#author

bitches be writing whole ass novels where they spend the entire 200+ pages projecting onto the main character and essentially creating a published self-insert

im bitches

Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.

Albert Camus

HYPE UP YOUR AUTHORS , GIVE THEM LOVE AND COMMENT, IT WON’T HURT NOBODY :)

“How’s work?”

“Well, a previously believed to be extinct species reappeared with the murder of a well-respected local political figure… despite that I’ve had more chaotic periods in my career.” 

Do you like YA fantasy books with dragons, family drama, strong friendships and perhaps a pinch too much banter? 

If so, you’ll enjoy my series Dear Dragon. 

The first book will have been out for a year next month. It followed Itazu, a young adult who believed she was the last dragon until she visited her home-town and discovered another nine dragons in hiding. 

My second book is due to come out in a couple of months and it continues her and all the other dragon’s story. 

I haven’t got a definitive cover or name for it yet (apparently I like waiting until the very last minute and stressing myself out with releases), but what I do have is a book ready for reading. 

So, if you’d like to be among the first people ever to read this book, I’d like to invite you to join my ARC team! 

What’s an ARC team you may be asking? 

ARC stands for Advanced Reader Copy, it’s standard practice in the industry where a certain number of readers receive a free copy (in this case ebooks) before release so they can read and review the book. 

If this sounds appealing to you, click here to fill in my ARC application form. 

There’s no obligations attached. Obviously the objective is to get reviews but I completely understand that life happens and gets in the way all the time, so if you receive a free copy and never read it or forget to review, don’t worry, I’m not going to chase you down or anything like that. 

This is basically just another way for authors and readers to collaborate! 

If you sign up to be an ARC reader, thanks so much for the interest, if you aren’t interested, I still hope you learnt something from this post about the book world. 

As usual, have fun writing, have fun reading, and you can find my socials, book and other links of interest:  here.

Like I often repeat, I write YA fantasy. 

Most of my writing time goes to “Dear Dragon” which at the moment is one book but part of a larger series. As a series there’s a lot going to happen. And something I find frustration with long YA series, is when character’s spend book after book with just the one single big arc. 

It drives me insane. 

Not always, but often enough. Because character’s grow and learn, and they don’t always grow and learn in the same direction. 

Let’s say your character needs to learn to believe in them self and realice they are the leader the revolution needs (cliché but works as an example), do they really need six books to realice this? Maybe the answer is yes and you have a good reason. But consider this: how much more interesting would it be if they realised they were a capable leader, they begin to lead, and because of this they stop paying attention to others and have to learn to let other’s help out? 

One character arc can lead into another. 

Or perhaps new problems pop up out of nowhere with new arcs. 

I also want do a quick throwback to how character arcs happen before the books begin, character arcs can sometimes go on in the background with side characters and character arcs will continue after the book ends. 

I mentioned it in a post once upon a time and I stand by that. Often times we believe the most interesting characters are the ones that grow and change during a story, but to use an example everybody knows: in Harry Potter, many of the most interesting characters are teachers or grown ups who have already grown and learn very little over the course of the books. 

Character’s can also take breaks from their arcs to pursue some other lesson. Or character’s can learn something then unlearn it only to learn it again (don’t go over the top on this, but sometimes it can make a point even more powerful, a good example of this is Zuko from atla, he changed but when given the chance to redeem himself in his father’s eyes cannot help but take the chance. It is only once he is back that he realises this isn’t truly what he wants and changes sides properly!) 

Character arcs do not have to be linear. They do not have to last forever and they do not have to be standalone. 

Have as many arcs as you need. 

Let them wonder away from the arc then wonder back. 

Let them realise that the things they’re trying to learn isn’t worth it. 

Let character’s be more like real people. Sometimes it can be way more interesting than a walking lesson. 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

What are your favourite character arcs from media? Or better yet, what’s your favourite character arc you’ve written? 

For me it’s perhaps a draw between Henry Warren and Elizabeth Owen. They both grow a lot in different ways and often together. 

I chose to use the wording grow up without money here, because poverty is relative. I mean, so is money but words are also limited. 

To offer up context, I’m basing this of my own experience and I grew up having very limited amount of money at my disposal, but I was never lacking in food or a roof or anything like that. But there are a couple of things I’ve done my entire life, still do, and I realised, not everybody does. So let’s talk about some of those stuff for writing sake. 

1.- I am constantly comparing. When I got my first job at 16 (and I mean 16 and a week, I did not wait long), everything I wanted had to be worth the time. A computer? I would love one, a cheap but functional one is 200 euros, I earn 5 euros an hour so that’s about 40 hours of work. I’m going to use a computer for many, many hours so… worth it! I also compared things to donuts, because the four park of donuts was 1 euro so a computer would be 200 packs of donuts. 

This is something I still do. Which is problematic because my current salary is 3 euros an hour, and I need to buy food. So I’ll be in the supermarket like, yeah, that’s cheap and all, but 3 euros is one hour of my work and I don’t take long to eat it, so… ya know.

My boyfriend has to constantly remind me, that’s a stupid way to think, but it’s hard and I don’t think I’m anywhere close to being able to turn it off. 

2.- Over-analysing every single purchase. It’s okay for big things, it’s a small problem when you’re analysing phone chargers with a fifty cent price difference, the durability of face masks or watching twenty minute YouTube reviews about a cheap pack of scented candles because, going back to point one “one euro fifty is half my salary and if this candle doesn’t deliver the amount of hours it has promised I will regret it later”. 

3.- Over-purchasing things on sale. It’s counterproductive to the goal, but I mean, come on, if the donuts cost 50 cents instead of a euro, how can I not buy it? What do you mean I don’t eat donuts? That’s because they’re expensive, so I best buy seven packs while they’re cheap. You do not need to know the amount of canned goods I have accumulated through sales. And yes, they last for ever. But yes, they also occupy space in my tiny kitchen. 

4.- Anxiety from throwing things away. Literally anything, I have to find a use for it, I have boxes of literal rubbish, which, yes, I do use in crafts. I have food in my fridge (in closed containers obviously) that went out of date long ago but throwing it out causes so much anxiety that I just leave it there until my boyfriend can come up and get rid of it for me. 

If I get free headphones with anything, do I need them? Not at all, will I hold on to them as though they were the best thing to ever enter my house? Yes. 

