My Favourite Fantasy Shows

Hi all!

It's been a while since I made a post like this so I thought I would finish off with my favourite fantasy shows! I've already written about my favourite sci-fi, horror and zombie shows so I think fantasy is a good one to end on.

The Umbrella Academy.

From the first episode I watched, I was hooked. I love the characters and the way they interact with each other. Klaus is definitely my favourite. I can't wait for the next series. The superpowers are all interesting as a lot of them I haven't actually seen before. The relationship between the siblings are great and I love how they deal with different situations.

Wednesday.

I heard other people raving about this one and knew I needed to give it a go. I loved every second of it and can't wait for the next series. The characters are great and I love all the different powers that the students have. The werewolves are my favourite. I can't wait to see some of the other pupils explored a bit more and how their powers work. Seeing Morticia and Gomez more would be a bonus as I loved their dynamic and how they interacted with each other.

The Witcher.

I love a good fantasy series that's filled with monsters. My favourite parts are the monster fights and seeing how Geralt uses his powers. I've only just started the second season but I'm really enjoying it so far and can't wait to see what happens next. As long as there's monsters, I'll be happy! It will be a surprise to no-one that my favourite episode was the one with the dragons, for obvious reason. I've considered picking up the books for this series but I'm not sure how I would like them as I don't really read that kind of fantasy.

His Dark Materials.

I absolutely loved this show! I read the books when I was younger and really wanted my own daemon. Of course it would have been a snow leopard. I think the show did a really good job of adapting parts of the books and I was hooked all the way through. Even though I knew how it would end it still made me cry. It was a brilliant trip down memory lane from when I read the books and I had forgotten how much I loved the series.

That's it for this week! Have you watched any of these shows? What did you think? Let me know in the comments. See you next Sunday. 

PS; don’t forget to check out these fantasy book bundles!

A Dragon-themed New Year’s Adventure

Finished Fantasy and Sci-Fi Series Prequels

Nirvana Has Won an Award!

Hi all,

If you remember my post from last year about Years and Mute winning awards, then you won’t be surprised to hear that I entered Celestial Plague #1: Nirvana for an award as well. I got the results in last month and it is a ‘Recommended Read’!

I’m very careful about what awards I enter as there are so many out there that prey on authors. I’ve entered four books in Author Shout awards now and I trust them so I enter books when I can. But there are still so many out there who charge outrageous fees or don’t even give out their prizes. While I would like to enter my books for more awards, I’m content with just the one for now. At least I know that Author Shout are trustworthy.

With the first book in the Curse of Anubis series out in October, I will hopefully be able to enter that book for an Author Shout award too. I love being able to display the award under my books!

That’s it for this week! See you next week.

PS; don’t forget to check out these bundles, they’ll be going soon!

Free to Dream (Sci-Fi & Fantasy)

KU Kickstart (All Genre - 1st in Series)

A Dragon-themed New Year’s Adventure

Hell Chapter One Preview

Hi all,

The last book in the Celestial Plague series, Hell, goes up for pre-order next month! If you don’t want spoilers for the series, then you’ll want to skip this post.

Chapter One

The city Jenna’s lived in her entire life gets smaller and smaller in the wing mirror. She feels a tinge of sadness for having left it behind, but knows it’s for the best. 

Maybe elsewhere the virus isn't so bad. 

Cindy, her girlfriend, tightens her grip on the steering wheel. "Are you okay?" 

"Yeah, why?" 

"You've been awfully quiet this whole trip." 

"Mixed feelings, I guess. I just hope where we're going is better than what we've left." 

Cindy turns her head to study her momentarily. Jenna can't help but focus on her eyes. Two blue and red rings are tinged around her irises, and she flinches. She gives Jenna a sad look before concentrating on the road once more. 

The rings are a sign of infection. Her girlfriend was infected at the beginning of the apocalypse and has been Bitten ever since. Although Jenna hates the Bitten with all her heart, she can’t let go of Cindy. The two are together again, and Jenna tries her best to push the thought of Cindy infecting others to the back of her mind. Those infected with the Sarj virus are given instructions from some higher power to infect four Unbitten and three Bitten. Jenna has come across loads in her short time in the apocalypse, but she doesn't feel sympathy for any of them. They choose to infect others. They choose to ruin others’ lives by spreading the virus. 

