Blog

📚Publishing Tips 💸

Posted on by novabellaxyz@gmail.com

This information is current as of June 20, 2026. There’s a lot of choices with publishing, and for me the best combination of platforms for writing and publishing are those that provide the lowest prices, the highest profits, and most convenience. I have a website to sell books that can’t be sold anywhere else (because I’ll get banned), to sell my boutique items, to sell eBooks without Digital Rights Management (DRM), and to collect subscribers for the newsletter. Without going into all the lengthy reasons, I’ll tell you what I do to publish, and you can trust that if you do it this way, you’re not messing up (if you publish novels/novellas-short story anthology collections).

Step 1: Prepping: To begin with, you should go to Bowker.com and buy a package of ISBNs and then get the barcodes too. You should already have your book and cover, and be sure to check whether the name/title is in someone’s Trademark already (especially if you want to set up a little gift shop on your website), and buy the domain name before hawkers snatch it up. With Trademarks, you cannot use a name that is similar to another’s…such as Coca Pop. Pop/Soda/Cola are too interchangeable, but maybe you can use Cole’s Fine Cola. When you make a cover, you’re better off using photographs or clipart, not AI art, if you can’t hire an artist. Also, if you use Amazon KDP Cover Creator, preview and save your cover, but don’t worry about the misaligned margins until you get to the screen where you do a real preview of the whole book (pages and all), because the margins of your cover will show true there (and not in that first preview).

Step 2: Self-Publishing Platforms:

Amazon KDP Basics: I use Amazon KDP for hardcover, paperback, and ebooks that are sold and handled by Amazon. They do paper books for the best price/profit, and they have a massive amount of ebook buyers, but KDP is not good outside of Amazon. Turn off the expanded distribution–if it’s offered–for your hardcover/paperbacks, because you’re going to lose money outside of Amazon even if the hardcover/paperback costs more elsewhere. Amazon only gives you 35-40% on expanded distribution, and some vendors refuse to buy from them. Also, I don’t recommend buying proof copies because KDP has been known to “accidentally” mail out extra proofs to buyers (who then complain about the weird covers and hold it against the writer).

Amazon KDP Unlimited, Pirates, and DRM: I don’t use Amazon KDPs Unlimited program because that means I can’t use Draft2Digital (D2D), since KDP wants exclusivity, and besides all that, KDP Unlimited seems to be a pipeline to pirates and AI scrapers. In Amazon KDP, turn on Digital Rights Management (DRM) to begin with.

Draft2Digital (D2D): Use Draft2Digital for ebook distribution to non-Amazon markets. Amazon KDP does not distribute ebooks outside of KDP. Draft2Digital gets into markets that Amazon cannot get into, especially bookstores and libraries that offer ebooks, and their ebook price/profits are the best. I only offer books without DRM direct from my website, so I also do not use Kobo, Google Play, Bookshop, Everand, or Smashwords on Draft2Digital (use these outlets, but go to the directly, not through D2D). You want to send your physical books to Ingram (the major distributor), and you can do that through D2D, but will have more profit if you go directly to IngramSpark instead.

Kobo: Publish ebook directly, not through Draft2Digital and turn on DRM.

Google Play: Publish ebook directly, not through Draft2Digital and turn on DRM.

IngramSpark.com: I will eventually use IngramSpark.com for nicer, higher priced boutique-quality books that are sold from my website for collectors. Amazon KDP and Draft2Digital paper books are cheaper, but not nearly as nice as these. Use IngramSpark to send your book to Ingram (the major distributor), and get the highest profit by dealing with them directly.

BookVault: Since I have a website with WooCommerce on it, BookVault has the best price/profit for selling print-on-demand books directly from my website. BookVault is the biggest competitor of Ingram, and they are huge in the UK.

For writing: I write a story in a docx (and I use Google Docs for free convenience, but I’m considering Scrivener because they let you see and fix the code in your document, and they don’t have annoying AI worming in). I have my Google Docs document size set to 5.5″ wide x 8.5″ high. I like Google Doc’s app and version history feature. I don’t like that they could close my account without warning, so I back it up. I also don’t like that there’s no mirrored margin feature, and the worst is that they don’t show the code that keeps putting paragraphs into weird formats no matter what I do to fix it.

For ebooks: I convert the docx (with Google’s Table of Contents, and my copyright pages) into an epub in Calibre. (Calibre also lets you fix the code in the view option, which is important if something is just not working right!) I use a cover image that is 1000 pixels wide for the cover, and upload that in Calibre too. If I didn’t use Calibre to make ebooks, then I would use the built-in converter on Draft2Digital. The only thing that’s super bothersome with Draft2Digital is that they don’t indent the first sentence of a chapter, and everything is single spaced. There’s work arounds, but they’re fussy and time consuming. Amazon’s KDP has an ebook converter too.

