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.

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

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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!

PS; don’t forget to check out this book bundle:

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