Venom and Earth now Available on Amazon!

Hi all!

This is just a quick post to announce that Elemental Dragons Book 2: Venom and Earth is now live on Amazon!

It’s available in ebook and paperback.

I’ve even managed to do a universal Amazon link, so I’ve updated my ‘Books’ page as well with the new links. When you click it, it will automatically redirect you to the Amazon page for Venom and Earth in your region.

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Life just keeps getting harder.

Hazel and the gang are back, but after the near cataclysmic events of the last year they might not be together for long. The Wyrms are on the move and so are those that serve them, including the Cindaraans who will let no-one get in their way.

As long as they are on the hunt no dragon is safe, and if the group can’t learn to control their elements in time then they never will be again.

Just as they are starting to settle into a routine back at the camp, the group falls under the public eye mostly because of newcomer Violet who harbours a secret that quickly thrusts them all straight into the limelight.

Can they duck the paparazzi and stop the villains at the same time? Or will some of the very people they’re trying to save be the group’s undoing?

Find out in Venom and Earth, the exciting sequel to Blood and Water. An action and adventure fantasy series that will keep you glued to every page.

Next week I’m going to talk about how writing has improved my mental health, so I hope to see you then!

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Entering my First Book Award

Hi all!

In November I entered Blood and Water in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards, and I thought I'd share how it got on!

The Wishing Shelf Book Awards is an award run by Billy Bob Buttons, a children's author. For each category a group of the target audience reads the books and rates them. I entered the teenage category, so my book was read by my target audience.

A few weeks ago the finalists were announced, but unfortunately I didn't get through. I did however get wonderful feedback from those who read my book and a four star review!

There was a surprise among my feedback, Blood and Water won a Red Ribbon Award! This means that although my book didn't get over 30/40 to be a finalist, (it got exactly 30/40), it was enjoyed very much by the readers, who gave it a Red Ribbon! I'm thinking of adding it on the back cover, so it doesn't draw from the front cover.

The Red Ribbon Award I will be adding to my book cover

The Red Ribbon Award I will be adding to my book cover

For my first time entering an award I wasn't expecting to get through, but I'm very happy with the fact that I got an award out of it. I've entered another two different awards, so fingers crossed I'll win something there too!

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

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Venom and Earth Preorder Live

Hi all!

You may have seen my posts on social media this week, but if you haven’t; Elemental Dragons Book 2: Venom and Earth is available for preorder!

I can reveal that the publication date for both ebook and paperback is 14th April 2020.

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If you would like to preorder the book I have linked the US and UK versions below, but is available internationally if you aren’t in either of these places:

UK Version

US Version

If you’ve already read the first book and are hungry for more, the sign up to my mailing list! In return you will receive a free enovella with four short stories from the Elemental Dragons universe. The only way to read them is by signing up, as they aren’t available anywhere else!

https://www.subscribepage.com/jessicaturnbull

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Thank you to everyone who supported me through publishing Blood and Water, I’m so grateful that I now have the opportunity to publish a second book.

See you next week!

Why Aqueous is a Black Dragon

Hi all!

You may have looked at the title to this post and thought: "What? Why does that matter?". But there is a reason why Aqueous, a dragon character from my Elemental Dragons series, has black scales. 

This was a deliberate design choice.

I didn't choose him to have black scales because of Toothless from the 'How to Train Your Dragon' series or because it was my favourite colour.

I chose it because black animals are the least likely to get adopted.

Aqueous - created by Stevcelazarevsk on Fiverr

Aqueous - created by Stevcelazarevsk on Fiverr

In animal shelters, black and black and white cats are always the first to be put down. The same goes for dogs too. This is because they aren't seen as 'pretty' enough and their dark fur doesn't show up in pictures as well as animals with different coloured fur. It sickens me that people would choose to disregard an animal because it doesn't show up in their selfies, but unfortunately that's what people are like.

So, I decided that Aqueous would be a black dragon.

Why? So then people might think twice about adopting a black animal.

Rocky is black and white and Mishka is black. But despite how beautiful they are, if they were in a shelter they'd be looked over more.

By making the main character bond with a less 'desirable' dragon, I wanted to highlight the issues that shelters face. In Elemental Dragons, Aqueous is an extremely rare dragon - he's the first black common dragon to have bonded with someone. This makes him special, and throughout the books people make comments about his appearance as they've never seen one like him.

By making Aqueous special I'm hoping that it will encourage people to adopt black animals, so then they can have their own little 'Aqueous'. People need to see that there's nothing wrong with black animals, they just need to get the right lighting when taking pictures of them. This shouldn't be a factor when adopting, but unfortunately with the rise of smart phones and social media this has become more prevalent. So many people have spoken out about this issue and I wanted to incorporate it into my books somehow. 

