Category Archives: writing

Worldbuilding Wednesday – Merfolk

08 Wednesday Dec 2021

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For this blog’s first edition of ‘Worldbuilding Wednesday’ I thought I’d tell you all a little more about one of the most popular races in the Tales from Undersea series – the merfolk!

Merfolk are a race of human-fish hybrids, born from women (and occasionally men) thrown off ships or into the sea to their deaths, but survived thanks the sea goddess Sulis. Some of them have mated (don’t think too hard about that…) and created sea-born mermaids. Both human and sea-born merfolk have long lifespans, generally reaching sexual maturity at around age 50 and living for several hundreds of years.

They are generally friendly to humans and attempt to help any people who have also run into trouble on the ocean that they come across. In dire circumstances, they turn them into merfolk to save them. Outside of these race instances, merfolk tend to avoid humans, sometimes out of spite for being thrown overboard but mostly so they won’t be discovered. This is why few humans have seen merfolk and fewer have seen their settlements, so most still believe they are only myths. Some merfolk who have never seen humans believe that we are mythical.

However, some other groups of merfolk (particularly around Haiti) are vengeful towards humans and lure men to their deaths.

A merfolk can turn into a human, but it is a complex process which involves the ‘voice’ of a human who was responsible for throwing a person overboard and creating a merfolk.

They can only breath for short periods outside of water.

Merfolk cities are grand, full of works of art both hand-made and salvaged from shipwrecks. They are also innovative and have developed their own forms of technology, such as the anti-sonar device. Due to their rarity, this technology is greatly prized and sought after amongst humans.

Merfolk have domain over sea creatures and can command large creatures such as the dire-ray, which they often ride into battle. Merfolk are vicious in battle and wear their own armour, usually brandishing spheres.

 

If there’s anything you’d like me to cover in the next Worldbuilding Wednesday, let me know in the comments!

Tales From Undersea Character Profiles. Part One – Heroes

01 Wednesday Sep 2021

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If you want to know more about the main characters of the Tales From Undersea series, here’s some juicy details (don’t worry, they’re spoiler free):

Alethea Hera

Real name: Priscilla Stephenson

Age: 36

Race: Caucasian

Nationality: British

Birthplace: Bath, UK

Sex: Cis female

Orientation: Bisexual

Appearance: Average build, strong, tall, long brown hair, grey eyes.

Virtues:  Brave, strong, capable.

Vices: Paranoid, stubborn

Skills: Leadership, planning, combat

Weapons: Four barrelled pistol, long sword. Occasionally uses a dagger

Likes: Pastries, ballet, Greek mythology

Dislikes: Opera, high society, parrots

Favourite item: Robert’s gun

Background: Alethea was born Priscilla Stephenson to a rich family in Bath, UK. As a girl she was incredibly shy and quiet. At age 16, her parents tried to find suitors for her, and rejected Robert Holburne because he ripped his pastry instead of cutting it. The two got along well and fell in love anyway, but their parents didn’t approve so they ran away together to the Undersea Kingdoms. They were happy but short on money so they joined Redscalp’s Pirate crew. After many adventures, they were betrayed by Louis who left them to be killed by a cipactli. Robert sacrificed himself to save her and died. She was rescued by the Barracuda. Kei convinced the captain to let her stay on the sub. Priscilla was distraught and deeply depressed over Robert’s death until she gave birth to their daughter, Marina. She changed her name to avoid detection from the authorities, who were after Redscalp’s crew. Becoming a strong warrior mother, she worked her way up the ranks until she became the Captain of the Barracuda, which she has been for five years now. Now she is beginning to tire of the dangers of the pirate life and wants to retire and build a safe and stable life for her daughter, but that will require one last mission…

Inspiration: Kyoko Honda (Fruits Basket), Thirrin Lindenshield (Icemark Chronicles), Aunt Josephine (ASOUE)

 

Marina Hera

Age: 17

Sex: Cis female

Orientation: Homosexual

Race: Caucasian

Birthplace: Barracuda

Appearance: Fair skin, cropped black curly hair, green eyes, skinny.

