I started out this morning on the fabulous podcast This Week In Indies, and had a great time chatting with fellow authors Don Sawyer, Tricia Copeland, Steffanie Costigan, and host SM Hillman. You can check out the episode below, where we talk about the monsters in our writing and how to make them VERY scary but also believable.

​​And now back to my Author Versus AI project! I'm back on track this week with what felt like a tiny bit of a surreal project for me to tackle. A book that was a short story that was a book... well, it's finally finished, roughly thirty years after I began writing it. And that's pretty cool! (And a good example of why never to throw away a draft of a story, even if it's terrible. You can always resurrect it!)

So, what I wanted to do with my excerpt reading this week is a compare/contrast. In the video below, I read the first page or so of each piece and would LOVE to hear your feedback. Which version do you like the best? The original book draft written by teenage me? The short story written ten years ago? Or the most recent one, Ruin of the Sceptre, written this week?

​You be the judge. Here they are:

​Monday, September 9 --- 4,323 words

Tuesday, September 10 --- 6,096 words

Wednesday, September 11 --- 6,007 words

Thursday, September 12 ---  7,112 words

Friday, September 13 --- 6,008 words

Saturday, September 14 --- 5,885 words

Sunday, September 15 --- 6,011 words

TOTAL words for Week 21 --- 41,442 words

I don't think I've quite recovered from all the writing from a couple weeks ago, but I'm ready to start my next book, which will be taking me into the familiar realm of sword & sorcery. It's a retelling of a book I started writing as a teen (but never finished), and changed into a short story about a decade ago (published in Swords & Sorcery Magazine as "The Soldier's Choice"). Now, I'll be starting from scratch again. It's called Ruin of the Sceptre, and here's what it's all about:

Shazia has spent her entire life training to become a warrior like her hero Lissar, queen of the mighty empire of Eltrand centuries ago. But it’s not so easy nowadays, since Shazia’s out of her depth as a freshly trained officer in the army, newly arrived into a complex world of intrigue and power struggles in the capital city of Eltrand.
 
Shortly after she starts to find her way, the holy star of the warriors’ patron god is stolen from the palace temple, and the priests foretell the fall of Eltrand unless the relic is recovered. But it’s a suicide crusade that seems futile to restore the might of the country as peace treaties break down and enemies threaten the border on all sides. Who better for the useless job than a country bumpkin no one will miss if she fails?
 
As she sets off with a small group of warriors and diplomats, Shazia’s journey takes her far from home—months of travel across the borders of numerous countries, some of whom welcome her and many others who see her as a sworn enemy or, at best, an odd curiosity. Time runs out, and the remains of her bedraggled group receive word of the fall of Eltrand in their absence. With no home to return to, Shazia decides to carry on with her mission to recover the holy star, even knowing she’ll never save her home country or the loved ones she left behind.

I think I'm still a little burned out from two weeks ago and the marathon writing session I did creating 2 books, so I'm a bit slow getting this video out about my excerpt from my new novel The Greenhouse Binary. ​Pretty much, I was writing to the wire last night, and then when midnight rolled around, I could barely keep my eyes open. So, I went to bed and decided to start fresh this morning and read my excerpt today instead.

Hopefully, I'll be able to rest and reset this week, so I'll be back on track with all the stuff I normally do. Or perhaps I'll just eat a ton of chocolate and reset that way (my go-to drug of choice, LOL).

Okay, here's the excerpt - hope you enjoy listening to it!

​Monday, September 2 --- 0 words (XXX words for 3-Day Novel Contest - have to finish typing the handwritten parts, then will add this to my word count)

Tuesday, September 3 --- 1,955 words

Wednesday, September 4 --- 7,002 words

Thursday, September 5 ---  11,112 words

Friday, September 6 --- 13,006 words

Saturday, September 7 --- 1,744 words

Sunday, September 8 --- 7,034 words

TOTAL words for Week 20 --- 41,853 words

Well, I'm still tired from all the writing I did last week, but I'm going to push on and continue this week with my next book. It's called The Greenhouse Binary, and here's what it's all about:

An intergenerational story focused around women and climate change.
 
Jada is eight when the alarm is sounded about climate change becoming irreversible. While her parents are deniers, she sees what’s happening with the catastrophic weather destroying cities and towns all over the world, including in her hometown of Los Angeles. When her family is killed in a flood and she’s taken in by an aunt, she makes it her mission to help save the planet.
 
After she becomes an adult, Jada falls in love with someone who respects her mission but doesn’t follow it—a woman by the name of Kehlani, who’s a lawyer. They adopt a daughter Haley, who follows in Jada’s footsteps in wanting to battle climate change. Meanwhile, certain cities have either been abandoned or become hotspots for crime because so much of them is being destroyed with each new weather disaster. Their family moves to northern California to try to escape the coastal regions in the southern part of the state.
 
