A Fun Monthly Writing Challenge

Hi all,

This week I’m going to talk about a monthly writing challenge I usually take part in, called Furious Fiction. I was introduced to this by the chairman of my writing group. He sends the email around each month and we can participate and share our stories if we want to. I try to take part as much as I can, though sometimes because of NaNoWriMo or not being able to come up with an idea for the prompt I don’t contribute.

First off, what is Furious Fiction?

It is a writing challenge that launches on the first weekend of each month. On the Friday, an email is sent out with the prompts and you need to squeeze it into 500 words. They usually supply a few words that have to be in your story as well as another challenge. This month’s was to write a story in the middle of something. I went with the middle of a trial, which Bastet has to complete without being killed by a zombie lioness.

The email goes out on Friday and you have 55 hours to write your story and submit it. The ones who manage the challenge are Australian, so you have to go by Australian time to submit it before the deadline. They have a countdown on their website when the challenge is live which is really handy to keep track of how much time you have left!

So far all of the stories that I have written for this challenge have been set in the Curse of Anubis universe. Two have been in Bastet’s perspective, while the others have been various unnamed characters that kick off certain events of the story. I’m hoping to get these stories submitted to anthologies instead of collecting them together for the Curse of Anubis Short Story Collection. There are other stories that I want to write for that book, but Furious Fiction really helps with getting other ideas out.

I’ve participated in a few of their challenges and I find them all really fun, it’s a good way to flex your writing muscles and write on a strict deadline. Some of the words that you have to add in can sometimes be hard to work in too, so it takes a lot of thinking.

I love participating in this challenge and a lot of the members of the writing group that I’m a part of write stories for it too. It’s really interesting to see what others come up with the same prompts and deadline. I’m going to try to participate as much as possible, even if I don’t win! The winner and the shortlist entries are all displayed on their website once all the entries have been read. The winner receives $500.

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

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The Antagonists in Curse of Anubis

Hi all,

This week I’m going to talk about the antagonists in the Curse of Anubis series. I wanted to pick gods that people wouldn’t usually see as being evil. This series focuses on a zombie plague and the main character, Tahira, trying to survive in a new world. She is guided by Bastet, who is trying to figure out how to stop the plague and find out what happened to Ra, who has disappeared.

Horus.

I picked Horus to be an antagonist as I imagined him being angry with Ra. In this universe, Ra takes the throne back from him and asserts himself on it once more. He also strips Horus of his animal, a falcon, and instead gives him the hawks to rule over instead. So when Ra goes missing, Horus doesn’t hesitate to try to take advantage of the situation. He goes after Tahira as she is Ra’s chosen one, and he doesn’t want her meddling with his plans. Unfortunately he isn’t very good at planning ahead or working with the other gods, which is his downfall.

Wadjet.

Twitter chose Wadjet for me after I posted a few gods that could be an antagonist. She is not a fan of Ra as she was his second-in-command until Sekhmet challenged her and won. She has been bitter about it ever since and has vowed to get her powers back that have now been passed to Bastet. She is not against using those around her and always puts herself first. While she is more receptive to working with the other gods, she would much rather take all the glory herself.

Set.

As Anubis’ father, it’s only natural that he would be involved in the scheme against Ra. He helped his son come up with the idea of a zombie plague and tries his best to keep him on his good side. In this universe, Ra allows the gods to choose the animals they want to represent them. Instead of choosing one of Ra’s creations, Set created his own: the sha. Ra humiliated him by putting his sha on Earth and laughing as they died out within a few decades. Set tried to create an animal that was better than the ones that already existed, but instead the sha are weak and sickly. He never forgave Ra for humiliating him in front of everyone.

Anubis.

The creator of the zombie plague and son of Set. With how much the human population was growing, Anubis was struggling to harvest all the hearts from the dead. He begged Ra for help, but Ra turned his back on him. Anubis then plotted against Ra and released the plague without his permission. He didn’t expect Ra to go missing once the plague was released and decided to take over the realm of the gods himself. The only thing left for him to do is rid himself of Tahira, Bastet, Sekhmet and Mafdet.

That’s it for this week! In the future I will write about the protagonists and how they fit into the Curse of Anubis universe, I hope you enjoyed reading, see you next week.

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Why I'm Going to Change the Book Titles in Curse of Anubis

Hi all!