Virtues: Brave, intelligent

Vices: Impulsive, argumentative

Hobby: Reading

Skills: Swimming, combat, engineering, lockpicking

Weapons: Blanch percussion pistol, rapier

Background: Marina is the daughter of Alethea Hera (real name Priscilla Stevenson) and Robert Holburne, but was born after her father died. Her mother raised her on the Barracuda.  While Marina has been raised as a pirate and used to combat situations, it still worries her mother, which causes a lot of tension and fights between the two of them.

Inspiration: Jim Hawkins (Treasure Island), Princess Tiabeanie (Disenchantment), Terri Waters-Waters (Gayle)

 

Shu Kei

Sex: Cis female

Age: 39

Orientation: Bisexual

Race: South east Asian

Nationality: Cantonese

Appearance: Short stature, short greying hair. Brown eyes.

Languages: Cantonese, English

Virtues: Strong, kind, intelligent

Vices: Bossy, sarcastic, greedy

Hobby: Gambling

Skills: Organisation, keeping order, combat, lockpicking

Likes: Luxurious things, tea with honey

Hates: Men

Weapons: Four barrelled turn-over pistol, rapier, longsword

Duties: She takes charge of the sub whenever Alethea Hera isn’t there. Her duties include day to day management of the craft and seeing Alethea’s orders are carried out, dividing the plunder, discipline, controlling the food and water supplies, and deciding what to plunder from found vessels.

Inspirations: Anna Fang (Mortal Engines), Washimi (Aggretsuko),

Note: In Cantonese name order her name is ‘Shu Kei’ but in Western name order it is ‘Kei Shu’.

Background: Kei was a prostitute until she married a Pirate and had a son with him. They were successful until her husband abandoned her. She and her young son moved Undersea and joined the Barracuda, becoming friends with Priscilla Stephenson and even convincing the Captain at the time to let her and her new born baby stay on board, since she was also raising her own child on the sub. She rose up the ranks, becoming Priscilla (now Alethea’s) quartermaster.

Six Steampunk Trends I love (and One I Hate)

01 Tuesday Jun 2021

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I’ve been researching popular trends in steampunk books lately to better help my own writing, and in doing so I’ve uncovered some I really like, and a few I can’t stand. These are some of them:

  1. Magitech

I once heard someone say that magic has no place in steampunk since technology usually fills the same role. But steampunk often straddles the thin like between fantasy and science fiction, so why can’t we have both? Technical devices powered by magic are both fascinating and unique, and allow us to experience the best of both fantasy and sci-fi.

2. Steam-powered dictatorship

The popularity of the dystopian genre seems to have bled into steampunk in franchises such as Mortal Engines. It is a nice subversion for the standard steampunk setting where technology improves everyone’s lives and society lives in harmony. I especially love the setting in Kathryn Ann Kingsley’s Cardinal Wings series where a communist-style society has essentially taken over all of Europe.

3. Murder mystery

Perhaps it’s because of Sherlock Holmes, but there seem to be quite a few mystery series with a steampunk twist. My particular favourites are The Daemoniac by Kat Ross about a gender-flipped Sherlock Holmes and the Arcane Casebook series by Dan Willis which takes a more dieselpunk tone.

4. Art nouveau

While we mostly associate steampunk with Victorian aesthetics, it seems more common lately to include inspiration from the early 20th century and the art nouveau and art deco styles. As much as I like the Victorian era, I like these looks much better and find the simplistic lines much more pleasing. They can be used both to make a setting look cool or to make it appear imposing and threatening.

5. Propaganda

The role which propaganda plays in our public perception has been more of a hot-button issue in recent years. As sinister as it is, there is something oddly fascinating about how words and images can sway huge groups of people into a particular way of thinking, and how virtually every society has attempted it at some point in history. Steampunk is a particularly interesting genre to explore this, especially when combined with the dystopian elements I mentioned above.

6. Enemies to lovers

Readers have been going crazy over this trope lately, especially since we’ve started deconstructing classic villain archtypes. There’s something incredibly thrilling about reading two people from opposing sides realising they actually have a lot in common and going from one emotional extreme to the other. Once again, this works perfectly in steampunk fiction which loves both a good villain and a good romance.

And one trend I hate:

Everyone loves the hero

I enjoy romantic drama as much as the next reader or fanfiction writer, but something I notice a lot in the steampunk books I’ve read lately is protagonists with several love interests, or at least people who are interested in them. Sometimes it seems as if the entire world is falling at the main character’s feet within moments of meeting them. It runs the risk of portraying the character as unrealistic and there isn’t going to be much of a character arc unless somebody hates their guts.

