Perfect Cheap Gifts for Writers

Hi all,

I've seen plenty of posts about gifts for writers and I thought I'd create my own little list to help people out! I've seen some ideas range from cheap to ridiculously expensive. Like most people, I don't have loads of money to spend on just one present, so I thought I'd focus this post on cheap ideas rather than really elaborate ones. Although everyone has their own little quirks and hobbies, most writers would love to receive any of the following:

Mishka in her Christmas outfit last year

Books - The most obvious one. Who doesn't love books?

Vouchers - I personally love receiving vouchers for book stores or Amazon. It means that I can fill up my to be read pile again.

Magazine subscriptions - Tying into my blog post last week, buying a month or two subscription to a writing magazine is a great idea.

Book posters - Some authors sell posters of their books. If the writer is a huge fan of a certain author, consider a poster!

Bookmarks - Like posters, most authors sell bookmarks of their books.

Notebooks - Writers can get struck with an idea at any time, so a notebook is a great thing to have on hand.

Food - Get them some of their favourite food or a voucher to their favourite restaurant. Creatives need fuel to keep writing!

Stickers - Some people love decorating their laptops with little stickers to personalise them. There are loads of writing related ones you can buy.

Book merchandise - Whether they're published or querying, you can get some of their manuscript printed on mugs or scarves.

Art - If you're a great artist, you may want to consider doing some art of their book. Maybe one of the characters or your favourite scene.

Supply Kit - Maybe combine a few of the above into a basket or box to gift the writer.

Support - This one is free. Support the writer by encouraging them to keep going. It's the most important and valuable gift you can give them.

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed! I also hope everyone has a happy holiday as well, whether you celebrate or not!

See you next week.

NaNoWriMo - November 2019

Hi all!

As promised, this week I will talk about how I got on with NaNoWriMo this year. This is the second time I've participated, but I had heard of it previously.

For those who don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. You are given a month to write 50,000 words. You can track your progress on their website and fill in your daily word count and when you are projected to finish. There are also forums to connect with other writers, who you can add as buddies.

My progress each day according to the tracker

This year I participated with the second book of the Celestial Plague series: Heaven. I had finished the first draft of Nirvana the month prior and wanted to write Heaven for NaNoWriMo. Before November 1st I'd already written 20K of my first draft, so I hoped that I could complete the entire first draft by November 30th.

By the end of the month I had written 61,908 words, bringing my overall total to nearly 83,000!

My overall word count

Last year I did an entire first draft in 30 days, which was tough. This year I decided to just write what I could.

My method:

- Goal: 2,000 words a day. (60,000 words by the end of the month).

- Write on my phone during my commute to work (bus): usually write between 600-1000 words.

- Write during my half an hour lunch break: usually write between 700-900 words.

- Write during my commute home (bus): usually write between 300-600 words.

- Anything left over I write at home.

My average word count

I found a method that works for me and also means that I don't have to cram words in when I get home from a long day at work. This way when I get home I can relax. Although the whole process is difficult, I still love participating. I love having a goal in front of me and a chart to tell me how I’m doing. I’ll definitely participate again next year, as well as Camp NaNoWriMo.

Did you participate in NaNoWriMo? Did you hit the 50K target? Let me know in the comments!

See you next week!

My Least Favourite Genres

Hi all!

A few weeks ago I did a post on my favourite book genres and I thought it was about time I posted the sister post: My least favourite genres.

Readers will always have genres that they don't particularly like, which is okay. We're all allowed to have preferences. Just because one reader doesn't like the genre, it doesn't mean there isn't someone out there who loves it! The following are the genres that I very rarely read and I'm not a huge fan of:

Romance.

I know romance is one of the most popular genres out there but I just can't get into it. I'm not a huge fan of romance being the centre of the plot and really struggle to read romance books because of it. While querying I was stunned to see how many agents would only consider romance and some agencies were built entirely on the romance genre. While i don't really see the appeal myself, I won't put anyone down for liking romance or writing about it.

