My First Tattoo

Hi all,

On Tuesday, I got my first tattoo done! I've wanted to get one for ages but I've always struggled with what exactly I wanted to get and where I would get it. One day I was looking at tattoo artists in my area and came across one who does absolutely gorgeous big cats. I knew then that I wanted a snow leopard. So, here it is...

My artist picked a beautiful reference picture and I love how it turned out. I decided to give the tattoo purple eyes as that is my favourite colour and a lot of people go for blue or orange. I booked this back in February so it has been a long wait to get it done. I'm so glad that I now have it, even though it did hurt like hell towards the end. It's on my left thigh as I heard that area doesn't hurt as much during tattooing. While it still hurt, I'm glad that I persevered and had it finished. It took two and a half hours in one session to get it done. But I'm sure there is one question you're asking...

Why a snow leopard?

I know that I'm known for my love of dragons and I would like to get a tattoo of one when I can decide what I want and where to put it. Maybe I’ll also get one that represents my books one day. But, snow leopards are my favourite animal and I knew one would look gorgeous as a tattoo. I read somewhere that snow leopards represent resilience and I've always thought of myself as resilient. I've been through a lot but I'm still going and I'm doing what I love.

For those of you who haven't got a tattoo and want to get one, I would offer the following advice:

Research your artist.

Make sure that they tattoo the style you like and that you love their portfolio.

Know what you want.

Make sure you know exactly what you want. This will be on your body permanently and you don't want to regret it.

Eat beforehand.

Make sure you eat a meal at least two hours before your tattoo and bring some snacks with you to your appointment. I also brought a sugary drink as well.

Ask about numbing cream.

Some artists won't tattoo you if you use numbing cream. If you want to use it, check with your artist first to avoid getting your appointment cancelled. I didn't use it in the end, but my artist was happy for me to if I wanted to.

Use good aftercare.

I'm using cocoa butter to moisturise mine 3-4 times a day and it works really well. You need to make sure it's moisturised to prevent infection.

Look after yourself.

I felt a bit sick the day after I got my tattoo done but it passed within a day or two. Make sure you're getting enough sleep and staying hydrated.

Will you see another blog post from me about tattoos? Probably! I'd love to get a dragon one done at some point but I'm going to give it a while before I look into it. There's no rush and I absolutely adore the one I have now! Want to check out the artist? Have a look at her Instagram here.

That's it for this week, see you next Sunday.

PS; last chance to get some of these books for free!

Silver Winged September: KU Fantasy Adventures that take to the sky!

Abundant Woo-niverse Giveaways for Magical Realism, Supernatural, Paranormal, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi

NaNoWriMo 2023 Project Announcement

Hi all, 

With November on the horizon it's time for me to announce my project for NaNoWriMo. This time, I'm going to be writing 50K words of the first draft of Original Elementals #7: Stormburst. Now that I've taken a break to write Missing Constellations, I feel a lot more refreshed to step back into the Elemental Dragons universe. 

First off, what is NaNoWriMo? It’s a yearly writing event where you have the month of November to write 50,000 words. This can be for a new book or an already existing project. I always start new books for this event.

This book will be bittersweet as the main character, Logan, is based off my late cat, Rocky. Everything will be written in his perspective, though he won't be exactly the same as his clone, Rocky, in Elemental Dragons. I miss my cat a lot and I'm hoping that this book will bring me further towards healing. It's going to be hard to write as he's always going to be in the back of my mind but I know he would want me to keep writing. 

This story will focus on Logan and his dragon, Stormburst. His mission is to help Sea Serpents. Although it isn't going to be as easy as he expected. First he needs to track down a Sea Serpent, which is difficult when you're locked up in a camp with guards patrolling at all hours of the morning. He already doesn't trust Zmei so will not be listening to their advice much. 

Stormburst is not fully developed enough to fly with a rider, but because Western Dragons are so new their companions aren't aware of this fact yet. She has had a growth spurt between books but not enough for her to support Logan on her back. The book will delve into his disappointment with this and how this affects his relationship with her. 

The other Originals will appear as well, but mainly Benjamin as he is Logan's best friend. 

I'm looking forward to diving back into the Elemental Dragons universe as I really need to scratch that itch to write about dragons! Completing this book will draw the series even closer to it's end and I can't wait to start publishing these books. 

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

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

Silver Winged September: KU Fantasy Adventures that take to the sky!

