Blood and Water is Free to Download for a Limited Time!

Hi all,

Until 28th April 2022, the ebook version of Elemental Dragons #1: Blood and Water is free to download on Amazon! It is one of many books in the ‘Free Urban Fantasy in April’ that has been organised by the IASFA. Each month there’s a brand new Fantasy or Sci-Fi book bundle that contains plenty of free books in a variety of genres to fill up your digital bookshelf. You can sign up for the IASFA below:

Born to a common life, Hazel’s fate will be anything but…

Hazel is a commoner born with water elemental powers. When her dragon egg hatches, she's left with a black dragon that is the first of its kind to be tamed. Faced with discrimination on all sides, Hazel finds herself working twice as hard for less respect; and when dragon markings appear on her back, she needs to keep them hidden.

Bound together with friends and foes alike, Hazel must seek out the answers they so desperately need as quickly and quietly as possible. In a world where political parties divide those who would live with dragons as equals or masters, time is running out to uncover just who, or what, threatens them all. Against a world that has shunned and belittled her, Hazel must find the courage to seek the truth and make her own mark on Aria.

You can download Blood and Water for free until the 28th April 2022 !

If you download Blood and Water or other books in the IASFA bundle then I hope you enjoy them! See you next week.

PS; check out these other book bundles:

Science Fiction Is For Free

Young Adult Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Taking to the Sky This Easter

Winning a Book Award

Hi all, 

If you haven't already guessed from the title, I've won a book award! 

I entered Blood and Water a few months ago into the award on a whim, and managed to make it through all three rounds!

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Although it's only a small award, I'm still so grateful to win it. You don't need a prestigious book award to be a good author. 

I struggled to find awards to enter due to be self published. A lot of the larger and more well known awards won't even look at you unless you're traditionally published, so I had to look elsewhere for Indie awards. 

The problem is, a lot of these awards are scams. 

A lot of them charge extortionate fees or don't give out the winning prizes. You really need to research which awards you want to enter before submitting. I managed to find a few that charged a fair entry fee but also, with a bit of research, were legit. 

Even if you don't win, some offer reduced rates on editing your manuscript or getting added to the longlist. Some will even still advertise your book anyway.

If you're going to enter an indie award, please just research before you do anything. It will save you money and pain in the future. 

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

PS: check out these book giveaways!

Summer and Sunshine Fantasy Sci-Fi KU

Mid July Fantasy Giveaway Promotion

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Entering my First Book Award

Hi all!

In November I entered Blood and Water in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards, and I thought I'd share how it got on!

The Wishing Shelf Book Awards is an award run by Billy Bob Buttons, a children's author. For each category a group of the target audience reads the books and rates them. I entered the teenage category, so my book was read by my target audience.

A few weeks ago the finalists were announced, but unfortunately I didn't get through. I did however get wonderful feedback from those who read my book and a four star review!

There was a surprise among my feedback, Blood and Water won a Red Ribbon Award! This means that although my book didn't get over 30/40 to be a finalist, (it got exactly 30/40), it was enjoyed very much by the readers, who gave it a Red Ribbon! I'm thinking of adding it on the back cover, so it doesn't draw from the front cover.

The Red Ribbon Award I will be adding to my book cover

The Red Ribbon Award I will be adding to my book cover

For my first time entering an award I wasn't expecting to get through, but I'm very happy with the fact that I got an award out of it. I've entered another two different awards, so fingers crossed I'll win something there too!

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

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2019 Year in Review

Hi all!

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

Published Blood and Water.

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

Sold 40 books.

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

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Wrote three books.

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

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

Celestial Plague Book 1: Nirvana - 83,000 words

Celestial Plague Book 2: Heaven - 83,000 words

Participated in July Camp NaNoWriMo and November NaNoWriMo.

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

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Hired editor for two books.

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

Two cover designs.

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

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Entered Blood and Water for a book award.

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

Read 30 books.

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

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

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How I'm Feeling About Self Publishing

Hi all!

The next few days are going to be exciting as Blood and Water is out on Tuesday! On the one hand I can't wait for people to read it, but on the other hand I'm quite nervous about what people will think.

Self publishing was a big plunge for me, as I always thought I'd go down the traditional publishing route. However, after querying agents with no success I began to hope for rejections.

Why?

Because I'd researched self publishing a lot more.

To me, self publishing is more alluring and gives me more creative freedom than an agent would. Although this means I'm starting off with no connections and little experience, I'm still excited to see where this will take me.

