The Elements of Elemental Dragons

Hi all,

This week I'm going to talk about the elemental powers in the Elemental Dragons series.

Each character has one or two of these elements, though being born with two is rare. For their training, they are separated into groups with others of their element. For those with two, they pick one as their primary element and mostly train with that one. There are eight elements:

Water

Water Elementals can use their power to manipulate water, create it, and swim underwater using air bubbles. They are also unaffected by rain as they can stay dry, and in their advanced training they'll be able to detect when it will rain and how to manipulate clouds.

Strengths: Earth, Fire.

Weaknesses: Electricity, Light

Markings: Tiny swirls surrounded by dots in random patterns.

Colour: Royal blue.

Fire

Fire Elementals can use their power to create fire, manipulate it and walk through it unscathed. Their lungs are different from other Elementals, as they can breathe in smoke and ash with no problems. When the weather is hot they don't feel it and also lack the capacity to sweat.

Strengths: Wind, Ice

Weaknesses: Water, Earth

Markings: Fireballs surrounded by dots in a tight circle pattern.

Colour: Orange.

Earth

Earth Elementals can create rocks and ivy, manipulate plants and breathe life into dead plants. They are natural climbers, and thrive better on a purely vegetarian diet, though not all Earth Elementals are vegetarian. Forests are their favourite places, as they love to hear the wind whip through the leaves.

Strengths: Fire, Light

Weaknesses: Water, Wind

Markings: Ivy-like tendrils surrounded by dots that resemble leaves.

Colour: Emerald green.

Wind

Wind Elementals use their power to create wind and manipulate it. They are unaffected by powerful gusts and in their advanced training they can learn to float a few inches off the ground. The most powerful move they can learn creates tornadoes, but due to how dangerous this is very few are granted permission to learn it.

Strengths: Earth, Electricity

Weaknesses: Fire, Dark

Markings: Cloud-like wisps surrounded by dots in a swirl pattern.

Colour: Grey.

Electricity

Electric Elementals can create and manipulate electricity. They can survive longer without food as long as they have a source of electricity close by, which they can use for energy. Electronics running out of charge is never a problem for them, as they can quickly charge it with their power. They are also natural lightning rods, so other Elementals give them a wide berth during thunderstorms.

Strengths: Water, Dark

Weaknesses: Wind, Ice

Markings: Lightning bolts surrounded by dots in a tight lightning bolt formation.

Colour: Pale yellow.

Ice

Ice Elementals create and manipulate ice and sometimes snow. Cold temperatures are not a problem for them, and their feet never sink in the snow. Advanced Ice Elementals will be able to detect when it will snow, and how to manipulate clouds.

Strengths: Light, Electricity

Weaknesses: Fire, Dark

Markings: Complex snowflakes surrounded by dots in a random pattern.

Colour: Electric blue.

Light

Light Elementals can create and manipulate light. They are natural light sources, in some instances they have been known to glow in the dark. Bright lights don't bother them, and they are the only Elemental that doesn't get sunburnt.

Strengths: Water, Dark

Weaknesses: Earth, Ice

Markings: Tight vertical lines that spread out further from the source surrounded by dots in a random pattern.

Colour: Pale pink.

Dark

Dark Elementals can create and manipulate darkness and shadows. They can dissolve into shadows and travel through them. When advanced enough, they can even bring non-Dark Elementals with them. Their eyes are naturally adjusted to dark places and they don't need as much sleep as other Elementals.

Strengths: Wind, Ice

Weaknesses: Electricity, Light

Markings: Small splotches surrounded by dots in a circle pattern.

Colour: Dark purple.

Only dragons get the colourful markings, which can decorate their scales in a variety of places. The most common places to get markings is on the feet, chest or back. Those with two elements do not get overlapping markings, instead one element will appear on one part of the body while the other appears elsewhere. The only exception for this is the face, which can have different markings on each side.

That's it for this week! If you would like to preorder Blood and Water please visit my 'Books' page for the Amazon links.

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!

Elemental Dragons Artist Showcase

Hi all!

This week I thought I'd do something a little different. There have been so many people involved in bringing Elemental Dragons to life, and I want to dedicate a blog post to them. This week I'm going to showcase the artists that have been involved in Elemental Dragons. From posters, illustrations to book covers.

First off, I'm going to start with Deranged Doctor Design.

