Animals in my Writing

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about animals in my writing. There are animals in books that I'm currently writing now and also ones in future works I can't wait to write about.

Cats.

If you've read Blood and Water you'll already know about Normie, the Siamese cat that Hazel and Wes adopt. Cats are one of my favourite animals, and I usually include at least one in my books. I started off writing about my cat, Rocky, and his adventures and I'm not planning on keeping them out of my books now. In the Curse of Anubis series, which I have yet to write, the Egyptian goddess Bastet is one of the main characters. She is an Egyptian Mau cat in each book.

Rocky having a rest in the garden

Panthers.

In Celestial Plague one of the characters, Raya, can shift into a panther. The panther is called Damisa and is her inner voice, the other half of her that shares her mind. Of course as a cat lover I thought about making her a cat, but I decided that a panther is much more intimidating and more interesting to write.

Foxes.

As another one of my favourite animals I hope to include a fox in one of my stories. I haven't got any plans for one yet, but hopefully one day! The closest I've gotten to writing about one is a kitsune in a short story I wrote over a year ago.

Snow Leopards.

If you read my blog post about my author logo you'll know that I hope to write about snow leopard one day. The writing group I attend gave us an interesting prompt yesterday which I think I can squeeze a snow leopard into.

Wolves.

This animal will make its debut when I write one of my standalone books, Street Rats. I think wolves are beautiful creatures and I would like to give them the spotlight in one my books at some point.

Dragons.

The big one! My favourite mystical creature of all - dragons. The Elemental Dragons series is full of them and if you love them too I suggest you give Blood and Water a read.

Winter - a character from the Elemental Dragons series

I hope you enjoyed this week's post. I'm thinking of doing a sequel post to this one in the future about the monsters I'm planning on writing about. Let me know in the comments if you'd be interested!

See you next week.

My Favourite Book Series

Hi all,

On Twitter I asked what you wanted me to write about this week, and my favourite book series won! (Spoiler alert - it has cats in it).

As I've mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of Warriors by a group of authors who write under the pen name of Erin Hunter. It is by far my favourite book series, one that I continue to read today.

It's about cats who live in a forest in one of four Clans. The first book is 'Into The Wild' and has carried on going since then. 

My Warriors book collection - with my ‘published works’ shelf at the top

Each series follows the perspective of one or multiple characters. My favourite is the 'Dawn of the Clans' which is technically a prequel to the first series. My least favourite is 'The Power of Three'.

My top three favourite characters are as follows:

Russetfur.

Hollyleaf.

Tallstar.

I started reading the books in 2005, when I was about eight years old. Although I took a break for a few years when I turned eighteen, I rediscovered them last year and caught up with all the books. At the time of writing this there are over eighty books in total, with more still to come.

Warriors really inspired my writing, as most of my original stories were about cats. I used to go on the Warriors Forums under the name RussetstarOfCloudClan (inspired by my favourite character - Russetfur and my made up Clan, CloudClan). Although most people just called me Russet. I wrote about my OC, Russetheart and had a spin-off series called Like Lightning, Disaster Strikes. Although reading those stories back now makes me cringe, writing about Warriors really helped my writing to grow and improve while I was trying to find my style.

Mishka wouldn’t make a very good warrior…

Warriors fanfiction inspired me to keep writing and I hope that one day people will love my books as much as they love the Warriors series. I've laughed and cried so much reading these books, and certain character deaths still pull on my heart strings when I re-read some books. I want people to feel that roller coaster of emotions when reading my work too.

I will keep reading Warriors until the authors stop writing books. I absolutely love the series and nothing has matched up to it since I started reading it.

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading and will check out Warriors if you haven't already.

See you next week!

My Author Logo

Hi all!

Last year I made a blog post about author logos, the pros and cons of having one. I did also write that I'd consider getting a logo on the future. 

If you follow me on Twitter you may have seen my post about an author logo. I wanted to get one done to use on my website, media kit (which I'm still working on) and business cards.

My logo was designed by maadi7899.

Most authors have logos which contain pens, quills, books etc. I wanted to go with something different to stand out. 

