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~ Author of Tales From Undersea

Wood the Writer

Author Archives: Jessica Wood

Writing update – Janurary 2021

18 Monday Jan 2021

Posted by Jessica Wood in adaptation, author, Blog, Editing, indie, pirate, self publishing, steampunk, story, writing update

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am writing, creative writing, dieselpunk, steampunk, writing, writing update

I haven’t posted many actual updates since the first book in my series came out. Rest assured, I’m already in the swing of the next two books in the series.

Book 2 – Stealing From Thieves: I got feedback from beta readers which was mostly positive, but did point out some things to correct, which I have done. The book is almost ready to begin the editing phase. I did plan to have this book finished by the end of 2020, but the feedback took longer than I anticipated. Now I’m planning to have it published by Midsummer this year, and hopefully to have the paperback ready to publish at the same time as the e-book.

Book 3 – Outcast’s Alliance: I’m looking over the first draft which I wrote at the end of last year. I expected it to be full of plot holes and errors, which it is, but not nearly as many as I feared. Dare I say it, it’s actually pretty good. Or at least it will be once it’s edited. Once I’ve finished making notes, I’ll be starting the second draft. I plan to have this book finished and ready to publish by the end of 2021.

Other books: I just can’t help myself. Even with these other two books to write and one to promote, I’m still developing ideas for future books in the series, and other series. I just don’t know which one I will work on immedietly after I’ve finished this current trilogy. I’ll probably leave it up to whatever the readers want the most. I’m already planning two one-off sequels to the first Tales From Undersea trilogy focusing on some of the secondary characters who have already proved popular with readers (and with me!). I’m also planning a dieselpunk trilogy set in the same world but moved ahead to the 1920s and set in an underwater version of New York City. A non-related series I’m also developing ideas for is a series based upon the Jules Verne books (can you tell yet that I like Jules Verne?). But that is still in the very early stages of development, so I can’t say anything else about the plot or characters.

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Top Seven Books I Read in 2020

07 Thursday Jan 2021

Posted by Jessica Wood in adaptation, author, Blog, books, fantasy, story

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books, fantasy, mystery, read in 2020, reading, thriller, young adult

For everything 2020 was, it was at least a great year for staying in and reading. I topped my personal best by reading 52 books this year, according to Goodreads. These are some of the best books I read this year (note that this is ‘books I read in 2020’ and not ‘books that were released in 2020’):

  1. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

I watched the tv show before I read the book, which is the opposite of what I usually do. But the tv show was good enough to get me to read the book, and I really enjoyed both, for much the same reasons. It was just the sort of hilarious book I needed this year. And I can’t help but ship Crowley and Aziraphale.

2. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Another Neil Gaiman book. I loved this one for its creepier atmosphere and the surprising twist which I almost didn’t believe even after I had just read it.

3. The Daemoniac by Kat Ross

Not only do I enjoy a good lady detective book (I’m actually planning one myself) but I also adore Victorian settings, gothic storylines, and Sherlock Holmes re-tellings. This book has them all. I’ll definitely be checking out more from this author.

4. You by Caroline Kepnes

I love the Netflix series, and the book doesn’t disappoint, either. It has some differences from the show, but also has more of an insight into Joe’s head, which makes him ten times creepier.

5. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

This one had been on my ‘to read’ list for a while and I finally got around to reading it. Once again, I wasn’t disappointed. If tend to find that when the reading community on Tumblr is constantly recommending something, I should probably check it out. That was definitely true for this book. I loved the bleakness of the remote setting (it almost reminded me of Craggy Island!) and the unique and often terrifying take on selkies.

6. Last Battle of the Icemark by Stuart Hill

I don’t see many people talking about this series anymore, which is a real shame. It has a compelling cast of characters, worldbuilding based upon several different historic cultures, and an exciting story. This last book was particularly exciting, and I loved seeing what happened to Medea.

7. Sword and Pen by Rachel Caine

I finally read the last book in my favourite series, and what an ending it was! It was the perfect way to end the series, except for the fact that my favourite couple didn’t get married! I was sad to hear that Rachel Caine passed away at the end of last year, since she was my favourite author and a large inspiration to me and many other writers. I still hope that readers can still find and enjoy her books, regardless.

 

What were the best books you read in 2020? What are you most looking forward to reading this year? Tell me in the comments!

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Traitor’s Revenge is out now in paperback

03 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by Jessica Wood in author, Blog, book launch, pirate, self publishing, steampunk, story, writing

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book, book release, paperback, paperback release, steampunk, steampunk book, steampunk fiction, ya, ya literature, young adult literature

I hope that everybody had a fun and safe Christmas and New Year and that you’re now getting back into the swing of work. Or maybe you’re still working through those Christmas sweets!

