Suzanne G. Rogers's Blog, page 64

The Last Great Wizard of Yden at The Frugal eReader

Simply leave a comment at The Frugal eReader to be entered to win one of three gifted Kindle copies of The Last Great Wizard of Yden!

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Entries will be closed after midnight {PST} on Thursday ~ and three random winners will be chosen by The Frugal eReader and notified next week!

Blurb:

For his sixteenth birthday, all Jon wanted were the keys to the family car. Instead, he got a lousy magic ring…

Artistic prodigy Jon Hansen yearns to fit in, but when he stumbles onto a supernatural kidnapping, his life changes forever.  Unfortunately, his search for answers uncovers a magical secret—one that makes Jon a danger to everyone around him.

The Wolf Clan wizard Efysian has been draining the magic from Yden. On a quest for eternal power, he's willing to kill to feed his addiction.  To harness the ultimate source of energy, he travels to Earth.  This time, however, he has a persistent witness to his crime.

Can Jon survive long enough to outwit the most evil wizard the magical world has ever known?  Or will Efysian add the young wizard to his gruesome collection of trophies? 

Good Luck!

~ S.G. Rogers

Sweet Saturday Excerpt – Minna & The Valentine

 

 

Minna has a secret.  Her father, ex-dragon jockey Wynn Westerfield, will forever hold a grudge against wizards.  Because it was a wizard who caused his career-ending accident, Minna struggles to hide her incredible magical powers from him…and from the world.

Evan Valentine has attended a prestigious magical academy on scholarship, although he's managed to conceal that fact from everyone. He's on the fast track to success with his apprenticeship to wizard Thaddeus Bartholomew, and Evan's carefully constructed life doesn't include a certain beautiful girl whose powers rival his own.

Although Minna and Evan don't realize it yet, their destinies have been intertwined for years. When a threat arises, Minna and Evan must travel to another reality to retrieve a dangerous magical artifact.  Can Minna and Evan learn to work together, despite their mutual mistrust? Or will their explosive romantic attraction lead to disaster?

Minna & The Valentine (Astraea Press) – coming early February 2012

Excerpt:

The wizard had her sketchbook in his hands and was staring at his portraits. Minna snatched the sketchbook away, outraged.

"What are you doing!" she cried.  "This is private!  You should have asked permission before snooping through my work!"

"Would you have given it?"

"No!"

"I didn't think so," he said.  "Since those sketches are of me, I feel fully justified in 'snooping,' as you put it.  You should have asked permission before drawing my portrait."

Minna's face flamed red, but her chin lifted defiantly. "Would you have given it?" she asked.

"No," he replied.  "I don't know.  Maybe.  But I don't much like being stared at when I'm sleeping, thank you very much!"

She folded her arms across her chest. "Really?  I had the impression you enjoy being stared at all the time."

Beast was whining and Minna couldn't believe she was being so rude.  Had an entirely different person crawled into her skin?  Evan snatched up his coat and shrugged it on. "Listen, it's none of my business, but with magical abilities like yours it's a shame you don't use them openly."

"You're right.  It's none of your business."

"So you admit you're magical.  We're making progress."

Minna sputtered with outrage. "I…you…"

The wizard gave her a crooked smile as he reached up and pulled the pencil from the topknot on her head.  Her chestnut hair tumbled down over her shoulders.  Minna stood frozen in shock as Evan arranged her hair around her face with his fingers.

"I had to see what you look like with your hair down.  I bet I'm not the only one who enjoys being stared at," he said.

His lips were inches away from hers and the electricity between them mimicked the lightning storm outside. Shaken, Minna took a step back.

"You're one conceited wizard, Evan Valentine," she said. "Don't get struck by lightning on your way out."

If you'd like to receive an announcement the day Minna & The Valentine is released, just sign up for my blog!  There's a FOLLOW icon at the top left of this screen. And if you'd like to read other excerpts in a range of genres click HERE for today's Sweet Saturday Samples!

Cover art by Elaina Lee

Amazing Authors Event at Child of Yden

Find a new author, a great read…and win stuff.  From January 12 through January 24, thirteen powerhouse authors have teamed up for the Amazing Authors Event.

Today, January 18th, is MY day to dazzle you with my fantasy adventure novel, The Last Great Wizard of Yden!