 

What are your favourite and least favourite steampunk trends? Let me know in the comments below!

 

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Writing update 3/5/2021

03 Monday May 2021

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How is everybody’s spring going? Mine is as chilly as ever and making me regret putting away my winter clothes.

Now that I’m settled into my new flat, I’ve been able to write freely again. Book 2 in the Tales From Undersea is scheduled for release on Midsummer (June 21st) and is due for editing at the end of this month. The cover is also underway, and I’ll be posting a cover reveal here when it’s done.

Book 3 is currently three drafts in. When I’ve finished a draft, I leave it for a while and work on something else so I can come back to it with fresh eyes and spot mistakes easier. I’ve yet to see if three drafts will be enough and if the book will be ready for a first round of edits and being shown to beta readers. In any case, if all goes well then I hope to have this book out by the end of this year and then a box set of the whole trilogy next year.

After that, I’ve already started something new for the series, a prequel explaining the backstory for how the Undersea world was formed. It’s called Codex Leonardo and follows Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Lisa del Gioconde (the sitter for the Mona Lisa) travelling in the first submarine to beat Christopher Columbus to the ‘new world’. So far it’s looking like it’s going to be a bit shorter than the rest of the books, but it will have all the same steampunkish elements. And of course knowing me, I couldn’t get away without a little romance. I hope to have this book published in the middle of next year at the latest.

I’ll post more updates here or you can join the Undersea mailing list for new release announcements and special offers. You get a free short story for signing up, too!

Four Reasons Why I Write for Mental Health

03 Wednesday Mar 2021

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There are many reasons to write: Money, pleasure, revenge, or preferably all three. On top of these, one of the reasons I write is for the sake of my mental health.

I started the first book in what would turn into the Tales from Undersea series in 2017, about a year after I went through a period of severe depression. I won’t go into the details, but I’m a British immigrant living in an EU country, so you can probably figure out what caused it.

At the time I was working on a novel I’d been writing on-and-off since university. I liked it and enjoyed writing it at the time, but I was becoming increasingly aware that it was full of cliches and probably wasn’t going to be well received if it was published. It also focused mainly on a revolution plot, which was a little too much for me, considering where my mental health was at the time.

But then I got the idea for a submarine pirate adventure book which I started once my mental health had improved to the point that I could write again. Not only was this book exciting, it was funny. It gave me something to be passionate about again. These are some more ways it has helped me:

  1. Stable routine

I admit I’m still somewhat of a night owl and an insomniac, which makes it difficult to get up in the morning. But getting up mid-morning, writing, and working on marketing and publishing activities in the afternoon is a much better routine than getting up at 2pm when the sun is already beginning to set, lazing about in my Moomin pyjamas for a few hours, then deciding it’s too late in the day to begin anything and eating an entire tube of Pringles. Getting up somewhat earlier has also allowed me to get in some morning exercise to get direct sunlight on my face and prevent winter depression.

2. Celebrating small miracles

My book still only gets miniscule sales. Yet whenever I make a big achievement like finishing a draft or making a sale, I get a hit of dopamine (the happiness chemical in the brain). Even small things like getting a new subscriber to my newsletter or a comment from someone on Instagram saying they like my book’s cover gives me a small hit. Long periods of barely any sales can be depressing, so I wouldn’t recommend a self-publishing career to those who can’t handle that level of rejection. Yet to me, that only makes it better whenever I do get a single sale or review.

3. Dealing with things I don’t want to face

A lot of people assume the things authors put in their books reflect their subconscious desires. If that’s true, authors must be the most terrifying creatures in the world. While a lot of my writing is self-indulgent (it’s fun to imagine myself as a badass pirate captain), I mostly use it as a way to explore things I don’t want to go through in real life. I can live out the fantasy of being a mother, fighting in a war, or falling in love with someone else then come safely back to my own life.

4. Getting outside my own head

This is perhaps the best thing that writing can do for your mental health. While I’m more-or-less recovered from my episode now, I still have moments where I feel overwhelming anxious, angry, or depressed. When I’m writing, it forces me to focus on the task at hand rather than any of these negative emotions. I can’t be thinking about how much I want to hurt myself if I’m trying to figure out how my characters are going to escape from the monster or what the best synonym is for ‘roar’.