For paperback/hardcover books: I upload the docx right into Draft2Digital, and have them make the Table of Contents, set the book at 8″ high x 5″ wide, then download the pdf. That pdf is what I upload to Amazon’s KDP for my paperback/hardcover books that they sell in the 8.5″ high x 5.5″ wide size. (It works. I guess the extra half inch is just space.) My books are thin, so I don’t use a title on the spine of Amazon’s paperbacks because I just know they’re going to mess it up anyway.

The pain: It’s not a perfect system, because I end up with two master documents for every books – the ebook version and the paperback/hardcover version, so edits have to be done in both. Also, if there’s ever a problem, it’s going to be the paperback/hardcover books – they’ll be ruined, undelivered, bent, and it’s much harder to prepare the paper versions of books. It takes forever to line up the margins right, and you end up having to read the code to really find the problems. However, paper books are special enough to make it all worth it.

Step 3: Establish Your Business

The website: If you are pretty handy on a computer, then set up a website of your own. I use Hostinger, where I have a WordPress site that uses WooCommerce, MailPoet, and a bunch of other plugins (plug-ins are like behind-the-scene apps that make a website work). The easier way is to set up a website on Wix, but you can’t download and move your Wix site to another host later, and Wix doesn’t allow adult material.

Alternatives to a website: If you want a very basic method for getting paid and delivering ebooks, try PayHip, Gumroad, or BookFunnel, which give you a link that you can put in an email or on a website, and they automatically send ebooks to customers after payment. If you have a mailing list, or a bunch of devoted fans on social media (followers on your FaceBook or TikTok), then you might be able to sell books just by posting a link or sending the link to your fans.

Trademarks and Printify: I recommend that you establish a series name and a trademark name for your “publishing house”, while making very certain that no one has a prior claim to your trademark name. To be able to trademark a name, there has to be something unique in it, and it can’t cause confusion. You cannot trademark very generic, commonly used names, like “Soda Pop”, for a new cola. Author’s names and pen names also are not trademarked, unless their incorporated into the business name, like McDonald’s. Be sure to check the trademark status of your name in every branch of business that you want to get into… and think of the knick-knacks, such as keychains, bookmarks, pens, hats, etc… Start selling these products right away to establish your prior claim to the trademark in those categories. Do that by signing up for Printify (print-on-demand products), and sell your Printify products either on your website, or through Etsy, or through a Printify Store. If you check, you’ll see that is exactly what I’ve done too. (I use Etsy to sell my Printify products.)

Licensing: Your location (Country/State/City) may have specific laws about what has to be licensed. Some places allow you to have a business and get a business bank account without a business license. Some allow you to have anonymous LLCs, if you have a registered agent who holds all your secrets. Most people don’t need to be as secretive as they think though, and get way too worked up over it. Try to stay lowkey, and use a pen name until you figure out how what you really need.

Payment & Banking: Handling money is definitely one of the more massive agonies of selling products. Online retailers usually go with Stripe or PayPal for payment processing, and maybe Square too. The problem is chargebacks. A chargeback is when a customer gets a refund by telling the bank that the payment was not authorized, or they didn’t get the product. The seller loses the payment and gets dinged (typically a $35 fee at Stripe), and if the seller tries to contest it, even with good evidence, they could get dinged twice as hard (Stripe may rule against the seller and charge them another $35 fee). What to do? You can send all your sales through some other platform instead of your own website, and let the platform handle the money… so use Etsy, eBay, or Amazon platforms. A lot of sellers have resorted to selling “tokens” that customers can use to buy products. This system makes it easy for sellers to prove to the bank that the customer got their product, since the product is only a “token”. The other option is use cryptocurrency, but your customers have to be really driven to get your product. On that note, there are certain forbidden items that will get you in trouble with the bankers. If you sell RED HOT SPICE, then PayPal’s bots and Stripe’s bots will find out right away and ban you. The days of getting away with all that are gone. Maybe crypto will explode on the retail front for that reason.

Money Flow: It’s not enough to have a bank and a website. You also need a virtual cashier at the register. The virtual cashier is WooCommerce or Gumroad or LemonSqueezy…whichever one you pick. The virtual cashier puts your payment processor (Stripe or PayPal) in front of the customer and automatically sends out your ebook after payment. Gumroad has the nice feature of handling your sales taxes too, by the way. The payment processor (Stripe or PayPal), sends the payment into your account and onward to your bank. Can you just use the bank and accept credit cards without a payment processor? Yes, but if you’re selling high-risk items, then in order to accept credit card payments directly you need a “high-risk account” which costs $600-$1200/year. That option only makes sense if you are selling a lot (like 572 orders/year at $50 each). If you’re not selling items that need a “high-risk account”, you could set up a Merchant Services account with your bank for $10/month to accept credit cards online, but the banks are not great at connecting to virtual cashiers like WooCommerce. (It would be so cool if they were!)