From a young age, their daughter Haley sees that the way to effect meaningful change is by jumping in with both feet. After growing up and seeing the constant struggle in the political arena to find workable solutions, Haley decides to run for governor of California. A storm destroys half of San Francisco with a tsunami while Haley is visiting and trying to persuade the mayor to take action. She has a harrowing escape back home to her daughter and husband in Sacramento. They vow to keep fighting, and her young daughter says she will also take up the mantle and continue the fight in her mother’s footsteps.

It's going to be a fun challenge to write such an interweaving of genres and characters over generations, but one I'm happy to take on. See you at the end of the week when I read an excerpt from this book. Until then, have a great week!

Last week was an absolutely insane writing week, if you can't tell based on my word count from my previous post. Last week's totals included 40,889 words for Author Versus AI AND 21,615 words for the 3-Day Novel Contest, for a total of 62,504 words written in ONE WEEK.

Pardon me while I go fall over now. LOL.

Okay, so if you'd like to get a taste of the book I was writing for Author Versus AI, called To Ride the River, I've included an excerpt below. I haven't recorded a video of the literary novella I wrote for the 3-Day Novel Contest, but if anyone's interested, please drop a comment down below and I'd be happy to read an excerpt from it.

​A little later today I'll be posting about the book I'm writing for this week for Author Versus AI, so stay tuned!

​Monday, August 26 --- 9,118 words

Tuesday, August 27 --- 8,002 words

Wednesday, August 28 --- 8,113 words

Thursday, August 29 ---  8,001 words

Friday, August 30 --- 7,655 words

Saturday, August 31 --- 0 words (13,008 words for 3-Day Novel Contest)

Sunday, September 1 --- 0 words (8,607 words for 3-Day Novel Contest)

TOTAL words for Week 19 --- 40,889 words for Author Versus AI (21,615 words for 3-Day Novel Contest)

This week, I'm headed into the wild, wild West with a Western romance novel called To Ride the River.

BUT before I tell you more about it, I have to say that this week I'm going to tackle a brand new challenge that will test my limits of quick writing. I'm going to be writing not ONE but TWO books. And here's why...

Last year, I entered the 3-Day Novel Contest, which is, incidentally, a contest that's older than I am. It was my first year doing it, and I actually was in a bit of a time crunch. The contest takes place over the 3 days of the Labor Day holiday, which was fine for me to do. But then right afterward I went in for major surgery and was out of commission for a while. I almost missed the deadline to turn in my book - even though it was written, I hadn't formatted it and parts of it had been typed, parts handwritten.

Long story short, I finally got the whole thing together and turned it in on the very last day I could. And I was thrilled when I discovered earlier this year that my book was longlisted for the contest! The results of the shortlist and winner should be out later this year, but I'm thrilled to have my work recognized by the judges and in such wonderful company.

However, what that means is I wanted to do it again. And I signed up for the contest, which is at the end of this week. BUT I still have to complete my Author Versus AI book at the same time too. So... that means I will be writing 2 books this week.

I'll be hopefully cranking out my Author Versus AI one in the first five days, Monday-Friday. I've already gotten started today. And then when the weekend hits, I'll switch gears and spend Saturday-Monday writing the 3-Day Novel. Then, on Tuesday, I'll get started on next week's book.

So, I might not get all my videos out this week on Sunday/Monday as I usually do, since I'll be pedal to the metal on writing. BUT I will emerge from my cave on Tuesday to get myself back on track. Don't worry if you don't hear from me until next week - I'm still alive and still writing up a storm.

And NOW, here's what this week's book is all about:

Killara is an Aussie gal who’s always wanted to visit an American dude ranch. When she wins a trip through an online contest, she arrives in the US to find a very handsome cowboy waiting to greet her… but the image is somewhat spoiled when he opens his mouth. Instead of a Southern drawl, he has an upper-crust British accent. Prescott is a transplant, although he’s been in the United States for fifteen years and knows more about being a cowboy than most Americans born and bred.
 
Killara feels disappointed that like most things in her life, she falls short in picking the right kind of cowboy to crush on. That is, until she gets to know Prescott through her time on the dude ranch. She discovers that he has a passion equal to hers about the Wild West—and that passion might spark something between the two of them too. And Killara might just learn that not every fantasy has to be set in stone.

Hope everyone has a good Monday. See you next week after a gazillion words!

I'm back on track again this week now that I've recovered from attending the writing conference last weekend in Calgary. It was a lot of fun, but very tiring!

I've crossed the finish line for The Bruises of Grandma Summer, which was quite a journey for both the characters and for me. There's something about YA books that end up feeling very personal when I'm writing them. Hope that comes through in the excerpt! Here it is - hope you enjoy listening in:

Next week, I'll be taking a trip to the wild, wild West - tune in tomorrow to find out what I mean! Until then, have a great Sunday.