My Blogging Tips

Hi all,

As I've been blogging for seven years now, I thought I'd let you know some tips for would be bloggers!

Decide what you want to blog about.

My blog is primarily for my writing projects and tips for authors. I also post about my new releases and any competitions or giveaways I do. Before you start to blog, it's important that you decide what you want to write about. You don't want to start a blog that has no theme or direction, you'll confuse your readers.

Decide a schedule.

How often are you going to post on your blog? Weekly? Monthly? What days are you going to post? This is also a pretty important thing to decide before launching your blog.

Be consistent.

If you're going to post monthly, make sure you do your best to follow this. Of course there will be emergencies and situations where you can't, but don't commit to something you can't fulfill. Readers value consistency as it builds trust.

Length of posts.

You need to decide if you're going to write long blog posts or short ones and stick with it. Mine tend to be between 300-500 words.

Ads or no ads?

Are you going to advertise your blog or just let it grow naturally? You can have a separate budget for advertising, but you need to make sure that ad is working. Otherwise you're throwing money on things that don't work.

Guest posts.

Will you invite guests to make posts on your blog? If so, you'll need to do your research on who you're inviting and what they're planning to blog about. You may also be asked to do a guest post in return.

Images.

You might need to invest in stock photos for your blog. I use DepositPhotos, but you can use any stock image website you like. Just make sure you purchase them through the proper channels and don't just copy images you find from the Internet.

That's it for this week! I hope you enjoyed reading. See you next Sunday. 

PS; don’t forget to check out these book bundles before they disappear:

Long Live the Queen: Amazing Women in Fantasy & Science Fiction (Dec 2025-Jan 2026)

New Year, New Monsters 6: From the Skies

My 2026 Writing Goals

Hi all,

As this is the first blog post of 2026, it's time for my goals for 2026!

Write three books.

This year I'm going to write three books, and I want to get the remaining books in the Original Elementals series done. I haven't decided whether I'll write those first or if I'll get a standalone done first, you'll have to wait and see!

Finish writing the Original Elementals series.

This series has been ongoing for a while and I want to get it finished this year. I've got other books planned in the Elemental Dragons universe as well, though once Original Elementals is drafted I'll take a break from it for a bit.

Self-edit three books.

I want to get Game of Air and Lightning, Empty Skies #1: Missing Constellations and Empty Skies #2: Freezing Constellations edited. Once I'm happy with what I've done, I'll send them to my editor.

Get two covers designed.

Two covers will be getting designed by Deranged Doctor Design this year!

Publish two books.

I'm going to publish the last book in the Curse of Anubis series, The Dead Kingdom, and Game of Air and Lightning this year!

Publish the Curse of Anubis Complete Collection.

With all the books in this series released, there will also be a Complete Collection so you can buy all four books at once.

Read 100 books.

Seeing as I read 121 last year, I'm going with 100 this year. I've got a lot on my TBR list right now and I'm sure I'll find more to fill it out as well.

Run regular Facebook ads.

My Facebook ads did well for a few months last year but then fell off. This time, I want to try to keep on top of them more and expand my knowledge about how advertising works on Facebook. I'm gathering images and excerpts from my books, so this might not start until the middle of the year.

Write and send out the Game of Air and Lightning prequel.

This year I will get that prequel written! It will also be edited and then sent to my newsletter subscribers.

Plot the Empty Skies reader magnet.

I'm still not sure what the story will be for this book, and I'm looking forward to playing around with a few ideas until I find one that sticks.

Plot a Norse mythology series.

I've got the basics of this one already, but I want to expand on it further. I'd like to be able to start writing this series in 2027, so that means I need to get a solid outline done this year.

Plot a YA Fantasy series.

This one is very bare bones at the moment, but I have the characters and the magical system worked out. This one will be a massive project that will contain werewolves, vampires and eldritch beings that created magic in the first place.

Plot a horror book.

As this is one of the books I want to write this year, I need to flesh out the plot a lot more. I know where the book starts and ends, but I need to fill out all the middle bits, characters and side plots.

That's it for this week! I hope you enjoyed my first blog post of 2026. See you next Sunday. 

