July 2024 Camp NaNoWriMo Wrap-Up

Hi all,

July Camp NaNoWriMo ended two weeks ago and it’s time for the wrap-up! This time I was writing the first draft of Empty Skies #3: Burning Constellations.

My final word count is…

80,082 words!

I wasn’t expecting to go so far over my word count for this book, I was aiming for 75K. But it ended up working out quite well as I could fit in more backstory about The Remnants and how they were treated by the gods.

This book does have a happy ending, which I’d planned from the beginning. When I was writing the first book in the series, the ending was the first thing I came up with. Some might call it bittersweet, but I think it’s the best ending that the characters could hope for.

In this book, Ataraxia discovers more about The Remnants and why they act the way they do. She resolves to try to help them in any way possible when the gods return. She is even willing to sacrifice her own life over it.

Laelaps meanwhile is trying to keep the group together and doesn’t care for the reasons why The Burning has done what she did. He is desperate to get back to his old life and doesn’t want to visit Earth again for a while so he can recover.

NaNoWriMo begins in November and for once I’m not sure what I’m going to write for it. I could do Original Elementals #8: Turf or one of my standalones that have been planned for years. Once I get closer to the time, I’m sure I’ll make a decision.

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

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July 2024 Camp NaNoWriMo Project Announcement

Hi all,

Although it feels like no time at all has passed, July is almost here! That means I'll be participating in Camp NaNoWriMo again. This time, my project will be...

Empty Skies #3: Burning Constellations.

The final book in the Empty Skies series is set immediately after book two. In this one, the origins of The Remnants are discovered and the need to bring the gods back is heightened.

Ataraxia and Laelaps have recovered for the most part from their spats in the second book. But both have become a lot more confident as time has gone on. They are more likely to stand up for themselves and push their ideas more. Ataraxia in particular was already pretty headstrong, but she has matured a lot as the series has gone on. Laelaps was the quieter one but even he has had to open up more.

The antagonist for this book is Medusa, who is working with The Burning to get revenge of Poseidon. I always thought that in the myths that Athena turned her into a gorgon to protect her rather than punish her. So, she will not blame Athena for what happened to her. I'm also thinking of introducing the other gorgons too, but I'm not sure how that will go yet. I might change my mind as I'm writing the book.

I've had the ending for this book in my head for a while so I'm actually quite excited to get it onto the page. I'll be sad that the story is over, but the characters will still make cameos in other books! The Damaged Goods series will be a prequel to Empty Skies featuring the Remnants. It will explain how they got to where they are now and what happened along the way to make them so bitter. In fact, the origin story of The Freezing has been in my head since I was fifteen! I'll be so happy to finally write that one out.

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

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April 2024 Camp NaNoWriMo Wrap-Up

Hi all!

We're now into May which means that Camp NaNoWriMo is done for the month! Empty Skies #2: Freezing Constellations was my project for the month. My final total is...

73,337 words!

I managed to finish the first draft on the second of May so the story is now complete at over 77K words.

In this book, the relationship between Laelaps and Ataraxia is put to the test. They start arguing a lot and going off on their own. The events of this book takes more of a toll on their mental health and the outlook is a lot bleaker at first.

A lot more constellations get introduced this book too! We get Scorpinus, Calliope and Pegasus makes an appearance too. This book is the one that will have the most Constellations in it. The next one will just have the ones that have already been introduced.

The dog pack is more prevalent in this book and Ataraxia is put to the test when leading them. This is one part of what puts a strain on her relationship with Laelaps. But I think the dogs are really cute and I love writing them! I found myself looking forward to writing parts they were in and wanting to add them in more. I'm hoping that in the next book they can really shine.

Yellow, the goddess who won't reveal her identity, is an even bigger presence in this book. But maybe not for the best. She is not keen on helping any of the characters in this book.

That's it for this week! I hope you enjoyed reading. Next Camp NaNoWriMo I'll be writing the last book in the Empty Skies series. 

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April 2024 Camp NaNoWriMo Project Announcement

Hi all,

It's a new year and the first Camp NaNoWriMo of 2024 starts on April 1st. I was going to start writing the next book in the Original Elementals series but I've really missed the characters in Empty Skies. So, I'm going to pivot to writing Empty Skies #2: Freezing Constellations.

This book will continue where book one left off, with Laelaps and Ataraxia. They've just defeated Scylla and are hoping for a bit of a rest before their next challenge. Unfortunately, that doesn't really pan out for them!

This book will have more scenes in the underworld and Cerberus will have a more active role. In the last book, they were there for the battle but that was about it. Now, their home is in danger and they need help to save it. The Namean Lion, Ichor, will be in this book with Charon, the boatman of the dead.

I'm also going to introduce a few more of the constellations in this book. One being Pegasus. They are one of my favourites and I'm hoping to give them a dark spin. They are working with The Freezing to take down all the constellations. I love writing pegasi as bad guys so I can't wait to continue with this book!

I have the prequel series planned which will introduce more characters and why they act the way they do in these books. But I really wanted to write this series first, even though Damaged Goods has been planned for ages. It gives me more time to flesh out events in between though. Some of the characters in this book will appear more often in the prequel series, so I hope you like them enough to continue reading about them.

This is my first Greek mythology series and I'm really excited to write the series which is why I've bumped it up a bit. I'm still undecided whether next NaNoWriMo I'll write Original Elementals or not. Luckily I still have loads of time to decide.

