I Participated in Another Strong Women, Strange Worlds Live Reading

Hi all,

I attended another live reading done by Strong Women, Strange Worlds on August 2nd. I aboslutely loved the first one and really wanted to do another one, so when I was invited again I was ecstatic! I read an excerpt of Mute this time and offered to give away two copies to two lucky winners!

This time I was the last one to read, which gave me a lot of breathing room to prepare before it was my turn. I also loved hearing everyone else’s stories and the different genres that were read. If you want to check out the other authors, here are their websites:

Dianna Gunn

Liza Wemakor

Kelli Owen

J E Hannaford

M V Melcer

Once again, the stories were fantastic and were all read so well. We did another Q&A session at the end where we discussed our next projects and advice on how to stop short stories turning into longer novels.

If I get invited again I would love to attend as the organisers are so lovely. Both times I’ve been on I really enjoyed it once my initial nerves passed. I would highly recommend checking Strong Women, Strange Worlds out and giving them a listen when they hold another live reading.

That’s it for this week! If you attended Strong Women, Strange Worlds, thank you for doing so! See you next week.

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

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!

My Writing Playlist Part Three

Hi all,

It's been a while since I've done a writing playlist post so I thought I'd correct that!

Black Mambo - Glass Animals

Gooey - Glass Animals

Wonderful Nothing - Glass Animals

Peregrine - Mako

Maria - Dua Lipa

People I Don't Like - UPSAHL

Mr Fear - Siames

Labour - Paris Paloma

Love You More - Llynks

Honey Lavendar - Iuean

Next Up Forever - AJR

Time Machine - Robyn

Where Have You Been - Rihanna

I think this year's playlist is the most upbeat so far! A lot of these songs I just like to listen to while I'm writing. A few of them have inspired a few short stories that I've written to.

Of course, Glass Animals is on the lost for third time! They're my favourite band and I love listening to their music. They've just released a new album too which I've been listening to. My favourite one so far is Wonderful Nothing. I'm sure their album will inspire some future stories too.

I think most of the songs on this playlist will inspire mythological stories. I'm starting to plan my Norse mythology series and I'm looking into other world mythology too.

That's it for this week! Let me know if you listen to any songs I've mentioned! See you next week. 

PS; don’t forget to check out these horror books before they disappear:

Kindle Unlimited Horror Bookfest!

Celestial Plague Complete Collection now Available on Amazon

Hi all,

The Celestial Plague Complete Collection is now available on Amazon in ebook format. All four books in the Celestial Plague series have been bundled into one book bundle.

Read the complete collection of the Celestial Plague series, containing the following:

Nirvana
Heaven
Purgatory
Hell

The world as we know it is over and all it takes to survive is your humanity.
The SARJ virus is an epidemic that is quickly overtaking an already broken world. Dividing it between the Bitten and Unbitten and forever changing the course of human history. For Shannon to make it to Nirvana she’ll have to spread the virus. But can she live with the consequences of those actions?

The survivors seek Heaven, but sanctuary comes with a price, one that could cost them everything.
Ashleigh has now been infected in an effort to save her life. Feeling betrayed and distraught over being Bitten causes friction among her and the other survivors which threatens to tear them apart. And when she starts having visions that show her the only way to Heaven is to infect more people, will it be the end of them all?

The world is slowly being swallowed up by monsters and disease.
Ashleigh awakens with no memories of her past and becomes a pawn. The man who created the Sarjs calls himself a god and forces them to do his bidding, including her. She leaves her friends behind to follow him, but a part of her is still in there, fighting to break free from his control once and for all.

Between the spreading Sarjs and impending doom of The Rot, the world continues to crumble into ruin.
Ashleigh, Shannon, and Raya have now all succumbed to the virus. When Jenna and Cindy escape to a forest, they come across a girl who can see into the future. She tells them that Jenna can stop The Rot with the combined powers of herself and three others. However, their situation becomes even more dire when the group discovers an alarming new type of Sarj, one that resurrects with The Rot.

That’s it for this week, if you’ve picked up a copy of the Complete Collection I hope you enjoy reading! See you next week.

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

Fantastic Fantasy and Sci-Fi in Kindle Unlimited!

