Elemental Dragons Trivia

Hi all,

This week I thought I'd talk about something a bit different - a few bits you may not know about the Elemental Dragons universe. I've been thinking of doing this for a while, but with Glass and Ice coming out in eleven days I thought now would be the perfect time to do it!

Aqueous is the first black common dragon to be tamed, but he is protected from the media and scientists due to the Companion Rights Act. This law prevents them from harassing or doing any harm in the name of science to dragons who are bonded with someone.

Although common dragons have caused the most deaths among humans, most of them have been accidents or incidences where the dragon has tried to save someone.

However, most accidents are caused by premier dragons, who are a lot bulkier and don't always watch their tails.

Common dragons have the thinnest scales of the Western Dragon sub-species.

When a premier dragon dies, if their companion is still alive they will remove the gems from their tails and turn them into jewellery or ornaments.

Drea, companion to Marco White

Drea, companion to Marco White

Dragons and humans whose companion has passed away are referred to as 'Nothing' and all rights are stripped from them. Most Nothing dragons are taken to zoos or factories to work for the rest of their days. The humans are forced to live the remainder of their life with few job and housing opportunities.

Fairy Dragons are the rarest dragon species due to poaching and destruction of their habitat. Their wings are thought to have healing properties so they were hunted to near extinction.

Elemental powers are not to be used in public places under law. They can be used in the workplace if it is allowed and in their own homes.

Children are seen as dangerous due to their developing power. Before Camps were introduced, there were estimated to be 10,000 deaths per year due to children not knowing how to control their power.

Dragons can communicate with felines and canines, though they have different dialects.

Dragons get along better with cats rather than dogs, as dogs are seen as too excitable and rough.

When dragons first evolved, it is believed that they lived alongside prehistoric felines and canines. The groups mostly avoided each other however.

Despite uncertainty around the issue, the Original Elementals did in fact exist. Their story has been watered down due to the passage of time, but they were the first to develop Elemental powers.

The Original Elementals did not develop their powers naturally.

The Original Elementals did have dragons, but they were not bonded.

Normie was abandoned in the forest outside Aria. He managed to stumble inside and steal food from Exquisite while she was sleeping outside Café Terra.

Draca is a clone, though he still has the memories of his original counterpart. Scientists have been unable to find out why.

Draca went after the Original Elementals not for their powers, but due to more personal reasons.

The Wyrms are more akin to parasites than dragons.

Children in Primary Camps are allowed to leave once a year for a trip, usually to zoos. There they learn more about dragons before they move onto Secondary Camp.

Most of the area around cities is farmland, used to raise cattle to feed dragons.

There are thirty-six Secondary Camps across the country and forty-nine Primary Camps.

The Elemental Dragons series is based in England.

Other countries around the world have different systems for training children and dragons.

Healthcare is free for dragons across the world.

1 out of every 100,000 babies are born as a dual Elemental.

That's it for this week! I hope you enjoyed reading, see you next week!

PS: looking for some free books? Check out these ones:

September Children’s Books Giveaway

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My Favourite Writing Tropes

Hi all!

For this week's topic I ran a Twitter poll and you guys decided on my favourite writing tropes! If you liked this one let me know and I'll write another about my least favourite tropes.

Friends to Lovers.

This one is my all time favourite. I adore when characters who have known each other for years have hidden feelings but then reveal them at some point. I do prefer this to be revealed in the middle of a book or series so then we can actually read about the characters being together and how they act around each other. It's a bit annoying to see the characters get together at the end of a book or series as then we never actually see them be together. I knew when writing Elemental Dragons that Hazel and Marco would end up together, despite all the obstacles thrown in their way. They feel that they are being subtle about the way they feel, but in fact it's the complete opposite.

Comic Relief Character.

Not all the characters have to be dark and brooding. Having one around to offer jokes or quips is refreshing. Even if the characters are going on a quest or facing evil, it's nice to see one of them still remains upbeat enough to joke about their situation. I hate reading about characters that are all dark and gloomy while being unable to be sarcastic or joke around even in the light-hearted times.

Found Family.

Having a character with terrible parents or other family members can be quite commonplace in books. A lot of people find it annoying and unrealistic but I don't mind it. This is because it then gives the main character the chance to find their own family in their friends or allies. Not all family ties have to be through blood, a lot of them can just be people that you meet throughout your life. I prefer seeing a found family than a caring and supportive blood related one.

Mementos of Dead Characters.

I am a sucker for this trope. A character that the main one really cares about dies so they keep something to remember them by. This is usually a piece of jewellery or something from their childhood. I think this trope is important as in a lot of books death usually lasts one chapter and is then mostly forgotten about until the hero faces off against the antagonist. By keeping something to remember the dead character by, it shows the reader that they care about that person and that they had a close relationship.

