#Indieauthor April Update #amwriting #amwritingfantasy

Posted on April 24, 2019 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

Hi Everyone

It’s been a while since I’ve been around. I sort of stuck to my plan of a social media ban, and the best news is that I finished WIP The Sentinel’s Alliance – Book 3 in Silent Sea Chronicles! It’s already had beta reader feedback and I’m now working through some edits. Very soon I will be sharing the cover, pre-order links and the blurb.

I’m aiming to publish 6th July 2019 so the next few months will be busy. It will be worth it to finish the trilogy. I can’t wait to see what you all think. Let me know if you want to go on the list of ARC reviewers.

I also have some big news about Visions of Zarua to share very soon and lots of book reviews to come mainly how-to writing guides but also some brilliant fiction I’ve been reading lately.

I’m still on the look out for reviewers for The Lost Sentinel, The Sentinel’s Reign and Visions of Zarua. If you’re interested please comment or use the Contact Me form. The blurbs and goodreads links etc are in this post An appeal for reviewers.

Lastly, before the publication of Book 3 in the Silent Sea Chronicles trilogy, Rachel’s Random Resources has organised a blog review tour for books 1 and 2 starting 21st June. If you want to join in, I think there a still a couple of spaces available.

I will be back soon with reviews, news and I’ll be setting down some targets for the summer. See you then.

Suzanne Rogerson – Author of heroically epic fantasy

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An appeal for #reviewers & #bookbloggers to review my #fantasy books #indieauthor

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Posted on March 6, 2019 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

I haven’t done one of these posts in a while. But right now, book reviewers and book bloggers I need your help!

I have 3 fantasy books published and I would love to get them reviewed on Amazon, Goodreads and your blogs. Over the last few months I’ve been overwhelmed with the amount of pages read in Kindle Unlimited – hitting between 22K and 24K per month!

Those numbers are a dream come true for me, but unfortunately none of these pages read have converted into reviews.

I would love to get some reviews for my books and I’m offering reviewers ARC copies of their choice. We can even run book giveaways for your readers if that’s something that would interest you.

I’m going to the Winchester Writer’s festival in June and I would love to be able to put in my cover letter that I have 60+ reviews and 100+ ratings on Goodreads. Can it be done? With your help, anything is possible!

Blurb for The Lost Sentinel…

The magical island of Kalaya is dying, along with its Sentinel.

The Assembly controls Kalaya. Originally set up to govern, they now persecute those with magic and exile them to the Turrak Mountains.

Tei, a tailor’s daughter, has always hidden her magic but when her father’s old friend visits and warns them to flee to the mountains she must leave her old life behind.
On the journey, an attack leaves her father mortally wounded. He entrusts her into the care of the exiles and on his deathbed makes a shocking confession.
Struggling with self doubt, Tei joins the exiles search for the new Sentinel who is the only person capable of restoring the fading magic. But mysterious Masked Riders are hunting the Sentinel too, and time, as well as hope, is running out.

Against mounting odds it will take friendship, heartache and sacrifice for the exiles to succeed in their quest, but is Tei willing to risk everything to save the island magic?

The Lost Sentinel Goodreads book page

The Lost Sentinel Amazon book link

Blurb for The Sentinel’s Reign…

The Sentinel’s reign is doomed to failure unless Tei can prevent the Kalayan people from plunging into war.

With magic restored on Kalaya, life is flourishing for Tei and the exiles. But Rathnor’s plans for war soon escalate and thwart any chance of peace.

Brogan’s position on the Assembly is uncertain as rumours circulate that he is an exile spy.

After an attempt on his life, Farrell is more determined than ever to build a home for his people on Stone Haven. But the council have their sights set on Kalaya and Farrell struggles to steer them from war.

As trouble brews within and outside forces gather against them, can the exiles keep their hold on the magic, or will this spell the end of Kalaya and its people?

The Sentinel’s Reign Goodreads book page

The Sentinel’s Reign Amazon page

Blurb

Two wizards, 350 years apart. Can they save the realm of Paltria from Zarua’s dark past?

An ancient darkness haunts the realm of Paltria.

Apprentice wizard Paddren is plagued by visions of a city on the brink of annihilation. When his master dies in mysterious circumstances, the Royal Order of Wizards refuses to investigate.

Helped by his childhood friend, the skilled tracker Varnia, and her lover Leyoch, Paddren vows to find the killer.

