Nirvana Cover Design

Hi all,

As promised - this week I’m revealing the cover for Celestial Plague #1: Nirvana. This will be my second series published and the first books that I’ll be publishing in the post-apocalyptic genre. There will be four books in this series, each with a different main character on. When the book is out for pre-order, I’ll update my website banners and theme.

Check out the cover here…

As with all of my other covers so far, this one has been designed by Deranged Doctor Design. They will also be designing the other three books in the series as well! As with previous books, I thought I’d explain some of the design choices.

• The character on the cover is Shannon, one of the four main characters in the book.

• Shannon has wings thanks to her power, though in the book they are grey and cream. I love the design choice that DDD went with though.

• Shannon has a fear of flying, but still moves her wings when she’s nervous or stressed.

• The fire is burning in a city that the characters end up travelling to and staying in.

• I did think about having multiple characters on the cover but decided to give each character their own cover instead. Ashleigh will be next; on the cover of Celestial Plague #2: Heaven.

• My initial colour scheme for this book was scrapped as I wasn’t sure if it would fit with the genre. I love the colours that DDD eventually went with.

• All of Shannon’s clothes have wing zips, but the wings would cover them if they were included on the cover.

• I did consider having someone infected with the virus added in, but I think it would have made the cover too crowded.

• The font is similar to the one used for Elemental Dragons, which fits the genre for YA books.

Celestial Plague #1: Nirvana will be available for pre-order in August, with a release planned in October this year. I’ll post more blog posts about the Celestial Plague universe, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled…

That’s it for this week, I hope you love Nirvana’s cover as much as I do! See you next week.

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Powers in Celestial Plague

Hi all,

Following on from last week's blog post I want to talk more about the powers the characters have in Celestial Plague. Everyone in the Celestial Plague universe has some sort of power; but they can only have one. Usually the powers are determined by what powers their parents have. Shannon's parents both have wings so she is born with wings. Raya's mother is a shapeshifter, though a wolf one, but she still passes this gene down to her daughter. Jenna's biological parents have fins, which explains their daughter having gills. Ashleigh is the only one who doesn't follow this pattern as both of her parents have offensive powers while she has a passive one. There are two types: passive and offensive.

Offensive.

These are powers that can be used to inflict damage or violence on other people. Take Raya, for example, she can shapeshift into a panther, which can be used to hurt others. Most shapeshifters are in this category as most animal forms can be used to hurt others. They are not discriminated against for this, in fact they are encouraged to join the police or military so their powers can be used freely. Other types of offensive powers include:

Telekinesis.

Claws.

Elemental control.

Passive.

These powers are considered to be harmless and are mostly for aesthetic purposes. More people tend to have passive powers than offensive powers. The other three main characters in Celestial Plague have passive powers - Jenna, Shannon and Ashleigh. They have a wider array of jobs that they can take which is different for each individual power. Shannon can become a pilot, for example. Other types of passive powers include:

Healing.

Telepathy.

Camouflage.

In the books themselves a wide array of different powers are shown with different characters. Due to the virus that the characters come up against a lot of these powers have been weakened or taken away altogether. The Sarj virus slowly drains the host of their power with the more people they infect, until they pass on to Nirvana or Heaven. The four girls use their powers a lot throughout the books and come across powers that used to make their lives more convenient. For example, Shannon used to hang out at a coffee shop where one of the baristas could mix coffee with an emotion that the buyer wants to feel for the day. So, when the virus starts draining people of their powers, a lot of people start to panic. But some don't mind that they'll lose their power. Not everyone likes the one they were born with.

That's it for this week! Keep an eye out next week as Years will be going up for pre-order. See you next week!

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The Panther Shapeshifter in Celestial Plague

Hi all!

I realised that I haven't told you much about the Celestial Plague trilogy. Book one is set to be released in October, so I thought that should change before the book comes out!

The books are in the point of view of four characters, this blog post will focus on Raya. She is a panther shapeshifter.

I chose the panther because I don't see them getting much love in books. I think they are beautiful animals and would love to read about them more in fiction. In the books she doesn't like shifting to start with, but warms up to it as time goes on. Her panther side is conscious as well, and comforts her when needed. She can still control her body and her emotions in her panther form, the consciousness is just there for support when needed. She names the consciousness Damisa, which makes it feel more connected to her.

Damisa can't speak, but it can make itself more known in Raya's mind, and the two develop a communication system through brain signals. They can feel each others emotions as well which aids communication. Raya's friends are aware of Damisa, but can't communicate with it directly. Damisa will however help Raya protect her friends when necessary and shows distress along with her when they are in trouble. The two of them have been together since birth and cannot be broken apart. Well, apart from a virus that the characters have to contend with in the books.

With Raya's shape-shifting power, I thought choosing a cat would be too easy. I've written about cats since I was young and I wasn't sure how useful a cat shapeshifter would be. A panther on the other hand is a much bigger cat with the ability to hunt bigger prey and terrify anyone who comes across it. I saw a panther as being more fun to write and it will create some unique situations that a cat shifter wouldn't be able to help in. It was also a lot of fun to write about a big cat. This is the first book I wrote that was in the point of view of a big cat and it was definitely a learning curve!

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

PS; looking for some new fantasy books to read? Check out the ones in this bundle:

Mid-Winter Urban Fantasy Magic Sales Spectacular