Why My Teenage Characters Swear

Hi all,

This week's post is a bit of a different one - revolving around swearing in YA fiction. I didn't realise it was an issue before I joined Twitter and I stumbled across a series of tweets asking if it's okay to have characters use bad language in YA.

My opinion?

It is.

All of my books are filled with crude language and mild sexual innuendos. There's nothing wrong with including it. When writing about teenagers you have to make sure that your characters are actually believable teenagers. Whether you like it or not, a lot of teenagers swear.

Although not all teenagers use bad language, most of them do from time to time. When they've just learned these words they will use them in any way they can, as it makes them feel grown up. Older teenagers tend to use them less.

All of my characters swear.

An example of swearing in Blood and Water - no, she isn't really a vampire.

Blood and Water was even rejected by an agent because I included swearing, and I was told that I should take it out or I would never get published.

She also said that it's unrealistic as teenagers do not swear.

When I was teenager, I swore profusely. I still do now.

To say that teenagers never swear is a false statement, and not one she should be telling authors who are hoping to get a few with her.

I've published Blood and Water by myself, and I have not removed the language.

Some authors get around this by inventing new words for their characters to use in place of swear words. You can do this if you want to, but I didn't want to invent new words to replace swearing. When your target audience is YA, it's okay to use swear words. I'm sure 99% of your readers swear, they're not going to hate you for it.

I don't think it should be as big of an issue as people make it out to be. If you want to include swearing, fine. If you don't want to include swearing, also fine.

Do what's best for you and your story.

Personally, I prefer having my characters swear as it makes them feel more human to me. At the end of the day it's just words anyway, and just because you don't write about it in your books doesn't mean that people will stop doing it.

Do what you want to do, and don't let anyone shame you for your decision.

That's it for this week! Next week I will be talking about how I'm feeling about self publishing, as Blood and Water is due out in nine days!

See you next week!

Why Marketing my Book is Hard for me

Hi all,

It's been a while since I've done a post about mental health, and today I've done something that I think is worthy of a blog post.

As authors, self published or traditionally published, we have to market our books so readers can discover them. It's a lot harder than it looks, as most of it is just trial and error until you find something that works for you. Unfortunately, as a sufferer or anxiety and depression, marketing is very difficult for me to do.

Let me explain.

Today I sent four emails to various writing groups to ask them if they would be interested in reading my book.

It took me two hours to build myself up to pressing the send button on each. The amount of anxiety I felt was horrible, I felt like I was back in school again. Despite being much better than I once was as a teenager, communication is still hard for me. The feeling of 'they're just going to say no' is still very strong. I wrote those emails over and over, worrying that I'm sounding too robotic or too casual. Even now, an hour after sending those emails, I'm expecting them to berate me for even asking.

Marketing is a huge part of publishing a book, and in my eyes, the scariest. I've been judged by people so much in life and now I have to go through it all again. As much as it pains me to send those emails, I know I have to do it.

I have to give Blood and Water a fighting chance.

If I just release it and don't bother marketing it, it won't sell. I need to market so people can find it, no matter how terrifying it is.

My next step is to put up posters around my hometown and ask libraries if they would be interested in displaying a poster. While writing, editing and publishing the book was scary, this is so much worse.

My anxiety is threatening to overpower me once again, but I'm fighting back. Yes, it might take me a few hours to send an email and yes, fretting so much about a poster can seem trivial.

But in my eyes, it's terrifying.

I've seen a lot of people talk about authors hating marketing because they're introverts and hate to big themselves up. I however, want to talk about the mental toll marketing can have.

It doesn't matter how mentally strong you are, marketing is draining and absolutely terrifying. It's not just about being an introvert, it's about being genuinely scared of rejection.

As authors we face rejection at every angle, marketing is just something else to worry about. Querying was bad enough, but in the end every email I sent out I knew I would get a 'no' from. That's when I decided to self publish. But with marketing, you can't just decide not to do it, it's vital for your book.

I'm hoping that one day I will just go numb to the feeling of marketing like I did with querying, and then it won't scare me anymore. Until that day, if it ever comes, I'm going to carry on trying.