Abundant Woo-niverse Giveaways for Magical Realism, Supernatural, Paranormal, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi

Why I Love Participating in Anthologies

Hi all! 

If you've been checking out my other publications page, you've probably seen the list of anthologies that I've been published in. When I write short stories, I submit only to anthologies now. Why? Read below! 

Physical copies. 

Anthologies are far more likely to do physical copies when published. I love lining them all up on my bookshelf to see how much I've been published in. One anthology that I was included in even sent out a physical copy as part of the payment for submitting, which I thought was really nice. 

Builds your portfolio. 

You can add Anthologies that you've submitted to when you're pitching to agents and publishers. The fact that you already have work out there shows that you're dedicated to your craft and also boosts your letters if you're struggling to find stuff to add to it. 

Free Submission. 

I only submit to anthologies that don't have a submission fee. Not because they're not worth it, but because I don't think it's right to charge authors a lot of money to have one short story published in the book. I know some authors prefer only submitting to paid ones, but I like to keep my budget for my own books. 

Different Themes. 

I've found that my writing has gotten a lot better when I broaden the themes. My favourite theme so far is one about nephilim. I found the subject so intriguing that I knew I needed to write something for it straight away. 

Collaborative Project. 

I really love reading other authors’ stories. I love seeing an insight into how their minds work and how their writing differs from mine. You can find your new favourite author in an anthology if you look hard enough! 

More Variety. 

I can write a variety of short stories or even submit ones that have been sat in my folder for a while. It gets them out there and it also drives me to go outside of my comfort zone on some occasions. 

That's it for this week! I hope you enjoy reading, see you next week. 

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

Silver Winged September: KU Fantasy Adventures that take to the sky!

Abundant Woo-niverse Giveaways for Magical Realism, Supernatural, Paranormal, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi

My Favourite Sci-Fi Shows

Hi all! 

Back in July I made a blog post about my favourite zombie shows. This week I wanted to follow that up with my favourite sci-fi shows. I absolutely adore watching sci-fi and it's always a genre that I look out for when looking for new shows to watch. I won't talk about the plots too much as I think you should watch them yourself! 

The Rain

This is such a fantastic series. The characters are brilliant and the way they react to the world is amazing. There are so many times where I've had to hold my breath while watching as I can't wait to see what happens! It also makes me a bit wary to go outside when it's wet... 

Zoo

This series is weird but I love it. Animals start mutating in weird ways and it's up to a team to figure out why. I love the animals with their various mutations and how they set about curing it. Unfortunately this series was cancelled three seasons in, so there isn't an end to this one. Still, I think it's worth a watch. 

Helix 

I found this one by accident and thought I'd give it a shot. I don't regret anything. It centres on the outbreak of a disease in a facility in the Arctic. The disease begins to mutate the hosts and the scientists there have to find a way to stop it before it releases into the world. In the second season there's a new strain of the disease which is even more strange. Again, this series was cancelled but I loved watching every episode. 

Doctor Who 

A classic that I've been watching ever since of was revived in 2005. I grew up watching David Tennant battling against various aliens and saving the day. I still remember how much I cried when he regenerated into Matt Smith. But even today I still love the series and all the monsters in it. My favourite are the Weeping Angels. I've even watched Torchwood and a bit of The Sarah Jane Adventures. I can't wait for the next series and to see what new aliens the Doctor has to fight next. 

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading! One day I'll post about my favourite fantasy and horror shows too. See you next week. 

PS; don’t forget to check out this fantasy book bundle!

Silver Winged September: KU Fantasy Adventures that take to the sky!

Rocky has Crossed the Rainbow Bridge

Hi all,

Some sad news this week. Rocky, my fifteen year-old cat, passed away on the 22nd August. He went peacefully surrounded by family.

If you've read some of my older blog posts then I'm sure that you're aware that Rocky was my first writing buddy, the one who was with me when I wrote my first book. I even turned him into a human character in Elemental Dragons, but tried to keep his personality the same. He became Hazel's overprotective older brother who was creative but a softie at heart. He was there for me every step of the way through writing Blood and Water, which was called Marine at the time. Even after I finished the book and started researching agents and editing the book myself, he was there by my side. Or sometimes, literally in my face!

The behaviour of the dragons in Elemental Dragons is mostly inspired cats. Rocky was my 'dragon' that I would observe in between writing to get some of his behaviours right. For example; the dragons sleep curled up with their tails covering their noses, which is what cats do.