5.- If you get the chance to get something for free, but it requires a choice, expect a lot of analysing. Even if it’s a stupidly small amount of money. I had a couple of euros in Google credit from doing surveys and I don’t know how many hours I spent analysing the PlayStore for the best choice of games. (I got the game threes for a euro, honestly, good investment, very enjoyable). 

6.- Free is free. Are Google Surveys worth my time for the credit they give me? Yeah, actually, I’d recommend it if you are an android user. But I’ve also written 10k word stories on a subject I did not like for 4 dollars, not even euros. I’d say this was a low point, but I fear I’d still take the job today. I don’t actually have more money coming in then I do going out. Which is normal because I’m a student and my income comes from an internship that I do part time for practically no salary. I know it’s normal and I can make up for it later, but I feel as though if I don’t do the work I am offered, even if it’s not fair, by turning down any money, I become culpable of my situation. So, any offer for money, I’ll take. Even if that goes against my morals (minimum wage), against my health (waitressing jobs in the summer that push me to my limits) or just plain common sense. 

I know a lot of people are like this. And, I have to point out you should value your time. But, if you can’t, if you need to do the job, at the very least, try not to feel guilty if you didn’t do that good of a job. That writing job for 10k, they asked me to rewrite it, claiming my quality wasn’t high enough (I’d already done several revisions and there was open communication, however the deal was for a first draft which is never going to be the highest quality). And I put my foot down, I explained that I was earning less then 50 cents an hour and I wasn’t going to put more hours into it. Thankfully they still paid my my well earned four dollars, but I think the ability to put foot down was more valuable than the money this time. 

7.- When something breaks it can easily cause burn-out or emotional breakdowns. I’m living in an emotional breakdown this year, and part of that is because my ipad (which I am super proud of because I bought second hand years ago for next to nothing) is struggling. It’s very old now, the battery is on the way out, updates are done, and it has several glitches. I depend on my ipad for taking digital notes for university and I don’t think I could go back to using a pen and paper. But the idea of buying a new one is absolutely terrifying. To the point where if I actually stop to think about it, and realise it’s like a year of my income, well, I get physically ill. 

In fact, money is probably the biggest cause of mental breakdowns for me. Even when I’m doing well financially. Because I know what it’s like to eat less than recommended portion sizes in an attempt to save a couple of coins. I know what it’s like to track every single cent. 

8.- The fear of having nothing never really goes away. The fear that if I make the wrong financial decision, I will lose everything and somehow end up homeless or unable to buy food… it’s a stupid fear. It’s pretty much impossible because I have family, I have friends. But… it’s something I cannot shake. It’s fear that follows me everywhere. And I can’t say that this fear will never go away, because I’m a student, I have never truly grasped financial stability. But I can’t imagine a life without it. Perhaps one day I’ll be able to go to the supermarket without flinching at the prices, but I don’t think I’ll ever truly be at peace with money. 

You know the expression: Money won’t buy happiness? Of course you do. Did you know studied have actually been done and it’s kind of true? It’s true over a certain point of money. Which, makes sense, obviously. But I always think about this expression, because people say it to me when I’m obsessing, and I get angry with them. Because I’ve always been beneath that line, more money has always meant more happiness, because it’s always meant further stability. 

But it’s a stupid thing to be angry about. Because yes, they are being ignorant, but the truth is, people who say this, probably have never lived bellow that line. And that’s good. I think it’s good that there are people out there who get to grow up without that stress. 

And it’s important to realise in today’s society, there are a lot of people who are rich in a way that is wrong. But there are also a lot of people who may feel rich to us (us being the people who are bellow this line), but they aren’t really the problem. The middle class isn’t the problem, even if they are comfortable. And if I truly start going on about financial inequality… well, we’d have a couple more posts because I study finances and am specialising in ethical finances including inequality, so, I’m going to leave it here. 

I hope these eight observations are useful to your writing, or just interesting in general. 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

Also, if you find yourself lacking in money and don’t think you’re spending that much, please keep track of your money? Excel is a great tool and you will surprised! 

If, money causes you a huge amount fo anxiety like me and you do not too much financial trouble, please stop keeping track of your money and just occasionally check your bank balance because the obsessive control is causing you more harm than good at this point. 

Love you all and have a great day! 

How was your new year’s eve? I knows it’s been a weird year but I hope even if it was just close family or a few friends it was great for you! 

For me, and many others, the new year is a bit unsettling. Not for any other reason than school. The school year being different to actual years always feels weird. Everybody is like “new chapter!” and I’m in that strange in between space where I’ve finished classes but need to remember everything for exams. 

But something I can measure in actual normal years is reading and writing because that goes on my time. 

2021 was a very busy year for me. I published my first ever book! Dear Dragon was an amazing experience. It was the first time I was brave enough to truly put my work into the world. 

I also did a lot of writing for the second book in the series. Wrote the entire first draft of the third book. I finished Out of Body Experience this year. Started a couple of short stories on Wattpad that aren’t finished. Plus an still working on the second draft to “The King, his Knight and his Mage” (title not definitive). 

The only thing is… I’d be lying if I said this was a good year. 

I wrote most of this during the summer while I had no work or school. Plus I was at a high point having newly published the first book. 

Dear Dragon took me four whole years to write. 

With this in mind and being more busy than ever with work and school, what would I like to get done in 2022? 

Well first, I want to finish and publish the second book in Dear Dragon this summer. That way it will only be on year apart. And this series really is my passion. The problem is, when I published the first book my biggest fear was nobody would read it. And although that isn’t exactly what happened, I did sell less than twenty copies. So, I’m a little scared the second book being a second book and very few people having read the first, will sell literally zero copies and it will affect my confidence. 

I know I need to write for myself and nobody else, it’s what I always say to others, but the truth is, editing, beta reading, re-writing, a lot of that is so that others can enjoy my craft. I’d be happy with a rough first draft. This is the reason I already have the first draft for book three, that way if book two sells zero I’m more likely to keep going anyway. 

The second thing I’d like is to get the second draft for book three done. Plain and simple, so it can be out int he summer of 2023. 

I’d really like to finish the first draft of “The King, his Knight and his Mage”. I’m less passionate about it then Dear Dragon but at the same time it’s been living in my head rent free for far too long and I’d really like to publish a proper standalone book for a change. 

Talking of standalones and publishing, I’d also love to re-write Out of Body Experience and publish that. There are parts of it I love and parts I find meh but I feel with enough polish I could really get it to be a quality product. 

