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! 

NaNoWriMo 2023 Project Announcement

Hi all, 

With November on the horizon it's time for me to announce my project for NaNoWriMo. This time, I'm going to be writing 50K words of the first draft of Original Elementals #7: Stormburst. Now that I've taken a break to write Missing Constellations, I feel a lot more refreshed to step back into the Elemental Dragons universe. 

First off, what is NaNoWriMo? It’s a yearly writing event where you have the month of November to write 50,000 words. This can be for a new book or an already existing project. I always start new books for this event.

This book will be bittersweet as the main character, Logan, is based off my late cat, Rocky. Everything will be written in his perspective, though he won't be exactly the same as his clone, Rocky, in Elemental Dragons. I miss my cat a lot and I'm hoping that this book will bring me further towards healing. It's going to be hard to write as he's always going to be in the back of my mind but I know he would want me to keep writing. 

This story will focus on Logan and his dragon, Stormburst. His mission is to help Sea Serpents. Although it isn't going to be as easy as he expected. First he needs to track down a Sea Serpent, which is difficult when you're locked up in a camp with guards patrolling at all hours of the morning. He already doesn't trust Zmei so will not be listening to their advice much. 

Stormburst is not fully developed enough to fly with a rider, but because Western Dragons are so new their companions aren't aware of this fact yet. She has had a growth spurt between books but not enough for her to support Logan on her back. The book will delve into his disappointment with this and how this affects his relationship with her. 

The other Originals will appear as well, but mainly Benjamin as he is Logan's best friend. 

I'm looking forward to diving back into the Elemental Dragons universe as I really need to scratch that itch to write about dragons! Completing this book will draw the series even closer to it's end and I can't wait to start publishing these books. 

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

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April Camp NaNoWriMo Wrap-Up

Hi all!

With Camp NaNoWriMo over with, I thought I’d talk a bit more about the project I was working on. Original Elementals #6: Sunrise is almost complete, I’m hoping to get it done within the next few days.

This book follows the first Light Elemental, Lucia, and her dragon companion, Sunrise. The two of them have never gotten on, due to the fact that Lucia wishes that she had a different dragon and has made several attempts across the series to try and swap him for a ‘better’ one. Because of this, Sunrise is quite angry and depressed, he doesn’t play like other dragons and loves to fight. This one is set outside of Aria, so the other Originals only make brief appearances. This book also delves more into the Amphiptere species, how they act and why Lucia’s father uses their scales and feathers to make clothes.

My final word count is…

The rest of the first draft should be finished in the next few days and then I can take a break until Camp NaNoWriMo in July.

The main character was a lot of fun to write about, as she’s gotten some screen time in the other books but the other Originals don’t see her as much more than an annoyance. In Sunrise, she got her chance to shine and grow and lose some of her attitude that has been showcased in the other books. She’s also another one to complete defy Zmei and forge her own path, even if her opinion was different than when she started. She has never trusted Zmei and knew that when it was time for her mission that she wouldn’t complete it.

The Amphiptere are showcased in all of their glory in this book. Ever since I wrote the short story, Orange to Blue, I’ve wanted to write more about them and explore them a bit further. In Sunrise, they live on a farm in the mountains that Lucia’s father runs. They are kept in small cages but are fed well. They shed twice a year, on the Summer and Winter Solstices. Their shed skin is then collected to be fashioned into clothes.

Overall this book was a lot of fun to write and once I’ve finished it I can take a break from the Original Elementals series. I’m still sticking to my plan of writing three books and then a completely different standalone to keep my mind fresh. But I’ll talk more about that project in July!

I hope you enjoyed reading, see you next week!

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Dragon Species Featured in Original Elementals

Hi all!

This week I’m going to give you a sneak peek at all the dragon species that will show up in Original Elementals. Some have already been in Elemental Dragons, but a lot are ones you haven’t seen before.

The list won’t contain details about each species just so there are no spoilers, but you can look up most of them. The Fauxboros, Zmei and Vivid are my own creations so you’ll have to wait to hear from them in the books!

Western Dragon

Drake

Hydra

Ouroboros

Fauxboros

Lindworm

Wyvern

Amphiptere

Great Serpent

Sea Serpent

Eastern Dragon

Fairy Dragon

Wyrm

Draconic Hybrid

Zmei

Vivid

Zmei and Vivid are technically unclassified species as they were created by Sandstone separate from other species. They have features from a lot of dragon species which makes them more formidable in battle.