Kindle Unlimited Horror Bookfest!

The Plague's Hope Cover Design

Hi all,

This week I’m revealing the cover design for the first book in the Curse of Anubis series, The Plague’s Hope. Of all the covers I’ve had designed so far, this is by far my favourite! As with all my covers, this one has been designed by Deranged Doctor Design.

• The MC on this cover is Tahira, one of the two main characters of the series.

• The cat, Bastet, is the other main character.

• DDD came up with the series branding for Curse of Anubis and I absolutely love it!

• I really love the typography on this one, I think it gives off the perfect dystopian vibe.

• The two of them are standing in the remains of a town that features heavily in this book.

• I’m so grateful that DDD was able to incorporate sand on the cover without making it stand out too much.

• I’m hoping that DDD will be able to keep Bastet on every cover, as they found the perfect cat! I didn’t expect them to find one that resembles an Egyptian Mau so closely.

The Plague’s Hope will be available in October 2024 in ebook, hardcover and paperback. I’m slo excited to share this series with everyone, especially as it’s my first published one to heavily featured mythology!

That’s it for this week, see you next Sunday!

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

Fantastic Fantasy and Sci-Fi in Kindle Unlimited!

Kindle Unlimited Horror Bookfest!

My Favourite Film of All Time

Hi all,

I know I've discussed a few of my favourite films and also dedicated a few blog posts to my favourite TV series. But I haven't made one on my favourite film of all time! It does have a cat in it, very briefly, as I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear. No dragons though. 

Aliens

It's a classic and I absolutely love it. I can watch it over and over and never get bored of it. The xenomorph has a brilliant design and I absolutely love seeing it every time. The introduction of a queen alien is great too! It was cool seeing how they reproduce and how quickly they can take over a small colony.

I didn't actually watch it until I was twenty, as I wasn't too keen on horror until then. I got into reading Stephen King books and that was my gateway into horror. Soon enough I was watching horror films and series and absolutely loving them. I bought all the Alien films at the time, along with Predator, because I really fell in love with the sci-fi horror genre. I started by watching all the Predator films, and then moved onto Alien.

I absolutely loved the first film and when I heard the second one was even better, I knew I would love it. Now I've watched it so many times that I've lost count! Of course I really liked seeing Jonesy in the beginning and I hope that he was looked after during the events of the film. At least this time he didn't have to face the Alien himself.

The Xenomorphs look amazing and I love seeing them on screen. I've now seen all the Alien films, and the crossover ones with Predator too. Each film is great in its own way but it can't beat Aliens in my opinion. I can watch it again and again and not get bored.

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

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

Fantastic Fantasy and Sci-Fi in Kindle Unlimited!

Kindle Unlimited Horror Bookfest!

Dragons and Cats

Hi all,

It's been a while since I've written a post about cats so I thought I'd fix that!

In the Elemental Dragons universe, dragons can communicate with cats as they speak the same language. I've mentioned in the past that the two have different dialects but for the most part they can understand each other.

A lot of dragons prefer cats to dogs if they have more of a calmer temperament. This is because they tend to prefer relaxing and snoozing in the sunshine. But they sometimes play, though this gets harder as the dragons get bigger!

The dragons would consider the cat a part of their family, though they don't see each other as siblings. But they tend to have strong bonds that struggle to be broken. Cats can be more aloof, but a lot of times they make it clear that they do love any dragons they're close to.

The one thing that cats hate doing is flying on the back of a dragon. Travelling along the ground is fine and usually preferred for lazy felines. But they don't like being taken up into the air. The wind and cold is too much for them so they will react violently if they are made to fly without wanting to. 

In some rare cases dragons and cats don't get on at all. This may be because of a clash of personality or extreme jealousy. But as long as someone gives both equal attention and is patient, these obstacles can be overcome.

If I had a dragon, I'd like to think that it would get along with my cat, Mishka. She likes being the centre of attention but maybe a scaly friend would make her reconsider!

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

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

Fantastic Fantasy and Sci-Fi in Kindle Unlimited!

Kindle Unlimited Horror Bookfest!