It's selfish. 

"Can we stop a minute?" 

Cindy's voice yanks her out of her thoughts. "Why?" 

"I..." Cindy starts blinking rapidly. "I don't know. Something's wrong." 

"But we'll be vulnerable out here." 

"Something is wrong, Jen. I'm stopping," Cindy snaps. 

Jenna flares her gills before smoothing them back down with her hands. "Okay, fine." 

Everyone is born with a power. Some are passive, while others are offensive. Unfortunately, both she and Cindy have passive powers. She has gills, while her girlfriend has deformed ears that can hear anything from miles away. Well, she used to. Infecting others with the virus slowly drains you of your power. Cindy has infected a few Unbitten, which means her power has been significantly reduced. Some days are better than others. 

Cindy pulls the car over and slumps back in her seat. Strands of ginger hair are stuck to her forehead, which is caked in sweat. 

Jenna's annoyance instantly evaporates. "Sin? What's wrong?" 

Her girlfriend takes a few deep breaths and touches the tips of her elf-like ears. "I don't know. My head burns." 

"Burns?" 

She opens her eyes momentarily, which are now pink and bloodshot. "Yeah." 

The rings around her irises look like they're glowing. Even though her entire body screams at her not to, Jenna leans in close and pushes away the sweaty hair. Cindy's forehead feels like it's on fire and all the sweat is starting to tinge the air with an unpleasant smell. 

"Are you sick?" 

"I... I felt fine a few minutes ago." 

Jenna sits back. "Maybe I should drive." 

"Have you ever driven before?" 

She shrugs. "Kinda."

Her girlfriend rolls her eyes and manages a single laugh. "That doesn't fill me with confidence." 

"Well, you can teach me." 

Another laugh. "There's no way I'm teaching you right now. I just need a minute to rest." 

Jenna glances out the window without answering. The motorway is filled with abandoned cars. Some have their doors wide open, as if the occupants escaped in a hurry. The floor is covered in various belongings and rubbish, filthy and wet from so much exposure to the elements. 

"Do you want some air?" 

Cindy grits her teeth. "No. I just need to wait for it to pass." 

"What makes you think it will pass?" 

"It came on like a minute ago. It will pass. It has to." 

Jenna sighs and looks out the window once more. Her eyes lazily scan the abandoned cars, trying to make out the words of the license plates. Movement catches her eye, and she stiffens. A humanoid creature on all fours is crouched behind a red car. She only manages to catch it as it stumbles into sight partially. Its skin is dark blue, and from her vantage point, Jenna can see it covering its face with its hands and cowering. 

Is it in pain? 

When Bitten have infected the seven people they were ordered to, they are whisked away in a bright light. The Sarjs are what comes back. These creatures were once human before they were stripped of everything that made them who they were. They attack Bitten and Unbitten alike, turning them into Sarjs without having to infect seven others. 

Why isn't it attacking us? It must know we're here. 

Her heart leaps into her throat as the creature falls forward. Its hands are still clinging to the sides of its head, and it raises its legs high to its chest. If it wasn't such a dangerous monster, she may even feel sorry for it. 

Jenna grabs Cindy's arm and shakes it slightly. "We need to go, Sin. There are Sarjs here." 

Cindy's eyes flutter open, but they're unfocused. "Please, I just need a minute." 

Frustration flares up inside her. "I'm telling you that we probably don't have a minute." 

Cindy sucks in a pained breath, and tears brim in her eyes. "They've turned on him. That's what's making my head hurt." 

Jenna shakes her head. "What are you talking about? Who has turned on who?" 

"I don't know. I just know that they've turned on him." 

Jenna turns her attention back to the Sarj. It doesn't seem to have noticed them; if it has, it isn't bothered. It continues to shake on the floor, both hands holding its head. The minutes seem to drag out for all eternity until Cindy relaxes with a sigh. She blinks a few times, adjusting to the light. 

