Susan and John Ruff, Fantasy Authors

Category: Uncategorized

  • What’s in a Domain Name?

    For the last seven months, I’ve been splashing around the shallow end of self-publishing. My writing hasn’t made much money, but I haven’t put any real money into it, so it’s kind of a wash. I’ve spent a lot of time on writing-related tasks, but I am retired and stuck…

  • Dictation vs. Typing

    “No! Don’t hurt my fingers! I’m a writer.” Two weeks ago, I had minor surgery on one of my fingers. The surgery was very minor and the cut is healing up nicely now, so no worries. However, for the first few days after the surgery, I had to type with…

  • The Other Side of Writing Critiques

    Last Friday, I talked about the importance of finding good critics to help evaluate your manuscripts before you publish. This week, I want to discuss the other side of that issue. How can you be a helpful critic for your friends and fellow authors? Let me confess right away that…

  • The Importance of Critics

    At our Emerald Cove writer’s group meeting last week, I was reminded once again of how important it is for authors, particularly Indy authors, to have trusted people critique their writing. Reviewers see the mistakes a writer misses. All writers, of course, understand the need for a skilled editor to…

  • One Method to Overcome Writing Malaise

    Why is it hard for many of us to write fiction during this pandemic? Several of my author friends have expressed difficulty getting motivated right now. One friend, who is normally a prolific writer, told me that he has not written anything since April. At our most recent Emerald Cove…

  • How Did You Discover Your Favorite Genre?

    If you’re an author or a reader of fiction (or both), I’d love to hear the story of how you discovered your favorite literary genre. Feel free to leave a comment after this post or write a comment on Facebook to let me know. My favorite genre is fantasy. (Yeah,…

  • One Hundred Words to Defeat Writer’s Block

    As authors, we all know that our craft is part inspiration and part discipline. Inspiration is the fun part — those wonderful ideas and words that flow into our heads when we are writing, daydreaming, walking, or doing absolutely nothing. We all love it when just the right phrasing or…

  • What’s New at the Cove?

    Somehow, despite pandemic malaise and wildfires’ haze, the authors at Emerald Cove Press are making steady progress on the next two anthologies. (And, all joking aside, I think I can speak for all of us at Emerald Cove when I say our hearts go out to those affected by the…

  • 99 Cents for a Filched Fish

    My sixth grade teacher once asked the class what grade we thought he should give each of us for a particular assignment. I was a straight-A pupil at the time, but trying to be humble, I responded that my assignment deserved a C. When the teacher gave me my first…

  • Making an Old Story New

    Back in the early 1990’s, before self-publishing was common, before I even owned a cell phone, I wrote a fantasy novel called Feast of Five Crowns. I dutifully attempted to get my manuscript published in the old fashioned way. The rejection letters I received were very polite. One publisher told…