Novelist Review

Hi all,

If you've been following my blog for a while, then you may know that I write mostly using my phone. I used to use Evernote, but then they started placing restrictions on how many notes and notebooks you could create unless you paid a subscription.

Not writing on my phone wasn't an answer and I did try many things before finally settling on what I use now, Novelist!

It's an app for writers that can be used to plot books. You can split everything into chapters and notebooks, which is pretty handy! Although the app itself says it's not for writing books, I've used it for two books now and I'm really enjoying it.

It has a real time word count visible at the top of the screen, as well as characters, sentences and paragraphs. I usually only check the word count, but it's nice to have everything on display. It's much better than having to exit the note to check the word count.

I tend to write in dark mode as it's easier on my eyes, which is lovely little feature that I didn't consider before.

You can format the text as you go or just leave it as it is. I still prefer to do my formatting after in Word, but I think it's useful nonetheless.

It's great for keeping notes of all of my books in tidy places. I have different note books for book ideas, the books themselves and blog posts. This post was written in Novelist!

I would highly recommend Novelist for anyone who wants to either plot or write a book. It's changed how I write and I absolutely adore it. When Evernote first started placing restrictions I was initially worried that I wouldn't be able to find another app to use. I went through the notes app that was already on my phone, Word, OneNote and a few other apps that I downloaded. I found that Novelist is the best by far and I will continue using it for my writing and plotting.

That's it for this week! See you next Sunday. 

PS; if you’re looking for a new series to binge, check out this book bundle:

All Genre Boxset Readathon!

The Plague's Hope Pre-Order Live

Hi all,

The first book in the Curse of Anubis series, The Plague’s Hope, is now available to pre-order on Amazon! You can get the ebook version below, with the hardcover and paperback coming out on release day.

It will be out on October 8th 2024.

While you’re waiting for it to come out, why not sign up to my mailing list?

You get:

  • Five FREE enovellas.

  • Cover reveals before anyone else.

  • First chapter reads before anyone else.

  • Monthly news.

  • Character design polls.

  • Merch giveaways.

  • Free and discounted book deals.

  • Exclusive short stories.

You can sign up below:

That’s it for this week, I hope you check out Curse of Anubis! See you next week.

Last day to check out this book bundle before it disappears:

Binge-Worthy Books to Read on Holiday!

Willow & Rose

Hi all,

Iron Faerie have published another anthology containing one of my short stories! You can check it out below…

Willow and Rose is a compilation of fantasy, horror and speculative drabbles and flash fiction from authors worldwide.
Within its pages you will find enchanting stories of myth, legends and fairytales woven throughout.
Dive into the magic and wonder of these 50+ tales in Volume Five.

I love submitting to Iron Faerie as the stories contained are always amazing. They always ask for submissions with great themes and prompts so I will continue submitting to them in the future.

This short story follows Sekhmet and her encounter with a man trying to sell Ancient Eygptian artifacts. If you think that this will go down well with the goddess, then you’ll need to read the story to see her reaction…

That’s it for this week, I hope you check out Willow & Rose! See you next week.

PS; don’t forget to check out this book bundle if you’re heading on holiday:

Binge-Worthy Books to Read on Holiday!

Ten Books Published

Hi all,

With the last book of Celestial Plague published, I have now published ten books!

When I first started publishing I never thought I would ever hit this number. I absolutely love writing and this has been an absolute dream. Every single book that I've written has meant a lot to me in some way and I'm so glad that I can get them out into the world. It's the best feeling to see my books available for people to read!

If you had asked me ten years ago if I would have published ten books, I don't think I would have. My mental health had improved so much and writing has been a real outlet for me.

I don't want to stop writing or publishing and I can't wait to get my next one out. I'm so glad that people are enjoying my work and want to read more of it.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me along this journey and I'm going to keep going!

To recap, the ten books that I've currently published are:

Elemental Dragons #1: Blood and Water

Elemental Dragons #2: Venom and Earth

Elemental Dragons #3: Glass and Ice

Elemental Dragons #4: Cinder and Fire

Years

Mute

Celestial Plague #1: Nirvana

Celestial Plague #2: Heaven

Celestial Plague #3: Purgatory

Celestial Plague #4: Hell

The next series that I'll be publishing is Curse of Anubis, which will be four books. After that, I think that I'll be publishing the Empty Skies series and hopefully some of the Original Elementals series too. I still have loads of great ideas for books that I want to write so I don't think I'll run out of publishing material any time soon.

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading. Another thank you to everyone who has supported me so far and I hope you'll stay with me as I continue to publish books. See you next week. 

PS; don’t forget to check out these book bundles:

Kindle Unlimited Horror Bookfest

Exciting Woo-niverse Giveaways: Fantasy, Paranormal, Magical Realism, Supernatural, and Sci-Fi

Curse of Anubis Chapter Headings

Hi all,

Like Celestial Plague, the Curse of Anubis series has multiple point of views of characters. By using chapters headers in Celestial Plague, it made it easier for you to differentiate which character had a chapter to themselves. I'm doing the same with Curse of Anubis, and I'm glad to show you the chapters headers for the two main characters: Bastet and Tahira. These chapter headers were done by the same person who did the Celestial Plague ones: Solcase Major.