"Sin?" Her voice barely comes out as a whisper. 

"I don't know what's happened. But something has." 

Jenna bites back a retort. "What do you mean?" 

"I... I don't know how to explain it." 

With a dissatisfied grunt, Jenna looks out the window again. The Sarj stands unsteadily on all fours, looking around with its mismatched eyes. She freezes when its gaze passes over them in the car. Then, without interest, it staggers away from them, disappearing in the line of cars. 

"The Sarj is gone," she mutters. 

"I don't think they'll bother us anymore." 

"What makes you say that?" 

She shrugs. "I don't know. I just don't think they will." 

Jenna watches the road for a few more seconds, expecting a Sarj to jump out. Maybe it was momentarily disoriented. Maybe it saw her but wanted her to let her guard down. 

Too many scenarios start running through her head, making her want to cry. 

"Let's just get out of here." 

***

That’s it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading! Look out for Hell when it’s available for pre-order. See you next Sunday.

PS; don’t forget to check out these sci-fi and fantasy book bundles!

Free to Dream (Sci-Fi & Fantasy)

KU Kickstart (All Genre- 1st in Series)

A Dragon-themed New Year's Adventure

New Year, New Monsters 4: From the Caves

Nephilim

Hi all,

A short of mine, False Comet, has been published in an Iron Faerie anthology! You can check it out below…

Dare to enter the cosmic battleground where angels, demons, and Nephilim collide!
Revealing forbidden love, celestial wars, and the extraordinary powers that shape their entwined fates.
Brace yourself for a rollercoaster ride through realms unseen, as each story lures you into a world where the boundary between light and darkness is blurred. promises a gripping journey that will leave you breathless, craving more of the supernatural tapestry these tales so masterfully weave.

Featured authors:
Barend Nieuwstraten III
B.F. Vega
D.L. Smith-Lee
Ellen Rose
Emily Sharp
Gabby Gilliam
Jessica Turnbull
Jordan Davidson
Spencer Helsel
Sultana Raza

False Comet is actually the first story I submitted to Iron Faerie. After I saw the prompt, I came up with an idea that I couldn’t shake! It follows three teenagers who are waiting for a meteor shower but instead witness a comet crash into the Earth. Upon further investiagtion, they wished they had they had just stayed at home instead…

I love seeing my work published in anthologies and I hope to continue submitting to them this year! I’ve already got my eye on a dragon one which I’m hoping to submit to by the end of the month.

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

PS; don’t forget to check out these book bundles before you go!

Free to Dream (Sci-Fi & Fantasy)

KU Kickstart (All Genre - 1st in Series)

A Dragon-themed New Year’s Adventure

New Year, New Monsters 4: From the Caves

My 2024 Writing Goals

Hi all,

As promised, here are my goals for 2024!

Write three books.

I would like to write the first drafts of the following books in 2024:

Original Elementals #8: Turf

Empty Skies #2: Freezing Constellations

Original Elementals #9: Arcturus

Publish two books.

I’m planning on publising Celestial Plague #4: Hell in April and Curse of Anubis #1 in October.

Re-name the Curse of Anubis books.

While I do like the names they currently have, I think I can do better. I’ve been looking at shorter, snappier titles and also longer ones. I don’t want to publish them with the titles they currently have.

Get two covers deisgned.

The first two books in the Curse of Anubis series will have covers by the end of the year. They will be designed by Deranged Doctor Design, as always.

Self-edit two books in the Curse of Anubis series.

I think I’ve been too hard on myself with self-editing in the past so this time I’m going to cut myself some slack. Editing two books myself is acheivable and I won’t be pushing myself too hard to get it done either.

Finish the Curse of Anubis Short Story Collection and make it available to my subscribers.

I’m planning on getting this enovella finished this year and I want to make it available to my newsletter subscribers before October.

Read 100 books.

I love reading and seeing as I blew my goal out of the water last year I thought I would increase it!