PS; don’t forget to check out these book bundles before they disappear:

Long Live the Queen: Amazing Women in Fantasy & Science Fiction (Dec 2025-Jan 2026)

New Year, New Monsters 6: From the Skies

2025 Year in Review

Hi all,

It’s time to take a look at my goals for 2025 and see what I achieved. I wanted to push myself a little bit this year and I think on the whole it was manageable. I didn’t hit all of my goals, but that’s okay!

Write three books.

This year I wrote the first drafts of:

Game of Air and Lightning

The Severed Pantheon

Cloud’s Core

It was the year of standalone books, it seems!

Publish two books.

This year I published Curse of Anubis #2: The Blazing Serpent and Curse of Anubis #3: The Frozen Eye.

Get two covers designed.

The covers for Curse of Anubis #3: The Frozen Eye and Curse of Anubis #4: The Dead Kingdom were both designed by Deranged Doctor Design this year.

Self-edit two books.

The last two books in the Curse of Anubis series were self-edited and sent off to my editor, ready for publication.

Send all my reader magnets to my editor.

All of them were edited by her and I feel like the stories have really improved!

Read 100 books.

This year I read 121!

Write the Game of Air and Lightning reader magnet.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get this one done. I’ve had so many ideas for it that I’ve started writing and then scrapped not too far in. I’m still trying to find the perfect story to write.

Change my writing schedule.

My writing months are now March, July and November. It works a lot better now that they’re more stretched out.

Write 12 short stories.

I initially planned to write a short story a month, but I forgot about the months that I’d be writing books. So, I managed to write ten short stories this year. My newsletter subscribers have read most of them.The stories are:

Affection

Blue Once More

Fire Dragon

Neglected Vote

Red

Run-Along

The Bus

The Last Excavation

Two Paths

Unnamed

Research different kinds of mythology.

I’ve done a lot of research this year into Japanese mythology and Celtic mythology. I haven’t come up with any concrete story ideas for either yet, but I’m hoping the more I read about it, the more ideas will come to me.

That’s it for this week! Next week I’ll be posting about my goals for 2026, so you don’t want to miss it. See you next Sunday.

PS; don’t forget to check out these book bundles before they disappear:

Brand New December Fantasy Adventures

Long Live the Queen: Amazing Women in Fantasy & Science Fiction (Dec 2025-Jan 2026)

New Year, New Monsters 6: From the Skies

What Jobs Would my Characters Have?

Hi all,

This week I'm going to write about something that I think will be quite fun. If the events of their books didn't happen, what jobs would the main characters be doing? I'm only going to do this for books that are currently published, I might do this again in the future once I have more books out!

Hazel - Elemental Dragons

Hazel would be working in a laboratory alongside Marco. She would be working in the administration department with Aqueous, who would spend most of his days sleeping. Outside of work, she would be involved in a lot of charity work for dragon rights and to help commoners.

Cheyenne - Years

If the world wasn't constantly under threat of destroying itself, Cheyenne would struggle to find her place in life. With so many sisters, she would struggle to stand out amongst them and would feel pressured to do as well as them. After years of job hopping, she would go into the beauty sector. She would become a popular hairdresser and eventually start her own business.

Audra - Mute

Due to her anxiety, Audra would really struggle to find a job. After years of trying, she would eventually find a job in a warehouse. Her colleagues are quite happy with the fact that she doesn't speak and she feels comfortable for the first time in her life.

Shannon - Celestial Plague

Her phobia of flying would make her hard to employ in most sectors. After years of doing random cleaning, waitressing and hospitality jobs, she would eventually find a job in an animal shelter that she absolutely loves. She would climb the ranks to supervisor and advocate for animals when no-one else would.

Ashleigh - Celestial Plague

If Ashleigh weren't a part of Warren's cult, she would have been brought up in a much more healthy household. So, she would become an art teacher! Due to a much more positive mindset about her power, she'd be much happier using it and would love teaching children to express themselves.

Raya - Celestial Plague

Out of her friends, Raya is the one who would feel the most pressured to go into a good job. She would refuse to use her power for anything and would instead force herself into a corporate environment. After years of burnout, she would start her own baking business from home, mostly supplying birthday parties and weddings.

Jenna - Celestial Plague

Jenna would work in the same industry as Raya, but thrive in it. She would become one of the youngest CEOs of her time and would be known as a ruthless business woman. She would also work part-time as a diving instructor.

