Suzy Davies's Blog: Book News - Posts Tagged "books"

After a few days of no availablity on Amazon, Snugs is now available and in stock!

A festive "Hello" to all the Snugs supporters out there, and thank you for spreading the word about my book! Some of you have commented you "can't wait" to see my creation, and I have to say, I couldn't have done it without the artistic genius of Peter Hall, my very accomplished illustrator, and the brillance of the publishing team at Snow Leopard Publishing U.S.

Christmas time is traditionally the busiest time for Children's Books on Amazon, and unknown authors such as myself appreciate your support for our work.

Snugs Book One is an exciting start to my "Snugs Series" and I hope your children will grow with Snugs and develop an enduring friendship with him through the years.

I am pleased to announce that limited copies of "Snugs The Snow Bear" are now available at The Family Book Shop, 1301. N. Woodland Blvd Deland, Florida.

I've had a lot of fun with the Christmas decorations this year ...there are two snow bears (one is Snugs, and the other is Snowflake, his friend later in The Snugs Series,) two moose, and two penguins - Slip and Slide! I will add to the characters as I find them when I go shopping! I might even make Carla and James, the two children in the series!

You can do the same at home, if you have children, or just want something to take you back to your childhood! Find characters from your favorite book, or even make them "come alive" yourself!

Happy Christmas Everyone!

I'm thinking about my homeland, Great Britain, and there is a deep sense of nostalgia, as I envision this beautiful land bedecked with snow!
Weekends can be a challenge for parents in the winter months, when the novelty of snowmen and snow angels, and sledding and skating has begun to wear thin, and children just want to get warm indoors, and find something entertaining to do.
I remember my childhood, when, after an adventure in the snow, I would settle down to read a good book in the warmth of home.
Snowy Tales are made to go with snowy weather, and my latest creation, "Snugs The Snow Bear," is a warm and fluffy read, which will teach your children about friendship, loyalty and belonging, as well as providing them with inspiration about wildlife, nature and the environment.
Stay safe and wrap up warm, and Happy Reading with Snugs!

The call to write is a passion, and the pull to write, sometimes, irresistible. But who writes? Who calls himself an author? And how do they persuade their audience to buy their book? This is a question I ask myself from time to time, because the vanity press allows almost anyone to own the title. Anyone with the nerve, and the wherewithal, may lure an audience, with fancy book covers, advertising, and well-targeted spin, to reach into their pockets and buy, buy, buy, a self-styled author's work, irrespective of whether that so-called author can actually write.
Now, I wish to be clear that I am all for giving newbies a chance, and if publishing becomes fairer, allowing unheard voices to be heard, so much the better. It does need a shake-up! But it is a nightmare-in the-making if the public is duped into purchasing lacklustre trash, which is not even grammatically correct, yet somehow passes off for the real thing. I have read semi-biographical books which fall short. I have even read "children's books" which purport to "teach children," and yet the authors have not even mastered the basics themselves.
I am the kind of person who delights in congratulating my peers for their hard won achievements as authors, and long may their success continue.
However, in my search for "the real thing" among new writers, I have come across writers who do not know their grammar, do not know basic spelling rules, use colloquialisms inappropriately, yet, often, they are the first to sing their own praises about the "popularity" of their books, the "awards" and "badges" they have won, and so on. We as writers, should relish the journey for its own sake, and that journey should involve professional development and skills mastery, which involves not only one's own writing, but also reading books.
Now, come on, I am in my sixtieth year, and I wasn't born yesterday. Who are these writers fooling? The public may be deceived in the short run, but some of us are in it for the long haul. We care about the quality of our work, we do not feel we are "entitled," and we continue to strive to make our work better and better!
To anyone reading this, please look carefully at a writer's work, and then decide whether or not he deserves to call himself a writer.

When you think about it, we always remember firsts! Our first early memories, our first childhood friend, our first school uniform, our first birthday party, our first pet, our first kiss, the first time we fell in love, our first wage packet, (and what we spent the money on,) our first independent holiday without parents or caregivers, our first flat or house, our first car, the first time we won an award or competition, and so on! Life is full of "first times." How could you ever know that you would be contemplating another first - your first book!

First books "happen" in different ways to different writers. There is a common misconception that, all of a sudden, you will be inspired, as if by divine intervention, to write a book, but misconception it is, since to write a good book you will have read a lot of books by well-respected writers, or at the very least, read widely and avidly - whatever your reading material.

If you write books without having read anything, how will you know, from an honest objective viewpoint, that your writing is good enough to publish? Friends and family, after all, are a sure win captive audience, and are likely to be biased, after all. The true test of any writer is whether they attract the attention of readers, and possibly whether, in the long haul, they grow to become a writers' writer as well.