Plus, I have figured out that published books (even self-published on amazon) get way more attention than stories on wattpad (I seriously need to find a writing website that caters to my writing style but for the life of me I can’t seem to track one down, any recommendations are hugely apreciated!)

I’d also love to get back into Oppida Institue for Reformation. It’s a story I love and just had to put on hiatus due to University but it bothers me every day that it’s not moving forward. It happens in the same universe as Dear Dragon, it’s a prequel following one of the side-characters but it’s not got any major spoilers and is up for free on wattpad. 

So, those are my unrealistic goals for 2022. If I remember maybe next year I’ll do a post about how they went, but with my memory that’s very optimistic. 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

What are your writing goals for 2022? Are they realistic? 

It’s currently eight pm where I live, 31st of December. I’m going to get up and cook in a moment for a nice dinner with my roommates to say goodbye to 2021 and say hello to 2022. So, apologies for any typos because I am rushing it here a bit. 

2021 was… well, it was a thing. Still a pandemic going on, can’t say life has been easy, but 2021 is still, always going to be the year I finally put my story into the world. 

2021 is the year I self-published the first book in “Dear Dragon”. It’s the year I decided I was going to work on my shyness and started TikTok, forcing myself to talk to a camera and not be so self-conscious about how I sound or how I look. 

It’s the year I came back to Tumblr, wrote 110 posts, most of which are about writing. I now have 341 followers on here, which is absolutely insane to me. 

I’ve sold in total 18 books. 18 people though my book was worth paying to have, be that physical or digital, be that on sale or not. 

And I know 18 isn’t a huge number, but it’s kinda huge to me. 

Before this year, before 2021, all my stories were either only mine, or published on some place like Wattpad where they got two views if I was lucky. 

This year, has been an amazing year. 

But, it’s also been complicated. I have a job, it’s my last year at university, so time had been scarce. It’s also been the first full year without my dad around, and… well, that hits hard. 

He didn’t die of Covid, he dies of cancer, but I just want to say to all of you who lost family or friends during this pandemic, I know how you feel. I know what it’s like to not be allowed to be with your loved one in the hospital because of the pandemic. I know what it’s like to argue with the police over the phone whether you’re allowed to go see them despite the quarantine. 

I also know what it’s like to rush finish a book because I had the hopes he could read it before his passing. 

I know the slow realisation that he isn’t going to read it because he isn’t well enough. 

I know what it’s like to stand in the hospital room and tell him about how in 2021 I’m going to publish it no matter what. 

I started the year seeking out an agent and trying to traditionally publish. 

In summer I published it myself so as to not be a liar. 

And, it took four year to get to that point. And if you’re one of those 18 people who bought it, just let me say, thank you, you’ve made 2021 one of the best years of my life because, you’ve made my passion something that is shared with others. 

I can’t wait to continue writing my books, my stories, I can’t wait to write more posts here, I cannot express how much I cannot wait for this pandemic to end! 

But, all of those things are going to have to wait for 2022. 

So, to everybody, I hope you have an amazing new year! 

I know things aren’t always easy, but, if we take a step back and look at the bigger picture, I’m certain we can find things to be excited for. 

I love you all. Thank you so much and I’ll see you all next year! 

Signed, Hannah. 

Privilege is something thrown around a lot these days, and mostly, for good reason. 

We all have it. 

If it’s not the colour of your skin, what’s in between your pants, your sexual orientation, your wealth or your health, it’s one of the other hundreds of things I could list. 

I am extremely privileged, I’m white, my first language is English, I can talk and read, I have a roof over my head and many others things. 

But I’m also at a disadvantage in a lot of other areas, my hearing and sight are both pretty bad, I constantly struggle with metal health, I’m fortunate enough to have a job but it isn’t well paying enough to remove the stress of money, my health is in constant ruins and, well, many other things. 

The same goes for every character we make. 

I read a lot of books where the author focuses in on the disadvantages a character faces, and it makes sense, that’s often more a cause of conflict, but they rarely take but a second to acknowledge that which they do have. A family that loves them? A stable job? Good health? 

I always find it weird when people say something then do another. Reflect your values in your work, in your art, if you believe in the philosophy where we should take a step back and be aware of our place inside society, do so in your art too. 

This also goes the other way, feel free to take a priviledged character and show the disadvantages they face. It’s a pretty common trope to show the rich kids with absent parents. That’s a disadvantage, it’s usually shown as though related to the privilege but I don’t think it’s necessary for them to be related. 

Why do people always choose absent family for the rich kid as their disadvantage? There are so many good ones out there! Health problems, both physical and mental, discrimination of any sort with the added bonus of it always being lessened due to their financial status, disfuncional relationships because nobody is completely free of the risk of an abusive dick, being incapable of passing at school despite the expensive tutors, having an ill pet… 

If you like that trope there’s nothing inherently wrong with it of course, I just yearn for some more variety. 

So, how can we incorporate privilege and disadvantages into our stories? As so often happens, I’m going to go over a quick example from my own book because it’s easy. 

Itazu is the main character in my series Dear Dragon. 

Relevant Privileges: Her father is both loving and wealthy having a good job, because of this there is no true expectation from her, she’s pretty free to do as she wishes. She’s a dragon and thereby more physically durable than humans. 

Relevant Disadvantages: She’s a dragon, one of the last of her species with all the social issues that entails. (I’m simplifying so as to avoid spoilers for second and third books, sorry). 

The relevant disadvantages obviously move the plot forward at many points. But that doesn’t mean her privileges are ignored. In fact, they are bought up often, sometimes more obviously than others. It’s bought up through reminders like: “Your Father won’t let that happens.” “Henry will take care of it.” “You’ll always have a place to go”. And from her father himself: “You can count on me for anything.” 

This is a treatment many other characters in the book (specifically the male lead), don’t get. And it is something that sticks out. 

My intention when showing this is several: 

1.- Make sure the audience understands that all the accomplishments in the books are not the protagonist’s alone. She has a support system and that does a lot for her. 

2.- Show that it’s not all or nothing. You can are both in a situation of privilege and disadvantage. A good character reflects reality. 

3.- Split the audience. And this is the most complicated to understand. Mostly because the goal isn’t truly to split the audience, but to understand that a good character, a realistic character, will not be liked by everybody. We all know somebody who was absolutely charming and did nothing wrong! Except for some weird reason you can’t explain, you hated them. No character is 100% likeable to everybody (except for some atla ones but I mean there had to be some kind of dark magic in the creation of that show, too perfect), and I don’t want anybody to hate my character’s because they’re boring. I want them to be hated because there is something about them you don’t like.