Medieval.

Again, another genre that I just can't get into. Although some books do this quite well, others do not. I prefer books set in modern times to those set in the medieval era. Plus, I think it's a hard genre to write in due to people have warped conceptions of medieval times. A lot of things that people have seen on TV or at school just didn't happen, or it happened in a very different way.

Magic.

I used to love books about magic when I was younger, but I'm not a huge fan of them now. I've just found that there aren't many I can get into, as I don't like the magic system or the magic itself. Maybe one day I'll get back into them, but if not I don't really mind. There are some that I've read recently which are really good, but it's not enough to get me back into the genre.

Non-Fiction.

I'm just not a fan of many non-fiction books as I just love fiction so much. I'd rather pick up a fiction book and escape to a different world rather than read a biography. I will read non-fiction for research, such as Egyptian mythology books, but apart from that I don't really touch them.

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

How Dreams Can Influence Your Writing

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about dreams and how they can help your writing.

I've had most of my book ideas from dreams; including Elemental Dragons and Street Rats. Although I've adapted the story line slightly, it's still very much true to the original dream. I keep my phone by my bedside just in case I dream something up which I think would make a good book idea. Some are better than others, I've scrapped three book ideas because I just couldn't make them work despite dreaming them so vividly.

Characters.

Character appearances or names can come to you in dreams. Rocky was one of my dream characters that I put in several books before he found his place in Elemental Dragons.

Plots and subplots.

Although dreams can be crazy and unpredictable, some can give you a rough idea of a plot. You can then rework this so it fits in with the book or characters.

Writing blocks.

Sometimes we get writer's block, which is okay. Usually it's temporary and just puts us in a writing slump for a while. However, if you're thinking about your book a lot while you're awake, you might just be able to dream up a solution.

Covers.

As authors, we often spend far too much time thinking about what our book cover will look like. A specific colour or theme could come to you while you sleep.

Book names.

As I've mentioned in previous blog posts, Blood and Water wasn't the first name of my book. More like the third or fourth. I came up with half the name, water, while I was dreaming. If I hadn't then it might still be going through name changes today!

Book ideas.

A lot of my book ideas have come to me from dreams, which I have then changed to fit in with a story. The Curse of Anubis series started out as a dream about zombies, and has now turned into a four book series.

Sequels.

Dreams can often give you ideas for sequels, which you can then choose to write if you wish. Some ideas may just make no sense when you try to put them together, but at least you've tested out the idea instead of just jumping straight in.

That's it for this week! I hope you enjoyed the blog post, see you next week!

Genres I Would Like to Write in the Future

Hi all!

NaNoWriMo started on Friday so I am currently trying to reach a word count goal of 2K a day. This won't mean that I'm not writing any blog posts, however.

This week I'm going to talk about genres I would like to write in the future. As many of you know, I mainly write YA, fantasy, sci-fi and horror. But, I would like to write in other genres if I can think of a good enough story.

New Adult.

New Adult is the age group in between Young Adult and Adult Fiction. I would like to try New Adult as I think it would be a good middle ground if I ever wanted to write Adult books. I also think that the jump from YA to Adult is quite big, so NA is a nice middle ground so I can hone my skills while still having a bit of fun with teenage characters.

Paranormal.

Although at one point I had an idea for a Paranormal book, I scrapped it because I just didn't like it enough. If I were to one day write Paranormal it would probably have elements of horror mixed in. I like reading ghost stories, so I would love to one day be able to write a Paranormal book.

Mystery.

Mystery is a genre that I've never attempted before, but would love to try out. It would probably have elements of Sci-Fi or fantasy mixed in. I'm not planning on writing mystery for a while though, as I want to give myself time to research and improve my writing skills.

Crime.

Another one I've not attempted before, but would probably have elements of fantasy mixed in. I don't read many crime novels, but the ones I have read I absolutely loved. This is at the bottom of my list as I don't have any ideas for this genre, however.