I want to do something in his memory but I'm not too sure what yet. I would love to work with a cat charity and raise some funds for them or even run a raffle with my books as some of the prizes. I have a charity in mind already but I'm not going to rush myself into contacting them, I'm going to give myself enough time to grieve properly.

Losing him was heartbreaking and I know he would want me to keep writing, which is what I'll do. Mishka, my five year-old cat, has been helping me through this time and I hope that she will take up his role as chief writing buddy.

I loved him so much and I'll never forget everything he did for me. I'll find some way to do some good in his honour once I've sorted my own head out first.

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

Purgatory Pre-Order Live

Hi all,

The third book in the Celestial Plague series, Purgatory, is now available for pre-order! It will be out on Amazon in ebook, paperback and hardcover on the release date.

I can confirm that this book will be out October 10th 2023.

You can pre-order it below:

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

You get:

• Four 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:

I hope you are excited for the release of Purgatory! Next week I have some sad news to share but I want to be able to turn it into something good. See you next week.

My First Solo Book Signing

Hi all!

This week i'm going to talk about my first ever solo book signing event! I've done a group signing before with other authors at a different bookshop but this one was entirely me and my own books! It was scary and exciting at the same time and I wanted to share with you how it went.

The signing was at The British Red Cross Bookshop in Plympton, where I was their author of the month for August. They interviewed me in February and I donated a few copies of my books for them to display as well as some bookmarks. They offered to let me do an event at one of their shops which I happily accepted. At first I wondered if I should do a book reading but I'm not confident enough with that yet. Instead, I decided a signing would be a good idea. I designed a poster advertising the event on social media.

First off, I took all of my books. I didn't want to confine myself to one genre and also wanted a variety for the table. I also took stickers, bookmarks, bookplates and pins. I wanted to use them to brighten up the table and give readers a little extra if they wanted it. After doing a bit of research online I found it would be a good idea to have a list to collect emails just in case anyone wanted to sign up to my newsletter. I didn't have any takers this time, but I still think it was a great idea. There was also a price list, which I printed two of. One for anyone who comes up to my table and one for the bookshop to keep at their till. We both kept track of everything that was sold and made sure the numbers matched up at the end of the signing. This worked out great as readers knew what the prices were when they had a look and there was no confusion with the bookshop either. The last thing I printed was a QR code that took readers to my Amazon page. If for any reason they didn't want a paperback yet or they preferred ebooks, they could take a look on there.

Now, I know that some of you are wondering how many I sold...

I sold five books!

For the first hour of the signing no-one had bought anything and I was starting to get disheartened. But my boyfriend came with me for support and we decided to do a bit of book shopping ourselves when we were there. It distracted me for a bit and I've got two more books to be added to my 'To Be Read' pile! Some members of my writer's group popped in to show their support and bought a couple signed copies which was lovely. 

Five books may not sound like a lot to some, but for my first signing I couldn't be happier. I was so worried that no-one would show up and I wouldn't sell anything. But I sold two bookmarks and a bookplate too! 

I'd love to do another signing at some point now that I have some experience. I know what to expect and hopefully I can improve for next time and try to draw more readers to my table. The staff in the bookshop were kind and supportive and did everything they could to make sure I was comfortable.

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading! Keep an eye out for next week's post, I think you might like it! See you then.

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

Celebrating Book Lovers

Angels of August: Fantasy Novels & Box Sets Galore

July Camp NaNoWriMo Wrap-Up

Hi all,

Another NaNoWriMo is done! This one was for Missing Constellations, which I’m hoping to launch as a Patreon exclusive at some point. This event was the best I’ve done in a while and I found myself getting more and more drawn into the story.

Missing Constellations follows Ataraxia and Laelaps, two constellations from Greek mythology who become stranded on Earth. The book contains various creatures from mythology, including: the Namean Lion, Scylla, Charybdis, Chrysomallus and Cerberus. There will be more as I continue writing, as I’ve found that the story isn’t quite done yet!

Instead, Missing Constellations will now be a trilogy. The series will be called Empty Skies, and the other two books will be called:

Book #2: Freezing Constellations

Book #3: Blazing Constellations

My final word count is…

I managed to complete the first draft the day after NaNoWriMo ended and the story is over 77K in total.