I won't go into Tahira as I would like the Curse of Anubis series to be fully published! I don't want to accidentally give away what she's like in later books or how her feelings might change if nothing had happened.

That's it for this week! If you enjoyed reading, let me know and I'll do another one! See you next Sunday. 

PS; don’t forget to check out these book bundles while they’re still available:

Brand New December Fantasy Adventures

Long Live the Queen: Amazing Women in Fantasy & Science Fiction (Dec 2025-Jan 2026)

November 2025 Writing Project Wrap-Up

Hi all,

With November finished, it's time for an update on Cloud's Core! My final word count is...

78,618 words!

I was aiming for a word count of around 72K-73K but the story just kept going! I'm quite pleased about this, as I really enjoyed writing this book.

Unfortunately I did fail with having a casual writing project, but that's okay. I now know that I need a better structure in order to write. From now on, I'll be writing books during my designated writing months: March, July and November. This will just be for books, I'll still write short stories outside of this! If needed, I'll add another writing month for an extra book if I really want to write it.

As I wrote Cloud's Core, I slowly realised that the genre was changing. It's gone from a YA Sci-Fi to a YA Sci-Fi Horror. This was unexpected, but as I was writing this made more sense. The horror elements make the book a lot more interesting and it was nice writing another horror book.

The main character, Aliyah, goes on a school trip to learn more about her city's electricity supply, which is generated by a core in a massive building. But, she and her friends become trapped inside when the building goes on lock down. They have to avoid running into Grounded, people who are now unable to fly and seem to be controlled by an unseen force.

With a flying cat at her side, she tries to lift the lock down so she can escape. But there's something else that wants to get out too. Something that triggered everything...

For those who remember my Cat Competition, you may recognise one of the winners in this book! Emmylou was the winner for Cloud's Core and is now helping Aliyah navigate her way through the events of the book.

This book has been in my ideas folder for years and I'm so glad that the first draft is finally written! I think the next book I write will be a horror, but now that I've just written one I might change my mind. I've got until March to decide, so I've got time!

That's it for this week, see you next Sunday! 

PS; don’t forget to check out this book bundle for new Fantasy books:

Brand New December Fantasy Adventures

Will I Write About Dinosaurs?

Hi all,

This week I'm going to talk about dinosaurs! More importantly, will I write about them?

I absolutely love dinosaurs and when I was growing up I used to love watching shows about dinosaurs and reading books about them. I still do all that today!

I've tried to plot a dinosaur book before and nothing has really come to me. Nothing that hasn't been done before and would spice up the genre. I would love to write about them, but I'd need a good enough idea to give them justice.

My favourite dinosaur of all time is the Velociraptor. I've tried to work this dinosaur in particular into books before, but it just hasn't worked out. I'd love to write a dinosaur themed book, but at the moment I have no plans to do so. Whenever I come up with a new book idea I hope that the next one will be about dinosaurs, but unfortunately it hasn't happened yet.

If I could, I would write a book about someone with a Velociraptor as a companion or pet. But that's as far as I've gotten, plot wise, which isn't enough to write an entire book about, unfortunately.

Maybe one day I'll come up with a great idea for a dinosaur book that I'll absolutely love. But currently there are no plans to write about dinosaurs.

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading! See you next Sunday. 

PS; looking for some horror books to read this month? Check out this book bundle:

Horror Books for Halloween!

The Best Rewards for Writing

Hi all,

This week I'm going to tell you about my best rewards for writing. Sometimes it can be hard to get through a certain part of a book, and a reward can be a good incentive to get you through it.

Reading.

This is especially true if I'm really enjoying a book and I want to get back to it. So after I've hit my daily word count, I'll go back to the book.

YouTube.

I watch a lot of YouTube videos! What's great is if my favourite creators have uploaded while I've been writing. Then it feels like they're giving me a special reward for hitting my goal!

Playing Videogames.

At the moment I'm really into Pokemon Legends ZA, so that will be one of my rewards throughout November. I just love getting to sit back and play through a different story after adding to my own one!

Watching TV.

Although I don't do this too often, I will occasionally watch a TV show as a reward. I'm waiting for a lot of my favourite shows to release new seasons, so I might not do this as much this month.

Food rewards.

Sweets, cakes and sometimes biscuits are nice rewards for writing. Sometimes I'll just reward myself by having some extra dessert, just something to give me a little boost.