Traitor’s Revenge, the first Tale From Undersea, is now out in both ebook and paperback format from Amazon. Formatting and putting together the physical book myself was a real headache, so I’m especially proud now that it’s done. I know that the international mail service still has a lot of restrictions and delays (I still haven’t received all of my Christmas presents!) so I hope they will be resolved soon. I will also be doing a ‘wide’ release on other websites soon.

I’m also hard at work on the next few books in the series. I even started working on an additional novella during my Christmas break, when I was supposed to be resting!

Here’s hoping that 2021 will be kinder to all of us!

Get your paperback copy of Traitor’s Revenge from Amazon.

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Top Five Amazing Pirate Facts I Discovered During my Research

15 Tuesday Dec 2020

Posted by Jessica Wood in adaptation, Blog, culture, pirate, villain

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history facts, pirate, pirate facts, privateer, research

My debut novel Traitor’s Revenge, a pirate steampunk adventure, came out the other week and I’m very proud of all the hard work I put into it. One of the best parts of writing the book was all the weird facts I discovered about pirates during my research, many of which I’ve managed to work into the series. These are some of my favourites:

  1. Pirates practised gay marriage

Well, not exactly marriage in the way we understand it today. Pirates did have a practise called ‘matelotage’ between two male pirates, which worked as a sort of life insurance policy. Piracy was incredibly dangerous so in the very likely chance that you would be blown to pieces during a fight, your friend could inherit all of your money and possessions, and would have a financial safety net when you were gone. Sexual relationships between pirates in matelotage has been recorded, so it’s likely that some of these relationships were romantic in nature, too. Homosexuality was so common amongst pirates that prostitutes were sent to the island of Tortuga to try and put a stop to it. All it did was turn them into polyamorous, bisexual pirates.

  1. Pirates played mock trial

With long, tedious stretches of time between fights and nothing much for entertainment (most pirates were illiterate), one of the most common forms of entertainment for pirates was to put on mock piracy trials and pretend to condemn one another to death. No doubt this was at least partially to mock the authorities who were out to get them, too.

  1. There were government sanctioned pirates

It may seem hypocritical, and it was, but the same governments which worked so hard to put a stop to piracy encouraged the practise themselves. Privateers were essentially legal pirates with pieces of paper known as ‘letters of marque’ which said that they could attack and loot other ships as much as they wanted, even taking slaves. Because of course, anything is fine if the government says you can do it.

  1. The ‘pirate accent’ is just a regional dialect

When we think of ‘pirate talk’, we imagine a lot of ‘argh mateys’. Truthfully, this is just the West Country accent common around the British port city of Bristol. Pirates came from all over and had a range of different accents, languages, and dialects. We only associated the West Country accent because of actor Robert Newton, who played Long John Silver in the 1950 version adaptation of Treasure Island and appeared in many other pirate films. He exaggerated his south-west accent and the association stuck. However, being a major port city at the time, some famous pirates such as Blackbeard did come from Bristol, so it’s likely that at least some of them did speak in the ‘pirate accent’.

  1. Pirates mostly stole essentials

Another common association with pirates is stealing hefty chests full of gold and treasure. They probably wouldn’t have said no to it, but such valuables would have been difficult to sell, and wouldn’t have sustained them during long sea voyages. If your ship was held up by pirates, they would be much more likely to steal food, fresh water, building material, spices, and most valuable of all; medicine. Not only could they use these, they were much easier to sell in the next port.

If you like pirate stories, my novel Traitor’s Revenge is out now.

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This is unrelated to anything else, but I just have to draw attention to this amazing stock image I found when looking for images for this post:

Clearly I’m writing in the wrong genre…

Traitor’s Revenge is out now

08 Tuesday Dec 2020

Posted by Jessica Wood in author, Blog, book launch, indie, self publishing, steampunk, story, writing

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book launch, creative writing, debut author, debut book, steampunk, steampunk book, steampunk fiction, writing, ya, ya fiction, ya literature

After three years of work, my debut novel and first book in the Tales From Undersea, Traitor’s Revenge, is out now on Amazon!

US store

UK store

I know I said it in the book’s acknowledgements, but thanks again to everyone who helped with the book and supported me over the years. I hope to put out many more books in this series!

I’ll be launching the paperback at a later date, as well as publishing the book on other platforms.

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Tales From Undersea: Traitor’s Revenge – Preview

17 Tuesday Nov 2020

Posted by Jessica Wood in author, Blog, book exerpt, indie, self publishing, steampunk, story, writing

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book excerpt, book preview, book promotion, creative writing, steampunk, writing, ya, young adult, young adult literature

“I won’t mind getting away from those sailor superstitions. I’ll be glad when we can retire and I can finally get my own place on dry land. Free of otters,” Rico said.