I’ve got a whole post coming out shortly about this last point that goes way more into detail so stay tuned! 

From what I’ve tested Itazu can sometimes be disliked because, “She complains about her disadvantages while having more privilege than other characters”. A perfectly valid critique. If not one I personally believe in. I and many readers find Itazu’s willingness to acknowledge both her disadvantages and her privileges not letting either one get in the way of the other is a perfectly enjoyable character trait. 

Itazu is bullied at one point for who she is, and she doesn’t treat this any less seriously because she gets to go home to a loving father. 

She receives plenty of love from her father, even though he isn’t a dragon and can’t fully understand her. And she at no point sees her father as less loving due to this lack of comprehension. 

Use both. 

And I seriously hope I got the point across because I do now know how ot express these thoughts why now. 

Please, I’m begging you if you made it this far, did any of that make sense to you? Please tell me. 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

Hey, it’s Christmas Eve on Friday, I hope all the students out there are holding in! Remember, not long left! I hope all of you have amazing holidays, and some extra time to read! 

Also, I did a post but my ebook is currently on sale in the US and UK! It’s about dragons. YA Fantasy. Anyway, that’s all! Sorry for rambling, love you all! 

Well, I’m 24 and haven’t got my life together yet. 

For some reason I didn’t see this coming, always assumed I’d grow up, write my books, publish them and make something for myself. A part of me still assumes one day I’m going to be a profesional (as in I make a living off of) author. 

The more down to earth side of me assumes I’ll more likely end up a university teacher who clearly wishes they’d chosen a different degree but can’t afford the financial strain or time investment to actually change career paths. 

And honestly, I’ll probably be happy either way. 

I wish I had more time at the moment to write and draw and just enjoy life. But given where I live, the financial state of the world, I’m just happy I have the money to get a coffee in the morning, and the resources to self-publish the stories that mean the most to me. 

So, to celebrate another year of moving forward in life even if the direction isn’t the best. 

Dear Dragon (the ebook version) will be on sale Dec 14th at 8 am PST up until the 21st! 

As well as in the UK from the 16th of Dec up until the 25th (why different? Because I forgot I have to program both the US and UK separately. I’m sorry. I’m not good at marketing). 

It’s my birthday sale and also the christmas sale if you’d like to give it to any YA fantasy dragons fans! 

I’ve got another two weeks of just intense exams, will probably be a bit busy for a couple of days after for christmas, but after that I’ve got a bit more time off and about seventeen drafts so expect more posts from me shortly! 

I also just want to thank everybody for being here! For a long time my posts got one or two notes and suddenly I have over three hundred follows and that’s kind of amazing. I’m glas my writing advice has been helpful or at least relatable to so many people. 

If I don’t find time to post again, have great holidays! Hopefully it gives you all some more time to work on your stories. 

Ones I haven’t seen as often but apply myself. 

1.- Bedtimes stories you tell to children, or lullabies. They can be based in location or species. They can tell us about the world, history, beliefs or something specific about a creature. It can be fun to think of their origin, how they’ve changed over the years and both the meaning that was lost and the meaning that was added. 

2.- Fashion choices. I often let fashion be different for different creatures. I usually create a practical outfit that makes sense historically within the context of my world and then evolve it until I get to the present day of my story. Preferably splitting of into branches and allowing more options. It can tell us about a specific species, about their history and about how the climate has changed, or how they moved locations at some point and had to adapt their clothing to a new climate. 

A very simple example of this from my own book would be the mage’s cloak! Link to a longer post about it. Basically, mages would wear a simple one piece fabric that was easy to then set an illusion over, no wasting time mixing trousers and tops. Over time some mages stopped using illusions, seeing the outfit as acceptable. It became a staple, you saw the cloak, that wasn’t a human but a mage. And then younger generations began personalising the material, instead of boring black, white or brown they started using floral patterns, adding in cool sleeves or hoods! 

Initially, it was practicality, but it evolved. 

3.- Think about what each species does for fun! I often read YA fantasy where the stakes are so high there is no leisure, no downtown, no fun, no hobbies. But this is a great opportunity! What’s popular in your world? Books, plays, board games, long walks, playing sport? Seeing characters just chill can be a great change of pace and allow for some insight into their lives and the world they live in. 

4.- What is imported? And why? Sometimes imports are just practical, we don’t have wool here (unlikely, sheep are literally everywhere, but you get the point), wool is good for clothes, we import it. But other times it’s more complicated. 

Perhaps a species moved across the country at some point, but they were accustomed to a certain type of tea, fruit for certain festivities, so on, so on, and habit dies hard, so, importation becomes a thing. 

So those are my four world-building tips for today. I’ve said it before and will say it again, there is no master list, not check list, world-building is something you can figure out as you go in most genres (some epics may requiere more prep time). What’s important is to keep track of what you’ve said and stay consistent, but you don’t need to know everything before going in. 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

How’s your world coming along? 

Misleading your readers can be super important in writing! Especially if you want a plot twist that works, sometimes foreshadowing can get a bit obvious but throw in some red hearings and you’re back on track. 

When it comes to unreliable sources, there are a ton, but it is preferable to choose one that your readers will believe. For this I mostly use characters, see, most readers will believe the protagonist or important side characters when they say something. They won’t even question it. But there’s a lot of reasons your main character may not be telling the truth. 

They might be retelling an explanation they made up in their head a long time ago and can’t even remember was made up. 

They might have been lied to. 

They might of misunderstood something they were told.

They might be talking to a child and simplifying or lying for their protection. 

Andif you don’t say anything, people will assume whatever they say is true. But characters are allowed to make mistakes. 

Remember, if you have an all knowing neutral narrator, they can’t straight up lie. But character’s aren’t all knowing and often think they are. 

Another form of unreliable information can be extracts from books, or essays. Books are full of misinformation! Either because of politics, interests or simply new evidence coming around. How many things were supposed to be true until proven otherwise? And students can be terrible! The amount of lies I’ve told in my essays purely from misinterpretation is terrifying. 

For both of these you have to be careful. If every time you pull out a book it’s all lies, well, readers aren’t dumb, they’ll pick it up quite quickly. If it is mostly true, with a couple of lies spread in between the pages, now we’re talking. 

