Blog This! Five Common Writing Problems and How to Fix Them | The Creative Penn

28.4.11

I subscribe to The Creative Penn, an incredibly useful website for writers. In my inbox this morning was this excellent post about the most common mistakes writers make. It's definitely worth taking note. The author (Annette Lyon) certainly seems to know what she's talking about!...

Five Common Writing Problems and How to Fix Them | The Creative Penn

Raven: A Book Trailer

27.4.11




Let me know what you think!
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Blog This! On Leaving Traditional Publishing For EBook Sales Success With LJ Sellers | The Creative Penn

25.4.11

I've just been reading a great, and inspiring, article about Indie Publishing. It certainly makes me think I'm doing the right thing for me at the moment. Check out the link below...
On Leaving Traditional Publishing For EBook Sales Success With LJ Sellers | The Creative Penn

Raven... nearly there!

23.4.11

I'm getting closer to publication day! I've just had an email back from another of my editor friends who called Raven a 'real page-turner' and she can't wait for the sequel! In fact she's hoping for a certain male character to make a re-appearance. She also said, "Seriously well done Suze, I really enjoyed it and everything was so easy to visualise!"
She's corrected a few mistakes and spotted a couple of inconsistencies, so all I need now is the last two editors to come back with their final comments and I'll be ready to go. I'm hoping, therefore, to be up and ready for May 1st! I'm very excited. I'll keep y'all posted!!!

Blog This! Excuse me. I just interviewed myself.

21.4.11

You know I love the Blog This! button on blogger? Well, I just found the most hilarious post by author Sean Hayden. It's so unusual that I just had to share it with you... Click on the link below and have a good giggle...

Excuse me. I just interviewed myself.

Guest blogging... it's all new to me!

21.4.11

Since I discovered social networking (twitter, blogging, facebook, myspace, etc) I have 'met' so many interesting and wonderful people online. The majority of them are either fellow writers or book reviewers / bloggers and I have been blown away by the kindness of just about all of them. As my book approaches completion, I have made even more of an effort to make myself known in the world of books... commenting on other people's posts that I have found interesting, tweeting about other author's books, retweeting great tweets by anybody associated to the book world and so on. I have also become a little more bold and begun to ask the question... may I guest blog for you? In fact this only happened after the lovely sweetheart that is author Pauline Barclay invited me to write for her (you can read that post here paulinebarclay). A few days ago I appeared on another great author's site, Nicole Ireland, where I talk a little about epublishing. (To read that post, please visit nicoleireland).
I know that's only two but it's exciting nonetheless! Hopefully you will see my posts all over the place in the not too distant future... watch this space!
But this has also led me to create a special author spotlight page on my own website (suzyturner) for other authors. Currently, it is a blank page as everyone I have approached wants to wait until May when their next book is out! It all seems to be happening then! However, if you would like to feature, please leave me a comment below, including your email address, and I will get back to you. The features will appear on my website as well as on this blog and they will be tweeted about, facebooked, myspaced, etc, etc!!)
In the meantime, why not explore both Pauline Barclay's and Nicole Ireland's websites where you can learn all about their own books.

Blog This!... Scribbles!: I've Got It Covered!

19.4.11

Fellow author and all round lovely girl Pauline Barclay has just released the new cover of her upcoming novel Sometimes It Happens. I think it's perfect, so please head on over to her blog and share some love....

Scribbles!: I've Got It Covered!

I present the cover of my YA book, Raven...

17.4.11


Well, I've finally finished the front cover of Raven. Unfortunately I have been quite limited on what I could and couldn't do using the online picture program, pixlr. So sadly I have been unable to include some of your suggestions. The most important one though, was the inclusion of a flower. I chose a yellow daffodil as the colour yellow is significant to the main character, Lilly, in the beginning of the story.
I tried lots of different fonts, I got rid of the feathers completely, I moved the feathers... but none of them seemed to work as much as this does, so here is what I'm going for.
I am hoping to have Raven online and available to buy at the beginning of May, but I will obviously keep you up to date on how that goes!
Thanks again for all your support and help with the cover design. I hope you, and other readers, will like it.

Enjoyable historical fiction

16.4.11

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the first book I've read by Philippa Gregory. Considering I've been reading a lot of (easy) YA fantasy fiction lately, it did take me a little more time than usual to really get into it. But once I had... I thoroughly enjoyed it.
At school I hated history... my teachers made it incredibly boring when it should have been entertaining and fascinating. This book, however, enlightened me on the history behind Henry VIII's two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth - something I'd only ever known about through the movies featuring Cate Blanchett (both aptly entitled Elizabeth).
Although the story was about a young girl who worked in the royal court as a fool, I was intrigued by everything that surrounded her. She is an appealing, likable, character, flawed like most of us but well rounded. There was just a little gore and a small amount of fighting, but on the most part, The Queen's Fool was about love and family feuds.
I think Philippa Gregory has a rare talent for historical writing and this certainly won't be the last book of hers that I read. However, my next book is more likely to be something much more light hearted and easy before I tackle another one of hers!



Follow Friday

15.4.11


This week's question is Shakespeare asked What's in a name? But we all know better. So let's talk about names, specifically our blog's name. How did you come up with yours?
Clearly I was lacking in the whole imagination thing when I came up with the name of my blog... Suzy Turner. Huh? How original!

