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Susan Berliner is the author of seven supernatural thrillers ("DUST," "Peachwood Lake," "The Disappearance," "Corsonia," "After the Bubbles," "Soldier Girl," "The Resolve"); three short story collections ("The Sea Crystal and Other Weird Tales," "George's Mother and Other Weird Stories," "Crash Effect and Other Weird Stories"); and a memoir ("Doing the Write Thing"). If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact me.
Picture this - April 17, 2025
More than 15 years ago, I had a dream about a flying car. The next morning, I sketched out the dream story, which I hoped would become a children's picture book.
But during the passing years, I wrote supernatural thrillers and weird short stories, occasionally making revisions to the flying-car tale. However, although I procrastinated about finishing the children's book, I never did.
Now, I'm finally moving forward with this picture book. Why? I just published my latest book (the post-apocalyptic thriller, The Resolve), which was exhausting work, so it's a perfect time to tackle a short, light-hearted story for little kids. Also, in a few years, flying cars could become a reality and if I wait much longer, my fictional story might become out-of-date before it's even published.
I've polished the text and hired an artist to create the illustrations—and I'm forging ahead. Maybe my picture book will even be published this year.
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Review recap - April 11, 2025
This week, the first two reviews for my new thriller, The Resolve, were posted on Amazon--both 5 stars. Here is a recap of each:
"It's a story about courage, friendship and survival. Especially appealing to young adults as the hero and heroine of the story are teenagers, but still has appeal for the older crowd. A quick and easy read. I recommend it highly."
"This suspenseful thriller took me on a journey to learn how an unexplainable horror happened. The main characters, Ange, Tyler, and my favorite, Lucky the dog, pick up other survivors along the way as they search for answers. Expect lots of twists and turns! (And rides in many different cars!) How and why did the unthinkable happen? You'll have to read it to find out!"
You can read the full reviews here.
As I've mentioned many times, reviews are incredibly important for authors--especially indie authors like myself. If you read a book you enjoy, please leave a short review on Amazon. It really helps!
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Tagline talk - April 6, 2025
If you follow this blog, you know I've just published The Resolve, a YA post-apocalyptic thriller with the tagline: "What if you woke up one morning and everyone was dead?"
I've also introduced a new contest that uses the above tagline. To enter, you just have to insert a different last word (replacing dead) and identify your book's new genre. The winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card and runners-up will receive a signed copy of any of my books.
To see more details and enter the contest, please check here.
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We have liftoff! - March 30, 2025
It seemed to take forever, but The Resolve has finally been published. Of course, there was another last-minute problem—this time mine.
Amazon must now be using AI to check Kindle manuscripts before publication because it found 4 "possible" spelling errors. Two were parts of web addresses, one was a hyphenated word, but the final mistake was an actual misspelled word: utilility. I (and my proofreader) must have read that word at least a dozen times with neither of us noticing the problem. The spellcheck in Word never highlighted the mistake either.
Although I didn't stop the paperback presses, I did correct the word in the ebook and requested yet another PDF from the formatter. Then late last week, I finally published the Kindle version of this YA post-apocalyptic survival thriller. As a result, the paperback still has "utilility," but at least the ebook has "utility."
Now all I need are readers and good reviews. Please click here for links to purchase my books—and thank you!
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The never-ending sad story - March 25, 2025
I have yet another problem with publishing my YA post-apocalyptic thriller, The Resolve. I thought the ebook would be done today because it needed just a few simple corrections and a small insertion. But that didn't happen.
I added a brief biography (About the Author) at the end, which was only a paragraph from the print book's back cover. However, the formatter neglected to put the book titles in italics.
I was ready to forget about that minor mistake and publish the ebook. But while the formatter was removing a stray period from the book's last page (Connect With Susan Berliner Online), he or she managed to disable all the social media links—making it difficult for the reader to connect with anyone. Strangely, those links had worked in the previous ebook version.
So once again I am waiting for corrections. I thought the ebook would be ready before the paperback releases on March 26. But it looks like I'm going to be wrong.
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Resolving The Resolve issues - March 19, 2025
And the saga of my new book, The Resolve, continues...
Last week, I received my print proof copy, which looked good—until I started checking inside and discovered I'd forgotten to leave the pages after Part 1 and Part 2 blank. As a result, Chapter 1 in both sections begins on left-hand page 2, instead of right-hand page 3.
First thing I had to do was move up the release day from March 22 to March 26 to give the formatter time to redo the PDF in order to add the two pages, renumber all the ensuing pages, and eliminate two blank pages (now unnecessary with all the left pages becoming right pages and vice versa).