Hero and Villain Annoying Each Other.

I don't mean this in a 'fight to the death' sort of way. Instead I just like to read about the hero and the villain bickering over little things. Or if the villain captures the hero, the two of them annoy each other. For example, the villain treating their minions horribly but the hero treats them with kindness, which annoys the villain. Or the villain tries to showcase the captured hero to their friends but the hero looks bored and claims that the villain has a poor taste in traps.

Good Main Characters Who Turn Evil.

I have a book series revolving around this trope that I hope to write in the future. There is nothing more exciting than reading a book from the protagonist's view only to realise at the end of the book that they were the antagonist all along. I think it's a satisfying twist when done right, and can also set up more books revolving around that character. It's also fresh to see something from the villain's point of view.

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

PS, check out these FREE books!

September Children’s Books Giveaway

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NaNoWriMo 2020 Project Announcement

Hi all!

If you haven’t guessed from the title, I have announced my NaNoWriMo project for this year! For those that don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, it’s National Novel Writing Month in November. 30 days to write 50K. It will be my third time participating and this time I’m going for something a little different…

A Young Adult Horror.

Ever since I started writing Mute I’ve been bitten by the horror bug and want to continue writing in that genre! Although, of course, this will be a Young Adult Horror rather than a New Adult Horror.

The book is the first of four in the Curse of Anubis series: Halfway.

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You’ll follow Tahira, who at fifteen years old finds herself trapped in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. She will be guided by the Egyptian Goddess Bastet, who will help her navigate this new world and find out how the Egyptian Gods are connected to the zombie hordes. She will meet new friends, new enemies, and discover why she was chosen to be spared from a fate worse than death. The following Egyptian Gods will be in the book: Bastet, Anubis, Set and Thoth. More may be added as the story grows and shifts with the characters.

I think the most fun I’ve had planning with this one is the designs for Bastet! She will be portrayed as an Egyptian Mau cat, with different coloured fur. I’m also hoping to get some Egyptian Maus on the covers (when they’re eventually designed).

This will not be a regular zombie story, where a group of survivors are hoping to find a safe haven. In this series there is no safe haven. There is no escape. Sometimes the creatures inside are worse than the ones outside.

I’m hoping to hit 50K with a few days to go so I can get some more writing in. This will be the next series that I’m focussing on. I hope to publish Halfway in 2023, so I have plenty of time to work on it.

If you have a NaNoWriMo account and want to be buddies, just shoot me a request! I’m always happy to meet new people.

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

PS, want some free books? Check out these ones:

September Children’s Books Giveaway

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First Character Profile is Available

Hi all!

A few weeks ago I announced that I would be creating a ‘Character Profile’ page on my website for my characters. After a poll where you got to pick who the first profile would be, I can announce that the winner is… Aqueous!

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His full profile is available to view here: Profile Page.

As you can see, the human and dragon characters will be separated to make it easier for everyone to find the character they want to read about. I haven’t designed the ‘Human Path’ yet - so you’ll have to keep an eye out for that one!

I already have a poll out for which human character you want to see first, you can vote here: Human Profile Poll.

I wanted to make the profile pages interesting, so I added a bit of background describing you walking through the forest. There are two paths currently, Dragon and Human, though I might add a third path in the future. The third one will be for the Wyrms, Draca and other dragon characters.

Let me know what you think! If you want me to add some more detail to the profiles, comment down below. If you’re waiting for a specific character, make sure you get voting!

That’s it for this week, I hope you enjoy Aqueous’ profile! See you next Sunday.

PS, looking for some free books to read? Check these out!

September Children’s Books Giveaway

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Creatures I Want to Write About in the Future

Hi all!

This week I’m going to focus on what creatures I would like to write about in the future. These can be animals, aliens or mythological. If you’ve read my other blog posts you’ll know that I love writing about animals and monsters more than anything else.

Dinosaurs.

As a kid I loved reading and watching films about dinosaurs. I especially loved watching the ‘Walking With Dinosaurs’ miniseries. If I have to choose one dinosaur to write about, it would be the Velociraptor. They were always my favourite growing up so they would be my go-to when I write about dinosaurs. I haven’t got any ideas for them yet, but I’m sure I will in the future!

Arthropleura.

I would love to write a story about a gigantic millipede that causes carnage in the modern world. I have a series idea that I could put them in, though the idea is very bare at the moment. Ever since I saw a TV series that had an episode with them in, I've known that I wanted to write about them.

Shapeshifters.

