Susan and John Ruff, Fantasy Authors

  • Writing 1700 Words a Day: Week 2

    You learn a lot about your writing capabilities when you push your limits. After 11 days of participating in the NaNoWriMo challenge, I have learned that I am capable of producing at least 1700 words… Read more

  • Writing 1700 Words a Day: Week 1

    As I mentioned last week, I am trying the NaNoWriMo challenge to see if I can write 50,000 words of fiction in 30 days. Today will be my fifth day of writing at least 1700… Read more

  • Doing the NaNoWriMo?

    Well, I’ve made the decision. I’m going to try the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) Challenge this year. To succeed in the challenge, you have to write 50,000 words of a novel during the 30… Read more

  • Writing Inspiration Destination: Salisbury, England

    (This is part 9 of the series describing places that have influenced my writing.) If you’ve been following my blog for a while. I can guess what you are already thinking: she co-authors fantasy novels… Read more

  • Deviating from a Book Outline

    It’s always interesting to hear from other writers about the methods they use to draft their novels. Many authors outline carefully and extensively, while others simply start writing and see where the story goes. I’ve… Read more

  • Writing Inspiration Destination: Hawaii’s Big Island

    (This is part 8 of the series describing places that have influenced my writing.) Where does an author of medieval-ish (emphasis on the “ish”) high fantasy novels find inspiration in a tropical paradise like Hawaii?… Read more

  • What’s New at Emerald Cove in Fall 2021?

    It’s been a while since I provided an update about our Emerald Cove Press projects, so this seems like a good time. The Emerald Cove writer’s group met at our favorite Denny’s last Friday. It’s… Read more

  • Writing Inspiration Destination: Rhodes, Greece

    (This is part 7 of the series describing places that have influenced my writing.) Few places in the world shout, “fantasy novel setting” more than the Island of Rhodes. The crenelated barbicans and towers rise… Read more

  • Writing Inspiration Destination: Venice, Italy

    (This is part 6 of the series describing places that have influenced my writing.) In June, I wrote a blog post entitled “Five Places to Inspire Writing.” In that post, I briefly mentioned Venice as… Read more

  • Killing Characters in Novels: Red Shirts or Dead Ponies?

    Many years ago, I read a short story in school about a kid and his favorite pony. Bad stuff happens to the pony and the kid goes through herculean efforts trying to save it. In… Read more

Welcome to Susan’s Monthly Blog!

On the first Friday of every month, Susan writes a short post about our books, the craft of writing, upcoming projects, travel, writing inspiration, and similar topics that strike her fancy. We hope you enjoy reading them.

Feel free to leave a comment. Susan loves hearing from readers!