You can also combine the two. A characters reads something in a book, tells others, they believe it and go with is as though true. Nobody ever corrects the misinformation. The reader certainly won’t be suspecting anything at that point. 

Anyway, I hope this was useful. 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

How have you tricked your readers? 

1.- Talking too much. Specifically, with adults. I see this a lot with hyperactive children. But a lot of us don’t grow out of this and I want my representation! Plus, this can be very fun and useful! You can use it for exposition and world building. It leaves plenty of room to hide small details. It also can give a lot of context about other character’s around them. 

When they start talking word after word for about a hundred words more than necessary to say they  are happy, do the other character’s seem entertained? Annoyed but say nothing? Annoyed and say it? Do they look like they’re not listening? Do they look like they’re listening but later on we find out they’re just really good at pretending to listen? So many possibilities! And how does the original character react to this? 

2.- Being terrible with names. I mean, as someone who once forgot the name of a co-worker I saw every day and had been working with for years, it’s kinda upsetting when character’s in books just hear it once and remember. 

Especially when I’m just dying to be reminded this character’s name because I forgot. It’s not only a very relatable character flaw, it’s useful for reminding readers of who’s who! Something a lot of authors don’t do enough of (including me, I know my characters better than my co-workers, so of course it’s obvious to me). 

3.- Hoarding. Not like to the point where’s it’s dangerous and a problem that needs to be solved, but to the point where you have a shoe box full of receipts from seven years ago for stuff that never had a guarantee. To the point where you have leaflets from concerts you went to at the age of ten and can’t throw away “because of the memories!” To the point where you have magazines because, “look at the pretty pictures! I can use that in scrap booking somewhere… some day.” Or stickers from when you were five years old that won’t even stick anymore. 

Again, lots of people do this, it’s relatable, but also, it gives you lots of opportunities to show us stuff about the character, about their past and how they’ve changed with time. Natural exposition baby! 

4.- Gets anxious when there’s too much noise, or too many people. Not as a plot point, not as a symptom of autism or something. Just normal, over stimulation. Because over stimulation can happen to anybody, and our ability to withstand it is different. 

This too can be useful, it can be a good way to separate two characters from the group. “Oh, I’ll go with her, you guys stay, don’t worry!” 

Also, it’d be nice to see a character realise the environments not good for them, communicate that calmly and leave before over stimulation. Like, you think after years of this shit I don’t know before things get too bad? You’d be right sometimes, but not all times. Sometimes I know my limits, and I never see that in media (if you know any media that does do this, tell me!). 

5.- Having zero sense of direction. Because after four years I still manage to get lost on my own street if I come in from a direction that isn’t the one I use every day and again, I want representation. 

Plus, you can have character’s get lost (especially in fantasy worlds with no GPS) as a way to discover new locations or send other characters to find them. 

I hope you found at least one of these ideas useful. Or, they inspired you to think of other good and not often seen character flaws. 

I want to state that I’ve used the word character “flaw” but that might not be entirely accurate for some of these I just can’t think of a more accurate word right now. 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

Which one of these can apply to one of you characters? What flaws did I miss out? 

So, if you’re not new around here you may know I’m bilingual, was born and raised for the first six years of my life in one country and then got to experience another. Both a privilege and kind of traumatic. But as such as I have experience with differences in cultures. 

I’m not going to however be talking about any real culture. I mostly write fantasy and I’m just going to be talking about some ideas for differences between cultures that you can use to make your own cultures more realistic. Because lets be honest, a lot of things we just assume are the same everywhere.  

I was going to do a list, but if I did I’d probably take far too long so instead I’ll probably be doing several of these. For today, we are talking about: Food but more specifically, meals. 

Food is probably one of the first things people think about when thinking about differences in cultures (or maybe I’m just hungry). It’s easy to understand and makes sense as different locations have access to different produce.

But more than the food itself, I always find it more surprising the difference in consumption. So, where I was born, we’d usually have three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and supper. 

Where I currently live however it’s far more typical to have five meals a day. Breakfast, snack, lunch, evening snack and supper. (Snack and evening snack are actually called almuerzo and berenar, but I  don’t think there is an exact translation to English). I have quite happily adopted the evening snack, going for a coffee/tea and some bakery good is amazing. But I still after fifteen years cannot do the morning snack, it’s just too many meals. And this has always been shocking to my coworkers, classmates or friends who tell me off for “skipping meals”. 

The other thing is times at which meals are consumed. Supper where I currently live is usually around 9pm. Where I come from it’s like 5pm. My boyfriends is always shocked when we go have supper with my grandparents at 5pm, “it’s not supper, it’s a very large evening snack,” he will claim. 

Then there are things like with whom and where you have meals. Who prepared the meals. 

Where I come from, eating out is a luxury, despite being a country with far more economic power.Where I currently on the other hand, eating out is almost a routine. It’s a matter of prioritisation, you might have cheap shoes but you still have to go out for lunch everyday with your coworkers because it’s expected of you. 

The conclusion and most important point I want to make is: there’s a lot more to food, than what you’re actually eating. 

So, maybe take a break from staring at maps and figuring out the climate and produce and the meals that could be made with it, and broaden your culture with simpler yet significant details. 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here. I’m going to be doing a sale on my ebook real soon for Christmas/my birthday! (I’ll be doing a post, don’t worry). 

What interesting meal differences are there in your culture? 

I hate gift giving. 

I mean, I love it when I know what to give but that’s rarely the case. 

Thankfully, in fiction, character’s will like what we tell them to like. But a powerful gift within the narrative requieres a bit more than for the character to like it. So here’s a couple of ideas to help: 

1.-Make it something useful. Show your character having a recurring problem, preferably something unimportant, something trivial. Don’t show them complaining, show their frustration through smaller details such as them taking a deep breath, rubbing their nose or pausing for just a second mid-task. 

This shows two important details on part of the gift giver: them paying attention to notice the problem and them finding a solution. 

Attentiveness plus problem solving. Meaningful no matter how minor. 

2.-Make it something they like, but something they’ve bought up only passingly before. If it’s something they love and go on about, anybody could get the right gift. Make it a small detail, maybe they’re at a farm in an early chapter and the receiver mentions their favourite animal, towards the end of the book the gift givers gets a plush, a figurine or a necklace with the animal. 

Same as before, attentiveness. Just make sure it doesn’t happen too soon, if the information is still fresh the reader will be like: “Well, you literally just bought that up to make this gift meaningful.” And they might be right, but give them time to forget and then be reminded and it’s like: “Oh! They remembered!” 