Whether it takes minutes or hours, I will continue to market my books.

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

My Top Three Favourite Genres

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about my favourite book genres and what inspired me to write stories in them. In no particular order:

Fantasy.

Elemental Dragons is a fantasy series, so I'm sure this doesn't come as a shock to anyone. I've loved fantasy ever since I was little, so it's only natural that I would write in that genre. My favourite fantasy book series has to be Warrior Cats, and those books have inspired me and influenced my writing style. I hope that my books will bring as much inspiration to someone as Warrior Cats did for me. I love books that contain magical creatures and my all time favourite are dragons!

My fantasy books (written and planned):

Elemental Dragons - four book Young Adult Fantasy series.

Damaged Goods - three book Young Adult Historical Fantasy series.

Aerus Vs Bolt - Young Adult Fantasy standalone.

Sci-Fi.

The newest series that I'm writing, Celestial Plague, is a sci-fi dystopian novel. A lot of my favourite films are sci-fi, including the Alien and Predator series. Every time I watch those films I fall in love with them a little more. Although I'm only planning one book that includes aliens, the rest are more dystopian than sci-fi. I like the idea of writing about viruses and natural disasters and how the characters adapt to their new worlds, which is what Celestial Plague is about.

My sci-fi books (written and planned):

Celestial Plague - three book Young Adult Sci-Fi/Dystopian.

Enna - New Adult Sci-Fi standalone.

Years - Young Adult Sci-Fi/Dystopian standalone.

Horror.

When I was younger I didn't really like horror, but the book that changed that for me was Stephen King's 'Pet Sematary'. After I finished that, I was hooked on the genre. I've now read plenty of horror books and watched loads of films (with one of my cats always nearby, of course). I haven't really planned many horror books due to the fact that it's not really a genre I've ever really written in - but I hope to change that in the future when I get some practice. I've heard its a genre that can be hard to get right, so I want to make sure that my skills are up to scratch.

My horror books (written and planned):

Unnamed zombie series - four book Young Adult Horror series.

That's it for this week! One day I might write a sequel to this for my least favorite genres. If you'd be interested, let me know!

See you next week.

How to Support Your Favourite Authors

Hi all,

With the release date for Blood and Water now exactly a month away, I thought I'd make a post on how to support authors. Most people think that buying their books is all they can do, which isn't true!

Buy/borrow their books.

This is the one most readers know about. If you can't afford to buy an author's book, borrow it from the library instead. You're still supporting them by reading their work!

Write a review.

Authors rely on reviews because it means that more people will see their book. Some sites, such as Amazon, will promote books once they have a certain number of reviews. A lot of book promotion sites also only promote books once they have a number of reviews.

Follow their social media.

By following their social media you're showing an interest in what they're doing. They may also post about what they're working on and events they'll be attending.

Tell them how you feel about their work.

Whether it's a letter or a DM, if you love an author's work, tell them. Authors write for their readers, and most would love to hear their feedback.

Tell others about their books.

By telling other people that might buy their books, they can get more sales and reviews.

Sign up to their mailing list.

You can show that you're a fan by signing up, and in return you get to see what they're working on and when their next book will come out!

Attend events.

If the author is attending a certain event and you can as well, most won't mind if you want to say hi!

Pre-order their books.

To show an author how excited you are to read their work, pre-order their book! It will also help them climb through the ranks on Amazon.

Rate their books on Goodreads.

Books with a lot of ratings will be seen by new readers. Some people base whether they will read a book or not depending on how many other people have rated it.

If they're up for an award, vote for them.

If your favourite book is up for an award, make sure you vote and let other people know. Authors rely on reader's votes in competitions.

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

The Worst Parts of Querying

Hi all,

As #pitmad was this week I thought I would talk about querying agents and publishers.

Before I decided to go down the self publishing route, I queried my novel with over 70 agents and publishers.

All of them rejected Blood and Water.

Querying is nerve wracking enough as it is, but for me, the responses were the worst part. Most of the agents were courteous in their rejections, but seeing that 'no' did make my heart sink. In this blog post, I'm going to talk about the reality of querying.

Some agents never reply.

