by Avery Arujo | Oct 27, 2025 | Book Updates, Life Updates
I know I’ve been pretty quiet online lately. Truth is, I just haven’t had much to say. Most of my time has gone toward taking care of my mental health. The world feels like a dumpster fire right now, and social media hasn’t exactly been helping. It’s a steady stream of misinformation, outrage, click bait and hot takes, and after a while, it started to wear me down. So I stepped back. I’ve also been busy protesting and calling my congress representatives and senators to ensure they’re doing all that they can to stop this insane administration from hurting everyone. Billionaires really suck!
All of this has negatively impacted my writing progress. When everything feels dark and heavy, it tends to seep into my work, and that’s not really the tone I want for the Moonridge series. Those books have a dark element, but they also have heart and humor. They’re about finding light in the dark. And lately, I needed a little time to find my own light again before I could get back to that space.
The good news? Yesterday, something finally clicked. I sat down to write for the first time in weeks and managed to rewrite two full chapters of book three. It felt good. And the good news is, my characters didn’t hold a grudge for my absence either. They slipped right back into my head, ready to cause chaos and fall in love.
I’m easing back into a rhythm and feeling cautiously optimistic that, if life behaves, I can still have book three out by early spring. That’s the plan, anyway. Fingers crossed the world doesn’t throw another curveball big enough to send me back into hiding.
Before I go, I just want to say thank you to everyone who’s read and reviewed Date Night With Death. The series isn’t exactly storming bestseller lists, but it’s found a little corner of readers who genuinely get it, and that means more to me than I can say. I’m so glad you love Moonridge as much as I do.
Here’s to more words, more weird magic, and better days ahead.
by Avery Arujo | Sep 26, 2025 | Book Updates, Date Night With Death, Once Upon a Blue Moon
I’m finally getting around to answering some questions that I’ve received over the last couple of months. So sorry for the delay. Life has been lifing and I’m trying to balance work, a social life, and a writing life.
A couple of questions came in more than once or were closely related, so I combined them here. I also won’t be sharing any names, since I believe in keeping things private.
Do you use AI generation for your books or book covers?
Short answer: no, I don’t. I did a short video on Instagram that shows how my covers are created, but as far as the writing goes, the ideas, the stories, the characters, and the words are all mine.
To be honest, I don’t fully understand AI, and it creeps me out a little. From what I’ve learned, there are two kinds: assistive AI and generative AI. Generative AI is the problematic one because it was trained on artists’ work without their permission, and allows someone to copy their style. I completely understand why artists and authors are angry, and I’d never disrespect another writer by letting a computer “write” for me in their voice. I’d never want anyone to do that to me. Besides, it feels lazy. I love building my stories, writing them out, and especially love doing the “surgery” on them. Digging into character voices and POVs, cutting apart scenes, and making them shine is the part that I live for.
I enjoyed your book, but one thing really bothered me. I felt like you used La’Tasha to check a box. She is the only Black person in Moonridge, and all you had her do was run around and research things for Hazel and Blake. I’m sorry, but that feels very disrespectful. I also felt like making Calvin gay was just checking the gay box, so you can make your stories feel inclusive.
I’ll admit this question took me by surprise, but I appreciate it. From the beginning, I’ve wanted Moonridge to be an inclusive world with space for all races, gender identities, and sexual orientations. La’Tasha and Calvin weren’t added to check a race or sexuality box, and La’Tasha is not the only character of color in the series. The sheriff is Black, Mason is biracial, and both Coco and Leo are Hispanic. (There are also a few others you haven’t met yet.)
I also understand how, early on, it might feel like La’Tasha is being reduced to Hazel’s helper. That isn’t her story, though. This is just the start of her arc, and in books three and four, especially, you’ll see her strength and power shine. I realize it’s early in the series, and my intent is unclear, but I will never use a character’s race, gender identity, or sexual orientation just to say I am inclusive. I would also never reduce a person of color’s worth like that. Especially not a Black woman. They are some of the strongest and most disrespected people on this earth. They deserve more than minor character status. All I can ask is that you trust me.
This feedback has inspired me to do better about describing characters on the page and to expand the character bios on my website to include details about race, gender identity, and sexual orientation. And thank you for calling this out. It tells me you care enough to ensure that non-straight, cis, white characters are being treated with respect. I wish everyone cared that much.
When will Book Three release? I just finished Date Night With Death, and I really can’t wait to read Vivienne and Leo’s story!
I’m so happy you’re enjoying the series! I’m doing surgery on book three right now. While rereading the very rough first draft, I realized there was something big I wanted to change. That meant switching around the order of books four and five. I’ve been re-drafting both to weave in those changes, and once that’s done, I’ll get back to editing book three. If I can stay on track, my goal is to have it out by spring 2026. One little heads-up, though. A different couple (not Vivienne and Leo) will be stepping into the spotlight in book 3. Don’t worry, though, Leo and Vivienne will get theirs soon!
Which characters will be featured in future books?
I’m guessing you mean which characters will be the leads. I do have all of that mapped out, but I’m not quite ready to spill the details yet. What I can say is this: if you’ve read the first two books, you’ve already met the couple who takes center stage in book three. You’ve also met one of the leads for book four, and their partner gets a mention in book three before making a grand entrance at the end. The couple for book five has already been introduced, and one half of the book six couple was introduced in book two. Vague enough for you? 🙂
What is your writing process like?