Work on my book sales.

I’d love to be able to publish more books, but in order to do that I need to sell more. I’m going to be tweaking a lot of my books descriptions, blurbs and categories to hopefully get more eyes on them. I want to continue publishing in the future and would like to increase the amount of books I’m able to publish in a year.

Create a Patreon.

Even if it’s not ready by the end of the year, I at least want to get started on it. I put it off a lot last year because I was worried that no-one would want to sign up to it. This is still one of my big goals although I’ve tweaked the original vision a bit. It will now be a hub for all things Elemental Dragons, which means that Original Elementals will be published on there first.

Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo.

I love participating in these events and my writing wouldn’t be where it is without them. I want to participate in all three events again this year and hopefully get some books done in that time!

I’m being a bit kinder to myself this year which is why I’m not setting as many goals as I usually do. I want to try to focus on my mental health a bit more this year. I didn’t realise how hard I was pushing myself until I looked back at my goals from last year. I’m going to slow down a bit but still keep up with my writing.

What are your goals for this year? Let me know in the comments!

PS; don’t forget to check out these awesome book bundles!

Free to Dream (Sci-Fi & Fantasy)

KU Kickstart (All Genre - 1st in Series)

New Year, New Monsters 4: From the Caves

2023 Year in Review

Hi all,

It’s time for my year in review! Truthfully I haven’t been looking forward to this as I think I set my goals too high last time. I’m proud of what I’ve done but I think I could have been a bit nicer to myself. This will be reflected in next year’s goals. Either way, I still hit a few of my targets!

Write Five Books

I managed to write four books this year! They were:

Original Elementals #6: Sunrise

Empty Skies #1: Missing Constellations

Street Rats

Original Elementals #7: Stormburst

One off my goal, but I’ve still done pretty well! I have plenty of time to write all of the books that I want to write, which is what I need to keep reminding myself.

Publish two books

Celestial Plague #2: Heaven and Celestial Plague #3: Purgatory have both been published this year!

Edit three books

I just need to do one more self-edit of Curse of Anubis #1: Halfway and that will be two books edited this year. Celestial Plague #4: Hell is completely edited and ready for publication next year.

Get covers designed for the final books in Celestial Plague

I’ve had actually had five covers designed this year, three of which are in the Original Elementals series. You’ll have to wait to see those covers revealed though.

Write the Curse of Anubis Short Story Collection

I’ve written a lot of short stories in the Curse of Anubis universe, mostly thanks to the Furious Fiction monthly writimng challenge. I’m going to work on making a few of the stories a bit longer and then they’ll be ready to be made into a reader magnet. There are also a few stories that I still want to tell that I’ve drafted but not completely written yet.

Write more short stories

This one I’ve actually done a lot of! I’ve been writing a lot more short stories thanks to my writing group and the Furious Fiction challenge. A few have even been submitted to anthologies and have been accepted.

Design more merchandise

The Elemental Dragons bookmark was released this year and I was getting another one designed but unfortunately there were communication issues with the designer. I would love to get more dragon stickers designed in the future and maybe also some cats from my series.

Set up a Patreon

I’ve been stalling on this one because I’ve made a few changes to this plan. Instead of the Empty Skies series, it will instead be dedicated to Elemental Dragons. I want to turn it into a dragon lovers paradise. Everything on there will be dragon (or cat) related and I’d love to get this set in stone for 2024.

Build up my mailing list

This one has been great because I’ve got 450 people on my newsletter now. I’m running more polls and giveaways to hopefully drive up engagement. I’ll be releasing the Curse of Anubis Short Story Collection as well as a thank you to everyone who has supported me.

Continue learning Spanish

Unfortunately this one has taken a back seat this year. I’d love to pick it up again at some point and carry on learning.

Read 50 books

I blew this goal out of the water and read 126! I love reading and found so many good books this year. I read a lot of GameLit which was recommended to me by work colleagues. I’ve got plenty of books on my TBR list to get through which will hopefully make a dent in all of the piles around my flat.

