Suzanne Rogerson's Blog, page 70

Be a better writer with Evernote

This sounds like a great device for any writer, especially busy and disorganised ones like me.

World of Horror

In the late 1940s, Jack Kerouac wrote his iconic Beat-era novel “On the Road” in a series of notebooks. In 1951, he typed the manuscript out on a continuous 120-foot scroll of paper. It took him three weeks and, as legend has it, a friend’s dog ate the original ending.

More than six decades later, the laptop holds court where the typewriter once reigned. We still carry trusty notebooks, but now we can easily digitize the words within to keep them safe. The tools have evolved, but the need to turn ideas into written words is still vital to work and life.

You may say you’re not a writer. But if you have a job that requires communicating with others, you are. If you keep a to-do list, that’s writing. If you draft a project plan, report or meeting agenda, that’s writing. And, if you’re like most writers, you want…

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#TuesdayBookBlog – Author Interview: Suzanne Rogerson

I’ve been busy with a Q&A session over on Book Savvy Reviews. Please check out the post and the blog, where you’ll also find lots of great reviews.

Book Savvy Reviews

I was fortunate enough to have a Q&A session with Suzanne Rogerson, author of Visions of Zarua. A huge thank you for filling out my extensive questionnaire!

What sparked the idea for your debut novel “Visions of Zarua”
Visions of Zarua started with a single scene that came to me as I scribbled in my notebook. A young woman was hunting in the woods with her two hounds, when her prey disappeared without trace. The whole story evolved from that point.


Were there any key people in your life that inspired any characters in your novel?
I didn’t have any real life people to inspire the characters in this book, but I did once base an antagonist on a rather smarmy boss.


When you write, what are your essentials?
All I need to write is a notebook and a nice pen, though I do love my little pink laptop.


What would you tell…

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#AtoZChallenge I – Inspiration

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?

***

Tomorrow a delicious Jam.

Check here for links to my other a-z challenge posts.

 

Visions of Zarua (Review Exchange)

I am very pleased to share this brilliant review of Visions of Zarua by Angela on Pooled Ink.

Please check it out and see her other reviews. I’ve already added some of her suggestions to my TBR file.

pooled ink

Visions of Zarua by Suzanne Rogerson (2015)
Fiction | Fantasy

Blurb:

“Two wizards, 350 years apart. Together they must 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 Kalesh 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 in time to save the Paltrian people from the…

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#AtoZChallenge H – Hampton Court

I took some lovely photos on my visit to this wonderful Royal Palace over the Easter holidays. It was a great family day out, filled with history and fun.

At times I was choked thinking about the people who had lived their often short lives at the palace. I came away wanting  to read and absorb every Hilary Mantel and Philippa Gregory book. I haven’t read any before, but my beta readers rave about them, and I really would like to see the past brought to life on the page. (Just bought a 4 book set of P.Gregory)

I decided to keep this post visual and use my favourite shots of the day.

Impressive outside

 

On the worn cobbles of the courtyard, I was transported back in time. I imaged the feet and hooves that have trodden this same path.

 

 

Couple of close ups

 

Inside

I love this shot – walking into the light.

Gardens

These Hyacinths smelt divine.

Meet Aragon and Matt.

And of course, my lovely Hampton Court swan.

Hope you’ve enjoyed your quick tour of Hampton Court Palace. It’s worth a visit if you get the chance.

***

After a day of rest, I’ll be back with some Inspiration.

Check out my other AtoZ challenge posts here

 

#AtoZChallenge G – Gluten Free Carrot Cake

I wanted share my favourite carrot cake recipes. Its gluten, wheat and dairy free, but does use ground almonds instead of flour so no good for those with a nut allergy.

It’s a very moist cake, which gets even more moist over time. Of course it doesn’t last very long in this house. I save calories by leaving out the topping. It’s so delicious, it doesn’t need anything added.

Original recipe from ‘Beat IBS through Diet’ by Maryon Stewart & Dr Alan Stewart. I’ve added my own twist to this delicious recipe by adding cinnamon, raisins and using orange peel instead of lemon.

 

Ingredients

225g grated carrot

225g ground almonds

225g sugar (I’ve used Demerara sugar, which really changes the flavour. I love the slight crunch it gives)

4 eggs.

rind of an orange or lemon

80g raisins

1 & 1/2 tbsp rice flour

1tsp w/f baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon (could easily add more)

 

Instructions

1. Add the egg yolks, sugar and peel to a bowl and beat.

2. Add the carrot, ground almonds and raisins and mix.

3. Add the rice flour, baking powder and cinnamon and mix.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff.

5. Gently fold the egg whites into the rest of the mixture.

6. Add to a lined and greased loaf tin or high-sided baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes at 160/170 fan.

