Terry Tyler and Susan Buchanan - Writers with Heart

Terry Tyler and Susan Buchanan are two of the most consistent indie writers I have come across since mingling with the online indie community on Twitter. When you buy one of their books you know the standard will be excellent and the tale absorbing.

At the start of this year a conversation with Terry about the difficulties an Indie author has to overcome with self publishing started me on the road to book blogging in my spare time. Terry has given me so much advice and help and I am not alone. She shares her experience with anyone in the community who asks and, despite being very busy with a new book, her blog and writing for various websites, she still manages to find the time! She is rather modest and upfront so I won't praise her up too much here and embarrass her ;)

Instead I will simply revisit four fabulous books by two indie authors who lead the field in successful indie publishing. The reviews below are from a post I wrote back in March of this year.

Terry Tyler's "You Wish" and "Dream On"

"You Wish" was a book I just couldn't put down and I was still reading it in the early hours of the morning. It's an engaging, well written story which brings together believable characters with hopes, dreams and fears everyone can recognise. From a teenage girl's need to belong to a woman disillusioned with her marriage, Terry Tyler's characters come to life. She shows how our past can sometimes end up ruling our present. It's a feel-good book which I can thoroughly recommend.

"Dream On" is a good read but left me slightly frustrated at times as some of the characters were those stereotypes I personally want to feed salted tea to but I carried on regardless and was glad I did. There is also the simple fact that if a book brings forward emotion from the reader then the author has done their job so I can't hold it up as a negative aspect. The story was well written and packed with Terry's observational skills.

Terry Tyler gets really into the heart of her characters and has great insight into what makes people tick. She can present you with stereotypes who may normally annoy you (such as the would be rock star who won't grow up in her book "Dream On") and then show you a side of them which you can feel great empathy with. Her books are not just for women, anybody who loves to 'people watch' will enjoy Terry's take on human nature.

You Wish - http://amzn.to/1cVqVVP

Dream On - http://amzn.to/17yEIeD

http://terrytyler59.blogspot.co.uk

Twitter: @TerryTyler4


Susan Buchanan's "The Dating Game" and "Sign of the Times"

"The Dating Game" is a fabulous book, which had me laughing at the character Gill, whose quest for a decent man through a dating agency was hilarious and so recognisably true for those of us who have tried it. (Yes, I have and it was awful haha). It even had the man-who-is -married-but-pretends-not-to-be in there and I felt Gill's embarrassment. Susan's characters draw you in, with just enough background information to build up a clear picture and have you rooting for the characters and their situation. This is a book for when you are snuggled up on a cold day and you just want to relax and get away from your world and into someone else's. Within the first few pages, I could tell The Dating Game was going to be a book I would love and would want to re-read at a later date.

"Sign of The Times" is a complex weaving of many characters which many authors would find hard to pull off but Susan Buchanan does it. The lives of twelve people, each with a different zodiac sign, are presented with solid individual stories and then brought together at the end. It was  slightly difficult two thirds in to remember whom everybody was and how they related to the others but it was worth it and I think it worked. For me, "Sign of the Times" wasn't quite the page turner "The Dating Game" was due to looking back and checking relationships occasionally but I really did enjoy it.

Susan Buchanan's writing just flows and she draws you in, making you care about what happens next. You can see yourself and others you know in her characters, which are well thought out and have substance. Susan isn't afraid to break a few 'writing rules' in her work and she gets away with it well.

The Dating Game - http://amzn.to/16WxLWJ

Sign of the Times - http://amzn.to/15TielS

http://susancbuchanan.blogspot.co.uk

Twitter: @Susan_Buchanan