Participate in both NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo

I participated in all three again this year and loved every second of it. I managed to hit one million words written total throughout all the challeneges I’ve done over the years. I love the community and all of the work that goes into creating NaNoWriMo and how many writers participate. It’s my favourite writing challenge.

That’s it for this week! Next week I’m going to discuss my goals for 2024, so keep an eye out for that. See you next Sunday.

PS; if you’re looking for new monster books to read this year then check out this bundle:

New Year, New Monsters 4: From the Caves

A Peek at my Warrior Cats FanFiction

Hi all,

I'f you’ve read my blog posts for a while you might remember when I posted about the Warriors Short Story Competition. The book series, written by Erin Hunter, has been a favourite of mine for years now and I was so excited to enter. I didn’t win, but I did promise to eventually post my entry for you to read. I think you’ve waited long enough to see what my FanFiction is like!

Brightpaw swings around, expecting a short trek to Snakerocks. Instead, she finds that they've arrived already. 

"How did we get here?" 

Swiftpaw nudges her with a purr. "We walked, mousebrain!" 

"But I don't remember-" 

"Quiet!" Whitestorm raises his tail. "What can you two smell?" 

Swiftpaw eagerly inhales. "Dogs!" 

"Dogs?" Brightpaw echoes, her tail drooping. 

This doesn't happen like this.

"Yes, I'm sure of it!" Swiftpaw continues to meow excitedly. "Do we get to chase them off, Longtail?" 

Brightpaw wants to speak but finds herself unable to. Her mouth goes dry, and her paws feel rooted to the spot. 

There's a panicked yowl from the patrol as a dog seems to appear from the rocks in front of them. Its large body ripples with a bark and it pulls its lips back in a snarl.

"Longtail!" 

Swiftpaw's panicked scream makes her flatten her ears. The tabby tom is being dragged back into a forest by another dog who just came out of nowhere. Another has Swiftpaw pinned. She screams as the dog darts forward, going for her friend's neck. Before the teeth can make contact, the black and white tom disappears into a fine mist. Her fellow apprentice is completely gone and now the dog is glaring at her. 

None of this happened this way! 

She looks to her mentor for comfort, but Whitestorm isn't there anymore. Instead, a pure white she-cat is stood in his place, her green eyes flashing with fury. 

"Come and get me, mange-pelt!" The she-cat yowls. 

No! She wasn't here! 

The white cat sprints forward like Swiftpaw did. Her paws pound against the earth, sounding like thunder in Brightpaw's ears. She can only watch in horror as her beloved daughter springs forward, her claws outstretched, ready to fight like all of LionClan. 

"Whitewing! No!" 

Everything seems to happen in slow motion as the dog snaps its jaws around Whitewing's torso. The dog pins her beneath one of its grubby paws. Her daughter looks at her mother with fear in her green eyes. 

"Mother!" She cries out, clawing at the ground with her free paw. 

"Whitewing!" Brightpaw is still frozen to the spot, no matter how much she wills her body to move. "Whitewing!" 

"Mother!" 

The last shout is clearer, and Brightheart's eye snaps open. The ginger and white she-cat shoots out of her nest with a gasp, taking several clumps of clawed moss with her. 

Her daughter brushes against her with a purr. "I'm here, mother." 

Brightheart takes a moment to catch her breath. "Another nightmare." 

"I've asked Thornclaw to cover my spot on the dawn patrol. I can stay here with you." 

"You don't have to pause your warrior duties to worry about a silly elder." 

Whitewing brushes her tail against her mother’s chin. "I don't have to, but you know I will. Why don't we go out for a walk to clear your head?" 

"I'd like that," She purrs. "I love you." 

Whitewing grins just like Swiftpaw used to. "I love you too, mother." 

***

That’s it for this week! Next week will be my year in review, so keep an eye out for that. See you next Sunday.

NaNoWriMo 2023 Wrap-Up

Hi all! 

For NaNoWrimo this year I pledged to write 50k for the first draft of Original Elementals #7: Stormburst. After taking a break in July I thought I would go back into full swing into the Elemental Dragons universe. 