All Jon Hansen wanted for his sixteenth birthday were the keys to the family car.  Instead he got a lousy magic ring…

Blurb: After his father is kidnapped, sixteen-year-old Jon stumbles across a closely guarded family secret–-one that will challenge everything he has ever believed about his father and himself.

A magical ring his father leaves behind unlocks a portal to another dimension, but in using it, Jon unwittingly unchains the forces of evil.  A crisis develops when a malevolent wizard transports to Earth to kidnap Jon's would-be girlfriend.

With the help of some unlikely schoolmates, and a warrior princess from Yden, Jon embarks on a dangerous quest to free his friend and his father from the most vicious wizard the magical world has ever known.

In the end, Jon will be forced to fight for his life as he attempts to rescue the last great wizard of Yden.

Excerpt:

One moment Jon was sitting at his drafting table. In the next, he was sprawled in the middle of a dirt road, having fallen painfully on his behind. His wrist was still tingling, as if he'd stuck his finger in a light socket, and his nostrils burned with the unmistakable scent of ozone.

"Get out of the way!" a man yelled.

A wooden cart, pulled by a team of enormous horses, was bearing down on him. Jon rolled to the side as the cart rumbled past, its wheels barely clearing his head. The driver dragged the team to a halt. "I should report you to the cygards," he snarled.

Before Jon realized what was happening, the driver's arm recoiled and he let loose a bullwhip. The popper cracked mere centimeters from Jon's face. As he scrambled to his feet, the cart moved on, raising a cloud of dust in its wake. Jon stumbled backward, coughing, but then the tail of a strange animal snaked around his waist. The beast resembled a stocky horse, but it had stubby horns and hard ridges where the mane should be. The tail was reminiscent of a small elephant's trunk. Jon shuddered and twisted out of the animal's reach.

A plump woman hurried toward him, parcel in hand. "You there! Step away from my puleden!"

Puleden?

"S-sorry," Jon stammered.

When the extraordinary creature wrapped its muscular tail around the woman's parcel, Jon gaped in amazement.

"What're you looking at, vagrant?" the woman snapped.

Without waiting for an answer, the woman unhitched her puleden from a rough-hewn post and led it away. Jon narrowly avoided the road apple the animal left in its wake.

As he took in his surroundings, his mind refused to accept what his eyes were showing him. Somehow he'd traveled instantaneously to a village plucked straight from the pages of a medieval storybook. People were shopping at a busy open-air marketplace nearby, which consisted of rustic wooden stalls, booths, and tents. No cars were on the road, nor could Jon see any modern machinery of any kind. Women were clothed in long, coarsely woven dresses, while men wore cloth shirts and trousers with hide vests. Everyone over a certain age seemed to be wearing a hat of one sort or another. The vendors at the food booths wore the same kind of two-cornered hat oddly similar in shape to ones Jon had seen at fast-food joints.


When a light rain began to moisten his skin, Jon focused his attention upward. To his astonishment he saw not one but two suns in between the streaky, gray clouds. One was nearly overhead and the other, much smaller sun was on the horizon. The realization he was no longer on Earth began to sink in.

I'm on Yden.

The Last Great Wizard of Yden, a full length fantasy adventure. E-book available through Astraea Press, Amazon &  BN.com. ($2.99 MSRP).

Tomorrow (January 19th) please visit Linda LaRoque, known for western contemporary and time travel romance! Enjoy the rest of the Amazing Authors Event, and remember that in order to win FREE READS you'll visit Ginger Simpson's blog on the last day to answer FUN and EASY questions about the blogs on the tour. (Links will be posted so you can double check).

Happy Woman: © Redbaron | Dreamstime.com

Handsome: © Alexey Poprugin | Dreamstime.com

Horses Running: © Kateleigh | Dreamstime.com

Medieval Village: © Algol | Dreamstime.com

Medieval Magic: © Freesurf69 | Dreamstime.com

Angst in My Pants

Rumor has it there are two camps of authors: ones who neatly plot out their novels or stories before they fire up their computers and those who begin with only a premise and just start typing. Personally, I'm not sure either method is more valid than the other, it's just a matter of personal style.

Or is it?