The investigation leads Paddren down a sinister path of assassins, secret sects and creatures conjured by blood magic. But he is guided by a connection with a wizard from centuries ago – a wizard whose history holds the key to the horror at the heart of the abandoned city of Zarua. Can Paddren decipher his visions and save the Paltrian people before the dark menace of Zarua’s past is unleashed?

Visions of Zarua Goodreads

Visions of Zarua Amazon link

Please get in touch with your book choice. Here’s my contact form, or reply in the comments.

Please share this and help me spread the word, I appreciate your support.

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#Tuesdaybookblog City of Lies by Sam Hawke #bookreview #fantasy @samhawkewrites

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

I was so lucky to have won a signed hardback edition of City of Lies last year. It’s taken me too long to get around to reading it, but now I’m really happy to share my review of this debut book, which is bloody brilliant!

First here is the blurb…

I was seven years old the first time my uncle poisoned me…

Outwardly, Jovan is the lifelong friend of the Chancellor’s charming, irresponsible Heir. Quiet. Forgettable. In secret, he’s a master of poisons and chemicals, trained to protect the Chancellor’s family from treachery. When the Chancellor succumbs to an unknown poison and an army lays siege to the city, Jovan and his sister Kalina must protect the Heir and save their city-state.

But treachery lurks in every corner, and the ancient spirits of the land are rising…and angry.

My mini review

From the very first line, I knew I would like this book, and I did. I really liked it! It had everything I could want in a book; mystery, intrigue, murder, assassins, love, relatable characters… I could go on.

I loved both the main characters, Jovan and Kalina, and enjoyed how the story was told from their POV in alternating chapters. I also loved the short notes on poisons, the affects and the proofing tells at the start of each chapter. That was a master touch.

The world Sam Hawke created was fascinating, especially the different rules that shaped every aspect of the characters lives and drove the plot of the story. I loved how the reader is often as in the dark as the characters about who to trust, constantly thinking you’ve solved who the big enemy is only to be led in another direction completely.

Towards the end the stakes were so high, the characters in such peril it felt like it couldn’t get any worse, but it did, again and again. This book felt like a masterclass on how to ramp up the tension and hook your reader, and I loved it.

I can’t believe this was a debut book; it was just so well told. This is definitely a book I wish I had written and I cannot wait for the next book to come out later in the year.

5 stars all the way for this book.

Check it out on Goodreads

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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of heroically epic fantasy

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Mini #Bookreviews Scythe by Neal Shusterman & The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan #fantasy

Posted on February 7, 2019 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

I’m happy to say both Scythe and The Gutter Prayer are great books. They are 5 star reads that I recommend to fantasy lovers. Scythe is dystopian, while The Gutter Prayer is more of a dark fantasy. See the blurbs and my mini reviews below…

Blurb

A dark, gripping and witty thriller in which the only thing humanity has control over is death.

In a world where disease, war and crime have been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed (“gleaned”) by professional scythes. Citra and Rowan are teenagers who have been selected to be scythes’ apprentices, and despite wanting nothing to do with the vocation, they must learn the art of killing and understand the necessity of what they do.

Only one of them will be chosen as a scythe’s apprentice and as Citra and Rowan come up against a terrifyingly corrupt Scythedom, it becomes clear that the winning apprentice’s first task will be to glean the loser.

My Review

I found the concept of this book quite uncomfortable at the start – ‘gleaning’ people as a job to control a population that can no longer die naturally.

I think it took me longer to get into the book as I was listening to the audiobook rather than reading it and I do not always like men doing female voices. I’m happy to say that I quickly lost myself in the story and listened to it obsessively over a few days. The story and the characters really grew on me and I found myself creating excuses just to listen to a bit more of the book. I really liked Rowan and Citra, and how they coped with the difficult situations they find themselves in as apprentice Scythes pitted against each other.

There are some wonderfully unexpected twists and I loved how the end played out. In fact, that was probably my favourite part and I wish I could discuss it right now!

I would love to see this made into a film or TV show and I can’t wait to get my hands on book 2 – Thunderhead.

Scythe was my book group choice and led to some very interesting discussions, particularly how it would be to live in such a society and if we would ever consider being a Scythe. I don’t mind killing people off in my own books, but real life… What do you think?

Check out Scythe on Goodreads here.

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The Gutter Prayer was my first ever request from Netgalley and I was so excited to receive a copy. I am a little late sharing the review as the book was published 17th January, but better late than never…

Blurb

A group of three young thieves are pulled into a centuries old magical war between ancient beings, mages, and humanity in this wildly original debut epic fantasy.