They designed the ebook and print covers for Blood and Water, which look gorgeous. They also designed the banners for my website, Facebook page and Twitter page. They are always so helpful and seem to know exactly what I want! That's why I have booked all the covers for Elemental Dragons with them. If you want to check them out, I have linked their website below:

http://www.derangeddoctordesign.com

Blood and Water Ebook cover

Blood and Water Ebook cover

The rest of the artists I discovered when I signed up to Fiverr. Their art is gorgeous and affordable, so if budget is a problem I would recommend going there for book covers, illustrations or promotional work.

The first Fiverr artist I want to showcase is stevcelazarevsk. They created the picture of Aqueous which I will be using for promotion. They're really talented, and I would highly recommend checking them out below:

https://www.fiverr.com/stevcelazarevsk

Aqueous, which I will use when promoting Blood and Water

Aqueous, which I will use when promoting Blood and Water

Another Fiverr artist that I commissioned is Autumn9th, who created the illustrations inside the Elemental Dragons Short Story Collection. (Which you get for free when you sign up to my mailing list!) They knew exactly what I wanted and always delivered on time. You can check them out here:

https://www.fiverr.com/autumn9th?source=Order+page+seller+link

One of the four illustrations in the Elemental Dragons Short Story Collection

One of the four illustrations in the Elemental Dragons Short Story Collection

The last artist is shashika2, who made the cover for the Short Story Collection. I wasn't totally sure what I wanted and gave them the option of doing whatever they thought was best. I was very surprised at the end result as I loved it and it was better than I'd imagined. You can see their work below:

https://www.fiverr.com/shashika2?source=Order+page+seller+link

The cover for the Short Story Collection

The cover for the Short Story Collection

That's it for this week! One day I'll do a showcase for everyone else who has helped with Elemental Dragons, which includes: my editor, blurb writer and poster designer.

See you next week!

Mailing List Live

Hi all!

If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, you may have seen me posting about my mailing list.

A mailing list is a list of email addresses that readers let authors have in exchange for a newsletter, free book etc. In this case, I will use my mailing list to send out a monthly newsletter which will contain the following:

- Pre-order dates.

- Release dates.

- Cover reveals.

- Book recommendation of the month (both traditionally published and self published books).

- Blog posts from the past month.

- Writing excerpts.

- Facts from the Elemental Dragons universe.

- Monthly news.

- Giveaways and contests.

- Announcements.

In return for signing up, you will receive a free ebook! The ebook contains four stories from the Elemental Dragons universe.

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They are:

- Circles: Russet dreams of being free but is trapped in reality.

- Hesitation: Hercules finds an opportunity to escape the humans who have tortured it for decades, but the world outside has changed.

- Passion: Ophelia desperately tries to find inspiration amongst the grime of the city.

- Purpose: Moon takes in four younglings for his own amusement, but he finds himself getting attached to them.

If you would like to sign up, please click the link below and keep an eye on your emails for your free ebook:

https://www.subscribepage.com/jessicaturnbull

See you next week!

Why I Chose to Write About Dragons

Hi all!

Before I begin this week's blog post I want to highlight an article by Bryan Collings, who got in touch after reading my blog post on writer's block. Feel free to check it out below, it's very in depth and includes thirty six ways to get through writer's block:

https://becomeawritertoday.com/writers-block/

This week I'm going to talk about dragons. I've loved dragons since I was little, but it never occurred to me to write about them until I was seventeen. Before then I mostly wrote about cats, especially my own, Rocky.

One day I decided to go on Amazon and have a look at books that contained dragons. I wanted something different to read and always found dragons cool.

There wasn't much.

Most of the ones that popped up were picture books, and I was very disappointed. So I went online and had a look around. I came across several posts on forums from readers frustrated that dragons weren't written about that often. If they were, they were the villain or the mentor.

Because there wasn't anything that I could find, I thought I'd write my own.

I didn't want my dragons to be the huge treasure hoarders that are usually portrayed, so I decided to spice it up a bit. I loved the dragons in How To Train Your Dragon, as they each had their own personality. I wanted my dragons to act like overgrown pets, a mix between cats and dogs. 

The dragons in Elemental Dragons are all different, but act like family pets. They play like kittens, stick their tongues out like dogs and silently judge you like a cat does. They are also able to communicate with feline and canine creatures as they share the same language, but each animal species has different mannerisms when speaking. They are only able to communicate with humans through growls and barks however, as I decided against having them speak. I thought it would be too weird.

The series also has several types of dragon, four species that show up in the universe. They are:

Primordial.

This species is extinct in the books, but they have had a large impact on the dragon raising culture and the characters do learn about them as time goes on. There are three sub-species in this category: Anthropomorphic, Draconic Hybrid and Hydra.

Avian.