Although I never would have considered writing about shapeshifters a few years ago, I'm now more open to the idea. I've got a book idea that revolves around shapeshifters, though they don't shift into conventional animals. They are a mix of two or three animals. In fact, one of my notes is just 'Buff Sabretooth Tiger vs Frog-Dog'. I'm not sure when I will get around to writing this one though.

Teumessian Fox.

This is a fox from Greek mythology that is destined to never be caught. I would love to write about this fox at some point, though I'm not sure whether it would be in a novel or short story. I love Greek mythology and having a fox that can never be hunted down is such a fascinating concept to me, especially since they are usually hunted so much.

Kitsune.

I have written a short story on a Kitsune before, but I don't like it so much. I want to add them into another story where they have a bigger role instead of just being the protagonist's wife.

Phoenix.

This is another one I really want to write about but can't find the story for. I adore the concept of it dying and then being reborn from it's own ashes, but each death darkens the colour of their feathers. There is also the potential for it to be as creative as I want, it doesn't just have to be an orange bird. It can have multicoloured feathers or talons.

Fenrir.

I’ve never written about canines before and would love to include them in a story. Fenrir is the one that fascinates me most, as he has such a good reason to be angry and vengeful against the Gods. He is also destined to break from his chains and wreak havoc, which I think would be a cool thing to write about.

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

PS, love free books? Check out these ones about monsters!

Dragon, Creature and Monster Giveaway

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My First Radio Interview

Hi all!

If you haven't seen my social media posts, I went on the radio! John Eden at Soundart Radio was kind enough to invite me onto his show, Feast of Eden. If you want to check out Soundart Radio and all the other shows it has to offer, click here.

My interview didn't start until 12:30pm, but I met up with John at 11:30am for a quick chat before the show started. We met at a cafe and sat outside, surrounded by pouring rain and wasps, but had a good time chatting about books and our lives. We then went to the studio when it got too wet, where I met some of the Soundart team and continued chatting before the show. John was even kind enough to give me a few presents before we went on. (If you're reading this, John, Mishka has her eye on the bag, I think she wants it for herself.)

You can just about see Mishka eyeing up the presents in the background

You can just about see Mishka eyeing up the presents in the background

Before I went on air I was nervous, but John made me feel comfortable as we chatted. All of my music played fine, I picked a few songs from my writing playlist, which you can read about in a previous blog post.

I thought it went well, I was told by my colleagues and boyfriend who listened live that I spoke well and sounded confident in what I was saying. Even though I thought I stumbled on a few parts, no-one else seemed to notice. The only part that I thought I did the worst on was reading a passage from Venom and Earth. I tried to slow down as I've been told before I read too fast, and it seemed to go okay.

We then talked about various themes in my books, mostly the dragons, elemental powers and the politics. John also referenced a few my blog posts and asked me to talk more about them, especially the one on creating alien planets. Of course, he also asked me about my cats; Rocky and Mishka! I couldn't forget about my little writing buddies!

Overall I think I did quite well despite my nervousness in the beginning. My anxiety kept me up most of the night before worrying about it, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Afterwards my boyfriend drove us home in the torrential rain, where we had lunch and played with Mishka for a bit. John has also invited me on his show again, to talk more about Glass and Ice. I can't wait for the next one, and I'll be a bit less jittery next time as I know what to expect!

John’s show, Feast of Eden, is on Thursdays at 12:30pm BST if you want to check out his other interviews! Next week he’s interviewing another author, John Simes, who actually recommended the show to me.

I've also done two other interviews with authors on their blogs, which you can check out here:

Sudesna Ghosh

Rockebah Stewart

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

PS; want some free books to download this weekend? Check out this book bundle organised by me!

Dragon, Creature and Monster Giveaway

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Glass and Ice Preorder Live

Hi all!

If you haven’t seen my social media posts, then I just wanted to let you know that Glass and Ice is now available for preorder on Amazon!

I can confirm that it will be out in ebook and paperback October 13th 2020.

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You can preorder here:

Amazon

In the meantime if you want something new to read from the Elemental Dragons universe, you can sign up to my mailing list! When you sign up, you’ll get a FREE enovella containing four short stories from the Elemental Dragons universe:

Sign up here!

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If you want to hear me discuss my books and learn more about me, then you can listen to me on the radio! John Eden at SoundartRadio has invited me for an interview 27th August at 12.30pm BST. I’ll be discussing everything Elemental Dragons and my writing process! You can listen here on Thursday: Soundart Radio.

That’s it for this week, see you next week where I will be discussing the outcome of the radio interview and how I felt during.

New Website Feature Announcement

Hi all,

This week I'm going to talk about a new feature that I will be adding to my website - character profiles!