Bastet.

As the cat goddess in Egyptian mythology, it should surprise no-one that her chapter header is of a cat! It wasn't going to be anything else and I absolutely love it.

Tahira.

Tahira is represented by a leopard. This will make more sense as the series goes on. She's surrounded by big cats throughout the series so I thought it made sense. This one is my favourite of the two, I do love big cat drawings.

The two chapter headers will be used throughout the series. There aren't any other characters who have a POV chapter so these are the only two you will see! No secret ones like in Celestial Plague with the butterfly header for the Sarjs.

If I do more multiple POV books in the future then I'll definitely use chapter headers! I think they're a fun and exciting way and it makes the book look prettier as well. So far all the other books I'm planning only have one main character so this may not happen for a while.

That's it for this week! I hope you like the new chapter headers. See you next week. 

PS; don’t forget to check out these book bundles before you go:

Spring Science Fiction and Fantasy Books in Kindle Unlimited!

Kindle Unlimited Horror Bookfest!

How My Endings Have Changed

Hi all!

This week I thought I would talk about my book endings. As my mental state has improved, I've found that my book endings have changed a lot. They've gone from really dark endings to some lighter ones, or even ones where there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Celestial Plague.

This series would have ended with book three, with Jenna getting away with her crimes. With the release of book four, I wanted her to receive some comeuppance for her actions. I think turning into the very thing she hates is good enough for her. Plus, her friends are freed of their disease and are able to live forever. It's a much lighter one than the one I had originally planned with book three.

Street Rats.

As I'm sure you've heard, this book was written during an especially dark time of my life. I was getting bullied at work and was taking on more than I could handle. But whenever I complained, it was thrown back in my face that I was bring ungrateful. That's why the original ending of this book was depressing. The main character, Hailey, had been abandoned by all her friends and was left all alone. Her parents turned their backs on her and a few antagonists from earlier in the book appear to make her life hell again. Thankfully by the time it came to me writing the ending I felt much better so it's a lot lighter.

Mute.

This book was originally going to end with Audra killing the wendigo and getting caught by the police. She would be framed by the surviving characters and left in prison. There, her mother, who had turned into a wendigo, would break into her cell to kill her. Luckily I had the idea of resurrecting Solaris and having him bring his sister to the rescue. Even though her mother is left in the police station, Audra walks away with a chance.

Those are my darkest endings so far without spoiling too much about books that haven't come out yet. From now on, I'm going to write the endings that feel right rather than going off my mental state. My writing gets darker the more down I feel and I don't want that to keep happening.

That's it for this week, see you next week! 

PS; don’t forget to check out these book bundles before you go:

Spring Science Fiction and Fantasy Books in Kindle Unlimited!

Kindle Unlimited Horror Bookfest!

Reedsy BookEditor Review

Hi all,

This week I'm going to talk about Reedsy BookEditor. It's a tool that you can use to write, edit and format your book. I use it exclusively to format my books and all of mine have been done through this tool.

When I first learned about formatting a book I was instantly overwhelmed with how it could be done. From having to make sure that everything stayed inside the margins to using headings for chapters, I just didn't get it. I watched a tutorial on how to do it in Word and it instantly made my anxiety flare up. I was worried that this was the point where I would hit a dead end. That maybe my book wouldn't get published after all.

But then I discovered the Reedsy BookEditor and it couldn't have been more simple. I just uploaded my book and it did everything for me! The only thing that I had to do was the front and back matter, but that was easy enough to add.

If you wanted to, you could write and edit your entire book in it. I've never done this as I prefer using Word and then uploading it. The tool does do a simple spell check but I've found that usually picks up on character names and places so I've never really gone with its corrections.

It's really been a lifesaver when it comes to publishing and I can't see myself going forward without it. The only downside is that there aren't a lot of fonts to choose from. I go with the default so it doesn't bother me but it may be an issue for others.

Overall, I would highly recommend it. Even if you only use it for short stories or reader magnets. It saves a lot of hassle of either formatting your book yourself or hiring someone to do it for you. This is one of my favourite tools and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments! That's it for this week, see you next Sunday. 

PS; take a look at this giveaway before it’s over!

Epic Fantasy Spring Giveaway

The New Book Titles for Curse of Anubis

Hi all,

About a year ago I made a blog post about how I want to change the titles of the Curse of Anubis books. Before, the titles were:

Halfway

Limbo

Middle

Dual

It's been a long time but I've managed to come up with some new names that will hopefully stick a bit better! The previous names were ones that were supposed to be placeholders until I started writing the books. But I struggled so much with coming up with names that they stayed far too long. But now, I'm glad that I can rectify that!

Book one: The Plague's Hope

Book two: The Burning Snake

Book three: The Frozen Eye

Book four: The Dead Kingdom

I think these titles are more fitting for what actually happens in the books and I think they sound a lot cooler too!

