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Visiting the Stones that Speak
Last week, my blog discussed ancient ruins and fantasy novels. Today, I want to write about a special subset of that topic: carvings and rock art. Humans have been communicating by leaving words and pictures… Read more
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The Literary Lure of Ancient Ruins
“On the top they found, as Strider had said, a wide ring of ancient stone-work, now crumbling or covered with agelong grass.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring. Ancient ruins, both real and… Read more
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Five Places to Inspire Writing
Readers really seemed to enjoy the “Castles!” blog a couple of weeks ago, so I’ve decided to try a short series (maybe the next two or three Fridays) of places that can inspire writing and,… Read more
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Fighting Writing Procrastination
When I told Danny Atwood, my good friend and fellow Emerald Cove author, that I wanted to brainstorm ideas with him about ways to combat writing procrastination, he said, “We should schedule a time to… Read more
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Why is Self-Promoting a Book So Difficult?
On January 1, 2021, I made several New Year’s resolutions relating to writing. In one of them, I resolved to “develop a marketing strategy before the next book is released to help improve its visibility… Read more
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Meanwhile at Emerald Cove…
It’s been a while since I provided an update on the Emerald Cove writers’ critique group, so this seems like a good time. The big news is that we may actually be able to start… Read more
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Second Draft Anyone?
There comes a point in an author’s career when one must face the prospect of…shudder…rewriting. I tend to approach writing the second draft of a novel with all the enthusiasm of eating leftovers. It’s a… Read more
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Blogging About Writing: What My First Year Taught Me
Woohoo! Tomorrow (May 1) is my one-year anniversary for writing this weekly blog. It seems like a good time to reflect on what I’ve learned from blogging for a year. 1. The most important lesson:… Read more
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Is Fiction Writing Like Exercise?
Prior to the pandemic, did you ever run into this scenario? You pay for a monthly membership to the local fitness center. At first, you’re all excited about the prospect of getting into shape. The… 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!
Susan and John Ruff, Fantasy Authors 