Delicious, and the kids love it.

I love finding healthy (ish) gluten free recipes. Have you any to share?

***

Tomorrow Hampton Court.

Links to previous posts can be found here

#AtoZchallenge F – Foraging

I love learning about nature’s bounty and the medicinal properties of herbs and plants. In 2015 I went on a one day Wild Food Workshop at Painshill Park in Surrey. It was a freezing Sunday, early in April, but walking around the beautiful landscape made up for the cold. (Pictures below taken June 2008. It’s a beautiful place, well worth visiting.)

Our guide was very knowledgeable and had us sampling roots, leaves and flowers as we walked around. I never realised you could eat very young beech leaves (they have a very interesting flavour) and young primrose flowers and leaves (an acquired taste). Or that the very tips of the brambles sometimes taste like blackberries – I wasn’t brave enough to try them though. Neither was I brave enough to eat a rolled up, fresh nettle. I did try a nettle cooked over the fire, but it tasted like eating a cigarette.

We collected a bounty of plants and were shown how to prepare, cook and make infusions with them. I wish I could have photographed and written about every single plant.

Foraging better pic

Here is a list of some of the plants we sampled and how they were prepared.

Teas (infused with hot water and left to steep).

Pine needles.

Yarrow

Ground Ivy

Water mint

Dandelion (makes a coffee substitute if you dry the root out)

 

Fried over an open fire.

Wild garlic or Ramsoms – delicious fried in butter.

Cleavers, also known as sticky willy (my kids love this name) and goosegrass – use the young plant before it flowers, fried in butter. It didn’t taste of much.

Celandine root – tasted ok.

Plantain root – tasted ok.

Burdock root – fried in oil but not that great. Can also eat the root raw.

Cat tails (Reeds) – can’t remember tasting it (but it is prominent in my pictures)

Our guide also made a simple bread and added Woodhaven – very tasty.

 

Plants you can eat.

Thistle all edible, just cut the spines off the leaves. (Don’try it without checking, my notes aren’t that clear after shivering all day!)

Dandelion – can use the whole plant and root.

Lady smock, cuckoo flower – the flowers and leaves are very peppery.

Violet – think you can eat it all.

Plantain – can eat roots, leaves and the seeds can make a cake.

Red dead nettle & white dead nettle

Wild garlic – eat root, bulbs, leaves and flowers.

 

Misc.

Stinging nettles are a super food. It contains Vit C & A and protein, but I’ll be leaving them to the butterflies.

We must all remember as children putting dock leaves on stringing nettle stings. My kids used to call it Doctor Leaf and were adamant it was a miracle cure. But apparently the best cure for stings is plantain.

We also made a soapy mix from crushed conker leaves and water.

 

Despite all I learnt, I’m not sure I’d put the tasting into practice without a guide. Nature has a nasty way of tricking you. If you get the identifying wrong, it could be the last thing you do.

Poisonous plants.

Dogs Mercury – looks like Ground Elder

Hemlock – (looks like cow parsley which is edible) Hemlock is one of the top 5 most poisonous plants. 50% of people who eat it die.

Yew berries – just a few can kill a child.

Elder – Only edible parts are the berries and the flowers.

***

I collect reference books. I love Ray Mears Wild Food and James Wong’s Grow your Own Drugs. I’m gathering quite a collection of books on herbs and even tree medicine. I find the whole idea fascinating, and love how our ancestors learned to do so much with plants.

I’ll use any excuse to dip into these book and learn something new to put into my novels. I even have a wicca woman who opens an apothecary shop in one of my future books. She wasn’t supposed to be a main character, but as my love of foraging has grown, so she has started to take over and I really can’t wait to tell her story.

We can all try the most basic of foraging in hedgerows with things like blackberries and elderberries. It’s a great excuse to get outside and I love getting the kids involved. Not only on the collecting but in the cooking and the eating!

Give it a go this spring and summer. I’d love to know your results.

***

Tomorrow I’ll be sharing a Gluten free recipe.

Links to previous AtoZ challenge posts here

#WordlessWednesday – #photo of a Hampton Court Swan

#AtoZChallenge – E for Editing ‘Search and destroy’

If you want your story to fly off the page – then it’s all in the editing.