The city has always been. The city must finally end.

When three thieves – an orphan, a ghoul, and a cursed man – are betrayed by the master of the thieves guild, their quest for revenge uncovers dark truths about their city and exposes a dangerous conspiracy, the seeds of which were sown long before they were born. Cari is a drifter whose past and future are darker than she can know.

Rat is a Ghoul, whose people haunt the city’s underworld.

Spar is a Stone Man, subject to a terrible disease that is slowly petrifying his flesh.

Chance has brought them together, but their friendship could be all that stands in the way of total armageddon.

My Review

I really like this cover and I feel like it’s a perfect representation of the book.

Right from the start I knew this was going to be something very different to my usual fantasy reads. I loved the story that slowly unfolded regarding the trapped gods and how certain factions planned to unleash them, while others worked to destroy them. Cari and her friends get caught up in the middle of it all, or so it seems!

I liked Cari and Spar the most, though there are plenty of characters to root for. I loved how different the story was having trapped gods, saints, ghouls, stone men, worm creatures, tallowmen and other weird and wonderful creations.

This is a brilliant debut novel and I had a great time reading it. It always surprised and shocked me, and often had me thinking what on earth is going on here!

The end was a thrilling page-turner, whilst still providing an emotional and satisfying conclusion. I want to continue with the next book now, so waiting until next year is a real bummer!

Take a look for yourself on Goodreads – The Gutter Prayer

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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of heroically epic fantasy

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January 2019 Reading Wrap Up #amreading #fantasy

Posted on February 3, 2019 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

I feel as though I had a great reading month and managed to read 5 books in January. I wanted to pick a favourite, but with each book being so different I found it very hard to make that decision. Here are my reads…

The Lost and the Chosen by Ivy Asher (see my review here) 5 STARS

This book really surprised me as I haven’t read any paranormal romance before. It was an addictive read and I’m really excited that book 2 is already out. I will hopefully get to read this in February. Check it out of Goodreads here.

I’ve been listening to the Audiobook for Scythe by Neal Shusterman. 5 STARS

My review will follow this week, but for now I will say this book is still in my head and I can’t wait to read the next book. Goodreads link.

This next one is my first ever Netgalley book – The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan. 5 STARS

Again I will review this next week, but can tell you it was a great debut and I’m sad I have to wait months to get my hands on the next book. Goodreads link.

Finally, and I have to admit this is a cheat, I read my own books! I wanted to get back into the Silent Sea Chronicles world before diving into the draft of book 3, so I read The Lost Sentinel and The Sentinel’s Reign back to back. I also read the draft so far of The Sentinel’s Alliance, but as it’s not finished I can’t count that one. Also as they are my books I can’t rate them, but I will say I thoroughly enjoyed having the excuse to immerse myself in Tei’s world again. I’m so excited to get the next book finished.

Goodread links: The Lost Sentinel The Sentinel’s Reign

My Goodreads challenge is to read 30 books in 2019. With these 5 books I am well ahead of schedule and feeling very pleased with my progress.

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Here’s a quick peek at February’s TBR…

I promised myself I would be more of a mood reader from now on, but I do plan to read these books in Feb. Any more will be a bonus!

Don’t forget to look out for my reviews of The Gutter Prayer and Scythe this week.

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My #SPFBO book buys during November 2018 promo #fantasy #tbr #amreading

Posted on November 20, 2018 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

I thought I would do a quick post on the books I bought during November’s SPFBO promo. I’m excited to add these to my Goodreads TBR, but I won’t state when I’ll read them as I still haven’t read the books I purchased during the previous sale. My TBR pile keeps growing and has reached 410. That is one of the reasons I only bought 8 books this time around, the other is I’ve spent all my money on ads. Anyway here they are…

Between the Shade and the Shadow – Coleman Alexander

Phoenix Descending – Dorothy Dreyer

The Dragon Song Saga – J C Lang

Sorcerous Rivalry – Kayleigh Nichol

A Keeper’s Tale – J A Andrews

Song – Jesse Teller

The Fire Eye Refugee – Samuel Gateley

Balam Springs – Travis M Riddle

I’m really excited by this collection. I tried to be guided by the blurbs and the covers rather than be influenced by reviews or what I’ve heard through the SPFBO pages. A couple of these I’ve had my eye on for a while so I was really pleased to find them in the sale and be able to support my fellow indie authors.