For each book I write I will create a character profile for each of the main characters, antagonists and any popular side characters. Of course as the only books I have out at the moment are in the Elemental Dragons series, they're the first profiles that will go up!

I ran a Twitter and Facebook poll to see what interest there was for character profiles and was surprised to see that so many of you were interested. So, on the 22nd August I will send an email to my newsletter subscribers with a poll for them to pick who the first character profile will be. I think it's only fair that as they have signed up for my mailing list they get to be the ones to decide which ones shall be added first. 

So, what exactly will be in each character profile? I've listed it below:

Eye colour

Hair colour

Skin colour

Physical appearance

Age

Nationality

Mannerisms

Parents (if known)

Siblings (if known)

Animal companion

Accessories

Best friend

Love interest/Partner

Favourite foods

Favourite drink

Hobbies

Favourite colour

Element/Magical Power/Magical Features

Anything extra that I feel needs to be added

As you can see from the above these profiles will be very detailed, so I won't be able to do one for every character at once. I'm hoping to start doing a few in September, with polls every so often so people can decide who they want a profile on next! I am planning on doing profiles for the human and dragon characters, so the dragon ones will be tweaked slightly as some of the above doesn't apply to them.

At the moment I am not planning on having any of the characters illustrated with their profile, but that might change in the future.

Another announcement to make is that Glass and Ice will be going up for pre-order in the very near future, so keep an eye out for it.

Are you excited to see the character profiles? Let me know in the comments!

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

Last chance to check out these books!

Dragon, Creature and Monster KU

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Creating Alien Planets

Hi all,

This week I'm going to be talking about alien planets. I recently created one for a short story but I now intend to use it for a short story collection! The collection will be about the Gods, Goddesses and Deities of this planet. The collection will probably take a while to complete, as this is a side project of sorts. I intend to get individual stories published elsewhere and then combine them all into one book.

Here's a quick profile of the planet:

Planet name: Vusuunah-RM89.

Colonised by: Humans. 

Type: Earth-like.

Technology: Minimal.

Trade Routes: None.

Alien Species: Many, most undocumented.

Alien Fauna: Many, most undocumented.

Human Settlements: 216.

Because of this, I wanted to make a post about how to create a believable alien planet. So, let's get started:

How far is it from other planets?

You need to keep this in mind if you are planning on having multiple planets and worlds. If your planet is out of the way, it's unlikely that it's going to have good access to trade and newer technology. This also means that your characters may not be able to visit it as often as other planets.

What is the climate of your planet?

Is it similar to Earth, with different areas? Or is it all the same no matter where you go? You can have areas that are extremely hot and areas that are terribly cold, you are not bound by rules stating it has to be a certain temperature. You can also make it a warm tundra, or a freezing desert. It's up to you.

Is it colonised by humans?

Not all planets have to be colonised by humans - you can have alien settlements as well. Depending on who has colonised it you need to think of the following factors: clean water, climate and oxygen. If your species doesn't rely on these three things as much as humans then you don't have anything to worry about. However, humans are extremely unlikely to attempt to live on a planet that has rare access to clean water and oxygen. Your planet has to be hospitable.

Have any species been wiped out?

If your story focuses on humans, have they purposely or accidentally wiped out alien species? Across history humans have been known to hunt animals to the point of extinction, or destroy their habitat so much they die off. If humans colonise new planets, this behaviour is unlikely to stop. For example; an alien species relies on a certain habitat to survive. Humans think this is the perfect habitat to settle in, and start destroying it to make room for farmland and cities. With nowhere else to go, that species will die off.

Is anything toxic to humans?

Of course with alien planets almost anything you like can be toxic to humans. If that's the case, settlers are unlikely to live there.

Are there any enemies?

Is there a rival species that yours constantly battles with? Is their way of life different? You need a good reason for these species to constantly fight. It could be as simple as one burned down another's house. It doesn't have to be a deep rivalry that has spanned generations.

Are there different cultures?

When you think of earth, your mind doesn't go to one specific culture. On a different planet with separate settlements they'll each have their own cultures. Try to include a few in your writing, or at least allude to more if your focus is only on one.

Is anything worshipped?

My short stories focus on the origins of certain Gods, Goddesses and Deities. If humans move to a new planet, they are bound to find new things to worship. If your species has a religion, or multiple, think about how this effects their day-to-day life.

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

PS; love fantasy books? Check these books out!

Mid July Fantasy Giveaway Promotion

Dragon, Creature and Monster KU

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Short Story Collection - Excerpt

Hi all!