Monster/Creature.

I'm a huge fan of monster films. I love watching films like Godzilla and King Kong, and I would love to one day write a book about a giant creature. Again, I don't have any ideas or plans for this as of yet.

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed! I also want to wish all the NaNoWriMo participants luck in hitting that 50K!

Why My Teenage Characters Swear

Hi all,

This week's post is a bit of a different one - revolving around swearing in YA fiction. I didn't realise it was an issue before I joined Twitter and I stumbled across a series of tweets asking if it's okay to have characters use bad language in YA.

My opinion?

It is.

All of my books are filled with crude language and mild sexual innuendos. There's nothing wrong with including it. When writing about teenagers you have to make sure that your characters are actually believable teenagers. Whether you like it or not, a lot of teenagers swear.

Although not all teenagers use bad language, most of them do from time to time. When they've just learned these words they will use them in any way they can, as it makes them feel grown up. Older teenagers tend to use them less.

All of my characters swear.

An example of swearing in Blood and Water - no, she isn't really a vampire.

Blood and Water was even rejected by an agent because I included swearing, and I was told that I should take it out or I would never get published.

She also said that it's unrealistic as teenagers do not swear.

When I was teenager, I swore profusely. I still do now.

To say that teenagers never swear is a false statement, and not one she should be telling authors who are hoping to get a few with her.

I've published Blood and Water by myself, and I have not removed the language.

Some authors get around this by inventing new words for their characters to use in place of swear words. You can do this if you want to, but I didn't want to invent new words to replace swearing. When your target audience is YA, it's okay to use swear words. I'm sure 99% of your readers swear, they're not going to hate you for it.

I don't think it should be as big of an issue as people make it out to be. If you want to include swearing, fine. If you don't want to include swearing, also fine.

Do what's best for you and your story.

Personally, I prefer having my characters swear as it makes them feel more human to me. At the end of the day it's just words anyway, and just because you don't write about it in your books doesn't mean that people will stop doing it.

Do what you want to do, and don't let anyone shame you for your decision.

That's it for this week! Next week I will be talking about how I'm feeling about self publishing, as Blood and Water is due out in nine days!

See you next week!

My Top Three Favourite Genres

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about my favourite book genres and what inspired me to write stories in them. In no particular order:

Fantasy.

Elemental Dragons is a fantasy series, so I'm sure this doesn't come as a shock to anyone. I've loved fantasy ever since I was little, so it's only natural that I would write in that genre. My favourite fantasy book series has to be Warrior Cats, and those books have inspired me and influenced my writing style. I hope that my books will bring as much inspiration to someone as Warrior Cats did for me. I love books that contain magical creatures and my all time favourite are dragons!

My fantasy books (written and planned):

Elemental Dragons - four book Young Adult Fantasy series.

Damaged Goods - three book Young Adult Historical Fantasy series.

Aerus Vs Bolt - Young Adult Fantasy standalone.

Sci-Fi.

The newest series that I'm writing, Celestial Plague, is a sci-fi dystopian novel. A lot of my favourite films are sci-fi, including the Alien and Predator series. Every time I watch those films I fall in love with them a little more. Although I'm only planning one book that includes aliens, the rest are more dystopian than sci-fi. I like the idea of writing about viruses and natural disasters and how the characters adapt to their new worlds, which is what Celestial Plague is about.

My sci-fi books (written and planned):

Celestial Plague - three book Young Adult Sci-Fi/Dystopian.

Enna - New Adult Sci-Fi standalone.

Years - Young Adult Sci-Fi/Dystopian standalone.

Horror.

When I was younger I didn't really like horror, but the book that changed that for me was Stephen King's 'Pet Sematary'. After I finished that, I was hooked on the genre. I've now read plenty of horror books and watched loads of films (with one of my cats always nearby, of course). I haven't really planned many horror books due to the fact that it's not really a genre I've ever really written in - but I hope to change that in the future when I get some practice. I've heard its a genre that can be hard to get right, so I want to make sure that my skills are up to scratch.