All of the species above will appear in the series at some point, some will appear in multiple books. The main characters have to help one of the species with Zmei’s guidance, though as times goes on it becomes clear that Zmei doesn’t have their best interests in mind.

The book that I’ll be writing in a few weeks’ time, Sunrise, will feature Amphiptere dragons. I’m excited to write about them as I’ve only written them in a short story before. I’m looking forward to fleshing them out and how Lucia reacts to them.

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

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Soar Through the Sky

The Dragon Heirarchy

Hi all, 

This week I'm going to tell you about the dragon hierarchy in Elemental Dragons. In this universe they have dragons who they consider god-like and a few of them have appeared in the series or will appear in Original Elementals. 

Arcturus. 

The companion of Stella, the first person to develop all the elements. He is considered to be a demi-god for the powers he had. He appears in the Original Elementals series and his companion will have her own book. 

Draca. 

Draca appears in both series, though in Elemental Dragons they are just a clone. They are at the bottom of the rung in the hierarchy, only being one above regular dragons. They work alongside Zmei and then eventually break away from them to work for their own goals. They are considered more of a demi-god in the series. 

Hydras. 

All Hydras are considered gods due to the fact that they are immortal. They appear in many stories across different time periods. The most famous story is the one of Hercules and the Hydra, though in this story he isn't seen as the hero. 

Zmei. 

Zmei only appears in Original Elementals. They use Draca as their pawn to help with their plan. They are the one who created the elements and helped the Originals get their powers and distribute them across the country. They are closely linked to Western Dragons, though this will be explored further in Original Elementals. They call themselves the king of dragons and are considered a god due to their supposed immortality. 

Vivid. 

Vivid is a dragon that has been lost to time. They used to serve Sandstone loyally alongside Zmei before they were cast out. The reasons are only known to Zmei and Sandstone, who forced them into exile. Some stories say they live in a prison deep within the Earth, while others claim they are chained to clouds in the sky. 

Sandstone. 

This dragon goes by many names, though the current one they use is Sandstone. They are immortal and appear every 450-600 years to wreak havoc on the land. They are the biggest of all dragons and the creator of every dragon species. Unfortunately to their size they perish soon after appearing. Their body rots and they go into a slumber until it is time to wake up again. Their flesh regrows and they scour the land for food. They are the very first dragon and the top of the hierarchy. They created Zmei and Vivid to keep an eye on dragonkind when they are slumbering. 

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

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

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Soar Through the Sky

After the End

Camp NaNoWriMo Project Announcement - April 2023

Hi all!

Every time I participate in a NaNoWriMo event, I want to make a little announcement post beforehand as well as a brief overview about what the book will be about!

For this April, I will be hoping to get 50K words written in the first draft of Original Elementals #6: Sunrise. This book will be in the point of view of Lucia, the first Light Elemental, who will be leaving Aria to help her father with his business. He sells items made from dragon parts; be it scales, feathers, claws or teeth. She has been tasked with helping Amphiptere Dragons, but they’re her father’s greatest asset in his business. Her relationship with her dragon, Sunrise, will also be explored. The two don’t get on at the moment as the dragon is horrifically scarred and won’t listen to a word she says.

Sunrise and Lucia will be the main focuses of the book, but the rivalry between the Krystalans and the Cindaraans will also come to light. Lucia is brash and thinks that she’s always right, so I’m looking forward to telling her story and hopefully showing her in a more neutral light. The other Originals will appear too, with Benjamin having a large role in this book as well. I want to be able to explore Sunrise’s relationship with other dragons and why he treats them the way he does.

This will be the last book in the Original Elementals series that I will write before taking a break. The next book that I write will not be in the Original Elementals series and will instead be something completely different. This is so I don’t get exhausted writing in the same series and also enables me to write some standalones that I’ve been planning for years.

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

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After The End

Pride Month - Dragon Edition

Hi all,

As it's Pride Month I've wanted to make a blog post but I wasn't sure what to write about. Then, as I was going over my notes for the Elemental Dragons series, I decided to write about the dragons. Not all of them get a chance to explore their sexualities in the books so I thought I would expand a bit here! This will include dragons from Elemental Dragons, Original Elementals and the Short Story Collection.

Short Story Collection

Russet - A female dragon who is Bisexual.

Moon - A male dragon who is Gay.

Elemental Dragons.

Drea - A female dragon who is Asexual Aromantic.

Cerberus - A female dragon who is Lesbian.

Winter - A female dragon who is Demisexual Bisexual.

Fortune - A male dragon who is Closeted Gay.