Popularity, however, is not everything! Think of the "undiscovered" writers, whose work did not gain true recognition until after their death. And think of writers whose work was so visionary, that perhaps we could argue that the merits of their work are only fully seen, and appreciated, today.

This brings me to a question of ethics. Should a writer be instrumental, and do a cold analysis of what sells? I don't have to mention what sells; we all know that sex sells, violence sells, how to make a quick million sells, even death sells.

I believe that to succeed as a writer, you have to write from your authentic self, the self that is the same on the inside as the outside - the congruent self. Readers are not easily duped. They will know whether you believe in your book or not, and whether it comes from the heart.

So, you think you have a book inside you. If you trace back through your memories, you are likely to discover that the seed of an idea about being a writer has been germinating for some time. In my case, the story of becoming a storyteller goes something like this.

1) A schoolgirl always chooses a window-seat in class. Why? She finds what is going on outside the classroom more interesting than what is going on inside. She likes to observe what is going on out there in the world.

2) This schoolgirl is sometimes described thus in school reports: "....has a tendency to daydream."

3) The schoolgirl is at her happiest with the wind in her hair and sand between her toes. She misses the sights, sounds, and smells of her father's homeland - the cows coming down the lanes at the end of the day, the music of waterfalls, the silly, skittish lambs jumping for joy on the hills, Welsh women polishing the brass steps of their cottages, fishermen hauling in the day's catch at the docks. She misses Wales, the land of her father. She misses being an outsider, an observer, and a dreamer: "The English Girl."

4) The schoolgirl meets a mentor, someone who believes in her, who tells her she can write. Suddenly, this girl finds a reason to do English homework, and it is the one subject she can do. She has a poem published in a school magazine. Being a writer seems surreal; she sees her name in print, and it feels like watching a film.

5) The young woman does a string of dead-end jobs, and progresses to more interesting ones but is still not fulfilled. Eventually, luck, motivation, and opportunity coincide, and she realises her ambition to go to university.

6) A mature young woman enters university. She feels like an ant climbing a mountain, she is so intimidated at the prospect of the "great minds" she will encounter there. She reads and reads and reads. She stumbles across a book by a famous writer that impresses her. She reads another, and another, by the same author. The third book is not so great. She has a secret thought, that gathers strength the more she writes: "I can write as well as that writer!" She has some small successes with writing poems - and a publisher puts them in an anthology, with ninety-nine other poets' work. When she receives a royalties cheque for just over a pound, she is so poor, she banks it!

7) This young woman, with a tendency to procrastinate, has become a legend, who can turn out term papers, written last minute, overnight, and get respectable marks. She likes to delay up to the hand-in deadline of tomorrow. Sometimes, she misses the deadline, but most times she doesn't because she has spent weeks "writing it all in her head."

8) The young woman is not young anymore. She is now a teacher. She teaches the four English skills: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. There is nothing like teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and Literacy as a way to know your language inside out and back to front.

9) The woman is middle-aged now. She vows she will write a book before her time runs out. She has lived enough to have material to draw on, she has survived, and imagined enough to put her dreams into words. Her first book, a Romance Novel, "Johari's Window," is her apprenticeship.

10) How to write your first book? Write your apprenticeship book first. Let it pour out! Put your heart into it! The second book may well be the one with which you are most satisfied, until you write your third.

I'd like to wish all my readers, followers, and those lovely people who gave "Snugs The Snow Bear" 5 star reviews, a Very Happy World Book Day!
Today gives us the chance to celebrate good writers and their books!
Get involved in World Book Day, and discover something new in Children's Fiction for your kids!
Once again, thank you all for your support and kindnesses. It is great to make people happy doing what I love, and to be appreciated!

I am super-excited to be Marlena's guest on her online blog today, where she interviews me about my life as a writer, and my books!

Simply click this link below to discover more!

https://t.co/YQ7sXzrGBd

Talk to any serious author, and being an author involves so much more than marketing a book!

The role means you have to prioritize so that when you write, you write in peak times, when you have plenty of spark, and energy to put your all into the primary task - writing.

Of course, an important aspect of being an author is to meet your audience and readership, through booksignings, "appearances" on social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. That is one way you can reach your fans.

However, not all social media sites offer the opportunity to engage in a deep way with people, and "impressions" you leave may be transient, and unsatisfying for both reader and writer.

This is why I take the time to write a blog - here on Goodreads, and, from time to time, elsewhere. It is my way of saying thanks to my audience, paying it forward, and giving them a taste of my writing. Readers can experience me and my writing first hand. It is my belief that good writing should speak for itself.