When I told my boyfriend about this issue, he decided that he wanted to adopt a black cat instead of a tabby one. This is how we ended up with Mishka.

Mishka - as a black cat she would be less likely to get adopted in shelters.

Mishka - as a black cat she would be less likely to get adopted in shelters.

My favourite advocates for this are Cole and Marmalade, who constantly share facts about black cats and gorgeous pictures of their cats. I've linked one of my favourite articles here if you want to check them out.

Do you have a black pet? Feel free to share pictures in the comments!

That's it for this week, I hope that I've educated a few people on this issue. If one person thinks twice about adopting a black cat after reading this, I know I've done something right.

See you next week!

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Animals in my Writing

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about animals in my writing. There are animals in books that I'm currently writing now and also ones in future works I can't wait to write about.

Cats.

If you've read Blood and Water you'll already know about Normie, the Siamese cat that Hazel and Wes adopt. Cats are one of my favourite animals, and I usually include at least one in my books. I started off writing about my cat, Rocky, and his adventures and I'm not planning on keeping them out of my books now. In the Curse of Anubis series, which I have yet to write, the Egyptian goddess Bastet is one of the main characters. She is an Egyptian Mau cat in each book.

Rocky having a rest in the garden

Rocky having a rest in the garden

Panthers.

In Celestial Plague one of the characters, Raya, can shift into a panther. The panther is called Damisa and is her inner voice, the other half of her that shares her mind. Of course as a cat lover I thought about making her a cat, but I decided that a panther is much more intimidating and more interesting to write.

Foxes.

As another one of my favourite animals I hope to include a fox in one of my stories. I haven't got any plans for one yet, but hopefully one day! The closest I've gotten to writing about one is a kitsune in a short story I wrote over a year ago.

Snow Leopards.

If you read my blog post about my author logo you'll know that I hope to write about snow leopard one day. The writing group I attend gave us an interesting prompt yesterday which I think I can squeeze a snow leopard into.

Wolves.

This animal will make its debut when I write one of my standalone books, Street Rats. I think wolves are beautiful creatures and I would like to give them the spotlight in one my books at some point.

Dragons.

The big one! My favourite mystical creature of all - dragons. The Elemental Dragons series is full of them and if you love them too I suggest you give Blood and Water a read.

Winter - a character from the Elemental Dragons series

Winter - a character from the Elemental Dragons series

I hope you enjoyed this week's post. I'm thinking of doing a sequel post to this one in the future about the monsters I'm planning on writing about. Let me know in the comments if you'd be interested!

See you next week.

Venom and Earth Chapter One Preview

Hi all,

This week I haven’t been too well so I haven’t been very productive with my writing. But, with Elemental Dragons Book 2: Venom and Earth coming out in April I thought I would share a preview of the first chapter with you! If you haven’t read the previous book and don’t want to be spoiled I would recommend skipping this blog post.

Preview:

Peace doesn't last forever. I always seem to find out the hard way.

The screen in front of me is currently showing my worst nightmare. Helicopter blades whir overhead the cameraman as he points one gloved hand towards the beast in the sky.

Draca.

The orange dragon flaps its mighty wings, stalling the helicopter following it for a millisecond. They finally get ahead of it and it bares its teeth, growling at the people ahead.

"How did it get out?" Wes trembles beside me, his locket glowing a murky grey.

Wes is one of my closest friends in Aria, the first person I met outside my friends and brother. We’re both equally scared of our markings, the beacons that are currently leading Draca right to us.

I ignore the feeling of my skin burning around my wrist; it doesn't matter now. The silver bracelet on my wrist continues to burn, as if it’s warning me about what I’m about to face. Looking at that beast on the screen makes my back burn too; my markings are probably glowing. The markings that are lighting Draca's way. It knows where to go because of the markings on my back of my element, water. Now, it wants to swallow me alive to get my power.

"Hazel?" Wes shakes my arm feebly.

"I'm thinking."

"Me too. We need to hide."

"We can't hide from a monster that can track our markings." I hesitantly brush my fingers over the nape of my neck, feeling the warmth radiating from the royal blue swirls on my back.

As much as I want to run, there's nowhere to go. Camp walls are guarded; we won't be able to sneak past.

"Then what do we do? Wait for it to come and eat us?"

I glare at my friend, who trembles as the dragon lets out a roar so loud that it’s distorted on the live feed. "I don't know."

"What about the others? And Braith... She'll want revenge."

Braith has markings also, she joined our group a few months after it was formed. She’s given us so much information so far, she’s a valuable asset.

I sigh and tear my gaze from the screen. "What do you mean?"

"You and I both know that everyone at the lab is dead. It's all over the news! Olwen wouldn't have made it out. "

My heart thumps into my throat at the thought of Braith crushed by the death of her older sister. Wes is right. There's a strong chance she'll do something impetuous.