Original Elementals.

Devouring - A female dragon who is MtF Transgender.

Arcturus - A male dragon who is Asexual.

Turf - A male dragon who is Bisexual.

Maelstrom - A female dragon who is Pansexual.

Shadowhunter - A female dragon who is Lesbian.

Sunrise - A male dragon who is Asexual Aromantic.

A lot of the dragons do have crushes on each other that might not have been obvious in the books. For example, Cerberus has a huge crush on Drea, even though the other dragon can't stand her. Fortune likes many of the male dragons in the series but doesn't feel comfortable enough to explore his sexuality.

After years of trying to understand my Bisexuality I think it's important that I create a diverse cast of characters. Their sexualities may not have massive impacts on the books, but they're still a part of them. I think it's important that even the dragons have a wide range of sexualities because there are people out there who want to read about it. My books will continue to feature diverse characters and relationships that are not heterosexual! One of my favourite LGBTQ+ couples so far is Bastet and Sekhmet in Curse of Anubis - the two goddesses are so cute together!

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

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When the Sun Sets…

How I Named the Dragon Characters in Original Elementals

Hi all,

This will be my last blog post of 2021 before my 'year in review' post! Last year I talked about gifts for writers, but I thought I would do something different this time. I made a post in the past about naming the dragon characters in Elemental Dragons. So, I'm doing the same for the main dragon characters in Original Elementals! Without further ado, let's get started!

Frostbite.

Frostbite's name was revealed in my 2020 Christmas calendar on the final day. I wanted to give her a name that was similar to that of her companion, Frost. At the time, Frostfall was the one I wanted to go for, but I thought that sounded too much like a Warrior Cats name than a dragon name. So I went with Frostbite instead.

Maelstrom.

Maelstrom was a bit harder to come up with than the others, just because there are several names that could fit her. Whirlpool was one, along with Reef. Eventually I settled on Maelstrom after reading an article about severe whirlpools in the ocean. I thought it fit her personality.

Shadowhunter.

This name came to me pretty easily. I didn't just want the dragon to be called Shadow as that seems like such a generic name, especially for a Dark Elemental. My boyfriend and I were discussing how Mishka likes to hunt down spiders in our flat and the name clicked!

Devouring.

This name was a really fun one to come up with. In the books, Devouring is a bouncy, excitable dragon who constantly gets under everyone's feet and just wants to play. I wanted to give them a tough name that completely contradicts their personality. This is also a sore point for their companion, Benjamin, who wants them to live up to their name rather than play with everything they come across.

Tempest.

Tempest had several names before I decided on hers. Hurricane, Storm and Sirocco to name a few. But I couldn't find one that fit her until I Googled 'names for wind' and came across it. Even after looking through a bunch of words associated with wind, I couldn't get Tempest out of my head.

Sunrise.

I picked this one as it fit the element of light perfectly. The sun rises and spreads light to the land. While I did think of Sunset, I thought that it would fit better for a Dark Elemental than a Light one.

Stormburst.

While I was looking for names for Tempest I thought of Stormburst. I thought it would suit an electric dragon better so I gave it to Logan's companion, Stormburst.

Turf.

This one was actually the easiest and one of the first I came up with! Other words that I Googled associated with Earth didn't seem to fit so I struck with Turf, it's simple and easy to remember.

Arcturus.

For Stellar's companion, I wanted to give them a star name. I looked up a lot of names until I came across Arcturus; and I knew that it would fit the powerful dragon that I wanted to write about. This one probably took the longest to come across, just because I was looking through so many stars to find the perfect name!

That's it for this week! I hope to see you next when I discuss my year in review. See you next week!

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My Longest Series Yet

Hi all!

On the 1st November I'll be writing the first book in the Original Elementals series: Frostbite. I've already announced it as my NaNoWriMo project for this year, and I'm hoping to hit 60K at least. My writing has been a bit hit and miss since I started writing Street Rats, due to stress and fluctuations in my mental health. I love writing, and I hate it when my anxiety gets in the way of me doing it properly. Hopefully Frostbite will change that.

If you didn't know, the Original Elementals series will be ten books total. They will each have a different main character, and a different adventure in each. You will discover how the originals got their elemental powers and dragons. How elemental powers became widespread, and how this started effecting natural dragon species. Draca will also be in these books, his original self, not his clone. You'll also see how the books about the originals were written, and if all the details inside them really were correct...

