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!

I'm still playing catch-up to tell everyone what I was working on for the 4 weeks that I was sick, so here are a couple more of the books that you missed. First up is When Autumn Leaves, a YA coming-of-age story:

Autumn is barely surviving in the terrifying world of middle school. She’s also a middle child with a family that’s always at odds and fighting, but she’s carved out her own world that has magic, horses, and YouTube dances.
 
Then her family uproots her whole world and moves across the country. As a loner at her old school, she was bulled for her weirdness. Her once-best friend decided to become BFFs with another girl when they were stuck at home during the pandemic, and she was often alone and depressed.
 
The new school is different. From day one, the neighborhood kids come over to play. And after that, she finds several friends at middle school, including a new BFF. They are two peas in a pod.
 
Underneath it all is the start of puberty and the desire to never date a boy until she graduates from college with honors.
 
When her parents announce they’re getting a divorce, Autumn has to figure out what really matters to her when it comes to family and friends.

​And I read an excerpt from chapter 1 here:

Final word count: 41,115 words.

Next up is the first of a 3-book rom-com series that I've done that centers around the world of sports. The first book is called For Love & Rivalry and here's what it's about:

Angelie can’t believe that her boss has sent her into enemy territory—she’s a Yankees fan who’s been transferred to the city of Boston. Saying “no” isn’t an option if she wants to keep her job, since the bills won’t pay themselves.
 
Once there, she gets into it with a guy at a grocery store who looks vaguely familiar—at first, she only knows him as her hunky neighbor, but he turns out to be one of the baseball players she so reviles! She makes no bones of her hatred of the Red Sox, yet the sparks fly between them anyway. As she reluctantly gets to know him, the question remains: can she root for a new team and still call herself a fan of the old?

And me reading a short excerpt from Chapter 1 of the book:

Final word count: 40,502 words.
​
That's all for now! More books coming your way soon. Have a great day!

​After being sick for so long, I have a lot of catching up to do in letting everyone know what's been going on with Author Versus AI! So, without further ado, here's my first grouping of videos to tell you what books I was writing during the past month and a few excerpts from them too.

First off, I'm hopping in my time travel machine and going back to Week 22. If you remember, I was working on an epic fantasy novel called Of Seas & Crowns. Here's my original post on what the book's about, and here's me reading an excerpt from it:

Next up was Week 23. I was on a fantasy kick, so I jumped into an urban fantasy novel with both feet. It was called The Red King of Chinatown, and here's what it's about:

It’s no wonder that red is a lucky color in China, the color of life—it’s also the color of blood. Jun is a vampire who is “king” of Chinatown in New York City. He was exiled from his home during the Shanghai massacre, which provided cover for elements that were purging vampires from the city. Narrowly escaping with his life and nothing else, he’s built an empire in New York City over the past century of wealth and power. Now, he runs his own select group of vampires with very strict rules, supported by a vast network of income from the properties he owns, including apartments and restaurants. He spends most nights at a pool hall/bar near Spring Street.
 
Twenty-four-year-old Rebecca is visiting her mom’s friend Katy in New York City for the first time after saving up from her first job out of college. She’s eager to experience all that NYC has to offer, but when she has a chance meeting with “king” Jun, she’s fascinated—although he looks barely older than her, he’s obviously highly respected. The feeling seems mutual, because he invites her to dinner at one of his restaurants. Katy knows who he is and his reputation and warns her off, but Rebecca says she’ll go anyway. To protect her, Katy gives her a charm to wear, which works well enough to ward him off.
 
The dance amuses Jun and also intrigues him. A game of cat and mouse ensues, and as Rebecca gets pulled further and further into Jun’s world, there seems as if there will be a price to pay in their high-stakes friendship, especially when a rival vampire starts to encroach on Jun’s territory. Will they be able to see eye to eye across their cultural and time divisions, or will their growing relationship just be another blip in Jun’s long life as he faces an underground vampire civil war?

And a video of me talking about it:

And last for this post, me reading an excerpt from The Red King of Chinatown:

Although I didn't post daily word counts on my blog for this book, the final word count ended up being 43,005 words.

I'll be back tomorrow with some more videos to play catch-up. Until then, have a great day!

I'm here to say that I'm not dead! Thank goodness. :) I was pretty sick for about 4 weeks while visiting my parents in California, but now I'm back and ready to tell you all about the books I've written during the past month now that I've got my voice back. Starting tomorrow, I'll be catching you up on excerpts and book summaries and writing tips - all the good stuff that you've missed while I've been recuperating. (For proof of life, please see the short video below.)

More videos are on their way, starting tomorrow. Until then, have a great day!