The most common species of the Elemental Dragons universe. This type is also the only type where the teenagers can form a 'bond'. There are four sub-species: Amphiptere, Drake, Fairy and Western. The Western dragons are the ones that are usually bonded with, and most of the dragon characters in the books are Western.

Aqueous, a Western dragon - Artist

Aqueous, a Western dragon - Artist

Reptilian.

This species is the rarest, as they are most likely to be hunted by the other species for food and hunted by humans for their horns. There are three sub-species in this category as well: Eastern, Ouroboros and Wyvern.

Serpentine.

These dragons are parasitic in nature, and tend to live off the Primordial dragons. Most of these species are also extinct in this universe, as they largely died off when the Primordial dragons went extinct. There are four sub-species: Great Serpent, Lindworm, Sea Serpent and Wyrm.

Most of these dragons are rarely shown in books and film, so I researched many dragon types and categorised them into species. All of them will be at least mentioned across the series, with some having major roles in the plot. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't go into any more detail.

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed learning about the dragons in Elemental Dragons and why I write about them.

See you next week!

How I Started Elemental Dragons

Hi all,

Last week I ran a poll on Twitter to see what you wanted to read next, and most people voted for a blog post on how I started Elemental Dragons. I hope you enjoy.

Although I've been writing since I was very young, as soon as my exams hit I didn't have the time to do much because of revising and homework. Unfortunately my writing went on the back burner until I had more time.

After finishing my AS Levels at seventeen, I decided to start writing again. The most I'd ever written for one project was 25,000 words, so I wasn't expecting to write a novel. I thought I would just write until I got bored of the story as I normally did. I had loads of unfinished stories on my laptop that I just couldn't bring myself to work on.

I'd written many short stories, but a novel seemed like too big a project for me.

Once I started writing however, I didn't stop.

I had a vague idea of the story, but I had no idea where it would end up. I was just making it up as I went along. Once I hit 15,000 words I realised I'd have to change my strategy.

So, I spent hours searching for the perfect character names and settings. Once I hit 45,000 words I started researching traditional publishing. I had a gut feeling that I was going to finish this story and I wanted to get it out there. I read so many blog posts on word counts, query letters, formatting and literary agents to make sure the book was publishable. I would write for an hour, and then research for an hour. I was so scared of doing something wrong that would make it so I could never be published. My anxiety was through the roof.

Three months later, I had written 89,000 words and finished the book. I never thought that I could do it.

It was untitled at the time, as I couldn't think of a fitting name for it. I left it for a month before I started editing it.

I spent ages reading editing tips and tricks to make sure I did it right. I managed to cut it down to 81,000 words.

But then exams came round again, and I couldn't focus on it anymore. A few months later I finished my exams and turned my attention back on my book once more.

I was still intent on getting it traditionally published, as I had very little knowledge on self publishing.

For two years I did nothing but edit the book again and again as I was scared of sending it out. I didn't want to get rejected.

When I hit twenty one, I decided to send it out to agents and publishing houses. I sent out eighty queries, and each one rejected me. It was a tough process, but I'm glad I went through it. There was always a niggle at the back of my mind that I should self publish, and I eventually followed that gut feeling.

I don't know where that gut feeling will take me, but I hope it was the right decision.

I want to get my story out there, and keeping all control over my work is what I want to do. I don't want to be given a cover I hate, or edits that don't fit with the characters.

I want to do this on my own, I did everything else on my own, and I want to make it my achievement. I don't want other people taking credit for all the hard work I put into Blood and Water.

That's the story of Elemental Dragons, 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!

How I Named the Dragons in Elemental Dragons

Hi all!

This week I thought I'd tell you how I came up with the names of the dragon characters in Elemental Dragons. As with human characters, I find it hard to come up with names. I've spent ages trawling through sites to find the best names sometimes! So, I'm going to tell you the meaning behind each name.

Aqueous.

Aqueous is the dragon of the protagonist, Hazel. I wanted to name him after her element, water, but struggled to find a name that stuck. He's gone from Ocean to Tsunami and even Stormclaw. I eventually decided on Aqueous as it's quite unusual but still fits with the water element.

Drea.

Drea is Marco's dragon, one of Hazel's friends. I came up with her name because I liked the name Rhea but it didn't quite fit her. So I swapped the first two letters and she ended up as Drea.

Asteroid.

Asteroid is Wes' dragon, an ally of Ray's but also a friend to Hazel. She is a brown dragon with orange feet so I originally came up with the name Comet as it looks like her feet are on fire. I changed it to Asteroid as I thought it was a better fit.