At first I wanted to go with a dragon, but I realised that dragons would tie me to fantasy. I also want to write sci-fi and horror so I didn't want to link myself to just one genre. Next I thought about using a cat, but I couldn't decide between Rocky and Mishka. I didn't want to favour one over the other.

Sleeping Mishka (Left) and sleeping Rocky (Right)

So, I decided to use a snow leopard.

Why?

Snow leopards are one of my favourite animals. They're beautiful creatures and I've always been drawn to them. When I was younger I sponsored a snow leopard called Bagira for a year and I loved receiving updates on her every few months.

The leopard on my logo I have now named 'Bagira' in tribute to her.

This will be used as a header on my website and media kit. The business cards have already been designed, I just need to get some printed. I'll carry a few on me in case I meet someone who is interested in my work.

I'm glad I got it done, as now I can use it to promote my books. I won't be putting it in my books however, as it's more for behind the scenes stuff. It also puts me one step closer to completing my media kit.

If you want to get a logo designed, make sure you know what you want. You'll be stuck with it for a while so you have to make sure you actually like it.

That's it for this week! Do you have an author logo? What do you use it for? Feel free to answer in the comments.

See you next week.

My 2020 Writing Goals

Hi all,

Following on from my year in review last week, I'm now doing my 2020 writing goals. They are as follows:

Write two books.

I'm hoping to write Celestial Plague Book 3: Purgatory and Years before the end of 2020.

Publish two books.

Elemental Dragons books 2 and 3 will be coming out this year! Venom and Earth in April and Glass and Ice in October. I will also be entering both of them in Cover Wars.

Get three covers designed.

I've already booked Deranged Doctor Design to do the covers for the next two Elemental Dragons books, but I also want a cover for the Celestial Plague Short Story Collection.

Edit two books.

I would like to edit Elemental Dragons Book 4: Cinder and Fire and Celestial Plague Book 1: Nirvana myself before passing to my editor.

Write four short stories.

I haven't written a short story for a while and would like to get back into it. I'd also like to start dabbling in horror.

Get a short story published.

I would like to get one of my short stories published in a magazine or anthology.

Read 15 books.

I've already set my goal on Goodreads and I'm hoping that I'll be able to find time to read again, even if it's not as many books as last year.

Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo.

Having a goal to work towards seems to work well for me, which is why I'll be doing NaNo again this year! I'm aiming for 50K each time, nothing crazy.

Thank you for reading! I would also like to thank everyone who voted for Blood and Water in Cover Wars, it came third!

See you next week.

2019 Year in Review

Hi all!

Seeing as next week's blog post will be my 2020 writing goals, I thought that I would do a year in review for the last Sunday of 2019! 

Published Blood and Water.

My debut novel came out this year with the next one out in April 2020! It's been a great experience self publishing and I want to thank everyone who bought my book.

Sold 40 books.

I've sold 40 copies of Blood and Water, thanks to everyone who bought one!

Wrote three books.

I set a goal for writing two books this year, but I managed three! 

Elemental Dragons Book 4: Cinder and Fire - 88,000 words

Celestial Plague Book 1: Nirvana - 83,000 words

Celestial Plague Book 2: Heaven - 83,000 words

Participated in July Camp NaNoWriMo and November NaNoWriMo.

I finished Cinder and Fire during Camp NaNo and Heaven during NaNoWriMo. I said last year that I would participate again, and I've enjoyed it. Now I'm just taking a break until the beginning of January to start working on Purgatory.

Hired editor for two books.

My editor, Nicola, has edited two books for me this year. Elemental Dragons Book 2: Venom and Earth and Elemental Dragons Book 3: Glass and Ice. Venom and Earth is almost ready for publication as it is in the formatting stages, while I have only recently got the edits back for Glass and Ice. Next year I will be asking her to work on the final book.

Two cover designs.

Both Blood and Water and Venom and Earth have come to life this year thanks to Deranged Doctor Design! They both have gorgeous covers and I've already booked the next two books to be designed by them next year.

Entered Blood and Water for a book award.

I've entered Blood and Water into the Wishing Shelf Book Awards. Wish me luck!

Read 30 books.

I've read 30 books this year, most of them being Warriors books. I've already got a little pile going ready to be read next year.