“He’s just a baby, he can’t help it,” Shiro retorted, cradling Kappa.

“I can’t sleep at night from that thing screeching.”

“You’re never on time for your shift, anyway.”

“The only cries I should be hearing at night are from whoever I’m-”

“Not in front of the baby!” Shiro yelped, covering Kappa’s ears.

Rico forced his hands away, leant closer to the snuffling otter, and loudly said, “I was just saying to your master that I want to hear-”

“If you traumatise my baby again, I won’t bother patching the cracks above your bed the next time there’s a leak,” Shiro said, pulling Kappa away.

“Just another reason why I need my own place,” Rico said, retreating to the corner to polish his pistol. “I’ve never had a house of my own before,” he added with a dreamy glint in his eye.

“Me neither. It will make a nice change,” Shiro said, staring wistfully at nothing in particular as Kappa chewed on his sleeve.

“You two won’t miss our adventures?” Marina asked, finally putting her book down. It was impossible to concentrate on reading with those two quarrelling, anyway.

“Maybe a little,” Rico said, pausing his polishing for a second to stare at the wall. “We have had some good times on this old clunker.” He knocked the metallic wall, listening to it echo and ripple throughout the entire room.

“Like the time we ran into that dragonturtle,” Thandi said with a grin.

“Or when we found that floating island full of hidden rum barrels,” Warwick added.

“Or the time I fought a narwhal with my bare hands!” Vernon said.

“That never happened!” Julius laughed.

“It did too. I’m putting it in my book,” Vernon said, tapping his quill against the pages of his manuscript.

“But…but retirement will be good too,” Rico said, polishing his gun harder.

“Yes, it will be nice to focus on writing,” Vernon added as he fiddled with his quill.

“Good for you,” Marina grumbled. “I’m only sixteen and my mum is already making me retire.”

“What’s so bad about that? I wish I could have retired when I was sixteen,” Warwick guffawed. “Could’ve saved myself a lot of bother.”

“She’s only doing it because she loves you, Marina. You know that. She wants you to have a better life than all of us have had,” Kei said.

“I’m happy with my life already. What are you going to do with your share, anyway?” Marina asked, looking straight at Kei.

“Well, I won’t have to put up with you lot anymore, for one thing,” Kei said, returning her a tight-lipped smile.

“As if you could go without us for more than two seconds.”

A metallic ringing brought their talk to an abrupt halt and made each of them freeze. The alarm. An approaching enemy. Their card games and books were quickly abandoned as each of them hurried out the door, scattering to their stations.

 

Coming to Amazon December 6th!

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Cover Reveal – Tales From Undersea: Traitor’s Revenge

18 Sunday Oct 2020

Posted by Jessica Wood in art, author, Blog, cover reveal, fantasy, indie, self publishing, steampunk, story

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author, book, cover reveal, self publishing, steampunk, writing, ya, young adult literature

I’m very excited to reveal the cover of my debut novel, from the wonderful people at Purple Dragon Design.

Here it is:

Traitor’s Revenge is the first in the Undersea series, a YA steampunk/flintlock fantasy series with submarines, pirates, vikings, and mythological sea monsters. You can read the first three chapters here.

This debut book is the result of over ten years developing my writing skills and three years writing the first book. It’s my first step to becoming not just a hobbyist writer but a professional author.

The Amazon e-book release will be in early December, and the paperback and wide (non-Amazon) releases will be coming after that. I’ll be posting all updates on this blog, as well a regular excerpts of the next two books.

Writing update – 16/9/2020

16 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by Jessica Wood in author, Blog, Editing, self publishing, story, writing, writing update

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creative writing, wip, work in progress, writing

I have a projected release date for my first self-published novel – November 3rd 2020. I picked this date because it’s my birthday.

I did send the novel off to some contests but wasn’t shortlisted for any of them. I had also planned to submit it to some publishing houses but decided against it because

  1. Due to the Corona virus outbreak, many small publishing houses which would have taken a niche book like mine have unfortunately closed down.
  2. The publishing houses which are still in business have been overwhelmed putting out their delayed books and dealing with a bigger slush pile (although I do think it’s a good thing that more people have been writing during quarantine).
  3. I just really hate writing synopsis.

I had been planning on self-publishing for a while, anyway, and this also means the book will be out sooner. I know that sales will be slow at first, but it’s still the first steps to becoming a career author, not a hobbyist or part timer.

Progress on the second book in the soon-to-be-published series is also going well. I’m on the developmental edit stage right now, which is taking a while, but once that’s done it will be ready to send to beta readers. My goal right now is to have this second book published by Midsummer next year and the third by New Year’s Eve 2021, so that I can gradually increase the number of books I publish each year and become accustomed to the publishing cycle. But at the rate I’m going, I might be beating those deadlines by several months.