Once you have a near finished draft, it’s important to go through it and cut any unnecessary words. I use Mircosoft Word ‘Navigation’ – CTL ‘F’ key. It’s brilliant. You type in a word and it will tell you how many times you’ve used it, shows you page numbers and allows you to navigate easily between these sentences to fix them.

I have a list I work through. It started when my Beta readers commented that I used certain words and phrases too often – everyone grinned (mostly inappropriately!), there were lots of smiles flashing and a few too many calming breaths! There are plenty more, but I don’t want to embarrass myself too much.

We all have our own pet words to search for and destroy, but here’s a list of a few that are universal.

ly words – Usually these words are added to weak verbs. It’s better to change the verb in question and delete the ly word. (walked quickly – ran)

ing words – Sometimes we use too many ing words and the prose would be improved by a rewrite.

ALL Variations of said: whisper/shout/mutter/ etc – As my editor pointed out, it should be obvious by the dialogue itself how it is said. If not, rework it. Also if its obvious who is talking you can get rid of the speech tag altogether.

Look / gaze / sat / walk and other weak verbs – replace with stronger ones.

Smile / grin / nod / shrug / cry  / sigh – Any over used actions that slip in during the creating stage.

Yes, No, well (in dialogue) – These are often pointless sentence starters.

Just, very, quite, more, really  etc – Filler words don’t add to the prose. The sentence becomes stronger without them.

Sense / feel / felt – These sentences can often be improved by rewriting. If a character felt something, it should be obvious by their actions without the writer spelling it out.

Contractions – Check they are used where appropriate in prose and dialogue.

Then, next – A creative writing teacher told me these are unnecessary (unless in dialogue)as everything in fiction is consecutive.

There was /were – Passive sentences slow the pace.

(I’m sure there are lots more to add to this list, please share yours)

Conclusion – Using Word’s Navigation (search and destroy method)

Lowers your word count.

Ensures your writing is succinct.

Roots out repetition and your pet words and phrases.

Helps you view the sentence in question separate from the whole, so you can pick out the problems and be ruthless fixing them.

You can see what words you use too often and become more conscious of them as you write your next draft.

 

Now your novel will fly off the page…

(This brilliant pic is off Pixabay.com. It’s the first time I’ve used someone else’s image, but the site said it was free to use.)

***

Tomorrow I’m up for a bit of Foraging.

Links to my previous A to Z challenge posts

#AtoZChallenge D – Dried flowers, Drying Rosemary & ‘Dear Rosemary’

Dried Flowers

I remember putting flowers in books as a child to press them. It was always fun to discover them months later, perfectly preserved.

Last year a visit to Kew Gardens and its beautiful galleries (Marianne North Gallery and the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art) reminded me of this childhood hobby. I decided it would be something fun to do with the children and bought a flower pressing kit.

In spring 2015 we chose a dry afternoon to pick some flowers to press. It must have been early May because flowers like the honey suckle are no where to be seen in early April. A few months later we made bookmarks and key rings with the dried flowers. It was fun, apart from the children arguing who should have what flowers.

The results have faded over time, but I decided to try again. There’s not much choice in the garden at present. All we could find were plum blossom, rosemary flowers and a few tiny pink heather flowers. We’ve put them in the press and just need to remember to tightened it every now and then. We can also add more layers as the flowers bloom in the garden.

 

Flower pressing can be a fun project as long as you remember to collect several of each flower so there are no arguments! The smaller and thinner the petals, the better they will be preserved. Big fleshy blooms don’t press well, and be careful of your colour choice. We chose a vibrant red bell flower which as you can see from the picture of the bookmark above has turned a horrible shade of brown. Stick to paler colours.

Drying Rosemary

Rosemary is my favourite herb. I love the tiny delicate blue flowers and the contrast against its dark green foliage. I can’t resist stroking my hand across the plants whenever I see them and releasing that pungent aroma. The name Rosemary holds memories from childhood as I had a pink toy rabbit I named Rosemary. And its also the title of one of my all time favourite Foo Fighter song from their brilliant album, Wasting Light Dear Rosemary (this is the first time I’ve seen their video and its a little weird, but that’s what I expect from the Foo’s).

I’ve never used my rosemary plants, so I decided it was time to try something new. I researched different methods of drying these woody herbs and chose to air dry rather than in the oven. I’ve yet to find a proper hanging space, but for now above my desk will do perfectly. It’s out of direct sunlight and I can enjoy looking at as I listen to the Foo Fighters.

Once the plant has dried, I’ll have to research how to use it. I can’t let this beauty go to waste.

***

Tomorrow it’s back to writing and some editing tips.

Click here for a list of previous posts.