The Plague's Hope refers to Tahira as she is the first, and only, person to be partially resurrected after being a zombie. She can travel between the living world and the afterlife. The dead believe that the one who gets resurrected will find a cure for everyone.

The Burning Snake focuses more on Wadjet as she is the main antagonist in book two. She manages to get hold of Ra's Eye and takes the power for herself.

The Frozen Eye is about Horus' Eye and where it can be found. Seeing as one Eye has been found, the one who wields both is said to become the new ruler of the gods.

The Dead Kingdom I'm sure is a more obvious one, but it refers to all of the zombies. They have taken over most of the living world at this point and Anubis has stopped collecting their hearts.

I'm so glad that I finally sorted the titles out because it was driving me crazy. I've spent ages cycling through names that I think would work and then discarding them for not feeling right. These ones feel a lot better and I'm hoping that they'll stick. Especially since book one is coming out in October.

That's it for this week, I hope you like the new names! See you next week. 

PS; don’t forget to check out these book bundles before you go:

A Box Set of Young Adult Magic

Epic Fantasy Spring Giveaway

Fantastic Fantasy

Nephilim

Hi all,

A short of mine, False Comet, has been published in an Iron Faerie anthology! You can check it out below…

Dare to enter the cosmic battleground where angels, demons, and Nephilim collide!
Revealing forbidden love, celestial wars, and the extraordinary powers that shape their entwined fates.
Brace yourself for a rollercoaster ride through realms unseen, as each story lures you into a world where the boundary between light and darkness is blurred. promises a gripping journey that will leave you breathless, craving more of the supernatural tapestry these tales so masterfully weave.

Featured authors:
Barend Nieuwstraten III
B.F. Vega
D.L. Smith-Lee
Ellen Rose
Emily Sharp
Gabby Gilliam
Jessica Turnbull
Jordan Davidson
Spencer Helsel
Sultana Raza

False Comet is actually the first story I submitted to Iron Faerie. After I saw the prompt, I came up with an idea that I couldn’t shake! It follows three teenagers who are waiting for a meteor shower but instead witness a comet crash into the Earth. Upon further investiagtion, they wished they had they had just stayed at home instead…

I love seeing my work published in anthologies and I hope to continue submitting to them this year! I’ve already got my eye on a dragon one which I’m hoping to submit to by the end of the month.

That’s it for this week, I hope you enjoy Nephilim! See you next week.

PS; don’t forget to check out these book bundles before you go!

Free to Dream (Sci-Fi & Fantasy)

KU Kickstart (All Genre - 1st in Series)

A Dragon-themed New Year’s Adventure

New Year, New Monsters 4: From the Caves

My 2024 Writing Goals

Hi all,

As promised, here are my goals for 2024!

Write three books.

I would like to write the first drafts of the following books in 2024:

Original Elementals #8: Turf

Empty Skies #2: Freezing Constellations

Original Elementals #9: Arcturus

Publish two books.

I’m planning on publising Celestial Plague #4: Hell in April and Curse of Anubis #1 in October.

Re-name the Curse of Anubis books.

While I do like the names they currently have, I think I can do better. I’ve been looking at shorter, snappier titles and also longer ones. I don’t want to publish them with the titles they currently have.

Get two covers deisgned.

The first two books in the Curse of Anubis series will have covers by the end of the year. They will be designed by Deranged Doctor Design, as always.

Self-edit two books in the Curse of Anubis series.

I think I’ve been too hard on myself with self-editing in the past so this time I’m going to cut myself some slack. Editing two books myself is acheivable and I won’t be pushing myself too hard to get it done either.

Finish the Curse of Anubis Short Story Collection and make it available to my subscribers.

I’m planning on getting this enovella finished this year and I want to make it available to my newsletter subscribers before October.

Read 100 books.

I love reading and seeing as I blew my goal out of the water last year I thought I would increase it!

Work on my book sales.

I’d love to be able to publish more books, but in order to do that I need to sell more. I’m going to be tweaking a lot of my books descriptions, blurbs and categories to hopefully get more eyes on them. I want to continue publishing in the future and would like to increase the amount of books I’m able to publish in a year.

Create a Patreon.

Even if it’s not ready by the end of the year, I at least want to get started on it. I put it off a lot last year because I was worried that no-one would want to sign up to it. This is still one of my big goals although I’ve tweaked the original vision a bit. It will now be a hub for all things Elemental Dragons, which means that Original Elementals will be published on there first.

Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo.

I love participating in these events and my writing wouldn’t be where it is without them. I want to participate in all three events again this year and hopefully get some books done in that time!

I’m being a bit kinder to myself this year which is why I’m not setting as many goals as I usually do. I want to try to focus on my mental health a bit more this year. I didn’t realise how hard I was pushing myself until I looked back at my goals from last year. I’m going to slow down a bit but still keep up with my writing.

What are your goals for this year? Let me know in the comments!

PS; don’t forget to check out these awesome book bundles!

Free to Dream (Sci-Fi & Fantasy)

KU Kickstart (All Genre - 1st in Series)

New Year, New Monsters 4: From the Caves