I did a whole post dedicated to giving time for things to sit, it’s a thing. 

3.-Make it hard. Hard to find. If they make it themselves, hard to make. Maybe they need to get the materials, hard to collect materials for? You ever heard of the McGuffin trope? Some people say it’s bad writing, personally, I believe it depends. But it’s the idea that the item doesn’t matter, it’s just an excuse for the actions to get it. Look at the gift like a McGuffin. But if you want it to be more meaningful, combine it with one of the previous points. 

4.-Maybe the gift isn’t the important part, maybe it’s the way it’s wrapped, with her favourite colour wrapping paper, maybe it’s the hand written note with a desperate attempt at cursive because, “You’re hand writing is so pretty, I thought it must matter to you.” Perhaps it a hand-made card that goes with it. Perhaps they’re separated for a mission but the gift givers sneaks away and risks a lot to get the gift to the receiver despite it all. (This could also end in a big argument but that’s up to you). 

Remember sometimes the point of a gift isn’t the gift but the situation surrounding it. 

5.-Make it something important to the gift giver. This is a pretty common trope but when properly established it still gets me every time. This is the whole, “Here, take my dead mother’s necklace.” “But it means so much to you!” “But I’d rather you have it!” Trope. I’m a sucker for it. 

Also, it doesn’t always have to come from the gifter. I have a scene way later on in my series where the love interest actually gives my main character something (not going to say what, that would be a spoiler) that he got from her father that once belonged ot her mother. It’s similar because the father gives it up so she can have it, but then it comes from the love interest. I’m not sure if this makes sense without context but obviously I don’t want to spoil like, final book scenes. But the idea is, there can be other characters involved in this, other than the two giver and receiver. 

6.-Maybe it isn’t important, maybe it isn’t meaningful, maybe it become so over time. I have plenty of stupid bits of plastic that were given to me on a night out as a joke in between laughters, perhaps a baby Shark kinder egg or a pretty plastic ring. But then instead of getting rid of it, I put it away. I look back at it and smile remembering those nights. Something can be meaningless in the moment, but become meaningful just for staying around long enough. 

Extra points if the grifter dies or otherwise leaves. 

And those are my 6 tips. You can combine as you wish. Also, I used a love interest in one example, but anybody can give anybody a gift! I give gifts to my roommates, friends and family. And it’s just as important to work on the relationships that aren’t romantic as it is the romantic ones. (Unless you’re writing a romance I guess, but I only do fantasy, usually YA so, can’t really comment on that). 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here. 

So, with christmas coming up, how’s your gift buying going? I knows it’s not that soon, but I have exams in November so I try to start really early. I have a special box where I just put things in. 

EXTRA NOTE: I know, I know, I’ve been missing for a while. I’ve got one month at university and as always, exams, homework, chaos everywhere! I promise I’m still around, I promise I’ve got 18 drafts plus several lists of ideas. As soon as I have time I’ll get back into posting more often. I just have to prioritize school, work, paying for food and those good boring stuff! 

Also, I’ll be putting my ebook on sale sometime this December for Christmas! So, you know, if you want a gift idea for someone who likes reading YA Fantasy with dragons, look out for that! 

It is surprisingly rare in the real world how many relationships consist of people the same age. (The older you get, the more rare it is, which makes sense as age is relative and what not). 

For today’s reference I’m focusing on a minor age gap. As usual I’ll be talking from experience so for context sake I’m 23 and my partner is 30. A seven year gap, pretty common especially where I am. I’m saying minor because it’s the average, but averages vary depending on locations and culture so take that in mind. 

With all this said, here’s a list of things that happen due to this age gap: 

1.- Different shows and music growing up, different games too! My first pokemon game was Diamond on the DS, my boyfriend was around to play pokemon red. That’s like, the first one! 

Similarly sometimes my boyfriends and friends start going of about an old show I’ve either never heard of, or binged as an adult because it wasn’t on television when I was a kid. 

Sometimes it’s the opposite and I start going on about a show they never saw because they were too old. Or shows that I watched they will laugh at because, when it was on television it was “little kid’s show”. 

This leads to both me and them discovering a lot of amazing new shows. I view this as a total positive. But if a relationship was not willing to give new things a chance, this could be a barrier, less things to talk about. 

2.- General different childhoods. I’ve had internet since I was like six or seven. My boyfriends grew up without it. If you’re writing fantasy, this can be replaced with any important technological advancement. 

Because of this specific one, I’m more technology dependant, I use an ipad instead of paper for example, where he is better at using dictionaries and maps. 

3.- Language differences. I’m fortunate enough to have grown up with plenty of terms that weren’t in use when my boyfriend was young. Some are technological, while other’s are mental health or sexuality related. Because of this when we’re discussing news I tend to speak in a more “politically correct” kinda way. 

This also affects expressions, I’m going to use an example in Spanish because I can’t think of an English equivalent, “Chachi,” is a word that means cool. There’s a lot of words like that in Spanish (Guay, mola, súper, lindo…). And it’s a term that my generation used a lot in High School, my boyfriend was older, didn’t use it and now it is not a normal part of his vocabulary. He’ll said mostly “mola”. 

It doesn’t really make a difference. It’s just a difference I’ve noticed and thought could be fun to implement in a story. 

4.- Fashions choices is obvious and I don’t think needs an example. 

5.- Playgrounds songs and games. It’s kind of upsetting that I have more overlaps with my little sister than most of my friends. But it’s also kind of funny. 

6.- Schoolling! This is a big one. We learnt different subjects, under different rules. Sometimes these differences are minor, back when he was in school he had to study religion. I studied ethics. But other times the entire educations system is changes so that now a degree is worth less and I am forced to not only considerbut consider almost mandatory getting a masters degree. Thank you politicians. 

7.- Politics. We are one the same side of politics but the politics we have experienced and lived through are very different and that’s something you can tell when we talk and discuss stuff. I was too young when my country was in crisis to truly understand what was going on. It was just a word to me. He suffered the consequences. 

This one is probably the one that can be incorporated the best into a fantasy setting. And now that I’m thinking about it, I believe Poison Study did quite a good job at doing it. Not going to spoil anything too big, but basically there’s a big political incident that happens before the books and the main character barely remembers it, while the love interest lived it. I highly recommend you give Poison Study a read! It’s one of my fave books of all time (even though I haven’t read it in years). 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

Are you in a relationship with an age gap? What’s your experience? Feel free to add to this post! I sometimes struggle with what differences are due to age and which are due to culture so I left quite a few things out. 