Until then, you can read an excerpt of the novel here.

TV Review – Drifting Dragons

18 Monday May 2020

Posted by Jessica Wood in anime, Blog, criticism, fantasy, musings, series review, steampunk, story, tv, tv review

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animation, anime, anime review, fantasy, netflix, steampunk, television, tv, tv review

Newbie dragon hunter or ‘draker’ Takita has recently joined the crew of the airship Queen Zaza to work of her debt. But with the price of dragon oil dropping and drakers being treated with increased suspicion, the ship’s crew are barely skimming above the poverty line. Yet to Takita, it is worth it for a life of adventure, new-found friendship, and delicious dragon meat.

What drew me initially to this series was how similar it is to a steampunk series I’m currently writing, so I thought it would be useful research (that’s a good way of justifying procrastination). Yet even if I wasn’t writing steampunk, I would have been drawn to this series anyway by the gorgeous animation, exciting adventure, and the robust cast of amusing characters.

These characters are one of the main draws of the series, being well-rounded and highly likeable. It is almost a shame that the series only lasts for 12 episodes, meaning there isn’t enough time to flesh out all of them. I can only hope that a second season will give some of them more focus.

Food and cooking are a common theme throughout the series, and it is heartwarming to see how cooking up the dragon meat brings the cast together. Even as a vegetarian, a small part of me wants to try the dragon meat!

As a rookie, Takita helps to ease the audience into the world of draking. It also helps that there are several one-off episodes to ease the viewer in before the series gets to the darker and more dramatic multi-episode story arcs.

The stylish animation looks as if it came straight out of Studio Ghibli. The dragons each have unique designs and terrifying powers which sets them apart from the standard fantasy fare.

Although it is established that the dragons are a threat to humans in this world, the fact that they are hunted, butchered, and used as a commodity will put a bad taste in the mouths of some viewers. The parallels to real life whaling only make it more awkward. Yet even this establishes an interesting moral dynamic, as it is made abundantly clear how much the Queen Zaza is struggling for money and that the crew are only hunting dragons because it is their only means of survival in a harsh world which has all but rejected them.

For any viewers who can stomach it, Drifting Dragons is a great show for any fans of steampunk adventure or exciting fantasy.

My verdict – 5 out of 5.

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Tales From Undersea – Traitor’s Revenge (excerpt)

04 Monday May 2020

Posted by Jessica Wood in author, Blog, book exerpt, self publishing, steampunk, story, villain, writing

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book, book excerpt, book sample, creative writing, lit, oceanpunk, pirates, seapunk, steampunk, story, vikings, writing

“Move aside. I’ll take her,” a new Viking joined the fight, the others parting to let him pass. Judging by his age, the quality of the axe in his hand, and the commanding tone of his voice, Alethea guessed that this was the Viking Chieftain.

A roar from Iku-turso interrupted their fight. Each of them instinctively covered their ears, forgetting that they were all wearing diving helmets.

“Chief,” one of the Vikings said over the sound. He was a tall Polynesian man with ink black skin and long hair which flowed in the water. His Viking attire was decorated with patterns and symbols of the Polynesian islands and a shark toothed club hung from his holster. The man looked as if he could punch through walls and kill an elephant with a single fist.

“Not now, Inoki,” the Chieftain said, not looking at him as he swam closer to Alethea, who gripped her own sword tighter. She considered how quickly she could draw her gun from her holster and fire, or how quickly she could draw Robert’s gun from its hidden pouch if she needed to.

“Chief, it’s about to rip the Fenrir apart. We need to leave now,” Inoki said, placing a large hand on the Chief’s shoulder.

Alethea risked a glance to see that the creature, blood pouring from its cut tentacle, close to tearing off the Fenrir’s hull. Glances between the Vikings told them that they would have to leave, without the stone.

“Damn you pirate arseholes. Think you rule the entire ocean,” one of the more particularly violent Vikings said, throwing his axe to the ground in frustration. It took him a moment to remember that he was underwater and desperately grabbed it again before it floated to the surface.

The Chieftain said nothing. He kicked himself off his crewmate to cross the distance to Alethea. She barely raised her sword in time to clash against his axe.

“I hope you don’t think Redscalp’s treasure is yours to take, Barracuda,” he growled.

There was something in his voice which shook Alethea. Something which bothered her even more than the axe in his hand or the monster roaring close by.

“Who are you?” she asked without knowing why.

With a motion so swift it made her gasp, he grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. She could see his face clearly through his helmet. She could see his greying red hair streaked across his forehead and his dark brown eyes, looking straight into hers as if he were inspecting her. Even in the cold Nordic sea, her blood seemed to boil.

“I already told you, I’m Petturi Konna. And I am the rightful heir to Redscalp’s treasure. It’s what I’m owed.”

 

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