Cerberus.

Cerberus is Rocky's dragon, Hazel's brother. As a dragon with the element electricity I found it quite difficult to name her. I originally wanted to name her something to do with lightning. I love Greek mythology and I like the idea of Cerberus being a huge pushover when guarding the gates of Hell so I named her after the three-headed dog as she has the most playful personality.

Damayanti.

Damayanti is Braith's dragon, one of Hazel's friends. Her name is my favourite out of all of them. I was looking for names that meant 'beautiful' and came across the story of Damayanti online. She's a character in a love story in the book of Naishadha Charita. The name fitted her perfectly.

Winter.

Winter is Ray's dragon, the antagonist and leader of the Cindaraans. Her blue and white scales reminded me of winter colours, so I named her after the season.

Eruption.

Eruption is Mr Reedman's dragon, a secondary antagonist. Mr Reedman has an explosive temper so I thought his dragon's name should reflect that.

Exquisite.

Exquisite is Sadie's dragon, a bully. As a premier, Sadie believes that she is entitled to whatever she wants. As she's quite stuck up I thought she would give her dragon a pretentious name to show off. Her mother's dragon is called Divine, so she is also following in her mother's footsteps with unusual names.

Fortune.

Fortune is Mason's dragon, Marco's twin brother and Sadie's boyfriend. In the first book Mason is like Sadie, stuck up and a bit of a bully. But over the series he mellows out a bit. To reflect his younger personality I believed that he would give his dragon a pretentious name that he would regret when he was older.

Utopia.

Utopia is Violet's dragon, one of Hazel's newest friends. Violet is very shy but she has many ideas of how she wants to change the world so she named her dragon after the utopia that she wants to build in the future.

That's it for this week! Let me know if you enjoyed this one and I'll do another post on how I named the human characters. 

See you next week!

Blood and Water Chapter One Preview

Hi all!

This week I thought I'd share with you a snippet of chapter one of Blood and Water! I hope you enjoy!

Dragons may have been the first to rule the world, but humans have ruled better. 

The large, terrifying lizards plagued the Earth with their constant territorial fights. Like most things in nature, they were responsible for their own downfall. 

I carefully close the old book in my hands.. The cover is faded and worn, and the pages yellow from age, but I don’t care. It is the handbook for my next step in life. The chance to be more than just a regular girl. The chance to see my brother again. 

Ignoring the roar of the train around me, I flip to my favourite chapter, identified by a folded corner and a faded blue ribbon. This chapter is full of colourful pictures of dragons and people working together. Some of them build houses; others help with shopping. My favourite picture is of a silver dragon soaring through the skies, a middle-aged woman wearing a leather jacket confidently clutching its neck. I hope that my future dragon will be faithful to me, though I know that’s a stupid thing to worry about. As long as I treat my companion well, it will be loyal. 

Closing the old book carefully as the train shoots around a bend, I glance out of the window, watching nature zoom by. Gnarled trees and pastel flowers dot the landscape. I even catch sight of a fluffy brown rabbit rushing into the undergrowth. The outside world is hidden to us as children. We are hardly ever told what happens out there or what it's like. They don't tell us so that we won't become curious, but it has the opposite effect. At nineteen we leave our town and are released into the wide world, a thought that terrifies me. There's no way of knowing what's on the other side. At fifteen, I only have four years left until I find out. 

“Hey, look! I can see the camps on the horizon!” 

Someone at the back of the train jumps out of their seat and excitedly taps a window. “Look! One of the Years is practising dragon flying!” 

Everyone oohs and aahs at the sight of a royal-blue dragon soaring through the air, its large wings slicing through low clouds. Its companion grips tightly on the reins, almost as if they are scared but trust the dragon's judgement. The dragon is about eight foot tall, its scales covered in emerald-green squiggles, almost like patches of ivy weaving up a tree trunk.

It's probably one of the older Years. Dragons don't finish growing until Year Three.” 

I'm nervous. 

I’m going to a new area, with new people, new school lessons and I'm going to see my brother for the first time in a year. I'm moving to Aria, one of the best towns in the country. While in a Primary Town you can't visit the people in a Secondary Town, and vice versa. The adults say it’s so we don’t hurt people if we discover our element early, but I doubt that. I've missed my brother, and my friends too – Marco and Maya the most. It's been hard not having them around every day. But now that I'm moving to a Secondary Town I can see them again and hang around with them. 

Hopefully. 

That's it for this week! Next Sunday I'm going to write about what element I would like to have if I was born in the Elemental Dragons universe.