Hello! So, it’s already the 8th of November. One week since NaNoWriMo began and I am unsurprisingly behind on my word count. 

But given the fact my writing style pretty much consists of sprints in between the chaos of my life I’m not too concerned (yet). 

In the end I decided to go with “The king, The Knight and The Mage”, seeing as it was fully outlined and a standalone. Like I said I do plan to upload the first draft fully to the internet. 

I’m currently three chapters in (the third one is really long, I’ll probably do a post explaining why that is because it’s actually quite curious). But for now I’m only going to upload the Prologue to here. I thought it’d be a good 100th post. 

Quick warning: This is a first draft, that’s kind of the thing with NaNoWriMo, this means there’s more than likely typos, continuity errors and just bad writing. Also, for now the genre is fantasy, usually I do young adult fantasy but there is some heavier than usual content in this one (mostly violence and death, so may this be your warning).

With that said, enjoy! 

Prologue: 

Prophets talked a lot. Most of it was pointless.  

However, any kingdom with an ounce of self-respect took good care of them. Usually, they lived in palaces or castles. Close to the court, the king or whatever form of government had to make decisions.  

In the case of Regnoma, the prophets lived at the highest level of one of the tallest towers. They had an entire floor to themselves, one they could fill with smoke and shining liquids as they practiced their poetry. Prophets loved poetry. It was a way to make their predictions sounds more meaningful.  

“I am but your sacrosanct servant,” one of the younger prophets whispered, her raven black hair fell over her face as she curtseyed as low as she could, holding the rims of her red dress.  

“Sacrosanct?” the king’s bodyguard, a large man with broad shoulders, short brown hair and small narrowed brown eyes asked the king.  

“Do not be concerned Leon,” the king, a tall skinny man in expensive robes that swayed as he walked and tired blue eyes reassured.  

“Today I foresee, if you dare to advance outwards after the sun hits it’s highest peak, you shall find yourself aqueous, vexatious and in need of assistance, trapped by your own silks.”  

The king nodded. He turned his head only slightly so he could see Leon’s concerned expression before gesturing for them to leave.  

It took a moment for both their eyes to adjust once the thick wooden door closed behind them. Standing on the stone spiral staircase with sunlight slipping in through a stone window, Leon looked nervous. “That did not sound good.”  

The king smiled, still looking exhausted. “All they said is that we can expect it to rain this afternoon and the water will make getting my robes of more complicated than usual.” He shook his head ever so slightly as they began to their way down the spiral staircase, “it would be wise of me to prohibit the presence of thesaurus’ around them.”  

“Oh,” Leon relaxed. “That is good news… I mean, I may have put clothes out yesterday to dry that have not yet come in but… better than what I was imagining.”  

“I know their speech is weird, but they can speak normally. It’s helpful to remember that the more complicated they speak, the less important the information they are giving you. If it’s urgent, they’ll make themselves understood. They seem to be under the impression that if they don’t seem important, they won’t be allowed to stay here,” he smiled. “It’s admittedly adorable.”  

“With all due respect Your Majesty, what you see as adorable to me is merely agitating.”  

“Well. Adorable or not. They are very important.”  

“I know that Your Majesty.”  

“They see the future.”  

“Or they are very good guessers. What was it they told you yesterday, that your letter would arrive?”  

“And it did.” The king chuckled as they reached the bottom of the staircase and began to make their way through the halls towards the court. “All you must do is visit them three times a day and inform me of anything important.”  

“It’s an honor Your Majesty.”  

“It is.” The king reminded. “You’re escalating in the ranks very quickly.”  

“Yes, the other knights are becoming jealous. Are you certain you wish to entrust me with this and not one of your older knights?”  

“I wouldn’t want to take up their busy schedule in which they gossip and bring each other down with such responsibilities.”  

Leon knew how the king felt for some of the knights. He couldn’t say he felt much different. “I’ll be sure to visit three times a day. Anything important will go straight to you.”  

The king nodded. “You remember the dragon attack from a couple of months ago?”  

Leon sighed. “How could I forget?”  

“It was horrendous. However, it could have been much worse.”  

“Had the prophets not foreseen it.” Leon nodded, “I know Your Majesty. I’m serious, it’s an honor.”  

“Sometimes you’re hard to read Leon.”  

“Well, you of all people should not struggle so much Your Majesty. I’ve only ever spoken the truth to you.”  

“That’s true… I still do not understand how a human can be as honest as you.”  

“It’s a gift and a curse.”  

The king chuckled once more. “The prophets protect the kingdom. In exchange, we protect them, from being abused, manipulated, we protect them from society and from discovering those new calendars that teach you a new word every day.”  

“Oh my…” Leon stopped in his tracks. “That would be a disaster.”  

They both laughed.  

“May I take a dictionary with me, Your Majesty?”  

“Take a linguist if you desire. Just bring the messages back fully translated, please.”  

***

The king’s court room was a weirdly quiet place. For full-court sessions were rare, mostly it was small meetings, it would be the king, one of his main advisors and then specialists.  

Perhaps it felt quieter than it was, for the room was extensive enough to hold the king, every advisor he had and a few more. It had uncomfortable wooden seats on every square meter of floor space. Over a hundred or so. All surrounding a large thick wooden table. It was pointless, for it was impossible for somebody to hear another person at the other end. Which led to either breaking protocol by shouting or playing a game of telephone with important information.  

At the very end of the table was the only comfortable looking chair, a throne made of wood and velvet cushions. On it sat the king.  

Today it was the king and a mere four others, sat around a thick wooden table talking about a stray cat problem in the poorer neighborhoods of the kingdom. It was hard for the king to imagine anything more boring.  

He wanted nothing more than to leave this meeting behind him.  

Perhaps he wanted it too much for the thick wooden doors suddenly opened. The guards standing by them on the inside pointed their weapons before recognizing the person who entered.  

More importantly, the king recognized and immediately stood.  

“The prophets, today there was important news, Your Majesty.” Leon looked distressed; the last two words sounded like an afterthought. Protocol was not on his mind; it was only the formality of court that got them out of him.  

The king nodded. “Continue trouble shooting without me,” he ordered his advisor. He walked away from the table, and out of the throne room for privacy. Well, relatively privacy, there were guards at every door and window, but they at least pretended to not hear anything.  