I haven’t talked about Curse of Anubis for a while. For those who don’t know, this is a YA Horror series that will be published after Celestial Plague. There are four books total, all of which have been written but just need to be edited, formatted and get a cover designed. The story follows Tahira, a girl caught in the zombie apocalypse who is guided by Bastet, the Egyptian goddess. It’s up to them to figure out why there are now zombies everywhere and what it has to do with Ra’s disappearance. They meet plenty of other gods along the way and traverse both the human world and the god’s plane together.

The titles that I originally came up with are below:

Halfway

Limbo

Middle

Dual

But I’m not sure if I like those titles so much now. They seem more like placeholders until I come up with better ones. I’ve tried to think of other titles that might fit better, such as: Reincarnation, Resolution, Ra’s Eye, Horus’ Eye, Set’s Revenge etc.

So far nothing has stuck.

Bastet, as she first appears in Curse of Anubis

I’m still brainstorming some ideas about what the names should be, though I’m probably going to go with something along the lines of either the protagonists or the antagonists. Tahira, Bastet, Sekhmet and Mafdet are the protagonists, while Horus, Wadjet, Set and Anubis are the antagonists. I would like to incorporate their names in the titles somewhere, but I’m not sure how that will work yet. I just wanted to make a post about it so it isn’t a shock when it does happen. The series title will be staying the same, just the individual book titles will be changed.

The first book won’t be published until late 2024, so I have time to figure out the names. I may even ask my newsletter subscribers for their thoughts as well. Nothing about the books themselves will change, just the titles.

That’s it for this week, wish me luck in finding the perfect book titles! Next week will be my 2022 year in review, so keep an eye out for that.

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Dual Quotes - Camp NaNoWriMo July 2021

Hi all!

As with last Camp NaNoWriMo I thought I would collect all of the quotes I made on Twitter in one handy little blog post! This time my project was Dual, the last book in the Curse of Anubis series. Unfortunately due to sickness and tiredness I didn’t post a quote every day, but I hope the ones that I did post made up for that!

In November I will be participating in NaNoWriMo again, but this time for the first book in the Original Elementals series - Frostbite.

Days 1-9

Days 10-20

Days 21-30

That’s it for this week, I hope you enjoyed the quotes! Next week I’m going to talk about a book signing event I’m attending! See you next week!

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Middle Quotes - Camp NaNoWriMo April 2021

Hi all!

If you read my blog post in December you’ll remember that when I participated in NaNoWriMo I posted a compilation of quotes from the book I was working on - Halfway. I’m now doing the same for Middle, except this time there’s a quote for each day! I’ll do this again in July when I’ll be working on the final book in the Curse of Anubis series - Dual.

Days 1-10

Days 11-20

Days 21-30

That’s it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading! Next week I’m going to talk about books that I would like to read in the future. See you next week!

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Halfway Quotes - NaNoWriMo 2020

Hi all!

If you weren’t aware, I participated in NaNoWriMo again this year (National Novel Writing Month) and started writing the first book in the Curse of Anubis series: Halfway. From day three I started posting quotes from the book on my Twitter account, which I have collected here for you all to read! Some are in Tahira’s point of view, while others are in Bastet’s. If you want me to do this when I participate in Camp NaNoWriMo too, let me know!

Days 3-10

Days 11-20

Days 21-30

That’s it for this week! Let me know if you want me to post daily quotes whenever I do NaNoWriMo or Camp NaNoWriMo. Next week I’m going to talk about the Elemental Dragons calendar that I’m doing on my Facebook page. See you next week!

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Why I Chose Egyptian Gods for Curse of Anubis

Hi all,

This post is a sort of follow on to my previous post, writing zombies. Whenever I mention that I'm writing a zombie series with Egyptian Gods, I get quite a lot of confused looks! I then have to try to explain how the zombies and Egyptian mythology go together without spoiling the plot. So, I thought I would write a non-spoiler version for my readers!

The virus.

The 'zombie virus' is created by the gods. One in particular, who has gone against the rest of them to doom humanity. If you couldn't tell by the series title, this god is Anubis. It was not a collective decision, and the rest of the gods are trying to pick up the pieces.

Bastet.

Bastet is the goddess who appears the most throughout Curse of Anubis, helping the MC, Tahira, survive in this new world. In Ancient Egypt she used to protect the home from evil spirits and disease, though this scope has now increased exponentially with the zombie virus. She was sent specifically by Ra for this purpose.

Tahira.

Tahira is the main character of the series, and almost all of the chapters in the books will be from her point of view. She is fifteen when the virus hits, and as it spreads quickly she's got to find a way to survive. Bastet finds her, and takes her under her paw.