My editor and cover designer helped me bring my book to life and are so lovely to work with. My writing is now more polished and the cover is gorgeous.

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Publishing through Amazon was easier than I expected, so much so that I changed my mind about not doing paperback!

It was easy to upload my novel and make tweaks where needed. Now I'm hoping that you will all love the story that I've been sitting on for the past five years.

If you want to buy a copy please visit my books page, which hopefully soon won't look so bare! Please also review my book if you can, it really helps self publishers.

Keep an eye on my Twitter on Tuesday, as I will be launching a giveaway for a signed paperback version of Blood and Water!

See you next week!

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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.

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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

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

See you next week!

The Many Titles of Elemental Dragons

Hi all,

This week I'm going to talk about something I struggle with when it comes to writing: book titles.

I'm not very good at coming up with names for books. Most of the time the title I end up using is the third or fourth one I've come up with. When I started writing Blood and Water, it was nameless until the second edit.

First, let me start with the series name. Elemental Dragons is actually the fourth one I came up with. I had my reasons for switching the title around so much but I'm so glad I did.

Elementals.

I liked this one until I looked it up on Amazon and found it was already taken. I didn't want my work to be confused for someone else's so it was back to the drawing board.

Modern Elementals.

This one didn't stick for very long. I thought it would be too confusing as readers might think that this is a sequel series and try looking for the first.

Dragonian Elementals.

This one stuck for about a year. I wanted to let the reader know that there were dragons in my story, and I thought this was the best way. When I entered it into a competition, the judges loved my writing but said the name was too clunky. One suggested 'Dragons and Elementals', so I was inspired by this to call it Elemental Dragons instead.

Now, the books themselves. Although Blood and Water has had the most name changes, the others have been through quite a few as well.

Marine.

This was the original title for Blood and Water. It's named after a character in the books, but I thought it would be a bit confusing to name the entire book after someone who only appears a handful of times. I also wasn't sure how to name the others so they tied in with the title.

The Black Dragon.

This one is named after Aqueous, but it didn't quite fit so it only lasted a day or two. As with Marine, I couldn't come up with anything good to name the other books that matched it.

Avian.

This one stuck the longest, about eighteen months. It's named after one of the four species of dragon. The other three books would have been named Serpentine, Reptilian and Primordial after the other species.

Let Sleeping Dragons Lie.

I never liked this name. It didn't really fit, I just came up with so the book wouldn't be nameless. It has no ties to the story itself and is too long when combined with the series name. The second would have been called The Sleeping Dragon Awakens and the third would have been The Sleeping Dragon's War. The fourth wasn't named in this way. After a lot of thinking, I came up with Blood and Water for the first, as it tied in with Hazel's element and the fights in the book.

That's it for this week! I hope you enjoyed it. Next week I'm going to talk about animal characters and how to write them.

See you next week!

Blood and Water Cover Design

Hi all,

In case you missed my posts this week, the cover for Blood and Water is now ready and looks gorgeous!

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It was designed by the lovely people at Deranged Doctor Design.

I thought I would share with you the reasoning behind the design:

- The red and blue colour scheme is for the theme of blood and water.

- Hazel, the protagonist, is on the cover.

- She is wearing modern clothes because the book is set in the modern day.

- The background of a field is a location in the book, where Hazel attends dragon training.

- As a water elemental, Hazel wields water on the cover.

- She's practicing a move that creates a shield of their element around the user.

- I prefer light colours for text as I think that makes the title pop more.

- The font is the first one I was shown and I loved it.

- I asked for my name to be at the top so it doesn't take away from the cover design.

- There aren't any dragons on the cover because I thought it would clog the background too much.

The other covers for the series will have similar elements of the above, though they will have different colour schemes and new locations. Each cover will feature Hazel as she is the main character in all of them. There won't be more than one character on the Elemental Dragons covers.

If you want to see what Deranged Doctor Design has to offer, you can visit their website here: derangeddoctordesign.com. I highly recommend them, they're very friendly and professional. I went for the Ebook Social package if anyone wants to know what package I went with.

Blood and Water will be out October 2019!

See you next week!

Dragon Character Profiles - Blood and Water

Hi all!

For this week's post I have written character sheets for the main dragon characters in Blood and Water.

First, a bit of background. At fifteen, every Elemental is given a dragon egg. The egg they get depends on their social status. There are four types:
Common - for the poorest children. 
Uncommon - for the middle class children. 
Rare - for the well off children. 
Premier - for the children of millionaires. 
Each type has differences. For example; common dragons only come in three colours. Premier dragons have gemstones in their chests and clubbed tails.