It doesn't matter how much work you put into your first chapters and cover letter, some agents just don't reply. I know that they have to through thousands of queries, but I'd still much prefer a 'no' to silence. Out of the 77 I queried, 31 never replied.

Don't expect feedback.

With so many queries to go through, they can't afford to spend time writing a long email about what could be improved upon. If you receive one of those emails, great. Read their feedback and see what you can action.

Some emails will just be the word 'no'.

Don't get offended. With so many queries to go through, the emails may just be short and sweet. Just be thankful that you heard back so you can query someone else.

It's a lot of research.

A lot of agents like your query letter to be personalised for them, which means that they'll keep an eye out for bits where you mention their favourite book or what they're looking for. Some agents just reject a query if it's not personal enough, whereas some don't like personal details at all. Include one or two, like their favourite book, but don't go overboard.

Rudeness.

Unfortunately, there will be the minority of people who are rude. I had two agents reply to me in a rude manner. One told me that my idea was great but my writing terrible. She told me that I should hand over the idea to someone with 'talent'. Another told me to stop writing forever as I wouldn't get anywhere. Be aware that these responses are rare, and just shake them off. Don't let their words get to you.

Some will make you jump through hoops to send an email.

I once came across an agency that required you to watch three six minute videos to get special 'codes' so you could query them. Emails without these codes would be rejected outright. I would advise against querying these kinds of agencies, it's too much for a simple email.

Their website bios might not match what they actually want.

I queried an agent that stated in her bio that she specifically wanted books about YA books about dragons. Great! I sent her an email and a week later got one back that said she isn't looking to represent YA. I double checked her bio and it definitely stated YA. See what they post on their social media to see if your book would be a match.

You may be waiting months for a reply.

Although some agents reply within a few weeks, some take months. My quickest rejection was two days, but the slowest was seven months. Query between 6-8 agents at a time, and once most have got back to you, send out another batch of queries.

That's it for this week. Hope you enjoyed it, it's just a few weeks now until Blood and Water comes out, so if you want to pre-order your copy please visit my books page.

See you next week!

How Doodling Can Help Your Writing

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about doodling and how your writing can improve by doing it.

The good thing about doodling is that you don't need to be an amazing artist to do it. Whether you can draw anything and everything or can barely manage a stick figure, it doesn't matter. I'm not a great artist by any means, but I have a sketchbook filled with drawings and symbols from my novels, written and to be written. I mainly use mine to draw symbols or markings. For example: all eight elemental markings from Elemental Dragons are in there.

Elemental ice markings from my sketchbook

Visual art can help with descriptions.

When coming up with ideas for symbols or markings, it can be good to see them on paper. This will help you when writing your descriptions. You can then also visualise them on characters or covers to see if you like the design and if it fits with the story.

It can give you a break.

If you've hit a rut with your novel you can still work on it by doodling. Actually putting designs on paper may get your creature juices flowing and you'll feel better about writing your story.

Creative designs.

Doodling your ideas gives you the creative freedom to draw them however you want. You may have certain elements that you want in your designs. For example: I use a lot of swirls in my designs because they're simple but still pretty.

You can share them with your readers.

While waiting for the next book to come out, readers will still want new content from you. Sharing your sketches is a good way to engage your readers and they may even draw your designs themselves.

Sketch from Damaged Goods

You can design creatures.

Drawing your creature out can be a good way to visualise them, you can then see what parts of the design works and what doesn't. I've drawn a design of a spider hybrid in my sketchbook, which really helped me decide what features to give it and how I can describe it in my story.

You don't have to be good at art.

Most of my drawings are terrible, but that hasn't stopped me from continuing to sketch them out. You don't need to be an amazing artist to draw.

You don't have to show anyone.

It can be for your eyes only if you want it to be, other people don't have to see it if you don't want to.

You can see what works and what doesn't.

Sketching out a certain symbol on paper may look completely different to what you had in mind. This way you can alter the design or scrap it and start afresh.

That's it for this week, hope you enjoyed.

See you next week!