I can’t promise when I’ll read them, but I will review them on my blog, Amazon and Goodreads eventually.

I think I may have sold a couple of copies of my own 2016 SPFBO entry – Visions of Zarua but with the birthday blitz and a couple of ads running at the same time, its hard to know what sparked the purchases.

What did you pick up during the sale?

Did you pick up any of the books above? Or have you already read them?

Last reminder to pick up 99p bargain #fantasy books by #SPFBO #indieauthors #IARTG

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

Reminder

Today is the last day of the sale for 100 (ish) fantasy books from authors who have taken part in Mark Lawrence’s brilliant Self Published Fantasy Blog off competition.

Travis Riddle has kindly set up a page with book covers, blurbs and to buy links of all the books taking part. Please take a look here and see what you fancy. My book, Visions of Zarua is on the list too!

I’ve been picking up a few bargain books myself and will share those buys and why I chose them tomorrow. For now, take advantage of the sale and help support us indie authors. Thanks very much.

Happy Birthday! Visions of Zarua is 3 today! #epicfantasy #fantasy

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

I can’t believe I’ve been a published author for 3 years!

Today is a big day for Visions of Zarua too and I’m celebrating in style with a massive book birthday blitz. I must say a big thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for organising it all.

Today there will be reviews, guest posts, Q&A’s, extracts, promos and a giveaway to win 3 signed paperback copies. There is a special page of links here for all the blogs taking part. I will be visiting these blogs and sharing their posts throughout the day, so keep a look out and share where ever you can.

Visions of Zarua is also on sale for 99p worldwide universal link.

And you can try you luck with the Rafflecopter Giveaway here.

I will run a follow up post with links to all the posts tomorrow, but for now I would like to thank everyone involved.

From 15th – 19th many #SPFBO fantasy authors are reducing their books to 99p

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

Who is up for some bargain books?

Check out the Promo page with links to all the books in the 99p sale. The fantasy books on offer span all areas of the genre including dark and urban. The authors taking part have been entrants in Mark Lawrence’s ‘Self Published Fantasy Blog Off’ competition which is now in its 4th year.

A big thank you to Travis M Riddle for organising the giveaway and hosting the promo page.

You will find my debut epic fantasy Visions of Zarua among the books on sale. It was a SPFBO entrant in 2016 and is celebrating its 3rd birthday tomorrow! I will be back then for a special birthday blitz. But while you’re waiting, why not check out all the brilliant books that are on sale today.

Please share and spread the word about this epic sale!

My reading plan for 2018 #amreading #fantasy #ya #thriller

Posted on November 14, 2018 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

This year has been busy in various ways and I have not read as much as I would’ve liked. My Goodreads challenge was 35 books and so far I have only read 29. I thought making a list for the rest of the year would help me get back on track.

So here goes.

Currently reading – Magic Study by Maria V Snyder. As with the first book I find the writing totally addictive and if I read nothing else but these books this year I would be happy.

ARC – Not Like Everyone Else by Jennifer Leigh. This is a YA thriller I’ve been interested in since following Jenn’s blog and I am going to read this before 2018 ends.

Self Published Fantasy Blog Off books – I bought lots of SPFBO books in the last SPFBO sale which I have yet to read. Here’s my post about the bargains I picked up. Now there is another sale 15th to 19th November so I will be getting even more books to add to my TBR list which already has 400 books! I really hope to read at least another one off this list and perhaps I may even share a surprise review from my husband who is currently reading one of SPFBO books – surprise because he has no idea I’ve mentioned this!

My Xmas Read – For the last three years I have read the latest Great Library book by Rachel Caine. This year I will be reading Smoke and Iron – book 4. My son started the series a few weeks ago and has already started the 4th book. I had planned to give it to myself as a Christmas present, but he begged to read it first!

Audio book – Still listening to Gilded Cage by Vic James which has been enjoyable so far. I like the voice of the narrator and she has brought the story to life for me. It does seem a bit slow, but I’m happy to stick at it.

Book Group Read – Sweet Dreams by Tricia Sullivan

This one sounds intriguing!

Books I’ve Won – I have been lucky enough to win two books recently and I can’t wait to read them. City of Lies by Sam Hawke and Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce. I would love to read and review these before the end of 2018.

So these books will take me to my Goodreads target of 35 books, but life and writing does have a habit of getting in the way. Fingers crossed I find some uninterrupted reading time!