baby(!). He was my little angel and, much to each other's disgust, was Hermione's brother. Their mother (who is also one of the family) refused to feed them after about a week so we had to feed them with little bottles from an early age. He was one in a million and we cried for days on end when he died.
I don't think I would have coped very well if we'd lost Hermione too.
Incidentally, we now have one dog, Roxy, and four cats, Hermione, Robbie, Scully, Poppy. There is another cat, Kylie, but she appears to have moved house!



This was Yoda at a few weeks old, being fed by my sister in law.









This was him shortly before he died.













Here is Hermione trying hard to get the last bit of warm sun.














The same with Roxy!

Just another one...

Voice recording

I've just begun to record myself reading my first (unpublished) novel, Raven. I have found it to be a perfect way to spot any areas that don't flow properly. It's also given me a bit of a confidence boost (if I say so myself!), as I was able to imagine it being read to children.... by Helen Mirren or Stephen Fry, perhaps?
Ok... maybe now I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

OK... I'm becoming a YouTube bore now... but I created this one!

My first video on YouTube (taken in Canada 2009)

A night with the stars

Last night I mingled with the stars. I was in the Air Force watching an almighty performance by Dionne Warwick. Beside me sat Madonna, Steffi Graf and Sean Penn among many other celebrities - dead and alive.
Yes, yes, I was dreaming about famous people again.
It happens rather a lot, I've no idea why. My dad often dreams of royalty and he reckons its because one day he'll meet them (or be as rich as them, something like that anyway). Not quite sure how he's going to be rich... I don't know many super wealthy gardeners. Mind you, there's always the lottery, I suppose.
So, based on his theory, I may well be mingling with the stars in the future. Let's hope it's because I'm a bestselling author with Stephenie and JK as my close friends.
Oh leave me alone... a woman can dream, can't she?

Doppelgangers galore

No matter where I go or what I'm doing, I always seem to see Doppelgangers. The other day I was at the Race Track and was introduced to a guy who was the spitting image of Jack Palance (you know, the actor from City Slickers). I regret not taking a photo to show you but I will the next time I see him.
I even followed a young man around the supermarket once because he was the image of my younger brother (who lives hundreds of miles away). He must have thought I was some kind of crazed stalker woman. Sadly, that was before the advent of camera phones so I couldn't even get a sneaky pic of him.
My dad was in London once and swears he saw my doppelganger there. She was on the Tube. I was in Portugal. He was gobsmacked. I love it!
When I was younger, you wouldn't believe the times I was told 'you look so much like Sporty Spice'. My husband doesn't fancy her, he fancies the cute blonde one, Baby Spice. Oh well, at least I'm not Scary (well...).
Sometimes when I'm driving, all the other drivers look like famous folk. Last week, I could have swore that Jose Mourinho drove right past me. But then, he was followed by Patrick Stewart. Clearly, I'm probably just losing the plot. It wouldn't be the first time. I am a writer, after all.

Freeze away the fat? Huh??

I've just been reading an article in the Daily Mail about a new treatment to help get rid of fat... by freezing it away. Does this mean that everyone that lives in sub zero temperatures is skinny then?
Check it out...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1313535/Love-handles-A-cool-new-way-freeze-flabby-bits.html
(sorry you can't click on the link, not sure what I'm doing wrong!)

You go girl...

I love this piece...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1313462/Plus-size-model-Lizzie-Miller-embarrassing-picture-star.html

FIA GT World Championship

This was my morning..... not exactly my kind of morning, but I was there for my husband and for my good friends who run a business at the Algarve Race Track (http://www.algarveracing.info/).

It was incredibly loud (thanks, Nick, for the much needed ear plugs) but nowhere near as busy as it ought to have been, which was a shame.

I'm not a petrol head, unlike my husband (bikes, cars, karts, you name it) but it's always good to experience these things... or so I'm told... by him.

Don't ask me who won the races... I haven't a clue. Plus, I was put out of my misery and taken home when he noticed I was playing Solitaire on my iphone during the most important event!

Aah, how I love my iphone (I took these photos on it before boredom set in).

One frustrated broad!

I'm so damn frustrated... I'm not cut out for all this website creation malarkey! Over a year ago I managed to create a page on my domain suzyturner.com
Although the page looked to have been created by an amateur (it was, of course!), I was thrilled that I had managed to upload it at all. It took AGES mind you but it didn't matter... I had a website (well... a solid web page).
I neglected it for quite a few months but the other day decided to check it out. Needless to say, I was not impressed, at all.
It was far too pink... what was I thinking?? It was quite embarrassing frankly, and needed to be changed, pronto.
Now, all the 'expertise' (ahem) that I had acquired all those months ago have gone right out the window. I couldn't remember a thing. Not a single little tiny minute thing.
I have tried, oh have I tried, to get it back up and running but no. The frustrating thing is the fact that on my laptop, my new page stares proudly back at me. On my husband's laptop, he has nothing by gibberish. Why?? Oh why?? I spent several hours trying to sort it out but I simply am not cut out for this. I am not cut out for I.T. (it's probably not even called I.T. any more).
So, whereas before I had at least a very pink overy girly web page to show the world, now I have nothing. Aaaaaaaarghhhhh! I give in.... at least for today. There is a perfectly good Chinese meal waiting for me down the road at the moment.
Tomorrow is another day. Maybe I'll crack it then. But then.....

Forever Fredless, a chick lit novel

Aged ten years old, Kate stumbles upon the most beautiful boy she has ever seen, but she is whisked away by her parents before she gets the chance to meet him.
Years later, she continues to compare all potential mates to the boy she dubbed Fred, but no-one comes close... except a handsome stranger with whom she has a disastrous one night stand. So bad in fact, that she decides she must move on with her life and forget about her soulmate. But when she finds herself the heir to a massive fortune and her story is plastered all over the tabloids, all kinds of characters come forward claiming to be the boy she loved and lost.
Will she find him? Or will she be, Forever Fredless?

Raven - my first book for Young Adults

After the inexplicable disappearance of Lilly's parents, she has no choice but to move to Canada where she unravels some frightening yet intriguing family secrets.
Her whole life had been based on a lie. Lilly had grown up in a loveless home with a father who she had barely ever seen and a mother who was... well, not very motherly.
After they mysteriously disappear without a trace, Lilly is sent to Canada where she finds a whole new way of life. A life filled with love and people who care for her. But that's not all she discovers, Lilly also finds out that she isn't who, or what, she thinks she is.
Lilly has a very special ability and it's just a matter of time before her true self starts to shine. And when it does, her life will never be the same again.