Leon took a couple of deep breaths, the king realized he must have come running straight from the prophet’s room, it was that time of day after all.  

“Tell me, Leon, what is wrong.”  

Leon took a deep breath, he stood tall, and he spoke.  

——–

I hope you enjoyed this. 

I’ll either keep uploading the next few chapters here, on my website or on wattpad. Feel free to tell me your preference as I haven’t decided yet. Whichever it is I’ll be sure to keep you updated! 

If you did and you want to read more (and more edited stuff) of mine, head over  here where you can check out some free stories on my wattpad or support me by purchasing (or reading through unlimited) my book! I haven’t sold a copy or in over a month so you’ll probably make my day. 

I love the trope where a character is having a bad day, like stupid small things that add up. Causing them to just want the day to end, then at the end of the day either one of two things happen. All those stupid little things are nothing compared to the bomb about to hit, or they’re friend and family were planing something cool and all that sadness and anger dissipates. 

I don’t know why I love this so much. But I always struggle to find small frustrating things that haven’t been done a million times before. So this is a resource for me to list of some ideas. 

-Washing your hair but not completely washing out the shampoo. Mostly for character’s with thicker hair, this kills me. I think I got it all but an hour or so after my shower I run my fingers through my hair and under my nails is the creamy texture of shampoo or conditioner. So frustrating. A bad start to the day. 

-Being interrupted. Whether you’re taking some time to read, doing important homework, trying to play the piano, having someone interrupt you, innocently perhaps but repeatedly, is so frustrating. Sometimes this can cause a five minute task to become an hour long. It can completely ruin that bit of free time you had. 

-There being a constant flow of noise when you just want some peace and quiet. You’re in your room, you just want to read, but you can heard children screaming on the street, there’s some cars in the distance honking at each other, you’re roommates are arguing again, your upstairs neighbour is walking around with heels on. Perhaps it’s not even that noisier, but it just never stops, and you begin to feel overwhelmed. All you want is some peace and quiet. But peace and quiet never comes. Because in this neighbourhood, even at four in the morning the sound of the police and the arguments never end. 

-Having a long list of tasks to do, a holiday or something coming up that’s perfect to do it all, and then being ill during that holiday. That feeling of hopelessness as you stare down that list and try to figure out if any of the tasks are easy enough to do despite your exhaustion, not being able to even rest because you’re so stressed with the upcoming tasks. Having the illness hold onto your for longer because as soon as you begin to recover you have to work and lose sleep and eat less. It shouldn’t be such a big deal, but it just is.

-Your usual form of transport is unavailable. Perhaps it’s raining so you can’t walk. Perhaps the battery is dead on your electric scooter. Perhaps there’s a strike and the busses are down. Whatever the case, figuring out how to get somewhere when you had a perfectly good system, having to leave earlier than usual or worse of all, leaving on time but arriving late, are all frustrating. 

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

There are a ton of cool ways to do this! 

Want to show a caring character? Show them loving their pet, show them helping a fallen bird. 

Want to show a character being evil? Kick a puppy. 

Both super obvious. Let’s check out some more. 

Want to show a character as stern but caring? Have a very loyal dog or horse that show no sign of fear. 

Want to show a character’s patience? Show them training an animal such as a puppy or a horse. This takes a lot of discipline and patience. 

Want to show their bravery and compassion? Show them capturing and releasing a wild and dangerous animal from a location they are not safe at. 

If they have pets, say for example a cat, how that cat behaves also says a lot about the owner. Are they allowed on the furniture? If they are allowed on the furniture, is it because the owner agrees with animals on furniture, or do they constantly complain about it? Telling us they aren’t good at being in charge. Does the cat always ask to be fed at the same time? That would tell us the owner is good at keeping a constant schedule. 

Do they have books about animal care? Or do they instead claim to have learnt what they know from their parents? 

Where did the cat come from? Adopted, bought? Was it sought out or did it just wonder in one day and stick around? 

Also, all my posts are mostly directed at writing young adult fantasy, and something you often see in fantasy that doesn’t necessarily coincide with real world is that animals will behave like their owners. This is an obvious way to show a character of through an animal. 

But even funner is to show an animal being nothing like their owner and forcing the owner to do things they are visibly uncomfortable with. I absolutely adore the typical serious all business character with his head on his palm while his other hand bounces some string around to help their daughter’s kitten burn of some energy. 

Or a hyperactive child coming to terms with the fact their fish just isn’t going to do much. (Be careful with these kind of stuff, make sure to research. Children aren’t usually fit for taking care of animals, if you do have children in your story taking care of animals either express that they are an exemptions, who parents being involved or make sure it’s obvious this is a bad move, I’m sure everyone already knows this but I feel like I have to add it anyway). 

Also, on that note, careful what animals you show as pets. I know it’s fantasy but if an animal isn’t a good pet irl you can have influence and cause trouble. An off-hand comment about, “oh, that animal usually isn’t friendly, it must be attracted to your magical power”, can communicate to a reader, hey, this is fantasy. Remember that. 

Also, emotional support or service animals! Another great thing to include that can speak a lot about a person. Different people require different support and will have different support animals because of this. I have to recommend doing a lot of research into this though as I have never had a service animales and do not feel qualified to truly explain them. (Also, emotional support animal and service animals are two different things, look it up if you didn’t know, it’s quite interesting!) 

Extra: 

Here’s something I’ve seen a lot in media. Showing a character as being scared of say a dog as a way of showing them as being evil. Please don’t do this. 

I get the theory behind it. Dogs are loyal caring animals and anybody who is scared of them clearly lacks empathy and understanding for the innocent animal that just wants to play! 

Except, dogs are still animals, and although rare, they can be dangerous. A lot of people are scared of dogs. Yes, I’m scared of dogs. I love dogs, if I know them. But when I was about four years old, one Easter, sitting in London park with my new Barbie doll, this dog three times my size ran over and jumped on me, took my Barbie and broke it. 

It terrified me. 

The owner just laughed and called the dog off. I wasn’t hurt or anything but it’s a memory that remains close to me. And whenever I see an unfamiliar dog I may take a couple of steps to the side in an attempt to keep my distance. 

I don’t feel attacked when I see fear of dogs used as a villain trope or anything. It just makes me roll my eyes at how people don’t understand the deepness of fears.

As usual,  check out my book, stories I’ve written plus other social medias: here.

Do you have a pet? What is it? What are they like?