God forms.

The gods will appear mostly in their animal forms. An Egyptian Mau for Bastet, for example. They will very rarely appear in their more human forms, as they don't like showing these to humans.

Afterlife.

Once a human is infected, they're not exactly dead. They can alternate between the living world in their zombie form, where they can only watch and not control themselves, or they can go to the land of dead to spend time with others who have been infected. The land of the dead is seen as a paradise of sorts, where there is no pain, suffering or hunger. But, some people start to go missing from the land of the dead and are never seen again, even in the living world.

School.

The school that the first book is mostly set in is based off of my secondary school. I didn't realise until I started writing it that I was describing the old layout of my school. A few years after I left it got a new look, but I don't know what it looks like inside now. So, I'm going with the old layout that I knew like the back of my hand when I attended.

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

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Writing Zombies for Curse of Anubis

Hi all!

With NaNoWriMo now in full swing I thought I would explain why I'm writing about zombies for my newest novel. You might be wondering how Egyptian Gods and zombies go together, but I know what I'm doing, I promise!

First off, why would I write about zombies when the genre is over saturated as it is?

I absolutely love zombie films and TV series. Most of the shows I start watching on Netflix contain zombies, I just can't get enough of them. I grew up watching a lot of zombie films and found ones I loved and others, not so much. I've watched so many films that I want to contribute to the genre itself. Admittedly I thought of the zombies before the Egyptian Gods, but I hope I've slotted them together quite well!

What kind of zombies am I writing about?

I personally find the fast moving zombies the scariest. It just seems too easy to avoid the slow walking ones. The zombies in Curse of Anubis will be able to sprint after their prey. They only go for humans though, so the wildlife will be left alone. Infection will be spread through bites and scratches only. I haven't thought of a name for the zombies yet but I'm hoping to come up with something as I'm going!

What do the zombies look like?

They will be rotting humans, with leathery flesh and chunks of their body missing. Quite a few will look a bit gorey.

Where is Curse of Anubis set?

Curse of Anubis, like all of my books, is set in an alternative universe United Kingdom. Halfway will be mostly focused to a school, which is where Tahira will first come across the zombies and attempt to survive.

Which Egyptian Gods are involved with the zombies?

I think that answering this question would spoil too much, so instead I'll tell you which Gods will make an appearance throughout Curse of Anubis!

Set.

Anubis.

Thoth.

Bastet.

Can the Gods kill the zombies?

Yes, Bastet in particular will be a zombie killing machine. They won't know what's hit them until it's too late!

How do the Gods appear?

The Gods don't appear in their human forms, so instead will appearing as their animal counterpart:

Bastet - Egyptian Mau cat.

Thoth - Ibis.

Anubis - Jackal.

Set - Canine Sha.

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

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NaNoWriMo 2020 Project Announcement

Hi all!

If you haven’t guessed from the title, I have announced my NaNoWriMo project for this year! For those that don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, it’s National Novel Writing Month in November. 30 days to write 50K. It will be my third time participating and this time I’m going for something a little different…

A Young Adult Horror.

Ever since I started writing Mute I’ve been bitten by the horror bug and want to continue writing in that genre! Although, of course, this will be a Young Adult Horror rather than a New Adult Horror.

The book is the first of four in the Curse of Anubis series: Halfway.

You’ll follow Tahira, who at fifteen years old finds herself trapped in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. She will be guided by the Egyptian Goddess Bastet, who will help her navigate this new world and find out how the Egyptian Gods are connected to the zombie hordes. She will meet new friends, new enemies, and discover why she was chosen to be spared from a fate worse than death. The following Egyptian Gods will be in the book: Bastet, Anubis, Set and Thoth. More may be added as the story grows and shifts with the characters.

I think the most fun I’ve had planning with this one is the designs for Bastet! She will be portrayed as an Egyptian Mau cat, with different coloured fur. I’m also hoping to get some Egyptian Maus on the covers (when they’re eventually designed).

This will not be a regular zombie story, where a group of survivors are hoping to find a safe haven. In this series there is no safe haven. There is no escape. Sometimes the creatures inside are worse than the ones outside.

I’m hoping to hit 50K with a few days to go so I can get some more writing in. This will be the next series that I’m focussing on. I hope to publish Halfway in 2023, so I have plenty of time to work on it.

If you have a NaNoWriMo account and want to be buddies, just shoot me a request! I’m always happy to meet new people.

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

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