Although week 31's book is called Autobiography of a Compulsive Liar, it is neither nonfiction nor an autobiography. It's set in the humor genre and follows along with Michael (...and Alexander and Pedro and Timothy) as he lives (and loves and lies) through all the name changes he can invent. Here's what it's about:

Michael’s straying from the truth starts at an early age as the youngest child in a household of five. His fantabulous stories are the only way his parents listen to him in the midst of a nasty divorce. But once the adults in the room go their separate ways, they only pay attention to him when he gets in trouble at school. And that isn’t exactly the type of attention he wants.
 
In his teenage years, Michael’s girlfriends are told alternative stories about his fabulously wealthy parents and equally stellar accomplishments. When they get too close to the truth, he panic-breaks up with them to keep the game going. Then come the resumes, and when he’s asked a question where the answer is no—do you have experience in this field?—he says yes instead
 
That’s when the truth finally catches up to Michael… sort of. After a client comes screaming due to his incompetence, he starts over in the next state, constructing a new persona. Then he runs to a new state again. And again. And again. He has fifty tries to get it right, but something always seems to go wrong.
 
Each chapter is a deep dive into a life lived on the edge of imagination—because each life is lived by the same person reinventing himself over and over. Until Michael has to confront the one person he can never truly escape: himself.

I'm a bit late posting this and I already started writing the book on Monday. So far, Michael's been through a few personas already that have come to some disastrous (and near disastrous) endings.

I'll be back at the end of the week to read an excerpt from the book. Until then, have a great one!

Last week ended with a bang and a very exciting conclusion to my latest fantasy adventure book. But I'm not going to tell you any spoilers - instead, I'll just drop an excerpt from Into the Eldritch Woods here, so you can listen to how the adventure starts. Enjoy!

I'll be back tomorrow to let you know the book I'm working on this week, which is a bit of a departure in genre for me. Stay tuned!

A queen by any other name would rule as well...

Well, in my latest book, the queen's name is Mathilde and she's MIA. And it's up to a farmer's daughter named Elise to find her, even if she wants no part of the adventure.

Sound interesting? Read on about my latest fantasy adventure novel for Author Versus AI, called Into the Eldritch Woods.

​​​When Queen Mathilde turned sixteen, she disappeared into the Eldritch Woods amidst grave magical signs that seemed to spell doom for the kingdom of Cortland—or that’s the tale Elise has heard every day for the last ten years of her life. But Elise can’t help but wonder if the stranger aspects of the story are even true, since nothing she’s seen of magic has ever made her believe it’s as powerful as the tales tell.
 
However, her beliefs are challenged when a magical portent forces Elise to follow the Queen into the Eldritch Woods on a quest that seems half foolhardy and wholly dangerous. Not to mention that a sixteen-year-old farmer’s daughter knows little about powers she’s never believed in. With Elise’s survival dependant on finding the Queen alive and well, will she be successful in her mission before it’s too late… for either one of them?

I'll be back shortly with an excerpt from the book. It's a magical story!

I don't know how accurate my new book The Wild East is, but it was a TON of fun to write. Gunfights, a mashup of Eastern and Western cultures - what's not to love? And hopefully it will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the last page.

Here's the start of the adventure with me reading an excerpt from Chapter 1:

The final wordcount clocked in at 41,000 words exactly.

And now I'm almost caught up to what I've been working on this past week, which was another adventure story but in a different genre. Stay tuned!

​I think this winter has started out on the wrong foot, at least for me - after being sick for a month in September-October and just recently catching up with posting my Author Versus AI videos, I got sick again last week and am just catching up AGAIN.

​Ugh. Universe, I think I've had my quota - no more illnesses for me, okay? Thanks. :)

So, what book did I write two weeks ago? It was a super fun genre mashup that combined Japanese samurai in the Wild West. It's called The Wild East, and here's what it's about:

​In this new alternate history novel, several groups of samurai and their households are sent to the “Wild West” in two waves—one in 1844 and one in 1854—by order of the emperors ruling over Japan. As treaty negotiations between the East and the West advance when Western powers try to force the Japanese empire to open its borders to trade, Emperor Osahito orders the settlers to stay and establish a permanent town in the newly ceded Mexican lands as a base for trade and, more importantly, espionage.
 
During and after the Civil War, the town of Nyūnagasaki (New Nagasaki) becomes integrated by Europeans and several local indigenous populations, and tensions go high between these three disparate groups. Events come to a boiling point when a group of cowboy vigilantes try to drive these “foreign devils” away.
 