Ataraxia is a lot more adventurous than Laelaps and is more likely to rush headfirst into situations. Her power means that she always escapes anything, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t get hurt. Laelaps’ power is to always catch whatever he chases. Unlike Ataraxia, he is anxious and hates fighting. The book explores his anxiety and how much he struggles with everything that they have to do. But Ataraxia is always by his side and willing to help in whatever way she can.

They are joined by the Namean Lion, who calls himself Ichor, and Cerberus. Together, the four of them battle to take down The Remnants. A trio of beings who represent the anger and loneliness in the world. They were locked away in Tartarus, but have now managed to escape. They have blessed three monsters with immortality in exchange for getting rid of the constellations. The one that they fight in this book is The Missing, who has blessed Scylla with immortality. Scylla uses a pack of dogs to do her bidding for her and wants nothing more than to rid the world of the gods and the constellations.

I’m not sure when I’ll start writing book two as I want to get through the rest of the Original Elementals series first. But I would still love for this series to be a Patreon exclusive and then eventually end up on Amazon. I love this universe and I can’t wait to share the stories with you.

That’s it for this week! Next week I’m going to be talking about my first solo book signing, so keep an eye out for that! See you next Sunday.

PS; don’t forget to check out these book bundles before they disappear!

Celebrating Book Lovers

Angels of August: Fantasy Novels & Box Sets Galore

A Milestone in NaNoWriMo

Hi all,

Ever since I joined NaNoWriMo in 2018 I've tried my best to take part in all of the events that they offer yearly. I've written fourteen books during NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo and I've just hit a massive milestone...

One million words written!

If you haven't heard of NaNoWriMo, it's an event that happens three times a year where you have to hit a writing or editing goal. I always go for the usual 50K words in a month.

I've never counted up all the words that I've written but I'm so glad that NaNoWriMo gives you the option of doing so on your profile. I've seen that number tick up over the years and I'm so glad that it's now at one million. Every book that I've written for NaNoWriMo will eventually be published and I love adding the covers to each of the projects and marking them as published.

If you're curious, the projects that make up the one million words are:

Elemental Dragons #3: Glass and Ice

Elemental Dragons #4: Cinder and Fire

Celestial Plague #2: Heaven

Years 

Mute

Curse of Anubis #1 (Name Change Pending)

Curse of Anubis #3 (Name Change Pending)

Curse of Anubis #4 (Name Change Pending)

Original Elementals #1: Frostbite

Original Elementals #3: Shadowhunter

Celestial Plague #4: Hell

Original Elementals #5: Tempest

Orignal Elementals #6: Sunrise

Missing Constellations

I'd love to hit two million words written and I will keep writing for NaNoWriMo events. It has helped me so much with my writing and I love adding my daily word count to the website to see the numbers tick up.

That's it for this week! Next week I'm going to do a wrap-up for July Camp NaNoWriMo, see you then!

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

Celebrating Book Lovers

Angels of August: Fantasy Novels & Box Sets Galore

My Feline Co-Author

Hi all! 

It's been a while since I wrote a post about Mishka, so I thought I would rectify that! She's my five year old cat who has been with me through several books. 

Writing. 

She assists me with my writing, usually by headbutting my phone or laptop. Occasionally she will place a paw on the keyboard to try to add stuff in. If I spend too long writing and not paying her enough attention, she will walk all over me until I pet her. She's always making sure that I take enough breaks. 

Editing. 

If I spend too long editing, she let's me know by screaming or walking over my laptop. Unfortunately she has a habit of deleting sentences that I often have to re-write anyway. A bit annoying, but helpful in the end.

Formatting. 

While I'm formatting my books, she usually takes this time to curl up beside me. Either by my hip or by my armpit. I guess this is the time she knows not to disturb me too much, except if I've done it too long without a break. 

Uploading books to Amazon. 

Despite publishing eight books, I still get nervous whenever it's time to hit publish. Luckily I have Mishka beside me. Just stroking her while she purrs eases my anxiety while my book uploads. She makes me feel better about the whole process. 

Marketing. 

Now we're back to headbutting my laptop. She loves doing this, just to let me know that she's still around and wants my attention. Whenever I run Amazon ads she wanders in front of the screen so I can't check the numbers too often. Either that or she paws at the keyboard.

Despite her being annoying sometimes, I wouldn't swap her for anything in the world. She's become a vital part of my author career, even if she is just screaming. I know I'm not the only one who has pets that help them write, quite a lot of authors have fuzzy companions to help them! 

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