I'm in more of the "Let's see what happens today" category, but I think I finally figured out why.  I'm impatient.  I can't wait for the pot to boil, I'm not satisfied for the cookies to bake before I have a taste, I frequently go to the grocery store without a list and I've been known to cut my own bangs.  Furthermore, I never stop to ask for directions, although perhaps that's just my homage to men.

Problematic?

For me, writing on a deadline becomes a challenge.  Furthermore, I frequently have moments where I think this time I'm not going to be able to come up with a solution to a plot problem. Yes, I have several unfinished manuscripts because I wrote myself into a ditch…but I intend to get back to them sometime in the future.  And each time I have that moment of self-doubt, the self-talk goes the same way:

"What if I can't figure this out?" Bites lip.

"You always say that and then you always figure it out."

"Not always.  Remember Going Green?"

Winces.  "Yeah, but this time is different."

Fortunately, usually it works out and I turn into the stretchy guy from Fantastic Four as I pat myself on the back.  Nevertheless, today I'm collecting data on other personality traits that might be connected to writing styles.  

Plotters:  Is it true that, like Mary Poppins, you're practically perfect in every way?  Never crammed for a test?  Plan out weeks' worth of menus at a time?  Lay out your wardrobe the night before? Secretly identify with Hermione Granger?

Pantsers: Would it be accurate to say you've got a streak of independence wider than the Atlantic Ocean?  Been known to run out of the house with one black and one brown shoe?  Do you eat cookie dough raw or sample icing before it's spread?  Always admired Mr. Toad from The Wind in the Willows?

I think I know the answer, but I'd love to hear your opinion.

~ S.G. Rogers

Clothes: © Andris Daugovich | Dreamstime.com

Scared kitten: © Tatiana Morozova | Dreamstime.com

Venetian masks: © Luciano Mortula | Dreamstime.com

Sweet Saturday Excerpts

It's Sweet Saturday Sample day!  An excerpt from my upcoming novella Minna & The Valentine is posted HERE. Plus, there are twenty other tasty excerpts for your reading delight on the list HERE.  All sort of genres to suit everyone's taste, so happy reading!

~ S.G. Rogers

Candy Shop: © Agno_agnus | Dreamstime.com

Day 13 of 365 Days of Great Authors

Today I'm over at Cafe of Dreams as part of the 365 Days of Great Authors and Giveaways promotion.  You can read a little interview with me and enter for a chance to win The Last Great Wizard of Yden.  The contest ends midnight on January 21st, so don't wait.  I look forward to seeing you there!

~ S.G. Rogers

Dreaming Fairy: © Grazvydas | Dreamstime.com

Amazing Authors Event Begins Today

Find a new author, a great read…and win stuff.  From January 12 through January 24, thirteen powerhouse authors have teamed up for the Amazing Authors Event. Here's the lineup:

Jan. 12.  Caroline Clemmons (historical & contemporary genre fiction)

Jan. 13. Beth Trissel (historical & light paranormal romance)

Jan. 14. Roseanne Dowell (romance)

Jan. 15.  Cathie Dunn (historical fiction & romantic adventure)

Jan. 16. Maggie Toussaint (romance & mystery with a Southern dash)

Jan. 17. Patsy Parker (paranormal fantasy romance)

Jan. 18. S.G. Rogers (fantasy, romantic fantasy, young adult fantasy)

Jan. 19. Linda LaRoque (western contemporary & time travel romance)

Jan. 20 Jacquie Rogers (dragons, princesses & romance)

Jan. 21. Karen Nutt (paranormal romance)

Jan. 22. Anna Kathryn Lanier (sensual contemporary & historical westerns)

Jan. 23. Barbara Edwards (riveting romance with an edge)

Jan. 24. Ginger Simpson (historical & contemporary romance)

On the last day of the tour, Ginger Simpson is going to post some fun and easy questions you must answer for the chance to win free reads. (Hint: there will be a link to each author's post so you can quickly double check).

Please join us!  We're looking forward to meeting you.

~ S.G. Rogers

Happy Woman: © Redbaron | Dreamstime.com

Open Book Magic: © Kydriashka | Dreamstime.com

Interview With Bri Clark on Writing What Sells

In my quest to delve a little deeper into writing what sells, I asked literary strategist and consultant, Bri Clark, to answer a few questions for me.  She's graciously consented to an interview.