I finished Camp NaNoWriMo this week and manged to write 64K through July for my horror novel, Mute. Needless to say, I’m very drained right now. So, I thought I’d share an excerpt from the Elemental Dragons Short Story Collection! I have a few new readers who may not be aware of this eNovella, filled with four short stories from the Elemental Dragons universe (with illustrations!).

Free to those who subscribe to my mailing list: Download free here

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This is an excerpt from the first story, Circles, which includes a familiar face!


Circles always fill her dreams.

A black dragon stands on top of a lone, jagged cliff overlooking a sea of pine trees. The crisp breeze makes the leaves whistle as it shakes the trunks, blowing many away into the night. The sky is dark, but comforting with twinkling stars scattered like blobs of paint on a canvas. A small gasp escapes the dragon’s lips at the sight of the moon, the biggest she’s ever seen it. The silver orb hangs just above the skyline, large enough to see individual craters on the rocky surface. The dragon silently wonders if it’s close enough to touch, but quickly shakes that thought from her mind.

She cries out in joy as a group of fireflies dance towards her, their orange glow causing her black scales to shimmer. The tiny creatures move in tight circles, weaving around her limbs and gently bouncing off her scales with their delicate wings. With a wide smile, the dragon purses her lips and blows a circle into the air, the cold air reacting with her hot breath. The fireflies zoom through it before heading towards the trees, taking their dance elsewhere.

The black dragon takes a step towards the cliff edge, in awe of the long drop that leads towards the swaying trees. Glancing behind her, she grins at the sight of her long, bat-like wings; strong enough to carry her through even the worst wind currents, she knew they’d have no problem with the steep drop.

A loud roar catches her off guard and she instinctively jumps back, baring her sharp teeth. A familiar red dragon with blue feet drops in front of her, an amused twinkle in his blue eyes. Relaxing at the sight of her friend, the black dragon scolds him for scaring her with a growl, but he just rolls his eyes in return. Before she can say anything more, her friend cracks his wings and steps backwards off the cliff; the strong flap of his wings keeping him suspended in the air. Motioning for her to follow with his long tail, he does a quick flip in front of her, his tail tip briefly touching his snout before soaring towards the trees. His red and blue scales stick out like a sore thumb against the blue and purple hues of the sky, so the dragon was confident that she wouldn’t lose sight of him.

Wriggling her rump in anticipation, the black dragon dives off the cliff, free-falling for a few seconds before a wind current catches her wings and steadies her in the air. A happy roar escapes her lungs, ringing out into the silent night. She drops down to the trees, skimming her feet against the leaves and making them fly in all directions. Briefly she glances back at the trail, watching as the torn leaves disappear into the night.

A loud roar from above tears her out of her thoughts, and her friend motions for her to come up higher. With a careful flap of her wings she zooms towards him, too fast. The two of them collide in mid-air, their scales clinking at the impact, but neither dragon loses any of their shining scales as they are thrown back a few feet from each other. Both of them recover quickly though, and approach each other more carefully this time. With an apologetic grunt, she leaps over him and takes the lead as they explore the unfamiliar area.

As they fly further from the cliff, the stars slowly start to go out in the night sky; the tall, dark trees start to look a lot more menacing without the twinkling lights in the background. The breeze picks up as well, turning into a strong wind which the two dragons have to drop lower to avoid. Eventually they come across a large bare area with some sort of fence in the middle. Her friend drops down to have a closer look, intrigued by the foreign structure. Though her gut tells her to go back, she follows her friend. On closer inspection it’s some sort of small paddock, with a large barbed wire fence flanking it on all sides. The middle of the paddock is filled with chains, shining ominously in the moonlight.

Uncomfortable, she growls her disapproval to her friend next to her, but he’s vanished. Panicked, she looks around wildly, trying to pinpoint where the colourful dragon could have gone. An ear-splitting groan from beneath her makes her jump, barely giving her enough time to register what is happening before one of the chains flies past her head. With a terrified screech, she launches further up into the sky, horrified as the chain follows her up. Desperately, she tries to flies away from the evil chain, but is unable to. Her wings feel like they’ve turned into jelly, leaving the black dragon suspended in the sky, completely immobile. The chain snakes its way towards her, coiling around her legs and making its way up to her neck. With an angry snarl she breathes a funnel of ice at it, but it just bounces off harmlessly.

As the chain snakes towards her face, locking around her muzzle, the dragon squeezes her eyes shut, hoping that when she opens them again she’ll be back on the cliff, and she and her friend will never have to come here.


That’s it for this week! If you want to read the rest and the other stories in the eNovella, you can download using this link: Free Book!

PS, looking for more books to read over Summer? Check these out!

Mid July Fantasy Giveaway Promotion

Dragon, Creature and Monster KU

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