 

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Four things I learnt from writing and publishing my first book

18 Thursday Feb 2021

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As proud as I am for not only completing but self-publishing my first novel, it soon became apparent that there were a lot of things I did wrong, and a lot of things I can learn from. These are just a few which I’ll be applying for my future books, and which may be beneficial to other authors:

Abandoning ideas can be a good thing

People always tell you ‘don’t give up’ and ‘always finish a book’. There is some good sentiment in these statements, but I think it’s more important to recognise when you should give up or abandon a project which isn’t working.

For me, I spent years working a novel which I was proud of at the time, but looking back it contained every YA book cliché. Rebellious princess? Revolution? Non-human and borderline creepy love interest? Yep, it had them all.

When I first came up with the idea which would turn into the Undersea series, I was reluctant to give up on the book. But after much reflection, I realised that letting it go to work on this new project was the right move. While there are still some things with this new series, I’m not happy with in hindsight, reception has been much more positive, so I’m glad I didn’t release that cliched book as my debut release.

Plan from the beginning

While I decided early on that I wanted this series to be a trilogy (with the possibility of further books in the future), I didn’t plan out each book in the trilogy until I started the first draft. This has held me back as I’ve wound up with dozens of different characters and sub plots to juggle and resolve cleanly in the final book. Many character arcs have gone a different direction than I intended and some foreshadowing in the first (now published) book I’m now wishing I had cut out. If I write another series with ongoing continuity, I’ll do much more planning from the start so I don’t end up writing myself into a wall.

The final draft is never the final draft

You would think that once the final draft is done, it’s over, right? Oh, how wrong I was! There are still edits, proofs, print copies, copies in different formats. These are all the files in my ‘final version’ folder:

And that’s for just one book.

No matter how low your expectations, you’ll still be disappointed

This one is going to be difficult for other authors to swallow, but is precisely why we need a thick skin. I knew that as a debut author with virtually no platform, my sales were going to be low at first. But I thought I might get at least a few on release day. Maybe a few people would read my blog or see my social media posts.

I opened my Amazon account the next morning and… nothing. My first sale didn’t come in for a few days, and that was me buying a copy of my own book to check it for errors.

Part of it, I have now learnt, was that it takes a few days for Amazon’s system to pick up a book, add the ‘look inside’ feature, and start including it in search algorithms. This is why next time I’ll go for a ‘soft launch’ to give Amazon a few days to register the book before I start promoting it. I’ll also focus more on looking for ARC reviewers to look at the book on release (contact me if you want to join my ARC team, btw).

Sales have picked up a tiny bit thanks to some promotions, but are still nothing most days. But I’m not discouraged. This is just part of the process. I’m going to keep writing whether I ‘succeed’ or not, so it really doesn’t matter.

 

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It’s not me, it’s my characters!

14 Sunday Feb 2021

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You’ve probably heard a lot of authors say that the characters take charge of the plot and hijack the story. Some even claim that they don’t intend for their characters to fall in love but they do it on their own.

It happens to me far too often. I don’t intend yet another romantic subplot on top of all the others I have already. But the characters go and fall in love anyway, then the romance becomes a major part of the story. With the Undersea series, I always intended for romance to be a major part of the story and to have a diverse range of relationships (straight, gay, interracial, mermaids, and so forth). But two secondary characters called Rico and Shiro seemed to fall in love entirely on their own. The more I wrote them, the more I realised they would need their own subplot in the second and third novels. It’s ended up becoming one of my favourite parts of the story to write and a major part of the plot. I’ve even come up with new spin-off books for these couples.

Most likely it’s just my subconscious realising that those characters are a good fit for one another, have good chemistry, or the subplot would benefit the story. But sometimes it does feel as if the characters really have become the masters of their own narrative.

Sale for UK readers

In keeping with the Valentine’s theme, Traitor’s Revenge will be on sale for only 99p during Valentine’s weekend in the Amazon UK store. My last sale was only applicable for the US store, so I didn’t want any UK readers to miss out.

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Traitor’s Revenge is out now in paperback

03 Sunday Jan 2021

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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!

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Traitor’s Revenge is out now

08 Tuesday Dec 2020

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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

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“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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