Bri, we spoke before about what's hot and what's not in the book market.  You'd mentioned Regency Romance and Highland Romance with slight paranormal elements as trending well.  Why do you suppose?

Both are historical. Both have the classic formula of a rake who did not want to fall in love being brought to his knees by an equally strong woman. Historical romance will and always has been a market to sell to. As for Regency era I think that is has a lot to do with the fairy tale element of balls, with royalty and aristocracy. All little girls, who grow to be women, dream of being a princess swept away by a knight. Then you throw in the added bonus of the fact this was an era in history that was true…making it all the more believable. As for Highland romance with paranormal elements. Hannah Howell is a great example of this. She has over 20 books out in this genre with slight paranormal elements. But here's the catch – they are a series. The clans and characters all connect in some way through the generations. Highland lords are written as handsome, slightly dangerous but chivalrous with their own code of primitive loyalty and possessiveness toward their people but most especially their women. What woman wouldn't love that? As for the paranormal it's the play on magic or talents beyond the norm. For example in Howell's books they can have a "healers touch" or have "seeings." All very paranormal for the time but not so much for today's standard.

So, if an author can manage to tap into a reader's inner fantasy, they might be on their way to commercial success?  Ok, but many new authors scoff at the idea of writing to the market and instead insist on writing only what they want to write. Are there any pitfalls to this approach?

This comes down to that age old question of are you a hobbyist or a professional? You come to a point where you have to say "OK, I need to make money…where is it at?" I myself have faced this! Luckily I also have another job in the industry that supplements and affects that question. I find that sometimes what is popular now won't be in a few months. The key that an author and as well as agents have to figure out is what will be the "next" popular genre and having that novel found, prepped and ready for release when it happens.

That doesn't sound particularly easy! How do you, as a literary strategist, determine what's strong at the moment?  Are there any discernible trends in the market right now that predict the future?

Bear in mind I'm not a publisher or an agent. I don't necessarily have to know what's strong but I do know how to sell to my clients' genre. Right now Regency is strong, historical itself is always solid. YA romance has slowed a tad, it's actually breaking out into its own sub-genres being based on age I've heard. Like 18 and under, 21 and up. I expect YA will take a spike in the spring/summer toward vacation time. I also predict that contemporary will take a spike. Most people went to historical when the economy crashed for a thorough escape. Now that things are getting a little better they will want a break from that and come back to modern times. Especially for beach reading.

That's good to know! I've noticed many publishers and agents don't want to see 'sparkly vampire' manuscripts or themes they feel have been 'done to death,' but these books still seem popular.  Is there a disconnect between readers and tastemakers?

Like I said before, publishers and agents have to be looking out for what's next…not what's now.

Thank you Bri for your words of wisdom!

~ S.G. Rogers

Bri Clark works as an editor, agent, and promoter for multiple publishers in addition to her career as an author and speaker. She can be found on her personal blog BriClarktheBelleofBoise. Bri is also a featured speaker for the upcoming Idaho Book Extravaganza in additional to her most recent engagements at Ignite Boise and Story Story Night at the Rose Room. After moving to Boise from Tennessee she was quickly dubbed The Belle of Boise for her hospitable nature, forward attitude, and sassy nature. Find Belle Consulting HERE.

Thoughtful Girl: © Dmitry Yashkin | Dreamstime.com

Swans: © Pakhnyushchyy | Dreamstime.com

Handful Money: © Anatoly Tiplyashin | Dreamstime.com

Reading: © Ctacik | Dreamstime.com

Write What You Know, What You Love…Or What Will Sell?

So you've poured your heart and soul into a lovingly crafted 70,000 plus word novel you feel just might be the Next Big Thing.  You've had it accepted by an e-publisher, who assigns you fantastic editors and arranges a wonderful cover. You start blogging, guest blogging, warming up Twitter and Facebook.

Full of confidence, you outline the sequel.

You spend hours on author loops, supporting others and being supported in return.  Tears of joy trickle from your mother's eyes at her budding soon-to-be-famous author offspring.  The day of release arrives and your fellow authors slap you on the back.  Buoyed by a wave of euphoria, you wait for those fabulous reviews to roll in to Goodreads, BN.com and Amazon. You consult NovelRank daily—sometimes hourly—for glowing sales reports.