My First Book Launch Party

Hi all,

For anyone who has missed my social media posts - I attended the launch party for Adverbially Challenged Volume Four and Sensorially Challenged Volume Two on Tuesday. It was my first ever launch party and writing event that I've ever attended.

All the readers at the event

My boyfriend and I went to a cat cafe, You & Meow, beforehand to try and settle my anxiety. Although I have a cat at home, Bristol is a two hour drive from where we live, so I needed to pet some cats just before the launch party. The cats were all very sweet and playful, they even had some new kittens! Overall it was a great experience and helped me calm down a bit. We also had some delicious carrot cake that we had to eat quickly because a few of the cats were eyeing it up.

One of the cats trying to get a taste of my smoothie

Now, for the launch party itself.

There was quite a lot of people there, most getting ready to read their stories in front of everyone. My stomach churned the entire time as I was waiting for my slot. Eventually my turn came and I managed to make my way up to the stage without tripping. Although the reading of my story, Mother Cat, was short and a bit rushed, I managed to do it. The entire time I was waiting to go up I felt like I was back in school again, about to do a presentation in front of the whole class. The whole experience made me very thankful that I'm not in school anymore!

Me, reading ‘Mother Cat’ from Adverbially Challenged Volume Four

The evening was great and I loved the stories that were read out by others. I've never seen so many authors in one place, and it was good to see that so many people have a passion for writing.

Would I do it again?

Yes.

Would I read another story out?

Maybe.

The experience brought back a lot of bad memories from my school days, so I'm not sure if I could put myself through that again. I'm so glad I faced my fears and did it though, and that my boyfriend was there to support me.

I hope you enjoyed this week's blog post.

See you next week!

Why I Chose to Dedicate my Book to my Grandfather

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about dedicating Blood and Water to my grandfather.

At first, I wasn't really sure if I would use the 'dedications' page in my book, I didn't really think about it too much. But, then my grandfather got admitted to hospital. Although he's much better now, the thought of him being so ill hasn't left me.

So, I thought I'd put his name in Blood and Water.

Yesterday I gave him the very first physical copy of my book and he absolutely loved it. He even said he would read it before he went to bed!

Throughout my writing journey, he has always supported me and read my stories. Even when I was younger writing about Warrior Cats and stories about my own cat, he continued to read them and encouraged me to keep going. He loved hearing my ideas about Rocky being a spy cat or a runaway feline trying to find his way back home. The ideas were silly, but he still encouraged he to keep going.

Almost every time I see him, without fail, he'll ask how my writing is going. He's known of my plans to become an author since I was young, and never tried to dissuade me from following my dream.

Although there are many people (and cats) I can dedicate my books to, I wanted him to be the very first. I wanted to thank him for supporting me.

He didn't notice the dedication at first because he was so excited, but once I pointed it out he was ecstatic.

Me and my grandfather

In my mind, there was no-one who deserved the first dedication more than him. Some authors choose not to dedicate their books to anyone, which is their own choice. Don't feel put off by adding a dedication, it just shows that you want to highlight the person in your work as a thank you. You don't even have to dedicate books to a person, you can pick an animal or organisation if you want. It's your work, do whatever you want with it, and don't let other people tell you otherwise.

That's it for this week! Next week I will be attending the launch party for the anthologies that I was published in earlier in the year: Adverbially Challenged Volume Four and Sensorially Challenged Volume Two. So, my next post will be about that experience and how I'm going to attempt to reduce my anxiety beforehand.

See you next week!

The Elements of Elemental Dragons

Hi all,

This week I'm going to talk about the elemental powers in the Elemental Dragons series.

Each character has one or two of these elements, though being born with two is rare. For their training, they are separated into groups with others of their element. For those with two, they pick one as their primary element and mostly train with that one. There are eight elements:

Water

Water Elementals can use their power to manipulate water, create it, and swim underwater using air bubbles. They are also unaffected by rain as they can stay dry, and in their advanced training they'll be able to detect when it will rain and how to manipulate clouds.

Strengths: Earth, Fire.

Weaknesses: Electricity, Light

Markings: Tiny swirls surrounded by dots in random patterns.

Colour: Royal blue.