That's it for this week, come back next Sunday to read about my 2020 goals. See you next week!

Perfect Cheap Gifts for Writers

Hi all,

I've seen plenty of posts about gifts for writers and I thought I'd create my own little list to help people out! I've seen some ideas range from cheap to ridiculously expensive. Like most people, I don't have loads of money to spend on just one present, so I thought I'd focus this post on cheap ideas rather than really elaborate ones. Although everyone has their own little quirks and hobbies, most writers would love to receive any of the following:

Mishka in her Christmas outfit last year

Books - The most obvious one. Who doesn't love books?

Vouchers - I personally love receiving vouchers for book stores or Amazon. It means that I can fill up my to be read pile again.

Magazine subscriptions - Tying into my blog post last week, buying a month or two subscription to a writing magazine is a great idea.

Book posters - Some authors sell posters of their books. If the writer is a huge fan of a certain author, consider a poster!

Bookmarks - Like posters, most authors sell bookmarks of their books.

Notebooks - Writers can get struck with an idea at any time, so a notebook is a great thing to have on hand.

Food - Get them some of their favourite food or a voucher to their favourite restaurant. Creatives need fuel to keep writing!

Stickers - Some people love decorating their laptops with little stickers to personalise them. There are loads of writing related ones you can buy.

Book merchandise - Whether they're published or querying, you can get some of their manuscript printed on mugs or scarves.

Art - If you're a great artist, you may want to consider doing some art of their book. Maybe one of the characters or your favourite scene.

Supply Kit - Maybe combine a few of the above into a basket or box to gift the writer.

Support - This one is free. Support the writer by encouraging them to keep going. It's the most important and valuable gift you can give them.

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed! I also hope everyone has a happy holiday as well, whether you celebrate or not!

See you next week.

NaNoWriMo - November 2019

Hi all!

As promised, this week I will talk about how I got on with NaNoWriMo this year. This is the second time I've participated, but I had heard of it previously.

For those who don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. You are given a month to write 50,000 words. You can track your progress on their website and fill in your daily word count and when you are projected to finish. There are also forums to connect with other writers, who you can add as buddies.

My progress each day according to the tracker

This year I participated with the second book of the Celestial Plague series: Heaven. I had finished the first draft of Nirvana the month prior and wanted to write Heaven for NaNoWriMo. Before November 1st I'd already written 20K of my first draft, so I hoped that I could complete the entire first draft by November 30th.

By the end of the month I had written 61,908 words, bringing my overall total to nearly 83,000!

My overall word count

Last year I did an entire first draft in 30 days, which was tough. This year I decided to just write what I could.

My method:

- Goal: 2,000 words a day. (60,000 words by the end of the month).

- Write on my phone during my commute to work (bus): usually write between 600-1000 words.

- Write during my half an hour lunch break: usually write between 700-900 words.

- Write during my commute home (bus): usually write between 300-600 words.

- Anything left over I write at home.

My average word count

I found a method that works for me and also means that I don't have to cram words in when I get home from a long day at work. This way when I get home I can relax. Although the whole process is difficult, I still love participating. I love having a goal in front of me and a chart to tell me how I’m doing. I’ll definitely participate again next year, as well as Camp NaNoWriMo.

Did you participate in NaNoWriMo? Did you hit the 50K target? Let me know in the comments!

See you next week!

My Least Favourite Genres

Hi all!

A few weeks ago I did a post on my favourite book genres and I thought it was about time I posted the sister post: My least favourite genres.

Readers will always have genres that they don't particularly like, which is okay. We're all allowed to have preferences. Just because one reader doesn't like the genre, it doesn't mean there isn't someone out there who loves it! The following are the genres that I very rarely read and I'm not a huge fan of:

Romance.

I know romance is one of the most popular genres out there but I just can't get into it. I'm not a huge fan of romance being the centre of the plot and really struggle to read romance books because of it. While querying I was stunned to see how many agents would only consider romance and some agencies were built entirely on the romance genre. While i don't really see the appeal myself, I won't put anyone down for liking romance or writing about it.

Medieval.