"We need to find her."

"You can. I'm not going outside with that thing flying around." Wes sinks lower in his chair as people around us start to chatter as the camera cuts out.

I'm not letting her get into trouble.

"Fine. We'll go by ourselves." I glance at my dragon companion, Aqueous, who nods in agreement.

I slink through the crowd, Aqueous gently pushing people out of the way with his bat-like wings. I'm glad there are no Premiers around to fine us. My commoner status means that I can be fined by the elite for even glancing in their direction. With Draca loose I suppose their ‘protectors’, people who watch over the Premiers, are too busy to worry about a few commoners like me getting too close,

Cold air blasts my face as I step onto the gravel path outside the library. The sky is grey and full of clouds that look ready to burst. Aqueous sniffs the air, his claws digging into the gravel.

"Can you smell it?"

The black dragon shakes his head, but his turquoise eyes won't meet my gaze.

"You're a terrible liar."

His eyes twinkle until a roar makes us both jump. It echoes around the camp, instilling a deep silence.

"We need to find her, now."

My companion puts his nose in the air once more, nostrils flaring. I let him lead as we walk through the empty streets. People duck into the nearest buildings, their eyes wide with fear. Although I'm scared, I need to find Braith. She's going to be devastated. I hear the whir of helicopter blades again, and quicken my pace to a run. Aqueous slows down to run beside me, his eyes darting between the sky and the path ahead. As we turn a corner, I recognise the black and white scales of Damayanti, Braith’s dragon. She is glaring at the sky, legs splayed and teeth bared. Next to her stands Braith, clutching a piece of pipe in her hands. Her face is wet with tears, and her hair is ruffled over her sweaty forehead.

"Braith!" I call out to her, but she doesn't acknowledge me. "Braith!"

"Fuck off, Hazel."

The fact that she used my proper name instead of the nickname she gave me shows that she's upset. Her gaze drops to meet mine, her brown eyes blazing with fury.

"Braith, we can't be out here."

The hum of the helicopter blades becomes louder; it will break through the clouds any minute. And Draca would too.

"I want it dead." My friend clutches the pipe so tightly her knuckles turn white. "Olwen is dead because of it."

"You don't know that. She could have got out–"

"No. Most of the building collapsed after catching fire. They've found bodies, not survivors."

I take a step forward but Damayanti bares her teeth, frosted breath flowing from her nostrils.

The helicopter spirals overhead, trailing smoke in its wake. It heads for the forest, disappearing behind the trees. Aqueous shields me from the strong winds as Draca's head breaks through the cloud first. Its long orange body follows, circling the camp in seconds.

It's the size of a skyscraper, with piercing amber eyes and dull orange scales. Chipped brown spikes stick out over its head and neck in all directions. Its claws are as long as my body and of a faded yellow. Its eyes lock on us below, its lips contorting onto a snarl. It flaps its wings once and lands gracefully in front of us in the square, squeezing its bulky body in between the shops surrounding it.

"Get 'im!" Braith snaps at her companion.

With a screech of fury, Damayanti leaps into the air, speeding towards Draca for an attack. Aqueous shoots after her, tackling her out of the sky yards from the beast's face. The two of them tumble on the ground, leaving scars in the pavement.

"No!" Braith screams, whacking my arm with the pipe as she rushes towards the great beast.

I shoot a blast of water at her feet, knocking her to the ground.

Draca lifts one leg, trapping Braith between its claws.

"Shit!"

I run forward, firing streams at the beast's head. It ignores me and starts to drag its hand across the ground towards its head, taking Braith with it. My friend tumbles helplessly between the clawed bars, getting covered in dirt and grime. Each claw leaves a large scar in the earth. Damayanti's angry roars ring in my ears as the beast lifts its hand up, hooking Braith's arm between rows of teeth.

"Hazy!" I hear the fear and regret in my friend's voice as the beast prepares to take off, with her dangling from its mouth.

"No!" I fire more water, but it bounces off the dragon’s orange scales harmlessly.

Flapping its wings, Draca launches into the sky, the force of its take-off knocking me backwards. When I'm able to open my eyes again, the clearing is empty.

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My 2020 Writing Goals

Hi all,

Following on from my year in review last week, I'm now doing my 2020 writing goals. They are as follows:

Write two books.

I'm hoping to write Celestial Plague Book 3: Purgatory and Years before the end of 2020.

Publish two books.

Elemental Dragons books 2 and 3 will be coming out this year! Venom and Earth in April and Glass and Ice in October. I will also be entering both of them in Cover Wars.

Get three covers designed.

I've already booked Deranged Doctor Design to do the covers for the next two Elemental Dragons books, but I also want a cover for the Celestial Plague Short Story Collection.

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Edit two books.

