mindgamesbook

[mindgamesbook]

Snag Mind Games for 50% Off During Smashwords' Ebook Week!

If you're looking for something juicy to read this March then head over to Smashwords. Mind Games will be on sale for 50% off during the platform's Ebook Week from March 2nd through the 8th. Normally $6.99, it'll be on sale for $3.50!

Bookmark the page now ahead of the big sale week!

[mindgamesbook]

A Fresh Look for a Steamy AMBW Romance Suspense Novel

It's been a while since I've promoted my book, Mind Games. But I'm ready to give it the love and attention that it deserves! When I first wrote it back in 2010, I was working on less than a shoe string budget so I self-published, did a little bit of promo for it, and then life got in the way. In particular hiring an illustrator to create a cover that would bring my book to life wasn't an option. I made do with what I could but never loved the cover art featured below — even though the artist who created it was kind enough to do it on spec.

The original Mind Games cover

Adjusting to an AI World

Fast forward to present day, and now we have AI-driven art to help smaller creators build something special. As I considered re-promoting my book, I knew I wanted a better cover that would turn heads and attract readers.

I know people have a lot of objections against using AI for creative outlets and I get it. As an author and a bylined journalist for countless publications (Parents, Travel + Leisure, Healthline, Forbes, Bustle, Travel Noire, and 21Ninety to name a few), I have a love-hate relationship with AI as well. On the one hand, it can be a useful tool to help gather thoughts and build out a basic content framework.

But on the other hand, it's completely shaking up the publishing industry to the point that it's gutting newsrooms and making editorial integrity murky. In short, AI can take money away from people relying on the creative industry to earn an income. However, it does create accessibility opportunities for many of us.

Still, AI isn't plug and play. Whether using it to create written content or artwork, you really have to finesse the prompts to produce something that makes sense. Especially with art, you have random limbs and fingers, or odd add-ons in the background to contend with. And strangely enough, even with every prompt explicitly stating the woman should be Black, about half of the test images resulted in an Asian woman...which defeats the purpose of this being an AMBW book cover!

To get the cover art that I have now, I had to fine tune about 20 different prompts to create the final result that I loved. With an artist for hire, this would have gotten expensive (and understandably so because I was being nitpicky). But with AI I was able to create something that is compelling, beautiful, and ideally makes you the reader want to at least sample a few chapters.

With a fresh revamp, I'm ready to relaunch Mind Games and introduce it to a new audience that can't get enough of romance suspense dramas, and especially for a more welcoming AMBW community.

What is Mind Games?

Mind Games is an AMBW (Asian male/Black woman) romance suspense novel that brings two unlikely characters together. Michelle Beauford is a rising star in the corporate world in New York while Kenji Sakura is the head of a criminal outfit in Tokyo.

A few chance encounters on what's meant to be a romantic holiday abroad throws the two polar opposite characters into each other's paths. Kenji decides to take a chance on love, making an impulsive move that thrusts Michelle into a life she never expected. Set in both New York and Tokyo, this budding love takes countless twists and turns as Kenji's headstrong actions, career choice, and enemies threaten to ruin the pair's chance at a happy ending.

Read an excerpt from Mind Games.

Buy Mind Games on Amazon or Smashwords