Fire

Fire Elementals can use their power to create fire, manipulate it and walk through it unscathed. Their lungs are different from other Elementals, as they can breathe in smoke and ash with no problems. When the weather is hot they don't feel it and also lack the capacity to sweat.

Strengths: Wind, Ice

Weaknesses: Water, Earth

Markings: Fireballs surrounded by dots in a tight circle pattern.

Colour: Orange.

Earth

Earth Elementals can create rocks and ivy, manipulate plants and breathe life into dead plants. They are natural climbers, and thrive better on a purely vegetarian diet, though not all Earth Elementals are vegetarian. Forests are their favourite places, as they love to hear the wind whip through the leaves.

Strengths: Fire, Light

Weaknesses: Water, Wind

Markings: Ivy-like tendrils surrounded by dots that resemble leaves.

Colour: Emerald green.

Wind

Wind Elementals use their power to create wind and manipulate it. They are unaffected by powerful gusts and in their advanced training they can learn to float a few inches off the ground. The most powerful move they can learn creates tornadoes, but due to how dangerous this is very few are granted permission to learn it.

Strengths: Earth, Electricity

Weaknesses: Fire, Dark

Markings: Cloud-like wisps surrounded by dots in a swirl pattern.

Colour: Grey.

Electricity

Electric Elementals can create and manipulate electricity. They can survive longer without food as long as they have a source of electricity close by, which they can use for energy. Electronics running out of charge is never a problem for them, as they can quickly charge it with their power. They are also natural lightning rods, so other Elementals give them a wide berth during thunderstorms.

Strengths: Water, Dark

Weaknesses: Wind, Ice

Markings: Lightning bolts surrounded by dots in a tight lightning bolt formation.

Colour: Pale yellow.

Ice

Ice Elementals create and manipulate ice and sometimes snow. Cold temperatures are not a problem for them, and their feet never sink in the snow. Advanced Ice Elementals will be able to detect when it will snow, and how to manipulate clouds.

Strengths: Light, Electricity

Weaknesses: Fire, Dark

Markings: Complex snowflakes surrounded by dots in a random pattern.

Colour: Electric blue.

Light

Light Elementals can create and manipulate light. They are natural light sources, in some instances they have been known to glow in the dark. Bright lights don't bother them, and they are the only Elemental that doesn't get sunburnt.

Strengths: Water, Dark

Weaknesses: Earth, Ice

Markings: Tight vertical lines that spread out further from the source surrounded by dots in a random pattern.

Colour: Pale pink.

Dark

Dark Elementals can create and manipulate darkness and shadows. They can dissolve into shadows and travel through them. When advanced enough, they can even bring non-Dark Elementals with them. Their eyes are naturally adjusted to dark places and they don't need as much sleep as other Elementals.

Strengths: Wind, Ice

Weaknesses: Electricity, Light

Markings: Small splotches surrounded by dots in a circle pattern.

Colour: Dark purple.

Only dragons get the colourful markings, which can decorate their scales in a variety of places. The most common places to get markings is on the feet, chest or back. Those with two elements do not get overlapping markings, instead one element will appear on one part of the body while the other appears elsewhere. The only exception for this is the face, which can have different markings on each side.

That's it for this week! If you would like to preorder Blood and Water please visit my 'Books' page for the Amazon links.

See you next week!

Blood and Water Preorder Live

Hi all!

You may have already seen my posts yesterday, but if you haven't - Blood and Water is available for preorder!

I can reveal that the publication date will be October 15th 2019 for both ebook and paperback.

If you would like to preorder the ebook version I have linked the UK and US Amazon sites below, but it is available worldwide if you don't live in either of these places:

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07VY4QZQS/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Elemental+dragons+blood+and+water&qid=1564849975&s=gateway&sr=8-4

US - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VY4QZQS/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=elemental+dragons+blood+and+water&qid=1564849744&s=gateway&sr=8-1

In the meantime if you want a taste of my writing and the Elemental Dragons universe, sign up to my mailing list to receive a free ebook. It contains four stories from the series that tie into the books, three of which have never been published anywhere else!

https://www.subscribepage.com/jessicaturnbull

Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far, I couldn't have done this without you!

See you next week!