I would like to edit Elemental Dragons Book 4: Cinder and Fire and Celestial Plague Book 1: Nirvana myself before passing to my editor.

Write four short stories.

I haven't written a short story for a while and would like to get back into it. I'd also like to start dabbling in horror.

Get a short story published.

I would like to get one of my short stories published in a magazine or anthology.

Read 15 books.

I've already set my goal on Goodreads and I'm hoping that I'll be able to find time to read again, even if it's not as many books as last year.

Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo.

Having a goal to work towards seems to work well for me, which is why I'll be doing NaNo again this year! I'm aiming for 50K each time, nothing crazy.

Thank you for reading! I would also like to thank everyone who voted for Blood and Water in Cover Wars, it came third!

See you next week.

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Venom and Earth Cover Design

Hi all!

If you haven’t seen my social media posts the cover for Elemental Dragons Book 2: Venom and Earth has been revealed! It has been posted to my Twitter and Facebook pages, and also on another author’s book blog:

https://suesbookblog.wordpress.com/2019/11/25/cover-reveal-venom-and-earth-by-jessica-turnbull/

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As with Blood and Water this has also been designed by the wonderful people at Deranged Doctor Design. (I got the Print Social package for those who are interested).

Like with Blood and Water, I thought I would explain a few key details of the cover:

The colour scheme is green and purple, to represent the title of Venom and Earth.

Hazel, the MC, is again on the cover.

The rocks are not being created by Hazel as she is not an Earth Elemental.

The rocks are being conjured by someone else, cornering Hazel.

The background is a forest, which comes into play later on in the book.

I liked the font from last time and kept it, as well as the colours.

Again, dragons aren’t in the background as I thought it would be too overwhelming.

That’s it for this week! Next week I’m going to talk about NaNoWriMo, how I felt during the entire process and how I managed to churn out 61,908 words in total.

See you next week!

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How I'm Feeling About Self Publishing

Hi all!

The next few days are going to be exciting as Blood and Water is out on Tuesday! On the one hand I can't wait for people to read it, but on the other hand I'm quite nervous about what people will think.

Self publishing was a big plunge for me, as I always thought I'd go down the traditional publishing route. However, after querying agents with no success I began to hope for rejections.

Why?

Because I'd researched self publishing a lot more.

To me, self publishing is more alluring and gives me more creative freedom than an agent would. Although this means I'm starting off with no connections and little experience, I'm still excited to see where this will take me.

My editor and cover designer helped me bring my book to life and are so lovely to work with. My writing is now more polished and the cover is gorgeous.

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Publishing through Amazon was easier than I expected, so much so that I changed my mind about not doing paperback!

It was easy to upload my novel and make tweaks where needed. Now I'm hoping that you will all love the story that I've been sitting on for the past five years.

If you want to buy a copy please visit my books page, which hopefully soon won't look so bare! Please also review my book if you can, it really helps self publishers.

Keep an eye on my Twitter on Tuesday, as I will be launching a giveaway for a signed paperback version of Blood and Water!

See you next week!

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Why I Chose to Dedicate my Book to my Grandfather

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about dedicating Blood and Water to my grandfather.

At first, I wasn't really sure if I would use the 'dedications' page in my book, I didn't really think about it too much. But, then my grandfather got admitted to hospital. Although he's much better now, the thought of him being so ill hasn't left me.

So, I thought I'd put his name in Blood and Water.

Yesterday I gave him the very first physical copy of my book and he absolutely loved it. He even said he would read it before he went to bed!

Throughout my writing journey, he has always supported me and read my stories. Even when I was younger writing about Warrior Cats and stories about my own cat, he continued to read them and encouraged me to keep going. He loved hearing my ideas about Rocky being a spy cat or a runaway feline trying to find his way back home. The ideas were silly, but he still encouraged he to keep going.

Almost every time I see him, without fail, he'll ask how my writing is going. He's known of my plans to become an author since I was young, and never tried to dissuade me from following my dream.

Although there are many people (and cats) I can dedicate my books to, I wanted him to be the very first. I wanted to thank him for supporting me.

He didn't notice the dedication at first because he was so excited, but once I pointed it out he was ecstatic.

Me and my grandfather

Me and my grandfather

In my mind, there was no-one who deserved the first dedication more than him. Some authors choose not to dedicate their books to anyone, which is their own choice. Don't feel put off by adding a dedication, it just shows that you want to highlight the person in your work as a thank you. You don't even have to dedicate books to a person, you can pick an animal or organisation if you want. It's your work, do whatever you want with it, and don't let other people tell you otherwise.

That's it for this week! Next week I will be attending the launch party for the anthologies that I was published in earlier in the year: Adverbially Challenged Volume Four and Sensorially Challenged Volume Two. So, my next post will be about that experience and how I'm going to attempt to reduce my anxiety beforehand.

See you next week!

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