My word count is... 

I managed to finish the first draft on the final day and I am pretty pleased with the result. This book was a lot easier to write than other books I've done and I found I didn't get as burnt out. I don't know if that's because I love writing about dragons or if I was just in a better place mentally when I started writing it. 

This book focuses on Logan and his mission. He is to help a Sea Serpent find a mate. Although he thinks that this will be easy, he soon discovers that it would take longer than he hoped. The town of Serpentbridge is introduced, who live alongside Sea Serpents in harmony. 

Logan is based off of my cat, Rocky. When he passed away in August I was devastated. Especially since I knew this book was coming up. But I thought it was quite therapeutic and I was glad to give him the happy ending he deserved. I also managed to fit his girlfriend, Serena, into the book as well! Serena vanished one day so I wasn't sure if she passed away or ran away from home. Either way, I am so glad that I could get them together again for the book. 

This book also solidifies everyone's distrust in Zmei and most of the characters turn their backs on them. One decides to stand by Zmei rather than their friends, however. Draca comes across as the good guy but if you've read Elemental Dragons then you know that's not the case. 

The next book that I will be working on is Turf, the eighth book in the Original Elementals series. As I've said previously, I'm hoping to make a Patreon which will be a dragon lovers paradise. The books from the Original Elementals series will be posted there first and then published on Amazon at a later date. 

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

Celestial Plague Virtual Advent Calendar

Hi all!

For three years now I have made virtual advent calendars for Elemental Dragons, Mute and Years. It’s time for the advent calendar to come back in a brand new universe for the fourth year in a row! This time it will focus on Celestial Plague, with twenty-four facts over twenty-four days. The following subjects will be posted:

The Apocalypse

Sarjs

SARJ Virus

Powers

Each topic will get six days each.

As with last year - I’m doing another giveaway for day 25, Christmas Day! One of the following ebook versions will be won:

Blood and Water

Venom and Earth

Glass and Ice

Cinder and Fire

Mute

Years

Nirvana

Heaven

Purgatory

Hell - to be claimed on release day in April 2024

If you would like a chance at winning one of my ebooks, please read the rules below and go to my Facebook page: Jessica Turnbull Author.

If you’re not sure what to look out for, check out some of the previous facts that have been posted:

I hope you have fun if you participate! Next year I’ll be doing a calendar for the Curse of Anubis series! Here is my Facebook page again so you can participate: Jessica Turnbull Author.

That’s it for this week! Good luck to everyone who enters, see you next week.

My First Ever Book

Hi all, 

When I was 10 or 11 years old I started writing my first book and managed to finish it in a few months. It was a complete rewrite of my favourite book at the time, Into The Wild. Of course it's a Warriors book! I wrote the book with the same plot and characters, only to include my own character into the mix as well. 

I remember being so proud of it at the time and excitedly showing it to my family. I hand wrote the entire thing and even redrew the cover! My grandfather was the only one to read it through and he shared my excitement even though looking back the book was awful. I was still proud of myself for doing it and it proved that I could write a book if I really wanted to. Of course, it would be almost a decade before I wrote my next book, an original one called Blood and Water. 

The Warriors rewrite wasn't great, as I just moulded the story around my own character. She was a cat who could shoot thunderbolts out of her paws. She was best friends with the main character and helped him with all aspects of the story. Technically it was my first FanFiction too! I think the main character was called Thunderheart but I can't quite remember. 

I did start writing the sequel too, which followed most of the same story as Fire and Ice. I don't think I got around to finishing that one though. I think a wrote a few chapters and made the cover. While most of my family thought it was just silly children's writing, my grandfather was always there to support me. He helped me weave maths into the story so I could learn while I wrote and made it fun. I know he loved the fact that I carried on writing into adulthood and I'm so glad that he got to see three of my books published before he passed. He was probably also glad that he didn't have to read about Warrior Cats anymore! I hope that he's proud of how far I've come with my writing now. 

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

PS; check out this book bundle full of free post-apocalyptic books!

A Post-Apocalyptic Christmas Giveaway