Celestial Plague Complete Collection Pre-Order Live

Hi all,

Now that all of the books in the Celestial Plague series have been published, I’ve gathered them up into one neat little ebook boxset! This will be published on 9th July 2024.

The Complete Collection contains all of the books in the Celestial Plague series in one neat little bundle!

You will receive:

Nirvana

Heaven

Purgatory

Hell

While waiting for the Complete Collection to come out why not join my mailing list? You’ll get exclusive short stories, cover reveals, book deals and merch surveys!

In return you’ll get four FREE enovellas that can’t be downloaded anywhere else. I also plan on adding more free books in the future, so it’ll definitely be worth your while signing up!

You can currently download:

Elemental Dragons Short Story Collection - a collection of short stories involving dragons

Famished - a prequel to Mute

Years - a prequel to Years

Seashine - a look at the origins of a character in Celestial Plague

In the next few years the following enovellas will also be available (may be subject to change):

Curse of Anubis Short Story Collection - a collection of short stories involving Egyptian gods

Tartarus - a prequel to Empty Skies

That’s it for this week! I hope you’re looking forward to reading the Complete Collection. See you next week!

PS; don’t forget to check out this giveaway before it disappears:

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

Celestial Plague Posters

Hi all,

Now that all the books in the Celestial Plague series are published, I can finally tell you about the posters.

As I'm sure you know each poster is of a different type of Sarj. Black, blue, purple and grey. If you haven't guessed already, each Sarj is one of the main characters.

Nirvana's is Shannon.

Heaven's is Ashleigh.

Purgatory's is Raya.

Hell's is Jenna.

This was the plan from the beginning, to show how each character would end up. It was also another reason why I added a fourth book to the series. Jenna would have been the only main character to not have a poster otherwise. Plus I wanted to give her a fate that she hates after everything she's done. She was a great character to write about, I love how morally grey she is. I wanted her to get her comeuppance somehow.

I wasn't sure what to put on the posters at first and then I came up with the idea of Sarjs. But then I thought about how the main characters end up and decided that it would be a good idea to use them.

They were all designed by: https://www.fiverr.com/lorenzouccheddu

I love the designs of the posters and how each character comes across in each. Having Shannon and Raya in defensive positions is my favourite part. These two are the characters that are most likely to fight to protect themselves and their friends. Jenna is scared because she never wanted to be a Sarj in the first place and her memories are gone. While Ashleigh is taking a more calm approach. Hers was the best character arc in my opinion as I loved watching her go from this timid little thing to a leader.

I'd love to do more posters like these in the future but I'm not sure what book it would be!

That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed reading! Which poster is your favourite? Let me know in the comments. See you next week. 

PS; don’t forget to check out this giveaway:

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

July 2024 Camp NaNoWriMo Project Announcement

Hi all,

Although it feels like no time at all has passed, July is almost here! That means I'll be participating in Camp NaNoWriMo again. This time, my project will be...

Empty Skies #3: Burning Constellations.

The final book in the Empty Skies series is set immediately after book two. In this one, the origins of The Remnants are discovered and the need to bring the gods back is heightened.

Ataraxia and Laelaps have recovered for the most part from their spats in the second book. But both have become a lot more confident as time has gone on. They are more likely to stand up for themselves and push their ideas more. Ataraxia in particular was already pretty headstrong, but she has matured a lot as the series has gone on. Laelaps was the quieter one but even he has had to open up more.

The antagonist for this book is Medusa, who is working with The Burning to get revenge of Poseidon. I always thought that in the myths that Athena turned her into a gorgon to protect her rather than punish her. So, she will not blame Athena for what happened to her. I'm also thinking of introducing the other gorgons too, but I'm not sure how that will go yet. I might change my mind as I'm writing the book.

I've had the ending for this book in my head for a while so I'm actually quite excited to get it onto the page. I'll be sad that the story is over, but the characters will still make cameos in other books! The Damaged Goods series will be a prequel to Empty Skies featuring the Remnants. It will explain how they got to where they are now and what happened along the way to make them so bitter. In fact, the origin story of The Freezing has been in my head since I was fifteen! I'll be so happy to finally write that one out.

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

PS; don’t forget to check out this giveaway:

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