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 (3,073 words for 3-Day Novel Contest)

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 (3,073 words for 3-Day Novel Contest)

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.

Monday, August 18 --- 2,516 words

Tuesday, August 19 --- 8,600 words

Wednesday, August 20 --- 6,007 words

Thursday, August 21 ---  4,805 words

Friday, August 22 --- 3,208 words

Saturday, August 23 --- 10,128 words

Sunday, August 24 --- 6,103 words

TOTAL words for Week 18 --- 41,367 words

This week, I'm diving into the genre of young adult (YA) with a book called The Bruises of Grandma Summer. It's a subject near and dear to my heart because I have 3 daughters. Two would be considered the age range for YA, and I'm sure they'll be very upset if I don't get the details right. So, here goes:

The last summer before freshman year in high school, Madeline faces her biggest fear: having to grow up. She doesn’t want to choose a career path, although her younger sister already has her heart set on becoming a doctor. She likes to play games on Discord with her friends, talk and text on her phone, and slam the door in her little sister’s interfering face.
 
But when she gets into a whirlwind romance with a bully and has to cover up the bruises on her arms, no one seems to take notice except her grandmother. Madeline “runs away”—taking a long bus trip to her grandmother’s house, where she finds a sympathetic ear and the two get to spend the summer together.
 
But all isn’t right when they discover that summer her grandmother is diagnosed with late-stage cancer. Through being together, perhaps they can help each other through the toughest time of each of their lives.

This will be a deep and somewhat dark manuscript, so I hope I can make it through. See you on Sunday when I read an excerpt from this book. Have a great week!

I have to say that last week was a bit of a struggle (one reason why I'm a couple days late posting this). The main reason was because I was at the wonderful When Words Collide literary festival in Calgary from Thursday through Sunday - and there were a LOT of great things to see and do and people to speak with there. I don't regret going at all, but I do regret that I wasn't able to get a lot of sleep in between attending the conference and getting my word count in every day.

But... that's all she wrote, folks! Another book's in the bag, and here's an excerpt from The Space of Hearts:

In a minute, I'll tell you a bit more about the book for THIS week - I'm looking for some younger readers for my new one. Stay tuned!