The rules
1) Follow this blog.
2) Follow Elizabeth Sharp, the originator of this hop
3) Follow the featured author of the week. Paige W. Pendleton
4) Go to Sharp words and copy the image code found there and paste it in your blog. Add your name to the link at the bottom of the post while you are there.
5) Copy and paste the rules in your blog, as well as this week’s question.
6) Answer the question
7) Follow, follow, follow. This is about networking, people, making connections with people in your community. So talk to us. We don't bite!
8) If someone stops by, says hi and follows you, the polite thing to do is follow back.
9) Comment here and introduce yourself and you just might find a new follower or two

Do you feel it

13.4.11

These are exciting times. Do you feel it too?
Authors have so many options available to them now than ever before. When it would have taken years to publish a book, now you can do it yourself much quicker without all the heartache and rejections we all receive (let's face it.... we've all been there).
Once your book is written, edited and polished, all you have to do is to epublish it on one (or various) of the many sites available like amazon, smashwords, etc and readers can be reading it in no time. Okay, we hope they'll be reading it in no time. Provided you market it as well as you possibly can, and price it competitively, you're going to get readers and if you write well and produce great stories, you'll get fans too.
I'm still waiting for my 'editors' to finish 'editing' Raven but once they are... I'll be giving this a go myself. I've got nothing to lose. I just hope that people love my book as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Especially considering the sequel is now in the works!

Teaser Tuesdays

12.4.11

Oh this is cool... I just came across it on http://jmanni32.blogspot.com/2011/04/teaser-tuesday_12.html

You have to grab the book that you're currently reading, open at a random page and type a few sentences from the book. Add the title of the book and the name of the author and then if anyone likes the sound of it, they can add it to their TBR.
Ok... so here's mine....

He had committed treason against the rightful heir to the throne and the punishment for treason was death, hanging until he lost consciousness, coming back into awareness with the shock of the agony of the executioner slicing his stomach open and pulling his guts out of his slit belly before his face so that his last sight would be his own pulsing entrails, and then they would quarter him: first slashing his head from his body and then hacking his body into four pieces, setting his handsome head up on a stake as a warning to others, and sending his butchered corpse to the four corners of the city.
P. 103. The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory

The Owl Bookmark Blog: New Blog Design + Giveaway!

12.4.11

I literally spend hours (probably each day!) checking out blogs... particularly book blogs and I am always so captivated by just how gorgeous they are. Some are pretty, some are scary, others are dark and sexy but they're all incredibly impressive.
So how exciting then, that one fabulous blogger is hosting a Custom Blog Design Giveaway by Lori from Use Your Imagination designs! And I'm not just sharing this with you because I get extra points for doing so (you believe me, right??!! lol) but because it's such a great idea and so I want to share the love. So, head on over to Sioban the book owl and check it out....

The Owl Bookmark Blog: New Blog Design + Giveaway!

My first James Patterson

9.4.11

7th Heaven (Women's Murder Club #7)7th Heaven by James Patterson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is the first time I've read a James Patterson book. In fact, it's probably the first time I've ever read anything in this genre (crime drama, I'm guessing??!).
It was given to me by a friend who assured me I would like it. She had read it, her husband had read it and they'd thoroughly enjoyed it.
Well... I guess I did like it but I was surprised by the style. To be honest, I expected something a lot more intricate, if that's the right word. No, it's not really. Something more impressive by a writer who has sold so many thousands (or millions) of copies. But then, on the other hand, the style is easy to read and straight to the point. In fact, it's a style I prefer. I know, I know, I'm kind of contradicting myself here! I wasn't disappointed with the writing, I just expected something different.
I will probably read more James Patterson in the future. This book has certainly opened my eyes to more genres than I usually read so I am grateful for that.



View all my reviews

A new fan of the House of Night series

9.4.11

Marked (House of Night, #1)Marked by P.C. Cast

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another book recommended to me by my fantasy book-loving sister, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. Written by mother and daughter team PC and Kristin cast, Marked is written in the first person, from the point of view of the main character, teenager Zoey... and it's obvious from the start that she is a teenager by the style of writing. On occasion, I did find some sentences a little unnecessary (the bits in brackets) which I felt had been added to emphasize her age. PC and Kristin write well enough without having to reiterate such points.

Another comment that should be mentioned is that, unlike a lot of YA books I have read, there is a fair amount of swear words and sexual references in the book... although this doesn't bother me at all (!), some readers might be surprised!

I thought the story flowed really well and the characters were by and far very likable.

This is the first in the House of Night series and it most certainly won't be the last one that I read. I can pretty much say that I am a new-found fan!



View all my reviews

Blog This!....The Meyer Effect

6.4.11

An interesting look on how Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series has affected the world... (just discovered the 'Blog This' button, so I'm likely to be offering any interesting articles I come across in future).

The Meyer Effect

Nearly there!

6.4.11

So, I've just received the first ten pages of my book back from one of my editors. Good news, not only is she really enjoying it, she also loves my writing style! Phew.
I say one of my 'editors' as Raven is currently being read by four different people. Granted, they are four good friends, but three of them just happen to be in the publishing industry. I'm a lucky gal to be able to count on their expertise in my time of need. Not only are they pals, but they're honest pals and I know if they think it's not good, they will tell me it's not good - at the same time they'll suggest ways in which I can improve things.
I am incredibly grateful to be surrounded by such great professionals and I can't wait to receive the rest of the comments.
In the meantime, I'm working on the sequel to Raven, December Moon. It's great fun to create and I can't wait to get them both up on amazon!
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