The dragon will inherit the element(s) of its companion. There are eight elements:
Water
Fire
Wind
Earth
Ice
Electricity
Dark
Light

Most Elementals will only have one element, although there are rare cases of some having two. This means that they have to master both to unlock their true potential.

Because of the disaster elements can bring, most people are only allowed to use them in their homes. When they were first discovered they were used without limit, which increased crime and workplace accidents. This is why children are separated from their families, so they can learn to control their element(s) without hurting the public.

Now onto the profiles, the main dragons of Blood and Water:

Aqueous Adams: Black 'common' dragon with turquoise eyes. He has two horns below his ears that curl back towards his cheeks like a ram's. As the dragon of a water Elemental, he has royal blue swirls surrounded by small dots as markings on his face and front feet. 
Aqueous grows from birth to a year old in Blood and Water. His colouring makes him a rare dragon in his subspecies, as only three black common dragons have been sighted on record. Although this should make him a bit of a celebrity, he is heavily discriminated against because of his common status. He is left out of certain training and lessons, but keeps in good spirits about it. Although he is a bright dragon, he is completely oblivious to Damayanti's feelings for him. He is the runt of the group.

Cerberus Adams: Brown 'common' dragon with amber eyes. She has two stubby horns that stick out at an angle. As the dragon of an electricity Elemental, she has pale yellow lightning bolt markings on her back and tail. 
Cerberus grows from a year old to two years old in Blood and Water. As her companion and Aqueous' are siblings, the two dragons also consider themselves to be siblings. She is wild and energetic and comes up with unique ways to solve problems. Like Aqueous, she is discriminated against due to her status, but pays it no mind. Unfortunately this makes her a target for dragons who bully her. She is the most forgiving of the group.

Drea White: White 'premier' dragon with pink eyes. As a premier, she has a large white gemstone in her chest and a tail tip shaped like a club. She has two stumpy horns that just about protrude from her forehead. As the dragon of a dual Elemental, she also has two elements: dark and fire. This means that she has purple circular markings on her neck and orange fireball-like markings on her back. 
Drea grows from a year old to two years old in Blood and Water. Unlike her friends, she is not interested in their silly games, she prefers to observe them play and make sure no harm comes to them. She is quick to fight back when challenged and given her large size she wins most of her battles. She is the strongest of the group.

Damayanti Howell: Black and white 'uncommon' dragon with yellow eyes. She has two long white horns that stick out of her head perfectly straight. As the dragon of an ice Elemental, she has pale blue snowflake-like markings on her legs and stomach. 
Damayanti grows from a year old to two years old in Blood and Water. Despite joining the group later than the others, she fits in well. Like her companion, she is outgoing but harbours a terrible temper. Although she is able to keep this in control most of the time, Winter usually manages to get under her skin. She quickly develops a crush on Aqueous, but he doesn't notice her. She is the most ferocious of the group.

Asteroid Abbott: Brown 'uncommon' dragon with orange feet and orange eyes. She has two horns that curl back towards her ears. As the dragon of a wind Elemental, she has grey cloud-like markings on her face and neck. 
Asteroid grows from birth to a year old in Blood and Water. She is quick to please her companion above all else, even if that means hurting her friends feelings. She looks up to Winter to the point of obsession. Although she liked the games when she was a hatchling, as she has grown she has tired of them, itching to get into a real fight. She is the most cunning of the group.

Winter Stirling: Pale blue and white 'rare' dragon with blue eyes. She has two horns that stick out of her forehead at a point. As the dragon of an earth Elemental, she has green ivy-like markings on her neck and back. 
Winter grows from two years old to three years old in Blood and Water. She is loyal to her companion above all else, and follows his orders without question. She quickly realised Aqueous' feelings for, and uses this information to manipulate him into the Cindaraan regime. Although she is nasty to Aqueous and his friends, she is friendly to her companion and his friends. She is one of the group's enemies. 

As dragons grow they get stronger and more familiar with their element(s). Once they hit a year old they are old enough to start learning more difficult elemental techniques, which more often than not, they pick up faster than their companion. However due to their wing strength, they cannot fly with their companion until they are three years old. This doesn't stop them from flying when they are younger, their spines and wings need time to strengthen before they can be ridden.

That's it for this week! If you like this post, let me know and I'll do the character profiles for their companions.

See you next week!