I feel like this question could be its own blog post, so I may circle back to it in the future. For now, here’s the short version: I start with voice recordings, since I can talk through ideas much faster than I can type. Later, I transcribe those recordings into a rough outline. That outline serves as a loose guide while I draft the first pass of the story. The story doesn’t really come together until the third or fourth draft, and that’s usually the version I send to beta readers and editors.
Thanks to those of you who wrote in, and as always, thanks for being on this journey with me.
by Avery Arujo | Sep 23, 2025 | Book Updates, Date Night With Death
It’s finally here. Date Night With Death is out in the world.
This was the book where I realized I wasn’t just writing another paranormal romance—I was building a series. It’s also where I first introduced the bigger threat that’s been quietly looming over Moonridge (slight spoiler alert: The Concord 13).
When I finished Once Upon a Blue Moon, I immediately dove into this one because Mina needed her story told immediately. You’ll notice right away that the tone is darker. That shift felt natural. My process has always been to get the bones of the story down first, and then during revisions I dig into the characters’ voices. Hazel had her sharp sarcasm. Blake carried that gruff exterior with the soft side tucked underneath. With Date Night With Death, Mina became the focus. She’s direct, no-nonsense, and dealing with some heavy personal struggles. Her coping mechanisms are avoidance first and gallows humor second. Dex, on the other hand, is a Reaper. He’s walked through the human world but never truly lived in it. Exploring how an old soul like him would interact with people, how he’d shape his speech patterns, how he’d discover his wants and needs, was a ton of fun to write. That said, I also realized that I can’t just write a story about Death himself without focusing on death. Exploring this aspect is what brought on the slightly darker tone.
Writing this also turned out to be personal in a way I didn’t expect. While working on this book, memories of losing my aunt to a brain tumor almost twenty-five years ago surfaced. She was the light in our family, and her kids have always been more like siblings than cousins to me. When she got sick, I was living far away, broke, and unable to show up for them the way I wanted to. That left me with a lot of unprocessed grief and guilt. Writing Mina’s story helped me work through some of that.
On a lighter note, the introduction of the Vampire Wives might be my favorite part. I’m a reality TV junkie, especially The Real Housewives, so slipping that influence into Moonridge felt inevitable. They brought me joy to write, and don’t worry, you haven’t seen the last of them.
Some early readers have felt the series took too dark a turn here compared to the lighter vibe of book one. I get that. But honestly, this book holds a special place in my heart. It’s still my favorite so far… though book three is giving it some serious competition.
Thank you for reading, for coming back to Moonridge, and for sticking with these characters as they grow. I can’t wait to share what’s next.
Love,
Avery
by Avery Arujo | Sep 12, 2025 | Book Updates, Life Updates
Hi, friends!
It’s finally fall, my favorite season of all, and boy, have I been busy! Sweater weather is just around the corner, and I can’t wait. Between getting everything ready for the release of Date Night With Death and trying to stay on top of things at my day job, I feel like I’ve barely had time to breathe. I did take an extended Labor Day weekend, though, and it was great to visit friends I hadn’t seen in years. I even gave myself a full week off from writing and plotting, which was exactly what I needed.
Date Night With Death comes out in just over a week, and I’m so grateful to the early readers who’ve already reached out to tell me how much they’ve enjoyed it. While not always easy to hear, I also appreciate the ones who wrote to say they hated it or DNFed because it wasn’t what they were expecting. If you haven’t read it yet, the vibe is definitely different from Once Upon a Blue Moon. It is a little darker, which honestly feels closer to my natural lane. I love cozy, but sometimes I just need to let the shadows in. Honestly, I like Date Night better than Blue Moon, but what can you do? 🙂
On the writing front, I’m about halfway through revising the first half of book three. While cleaning it up, I realized that what I had mapped out as book five actually needs to come earlier in the series arc, so I’m swapping books four and five. I’ve taken a break from cleaning up book three so I can reorganize notes and plots, so I don’t lose track of why I made the change in the first place. Speaking of tone, book three is shaping up to be a mix of the first two. There are many more lighter moments reminiscent of Blue Moon, but we are still very much in the thick of the Concord’s growing menace. The deeper we dig into them, the more evil comes to the surface.
Thank you for sticking with me. A handful of you have sent in great questions, and I’ll be putting together a Q&A post soon to answer them. I’m also hoping to have a new Moonridge Gazette article up in the near future. They take a little more time to put together, but they’re some of my favorite posts to share.
Until next time.
Avery
by Avery Arujo | Aug 22, 2025 | Book Updates, Date Night With Death
Hello, friends!
Just a quick note to let you all know that electronic review copies of Date Night With Death are now on StoryOrigin and NetGalley. You can apply for a review copy here:
StoryOrigin Reviewer
NetGalley Reviewer
I’m in the process of getting everything together to get the book up on NetGalley. I work with BookBuzz on this and it usually takes them a bit. I’m hoping it will be up and ready to request by the end of next week. I will update this post and add the link once it’s available.
OK, off to Moonridge. I’m rewriting some new scenes for book three and… dang! Things are getting messy!
Lots of love,
Avery