But Sheriff Shirō Hattori and Mayor Hōjō Bashō aren’t going to cede their hard-won settlement so easily. The round up a posse to combat the interlopers trying to take over their turf, and start an epic battle that will not only span many miles, but generations to come.

I'll shortly post the excerpt for the new book, so stay tuned!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween this past week! I ate waaaaaaaaay too much chocolate (or brain food, as I like to call it) and wrote about interstellar wars, intrigue, and a guy who finds himself in over his head. Here's an excerpt from chapter 1 of my new novel Detailers, a space opera:

A little bit later today, I'll let you know the book that I'm currently working on for this week. It's a fun genre mashup!

Monday, October 28 --- 6,001 words

Tuesday, October 29 --- 6,003 words

Wednesday, October 30 --- 5,287 words

Thursday, October 31 ---  2,402 words

Friday, November 1 --- 8,501 words

Saturday, November 2 --- 6,553 words

Sunday, November 3 --- 6,013 words

TOTAL words for Week 28 --- 40,760 words

​And our regularly scheduled programming is back! After being sick for a month and then spending a week catching up posting here on my website and on my socials, I'm finally back to my regular posts about Author Versus AI every week. So... here goes!

This week, I'm going for a change of scenery - all the way out to deep space. Space opera, baby! The name of the book is Detailers, and it's another one that I started to write decades ago but never got very far in (only about 8k-9k). So, I'm starting over from scratch and hopefully getting the full story told this time around. Here's what it's all about:

After a number of interstellar wars in the near past, there’s an uneasy alliance with several alien races, especially after humans brought the Janci species to the brink of extinction in retribution for a series of attacks after first contact. Space stations have been established as neutral points for all the races to trade and interact, including the Chirs and Saus (derogatorily nicknamed “rats” and “snakes” by xenophobes because of their appearance).
 
Kris is a mid-level mechanic who grew up on a space station on the edge of one of the galaxies under human control, and he was just a boy during the interstellar wars. While repairing a freighter, he discovers a minority group of aliens are banding together to challenge the humans’ supremacy in the region and wipe people out, making it look like a human-on-human attack. Although Kris distrusts the government, he dutifully reports what he’s heard—only to get laughed out of the station.
 
After his report, however, he seems to have a target painted on his back—a series of accidents occur that seem engineered to take him out. With few places to turn or people to help him, will he survive long enough to foil the plot that seems likely to start a new interstellar war or will he get sucked into the violent plan and pay with his life?

Have a great week, and see you on Sunday when I read an excerpt from the book. Until then, take it easy!

​This is the last part of catching up on what I was writing while sick for the past month and not posting on my website at all. I'm now moving forward to tell you about Week 26 of my project, which was the 2nd rom-com book of the 3-book series that I wrote that paired sports with romance. The book is called Affair Incognito, and here's what it's all about:

After winning the World Cup with her team, Belinda should be on top of the world. But her injury at the final game prevents her from taking anything for granted. And the doctor who treats her is a real hottie—a new team doctor who seems to be standoffish to her nervous flirting.
 
However, when she runs into him later at a friend’s party, he’s anything but distant, and she realizes he doesn’t recognize her. After they have a hot time together and he realizes who she is, does it cross a line?

And here's an excerpt from Chapter 1:

Final word count: 40,870 words.

Next (and last) of my catching up is the book I did last week (Week 27). It was the last book of the series, called The Love Fake. I'm jumping to another sport again, this time football. Here's what it's about:

Nora has always hated football. Whenever a guy she’s dated has started talking sports and stats, she runs in the other direction.
 
When her company has an office function that includes going to a football game, she has no choice but to attend. She’s amazed at the size of the players when seen up close… but nothing else about the game impresses her. She’s in a hurry to leave, and when she’s driving out of the parking lot, she rear-ends a car—only to have one of those big guys get out of it. Instead of a confrontation, he asks for her number.
 
She has to learn a lot in a short time before their date, and she’s not sure she’s very convincing as a fan of the sport. Will he give her a chance, even if she could care less about the game?

And an excerpt from the first chapter:

Final word count: 41,002 words.

And now I'm all caught up! I'll be posting a little later today about what I'm working on THIS week. It's a big change from the other books I've been doing. Stay tuned!

I'm very excited to be a guest on Go Indie Now with fellow guests SG Tasz, Kate Risse, Wayne Turmel, and Renee Jean, as well as fabulous host S. M. Hillman. Check it out TODAY as we talk about reading, writing, and arithmeti... well, maybe not arithmetic. But everything else is fair game at 12pm EST!