Woo hoo!

You sell ten to fifteen copies the first few days as your friends and family rally behind you.  Your Amazon rank falls below #400.  When the numbers fall off, you're not dissuaded nor discouraged.  You step up your game.  You make a list of review sites your publisher hasn't contacted and send out requests for reviews…twenty or thirty of them.  Maybe you buy a few inexpensive ads on Night Owl Reviews and web sites that recommend ebooks.  You are generous with giveaways, and send out more free copies of your books than you've sold, hoping to generate reviews.

Days pass, and then weeks.  Sales dive. One or two reader reviews have accrued here and there, but the review sites have completely ignored you.  Not to worry, sometimes there's a backlog, you reason.  Two months go by and your grin is starting to slip.  You haven't sold a single book in weeks and your Amazon ranking is approaching #2,000,000.  You're beginning to accept the stinging reality that your book has rolled over and died.

What went wrong?

According to Bob Mayer of "Write It Forward," first novels have a 90% failure rate.  In an article from Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, statistics indicate that most indie authors sell fewer than 200 copies.

Feel better now that you know you're in good company?  No, heck no.  But it's time to conduct a post-mortem. Assuming you're a decent writer and your story was a good one, why hasn't your book taken off?

I was kicking the topic around with literary strategist and consultant, Bri Clark (Belle Consulting), who felt that Regency Romance is what's strong at the moment and Highland Romance with slight paranormal elements. In an About.com article by Elizabeth Kennedy on Teen Reading Trends: 2012, the president of the Young Adult Library Services, Sarah Flowers, thinks dystopias and post-apocalypse books will be popular.  She also sees steampunk and paranormal romance as still somewhat popular but perhaps vamps are fading.

Okay, but what if you don't write that stuff? Do you switch from science fiction and try to whip up a good old-fashioned bodice-ripper or do you persevere with your Next Big Title?  You didn't become a writer to become wealthy necessarily, but neither do you wish to slave away unnoticed, leaving dozens of unsold manuscripts in the attic for your descendants to hawk or shred long after you've passed on.

Perhaps we should consider this exchange from the 1995 mini-series Pride and Prejudice (hat tip to Drew's Script-O-Rama):

Jane:  I should so much like…to marry for love.               

Elizabeth: And so you shall, I'm sure. Only take care you fall in love with a man of good fortune.

Maybe, as struggling authors, we should write what we know and love, but take care to put in marketable elements?  It certainly opens up vast new genres, doesn't it?  Secretly-passionate debutantes in space?  Long-dead Highland warriors who sparkle in the sun?

Inquiring minds want to know…

As readers, what do you reach for when you want a good book?  Do you look for best selling authors no matter what or are you open to a new voice with a great story?  What seems tired or what never seems old?

As authors, what is your strategy for perseverance?  Will you 'write to the market' or will you soldier on with what you love? Hmm…It's a conundrum.

~ S.G. Rogers

Question mark machine: © Drizzd | Dreamstime.com

Creepy Gravestone: © Ken Cole | Dreamstime.com

Alpini Thinker: © Timothy Nichols | Dreamstime.com

Romantic Fantasy Minna & The Valentine

I am thrilled to announce my romantic fantasy novella, Minna & The Valentine has been accepted for publication by Astraea Press as a Valentine's Day release.

Blurb:

Minna has a secret.  Her father, ex-dragon jockey Wynn Westerfield, will forever hold a grudge against wizards.  Because it was a wizard who caused his career-ending accident, Minna struggles to hide her incredible magical powers from him…and from the world.

Evan Valentine has attended a prestigious magical academy on scholarship, although he's managed to conceal that fact from everyone. He's on the fast track to success with his apprenticeship to wizard Thaddeus Bartholomew, and Evan's carefully constructed life doesn't include a certain beautiful girl whose powers rival his own.

Although Minna and Evan don't realize it yet, their destinies have been intertwined for years. When a threat arises, Minna and Evan must travel to another reality to retrieve a dangerous magical artifact.  Can Minna and Evan learn to work together, despite their mutual mistrust? Or will their explosive romantic attraction lead to disaster?

Can Valentine's Day come too soon?

~ S.G. Rogers

© Andrey Kiselev | Dreamstime.com