I'm really glad I ordered a proof copy, allowing me to see the error. I've worked so hard on this YA post-apocalyptic novel and I want to be happy with the end result.
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Light at the end of the tunnel? - March 12, 2025
It's been such a difficult journey getting The Resolve, my YA post-apocalyptic thriller, published. First, I didn't get the cover artwork for nearly a month (when the email never reached me and the project manager didn't check on it) and then I changed direction with the cover when I was afraid a large picture of a gunman would trigger trouble (yes, I punned on purpose).
Now that the cover is finally finished, formatting is taking forever—mostly because I'm fussy. I don't like lines with words crowded together or lines with too much spacing between words. Hey, since I've spent so much time writing the damn book, I want people to be able to easily read the text.
But I'm hopeful that my tedious book-publishing journey is nearly over. I should receive the final print PDF by Friday and the last step—ebook formatting—should be quick and easy. I still hope to release The Resolve in late March (fingers crossed!).
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Review of Eruption - March 6, 2025
I just finished reading Eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson. I'd expected this novel--about a world-threatening volcanic eruption in Hawaii--to be great because Crichton, who died in 2008, was a terrific thriller author and Patterson's storytelling skill is legendary. But somehow the book was neither great nor thrilling.
Why? From what I've learned, Crichton spent many years researching the topic and his widow wanted the volcano story to be published. While I don't know how much (if any) of the book's plot was created by Crichton, I believe Patterson wrote most of it because of the short chapters, a Patterson trademark.
To me, Eruption contained too much scientific data about volcanoes. While I like learning while I read, here I felt bombarded with unnecessary facts. Also, in my opinion, the interspersing of Hawaiian words was distracting. And there were too many characters, especially scientists, so I had trouble remembering who was who. Some minor characters seemed to have been introduced just so they could be easily killed.
After reading the early and middle parts of the book, I would put it aside for days. The novel only became thrilling in the last 60 pages—when Mauna Loa finally erupted.
Obviously, writers can't really collaborate on a book if one of them is deceased. I wonder what the novel would have been like if Michael Crichton had been able to write all of it.
If you've read Eruption, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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Home stretch - February 28, 2025
The Resolve is almost completely done. The artwork is finally finished and I'm submitting my second set of revisions, which are mostly spacing issues (not corrections). I'm hopeful that this YA post-apocalyptic thriller will be ready for release sometime next week.
It's been a long journey, much longer than I anticipated. At this point, I can't wait until the book is finally published. Here's a sneak peek at part of the cover:
Clothes call - February 22, 2025
And my publishing journey with The Resolve, my YA post-apocalyptic thriller, continues...
I thought the ebook cover was finished. However, the same company that is doing the cover art is also formatting the book, which I thought was a good idea because the formatters would be able to insert an appropriate font or piece of art within the pages. And they did.
However, the art they chose was a Resolve person wearing a shirt, black pants, and a tie. Unfortunately, although members of The Resolve wear white shirts and black pants, a tie is never mentioned. I had approved the cover even though it had a small figure of a man wearing a tie because I didn't think that image would be used within the book. While I like that little piece of art, I certainly don't want the tie image reinforced inside the pages, so I asked them to remove the tie.
They did a tie removal and now I am waiting for the formatters to make all the text revisions I requested (more than 100). Then, if things go semi-smoothly, I'm hoping to publish The Resolve in March.
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Faulty pedaling
I'm reading the first formatted pages of my post-apocalyptic thriller, The Resolve, and although I've read this manuscript 10-15 times (I've lost count), I'm still finding errors. Fortunately, most mistakes are small, usually a missing word or a punctuation goof.
But I found one error that I repeated THREE times within four pages! I didn't catch it and neither did my husband, Larry, who read the book at least three times. Larry is a retired English teacher, educational writer, and author.
Even though I know the difference between peddle (to sell something) and pedal (to ride a bike), I used both words to describe bike riding.
Here are my three boo-boos:
"...he peddled through the woods, heading towards the highway."
"Ange hopped onto the bike behind Tyler and he resumed peddling."
"After another fifteen minutes of peddling..."
I hope I don't see more mistakes like these as I continue to read the formatted pages. But this experience proves that—no matter how many times I read my book—I can still find errors. At least these mistakes will be corrected before The Resolve is published.
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Cover comments - February 10, 2025
After 12 revisions, the cover of The Resolve is finally done. If you follow this blog, you know that I switched direction in the middle of the cover process because I was afraid to illustrate guns due to Amazon's rules regarding children and guns: "Weapons should not be handled or associated with a minor."
Almost immediately after I approved my cover (which now contains just a tiny image of a man holding a gun), I saw an ad for the following Kindle book, subtitled: "A Western Adventure for Teens."