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

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July Camp NaNoWriMo Wrap-Up

Hi all,

Another NaNoWriMo is done! This one was for Missing Constellations, which I’m hoping to launch as a Patreon exclusive at some point. This event was the best I’ve done in a while and I found myself getting more and more drawn into the story.

Missing Constellations follows Ataraxia and Laelaps, two constellations from Greek mythology who become stranded on Earth. The book contains various creatures from mythology, including: the Namean Lion, Scylla, Charybdis, Chrysomallus and Cerberus. There will be more as I continue writing, as I’ve found that the story isn’t quite done yet!

Instead, Missing Constellations will now be a trilogy. The series will be called Empty Skies, and the other two books will be called:

Book #2: Freezing Constellations

Book #3: Blazing Constellations

My final word count is…

I managed to complete the first draft the day after NaNoWriMo ended and the story is over 77K in total.

Ataraxia is a lot more adventurous than Laelaps and is more likely to rush headfirst into situations. Her power means that she always escapes anything, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t get hurt. Laelaps’ power is to always catch whatever he chases. Unlike Ataraxia, he is anxious and hates fighting. The book explores his anxiety and how much he struggles with everything that they have to do. But Ataraxia is always by his side and willing to help in whatever way she can.

They are joined by the Namean Lion, who calls himself Ichor, and Cerberus. Together, the four of them battle to take down The Remnants. A trio of beings who represent the anger and loneliness in the world. They were locked away in Tartarus, but have now managed to escape. They have blessed three monsters with immortality in exchange for getting rid of the constellations. The one that they fight in this book is The Missing, who has blessed Scylla with immortality. Scylla uses a pack of dogs to do her bidding for her and wants nothing more than to rid the world of the gods and the constellations.

I’m not sure when I’ll start writing book two as I want to get through the rest of the Original Elementals series first. But I would still love for this series to be a Patreon exclusive and then eventually end up on Amazon. I love this universe and I can’t wait to share the stories with you.

That’s it for this week! Next week I’m going to be talking about my first solo book signing, so keep an eye out for that! See you next Sunday.

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My Favourite Greek Myths

Hi all! 

As I am now writing the first draft of Missing Constellations, I thought I'd tell you about my favourite Greek myths. 

Laelaps and the Teumessian Fox. 

This should come as a surprise to no-one as I'm writing a book about them! This was always one of my favourite myths, mostly due to the fact that it's a paradox. They can't touch each other without one winning over the other. I always knew I wanted to write a book about them and I'm so glad that I can do that now. 

Perseus and Medusa. 

There are so many iterations of this myth but I still think it's one of the best. In some, Medusa is the victim and in others she's just a monster. Either way, Perseus defeating her with the gifts that the gods gave him is always a great read. 

Pegasus. 

Winged horses are always beautiful in my opinion and Pegasus will be in Missing Constellations too. I couldn't leave out one of my favourites! 

Hercules and Cerberus.

I named one of the dragons in Elemental Dragons after the three headed canine so of course it would be one of my favourites! I love how Hercules managed to wrangle him in the end and marched him out of the underworld. 

Jason and the Golden Fleece. 

This one is really popular and I can see why. I've watched several films where Jason has had to retrieve the golden fleece and the story never gets boring. The fleece is even mentioned in Missing Constellations, but I haven't decided if it will make an appearance yet. 

There are so many great myths out there but these ones are definitely my favourites. I grew up watching Jason and the Argonauts and Hercules. I loved reading mythological books before I went to sleep too. It's no wonder that I'm now writing about the myths themselves! 

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

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Camp NaNoWriMo Project Announcement - July 2023

Hi all!

Like with April’s Camp NaNoWriMo, I thought I’d share a brief post about my next project! As I’ve written three Original Elementals books on the trot, I’m now taking a break to write a standalone. This book is called Missing Constellations. I’m hoping to write 50K of the first draft in this month.

This book will follow Laelaps and the Teumessian Fox. The dog that always catch it’s prey and the fox who always escapes it’s captors. They are one of my favourite Greek myths as they get stuck in a never-ending loop so Zeus places them in the sky as constellations. This book will be a dual POV of both of them. I’m undecided if I will have chapter headers commissioned for both of them or not.

Every few years, Zeus allows the constellations to return to Earth for a day to experience life as a human. Once the sun sets, they are returned to the stars once more. Only this time, they don’t return. When the sun sets they turn into their canine forms and are still trapped on Earth. When one approaches the other, the loop kicks in and they are separated by a few feet. They travel the Earth trying to find out what has happened and eventually notice that all of the constellations are gone.

Laelaps is a quiet dog who would much prefer to sleep, while the Fox is more hyper and loves to run around and tease him. They’ve been stuck in the sky together for centuries in an endless chase. Though neither will admit it to the other, they consider themselves best friends.

My plan is still to set up a Patreon and this is the first book that I’m hoping to post on it! I’m still trying to figure out the details, such as covers and editing but I will worry about that more once the book is done. Alongside getting to read the book early, I’m going to offer other rewards such as ebooks, paperbacks, merch and possibly even a book dedication. With the book, I’m going to have character polls, 100 word drabbles and Q&As on there too. I’m not sure when I’m going to get this done, but I’m hoping by the end of the year I have a clear plan in place.

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

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