Cinema.

If there's a film out that I want to see, I make sure to get my writing done before I see the film. That way I don't have to worry about it again when the film is over. I can enjoy it in peace.

That's it for this week. How do you reward yourself after writing? Let me know in the comments. See you next Sunday. 

PS; if you’re looking for a new horror book to read, check out this book bundle:

Horror Books for Halloween!

Will I Write Another Horror Book?

Hi all!

This is question I get a lot from my readers, especially ones who enjoyed Mute. So I thought I'd give my answer...

Definitely!

I currently have a few ideas for horror books floating around in my ideas folder. But I've been doing a lot of research because I feel like horror is such a hard genre to get right, and I want to make sure my books are as good as they possibly can be. But, I'll give you a few tidbits on what I'm planning! Hopefully I'll get the chance to write one of them next year!

The clicking woman.

This book follows a girl who is being stalked by a woman. The woman mostly clings to the ceiling above the girl, and reveals herself with a series of clicking. The girl doesn't know why she's being stalked and is trying her best to lose the woman.

Puppet master.

A girl and her friends spend the night in the woods. In the morning, her friend wakes up with an entity following her around. The others refuse to acknowledge the entity, as it will attract one to them. The girl deliberately acknowledges the entity and tries her best to help her friend lose it before it consumes her.

I think puppet master will be my next horror writing project, most likely my March 2026 project. I've really missed writing pure horror books and can't wait to get back into it!

That's it for this week, see you next week! 

PS; if you’re looking for some free books, check out this book bundle:

Dark Themes in Fantasy and Science Fiction (Sept-Oct)

November 2025 Writing Project Announcement

Hi all,

It's time to announce my writing project for November, the last one of 2025! My writing project will be...

Cloud's Core!

Yeah... My casual writing project hasn't worked out.

I really want to get this book done this year so I'm going to write the first draft in November. I've only written 3000 words so far, so I've still got quite a while to go until I finish.

The story will still follow Aliyah and her friends as they navigate a floating city that's on the verge of falling out of the sky. None of the plot points have changed since I last wrote it, so I'll just be finishing it off.

Although I’m still not sure about the name, so I might think of a new one while I’m writing it.

I now realise that I need structure while writing. I like writing larger amounts across a short period rather than smaller amounts across a longer period. Now that I know I won't be doing anymore casual projects. I'll stick to my method of writing books during certain months of the year.

I'll still write short stories as I don't find them as tiring as writing entire books. I'm glad that I've learned this about myself as I now know my limits in the future.

That's it for this week! See you next Sunday. 

PS; if you’re looking for some free books, check out this book bundle:

Dark Themes in Fantasy and Science Fiction (Sept-Oct)

How my Zombies Differ From Other Zombies

Hi all,

With the third book in the Curse of Anubis series coming out soon, I wanted to discuss the zombies in my books and how they differ from more traditional zombies that you might be used to.

The main draw that I think is different is that my zombies are sentient. They can see what they're doing from the world of the dead but they can't control their bodies. They can feel what their body feels, but all of this disappears when they're in the land of the dead. There's no pain, but it's more like a pressure. A sensation that doesn't go away until the wound is healed.

They can be controlled to an extent by certain gods, though this is extremely limited. Anubis, as the god of the dead, is the main one who can do this. As the creator of the plague, he is responsible for everything that happens to every person, turned or not.

I also like the fact that they're called mummies, rather than zombies. It ties them into the Egyptian mythology aspect of the books, which is a huge part of the book.

The mummies have no choice but to wait for their hearts to be consumed by Anubis in order to pass on fully. But when Anubis decides to become the ruler of the gods instead, no hearts are eaten. That means that mummies are left wandering in the real world while the person tries not to look at their real life.

I also loved the idea of the zombies being controlled by someone who was previously zombified. That was one of the first concepts that popped out to me and one that I went along with to the end!

I love reading zombie books but I have found that there are some that don't make their zombies different. While a traditional approach can be good, it can also be boring. When I decided to write about zombies, I didn't want to fall into that category. Hence why my zombies still have a state of awareness and can be controlled by Tahira, the only who has been cured of the virus.

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading. See you next week. 

PS; don’t forget to check out these book bundles to find your next favourite author!

Kindle Unlimited with the occult and supernatural

Silver Winged September