The weaponry on the cover made me laugh. Maybe it's okay to depict kids in the 1880's aiming rifles and guns, but not in the near future when my post-apocalyptic young adult thriller takes place. In any event, I had been a bit concerned about the tiny gun on the cover of The Resolve. Now that image no longer bothers me.
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The book is done! - February 4, 2025
Finally! The Resolve is finished. I thought it was done last week, but found another issue and had to reread the book again. But after the latest (and final) revisions, this post-apocalyptic thriller is truly finished.
I was hoping the company I'm working with would start formatting the manuscript while the artist continues to revise the cover. Unfortunately, they won't start working on the interior until the cover is completed.
However, the good news is that I actually like the latest cover design so, hopefully, the cover will be finished soon. But at least I see the light at the end of the tunnel—and should be able to publish this young adult thriller in early March.
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Major cover concern - January 29, 2025
Just when my cover artist finally understood what I wanted (by Version #10), I realized what I wanted wouldn't work—and the mistake was entirely mine.
The Resolve is a young adult thriller—and I wanted a bad guy with a gun on the cover. Not a good idea, especially because Amazon has specific rules about guns on covers, which I had never thought to check.
Since I don't want my book rejected or even flagged, I am pivoting to my second cover idea. It's also relevant to the story, but with an image that won't raise red flags. Although the new cover design won't be as flashy, at least it won't result in publishing problems.
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Gun count - January 23, 2025
The Resolve, which I hope to publish next month, is a post-apocalyptic thriller with lots of very bad people who use lots of weapons. In this young adult novel, my teen hero and heroine battle these villains and occasionally swipe their guns.
As I read and revised the book, I had to constantly count the number of guns the good guys had at all times. In my last (and hopefully, final) reread, I realized I had changed a scene that resulted in the teens accumulating too many guns.
As a result, I had to rework that scene in order to lower the gun count. Although it took a while, I finally figured out a logical solution. Now, unless I find more problems, I'm nearly ready to have the manuscript formatted. (Of course, the cover isn't ready yet—but that's another blog post.)
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Cover concerns (continued) - January 17, 2025
I'm back to square one with the cover for my young adult post-apocalyptic survival thriller, The Resolve. Why? After seeing the first four designs--which incorporated most of my suggestions--I studied the covers for a long time to figure out why I wasn't more excited about the art.
Here's what I finally realized: The covers were not what I had asked for. The artist was producing covers featuring realistic people and backgrounds, while I wanted a simple cover with a hazy background. In the forefront I just wanted a menacing man holding a weapon.
I conveyed this information (with an apology about switching direction) to my liaison before the artist created the next cover, although I had asked for this stylized approach originally. Nevertheless, Cover #5 shows a small figure of a non-menacing man standing in front of a realistic-looking backdrop. The only thing I like about this cover is the large red title and my name.
So I repeated my instructions and hope for better results with Cover #6. As I mentioned before, the artist will keep generating covers until I'm satisfied. Unfortunately, it seems like that won't happen for a long time.
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Cover concern - January 11, 2025
After nearly a month of waiting to see the first cover for The Resolve, my YA post-apocalyptic survival thriller, I finally received the artwork last week.
The company had sent me the cover in mid-December, but I never got it—and my contact person never notified me that it was sent. Since I assumed the holidays had delayed the artwork, I didn't check with him until early January.
This cover wasn't worth the wait. I asked for a bold red title and an ominous-looking villain. I got an all-orange cover, with illegible type and a figure who looks more like a hero than a villain.
It's unfortunate because I was hoping the artist would do a better job. But this company has many artists. The cover for my last book was almost finished after one try; this cover will probably take much longer.
The good news is that this artist will keep producing covers until I'm satisfied and since I'm still proofing and editing the manuscript, I'm not ready yet to move forward.
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More plot plotzing - January 4, 2025
Each time I think The Resolve, my YA post-apocalyptic thriller, is finished, I find new plot issues to fix. Some are minor tweaks, others are story improvements, and a few are sneaky mistakes.
Here are several examples:
* Since this book is a thriller, my teen protagonists have to extricate themselves from many dangerous situations. At one critical time, however, I didn't like the way I handled an escape, so I rewrote it with a more suitable character initiating the action.
* Although I'm basically a pacifist, many guns are fired in The Resolve. I changed (and improved) the way one minor character gets a weapon.
* I realized my protagonists tied a character's hands and feet—before removing his shirt and pants.
When I reread this book again (hopefully for the last time before it's formatted), I want to fix just little things like commas, repeated words, and synonyms. That's when it really will be finished.
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