My horror books (written and planned):

Unnamed zombie series - four book Young Adult Horror series.

That's it for this week! One day I might write a sequel to this for my least favorite genres. If you'd be interested, let me know!

See you next week.

How Doodling Can Help Your Writing

Hi all!

This week I'm going to talk about doodling and how your writing can improve by doing it.

The good thing about doodling is that you don't need to be an amazing artist to do it. Whether you can draw anything and everything or can barely manage a stick figure, it doesn't matter. I'm not a great artist by any means, but I have a sketchbook filled with drawings and symbols from my novels, written and to be written. I mainly use mine to draw symbols or markings. For example: all eight elemental markings from Elemental Dragons are in there.

Elemental ice markings from my sketchbook

Visual art can help with descriptions.

When coming up with ideas for symbols or markings, it can be good to see them on paper. This will help you when writing your descriptions. You can then also visualise them on characters or covers to see if you like the design and if it fits with the story.

It can give you a break.

If you've hit a rut with your novel you can still work on it by doodling. Actually putting designs on paper may get your creature juices flowing and you'll feel better about writing your story.

Creative designs.

Doodling your ideas gives you the creative freedom to draw them however you want. You may have certain elements that you want in your designs. For example: I use a lot of swirls in my designs because they're simple but still pretty.

You can share them with your readers.

While waiting for the next book to come out, readers will still want new content from you. Sharing your sketches is a good way to engage your readers and they may even draw your designs themselves.

Sketch from Damaged Goods

You can design creatures.

Drawing your creature out can be a good way to visualise them, you can then see what parts of the design works and what doesn't. I've drawn a design of a spider hybrid in my sketchbook, which really helped me decide what features to give it and how I can describe it in my story.

You don't have to be good at art.

Most of my drawings are terrible, but that hasn't stopped me from continuing to sketch them out. You don't need to be an amazing artist to draw.

You don't have to show anyone.

It can be for your eyes only if you want it to be, other people don't have to see it if you don't want to.

You can see what works and what doesn't.

Sketching out a certain symbol on paper may look completely different to what you had in mind. This way you can alter the design or scrap it and start afresh.

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

See you next week!

My First Book Launch Party

Hi all,

For anyone who has missed my social media posts - I attended the launch party for Adverbially Challenged Volume Four and Sensorially Challenged Volume Two on Tuesday. It was my first ever launch party and writing event that I've ever attended.

All the readers at the event

My boyfriend and I went to a cat cafe, You & Meow, beforehand to try and settle my anxiety. Although I have a cat at home, Bristol is a two hour drive from where we live, so I needed to pet some cats just before the launch party. The cats were all very sweet and playful, they even had some new kittens! Overall it was a great experience and helped me calm down a bit. We also had some delicious carrot cake that we had to eat quickly because a few of the cats were eyeing it up.

One of the cats trying to get a taste of my smoothie

Now, for the launch party itself.

There was quite a lot of people there, most getting ready to read their stories in front of everyone. My stomach churned the entire time as I was waiting for my slot. Eventually my turn came and I managed to make my way up to the stage without tripping. Although the reading of my story, Mother Cat, was short and a bit rushed, I managed to do it. The entire time I was waiting to go up I felt like I was back in school again, about to do a presentation in front of the whole class. The whole experience made me very thankful that I'm not in school anymore!

Me, reading ‘Mother Cat’ from Adverbially Challenged Volume Four

The evening was great and I loved the stories that were read out by others. I've never seen so many authors in one place, and it was good to see that so many people have a passion for writing.

Would I do it again?

Yes.

Would I read another story out?

Maybe.

The experience brought back a lot of bad memories from my school days, so I'm not sure if I could put myself through that again. I'm so glad I faced my fears and did it though, and that my boyfriend was there to support me.

I hope you enjoyed this week's blog post.

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

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!