This will be my longest series yet, and my most ambitious. I'm hoping they'll all be around the same length as the books in the Elemental Dragons series - around 300 pages. I'm aiming to have all books written in two and a half years, with other standalone books written in between. This will not effect my publishing schedule, which is currently two books a year. In fact, once Years has come out, I have the following publishing plan:

Celestial Plague Trilogy - October 2022, April 2023, October 2023

Curse of Anubis Quadrilogy - April 2024, October 2024, April 2025, October 2025

Of course, this could all change! Especially as one day I would like to increase publishing to three books a year. That all depends on how much people like my books, however!

Original Elementals will be a long adventure, and I'm hoping a fun one. It might be the only prequel series that I write as I currently have no plans for sequels or prequels for any of my other books. I just love the Elemental Dragons universe so much and I just think that I have so much more to give it, hence Original Elementals. I thought I would answer a few burning questions you might have below...

Will there be a sequel series?

Maybe. I have ideas, but I'm trying to piece it all together. It could happen, it could not.

Will the main characters in Original Elementals act exactly like their Elementa Dragons clone?

In some instances, they will. But, the originals and the clones have had different upbringings and experiences. They won't be exactly alike, but you'll definitely be able to see all the similarities.

Will their dragons act differently as they aren't bonded?

Yes, although they love each other they will be more prone to acting out and disobeying orders. They're also more likely to take off at any moment, as there's no physical connection between them. This will cause bumps in the road, but the originals will have to figure out how to overcome this in their journey.

Will the Wyrms make an appearance?

Yes, but not in their evolved form. The scientists helped them evolve a hundred years after the events of Original Elementals, so they will be tiny parasites in these books. They will mostly be seen with Draca, as they used its body as a host in the past.

Will there be a cat in this series?

Of course! My Twitter followers voted on a grey and white cat, the name is currently tied between Aspen and Flurry. I like both names, so I might do another poll to decide!

There's only nine originals - why are there ten books?

That's a secret you'll learn once I get to that book!

Will we discover why dragons were separated into class systems?

Yes! Before the events of Original Elementals, there was no such thing as common, uncommon, rare and premier. The books will explain how this came to be, and the repercussions of this. It will also explain why common dragons are seen as the most dangerous, and why fifteen is the age that people get their dragon egg.

That's it for this week! I hope you enjoyed reading more about Original Elementals and are looking forward to reading the series. See you next week!

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Original Elementals Dragon Designs

Hi all!

Over the past nine months I have been sending polls to my newsletter subscribers so they can vote on the designs for the main dragons of Original Elementals. The final result came in this month, so I thought I would let you all know the results here!

Maelstrom (partner to Marine, the first Water Elemental) - Rare emerald green and white dragon with green eyes.

Frostbite (partner to Frost, the first Ice Elemental) - Uncommon white dragon with pale grey wings and bright blue eyes.

Shadowhunter (partner to Opaque, the first Dark Elemental) - Premier black dragon with dark purple wings and purple eyes.

Devouring (partner to Bonfire, the first Fire Elemental) - Rare black dragon with orange spots and red eyes.

Sunrise (partner to Luminous, the first Light Elemental) - Common white dragon with one pink eye and one red.

Tempest (partner to Squall, the first Wind Elemental) - Uncommon marbled grey dragon with blue eyes.

Stormburst (partner to Lightning, the first Electricity Elemental) - Uncommon dark grey dragon with green eyes.

Turf (partner to Terra, the first Earth Elemental) - Premier black, brown and gold dragon with gold eyes.

Arcturus (partner to Stella, the first Elemental to have all the Elements) - Dark blue and purple premier dragon with white wings and red eyes.

Aqueous, Hazel’s partner from Elemental Dragons

The first book, Frostbite, I will start writing November 1st for NaNoWriMo. The main character will be Franscesca and her dragon Frostbite. As well as introducing dragon partners to humans and elemental powers, they will also discover an evil force that wants to use them for their own gain. The king of the dragons, Zmei, will stop at nothing to get what they want.

When the series is eventually published I will be commissioning artists to draw portraits of each dragon like the one above of Aqueous. I just love seeing the dragons come to life on a poster! As for the book covers, they will be probably be a symbol design instead of a model on the cover. I imagine a dragon surrounded by their element.

The Original Elementals series will be ten books long. I know what you’re thinking: but why are there are only nine dragons for ten books? Well, once I get to book ten, I’ll let you know! This will be my longest series yet, and I’m both excited and nervous to start writing it! Every three books or so I will take a break from Original Elementals to write a standalone book in a different genre, just to keep my enthusiasm for the series going.

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

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