Again, another genre that I just can't get into. Although some books do this quite well, others do not. I prefer books set in modern times to those set in the medieval era. Plus, I think it's a hard genre to write in due to people have warped conceptions of medieval times. A lot of things that people have seen on TV or at school just didn't happen, or it happened in a very different way.

Magic.

I used to love books about magic when I was younger, but I'm not a huge fan of them now. I've just found that there aren't many I can get into, as I don't like the magic system or the magic itself. Maybe one day I'll get back into them, but if not I don't really mind. There are some that I've read recently which are really good, but it's not enough to get me back into the genre.

Non-Fiction.

I'm just not a fan of many non-fiction books as I just love fiction so much. I'd rather pick up a fiction book and escape to a different world rather than read a biography. I will read non-fiction for research, such as Egyptian mythology books, but apart from that I don't really touch them.

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

How Dreams Can Influence Your Writing

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about dreams and how they can help your writing.

I've had most of my book ideas from dreams; including Elemental Dragons and Street Rats. Although I've adapted the story line slightly, it's still very much true to the original dream. I keep my phone by my bedside just in case I dream something up which I think would make a good book idea. Some are better than others, I've scrapped three book ideas because I just couldn't make them work despite dreaming them so vividly.

Characters.

Character appearances or names can come to you in dreams. Rocky was one of my dream characters that I put in several books before he found his place in Elemental Dragons.

Plots and subplots.

Although dreams can be crazy and unpredictable, some can give you a rough idea of a plot. You can then rework this so it fits in with the book or characters.

Writing blocks.

Sometimes we get writer's block, which is okay. Usually it's temporary and just puts us in a writing slump for a while. However, if you're thinking about your book a lot while you're awake, you might just be able to dream up a solution.

Covers.

As authors, we often spend far too much time thinking about what our book cover will look like. A specific colour or theme could come to you while you sleep.

Book names.

As I've mentioned in previous blog posts, Blood and Water wasn't the first name of my book. More like the third or fourth. I came up with half the name, water, while I was dreaming. If I hadn't then it might still be going through name changes today!

Book ideas.

A lot of my book ideas have come to me from dreams, which I have then changed to fit in with a story. The Curse of Anubis series started out as a dream about zombies, and has now turned into a four book series.

Sequels.

Dreams can often give you ideas for sequels, which you can then choose to write if you wish. Some ideas may just make no sense when you try to put them together, but at least you've tested out the idea instead of just jumping straight in.

That's it for this week! I hope you enjoyed the blog post, see you next week!

Genres I Would Like to Write in the Future

Hi all!

NaNoWriMo started on Friday so I am currently trying to reach a word count goal of 2K a day. This won't mean that I'm not writing any blog posts, however.

This week I'm going to talk about genres I would like to write in the future. As many of you know, I mainly write YA, fantasy, sci-fi and horror. But, I would like to write in other genres if I can think of a good enough story.

New Adult.

New Adult is the age group in between Young Adult and Adult Fiction. I would like to try New Adult as I think it would be a good middle ground if I ever wanted to write Adult books. I also think that the jump from YA to Adult is quite big, so NA is a nice middle ground so I can hone my skills while still having a bit of fun with teenage characters.

Paranormal.

Although at one point I had an idea for a Paranormal book, I scrapped it because I just didn't like it enough. If I were to one day write Paranormal it would probably have elements of horror mixed in. I like reading ghost stories, so I would love to one day be able to write a Paranormal book.

Mystery.

Mystery is a genre that I've never attempted before, but would love to try out. It would probably have elements of Sci-Fi or fantasy mixed in. I'm not planning on writing mystery for a while though, as I want to give myself time to research and improve my writing skills.

Crime.

Another one I've not attempted before, but would probably have elements of fantasy mixed in. I don't read many crime novels, but the ones I have read I absolutely loved. This is at the bottom of my list as I don't have any ideas for this genre, however.

Monster/Creature.

I'm a huge fan of monster films. I love watching films like Godzilla and King Kong, and I would love to one day write a book about a giant creature. Again, I don't have any ideas or plans for this as of yet.

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed! I also want to wish all the NaNoWriMo participants luck in hitting that 50K!