ANNOUNCEMENT: The Winner of Suzanne's giveaway is Jemi Fraser. Congratulations, Jemi.
Meet author Suzanne Ross Jones, who is visiting us all the way from Scotland today.
Suzanne's Web Links:
Blog/Website Facebook Twitter Amazon Goodreads
Suzanne, you write both romance novels and short stories. Do you explore various themes in your short stories or are they romance stories too?Some are romances, others are family orientated stories and some have twist endings (although I write fewer of those these days). I also like writing ghost stories, but these are less popular with magazines, so I don’t write many of those. The stories in this collection were all published in The People’s Friend and so are feel-good stories suitable for a family audience.
I notice that you write romance specifically as Suzanna Ross and your short stories are published as Suzanne Ross Jones. Do you feel the need to keep the short stories and the romance novels separate? A much respected editor offered advice and suggested I use both these names to differentiate the (slightly) warmer stories from the cosy and more traditional ones.
This is your first short story anthology and you recently had your first romance novel published. Do you intend to continue writing short stories in the foreseeable future or will you concentrate on romance fiction now? I love writing short stories and don’t think I could stop writing them if I tried. Even if they were never published. Even if editors wrote to me personally to tell me to stop. But writing longer fiction is time-consuming and I’ve had less time to devote to short story writing in the recent past. So I will write both in future, only maybe not quite as many of either as I’d like.
Can we look forward to another short story anthology of yours in the future? I haven’t ruled it out. It did take me a long time to pluck up the courage to publish this first collection. The actual self-publishing process was much easier than I’d thought it would be, but the editing and proof reading took a long time and I was eager to make sure it was as perfect as I could make it. Luckily I had help: My editor at The People’s Friend gave me permission to use their edits, so the stories are as they appeared in the magazine. And I’m lucky enough to know some very sharp proof-readers and they kindly volunteered to help.
I know that you have a job as well as being a writer. Is your job writing related in any way? Oooh, a writing related job – wouldn’t that be good? Sadly, my day job isn’t at all creative. I run my own small business where I assist other small businesses and charities and I also have a part-time employed post.
Does your job ever help you find inspiration for your stories? I’m a bit wary of using real people in my stories in case they read them and recognise themselves. However, I have used a couple of people who upset me in the past – and I’ve had a great time making horrible things happen to them. It’s terrific therapy. And I no longer need to get angry, I just store the incidents up and use them in my fiction.
I know you're doing the 100k in 100 days writing challenge on Facebook. How are you doing? Okay (said she tentatively). It’s still early days, obviously, but I hope I’ll keep up for a good while yet. Last year I slowed down considerably once I went back to the day job after the holidays and I didn’t manage the 100k words in the time allowed. But I still managed to write many, many more words than I would have written otherwise. I hope I’ll write even more this year.
Can you tell us a little about your recent romance novel, TRUST IN ME and your upcoming romance novel release HIDDEN HEARTACHE which will be out soon under your name Suzanna Ross? TRUST IN ME is about Rosie, who's battled for years to keep her family’s manor and estate running – only to find her older brother has sold the place to an annoyingly handsome man. When she refuses to move out, he moves in. And that’s when the fun begins. HIDDEN HEARTACHE is both a medical romance and a reunion story. Nick comes back to town to claim the girl he left behind, but Emma’s keeping her distance. He's sure she’s hiding something – and he’s determined to uncover the secret that’s changed her from the happy girl he remembers.
Thank you so much for inviting me to visit your blog today – and for the terrific questions.
THE BABY OF THE FAMILY AND OTHER STORIES
A collection of short stories by Suzanne Ross Jones, about life, love and other things.
Get your copy at: Amazon Amazon UK