Stripe vs. PayPal: If you want to establish multiple pen names, multiple trademarks, and multiple shops, then go with Stripe instead of PayPal. Stripe will put the correct store name on the customer’s receipt and bank/card statement, and PayPal does not have that option if you have more than one store. If the customer sees some other name that they don’t recognize, they’ll call it in as fraud and you’ll get a chargeback fee. Etsy will also show the right store name, and you can have many Etsy accounts. Shopify will show the right store name if you set it up to only accept Stripe, not PayPal.

Crypto for Payments: I absolutely recommend offering crypto as a payment option, and what I do is set my WooCommerce to only allow Bitcoin Lightning, Solana, and Polygon because they are instant and low-fee, and pretty much worldwide. I then use the NOWpayments plug-in to link the crypto payments to WooCommerce. (WooCommerce is a plug-in that passes the customer’s money to your payment processor and then sends the ebook to the customer, and a notice to the seller of a new sale.) For crypto payments, I recommend that customers set up and use a CashApp account – that is absolutely the easiest way. I also like to use CoinBase. I’ve tried other products, and mostly found them to be a pain. (Sidenote: When you hear about certain wallets, like Phantom and Wallet of Satoshi, being super easy to set up: That may be true, but buying crypto is different than storing/moving it. As a result, I have a whole page all about how to get your cash back in hand and off of Phantom.)

🎞️Image File Type Comparison

Posted on by novabellaxyz@gmail.com

For those who are building a website, I have Hostinger as my website host, and I find them smoother and easier to use than many others that I tried, though if you know very little about making a website, then I’d suggest using Wix (but only if you can stick to their terms and conditions). My site is also a WordPress site, so it’s easy to download it and transfer it to a new host. I use Woocommerce for selling ebooks and gift items on the site (with Woo Payments and PayPal), and I have PoetMail to handle subscriptions and marketing. Images are kind of a big deal on websites, because they can slow it down. Here is the same image that was handled differently.

  1. This version went through BeFunky to remove metadata, but BeFunky also automatically compresses it (and I couldn’t find a way to prevent that), so it went from 161kb to 119kb

2. This version went through Fotor to remove metadata, and Fotor automatically reduced it from 161kb to 140kb on the highest setting (again, I couldn’t find a way to prevent the compression).

3. This one went through Fotor, and instead of saving it as a jpg, I saved it as a webp, and it was automatically compressed to 30 kb. 🎖️

✮ Tips for Writers (Part 1)

Posted on by novabellaxyz@gmail.com

My fellow writers who ask me questions… it is good to ask for advice from writers that you admire, and to immerse yourself in their style. You’ll naturally pick it up like a language. I have a few suggestions for anyone wanting to improve in some aspect of their writing:

  1. If you’re stuck, switch the genre.
  2. You don’t have to write from beginning to end, or plan anything ahead. I don’t. I start with a scene that I like, and let everything just naturally fall.
  3. Keep a slush pile. Sometimes an awesome bit just doesn’t work in a story, so I move it to the slush pile, where I eventually dip and pull pearls out. It’s easier to make those bonsai cuts when you have a slush pile.
  4. I keep a lot of lists: words, phrases, scenes, favorites… and add to my lists numerous times throughout every day. I use an instant voice recorder and Siri/Alexa so that I’m not forgetting bits I like. I also have a person in the family who remembers everything, so that’s nice for me.
  5. I totally do stay up all night starting and finishing a story, sometimes tapping the entire thing out like a text message on my phone. I recommend just getting out of bed, but you know, it happens.
  6. I know that I’m done when I feel excited. If I don’t get that feeling, then something is wrong. I might have to rewrite from scratch, or get distance, wait for a different mood, or just completely trash it… I’ve trashed far more than I’ve kept.
  7. Get a nice pen and sticky notes. I have many piles of sticky notes, and sometimes I find them on the bottom of a shoe, but they are all really important. There’s one next to me now that I’ve been floating for years.
  8. Listen to reasonable reviewers, enjoy the super harsh critics, know that rejection is the norm (hello – 300 in one day!), and stay tough, because everyone is a critic. If you’ve asked for advice from someone who matches you, who appreciates your genre, or is an actual expert, then at least try to follow their suggestions.
  9. If you’re asked to review another writer’s work, tread so so carefully. Writers can be very tender. Sandwich suggestions between specific and genuine praise. Don’t get upset if they don’t agree. Usually, they just need praise, and will figure out the snags on their own if they keep writing.
  10. Don’t share your work with family and friends. (Try not to even let them know that you write.) If they insist, hand over some slapped-together junk that you don’t cherish, because nothing will crush your spirit like family, and you’ll also censor your writing in anticipation of their reaction.

✮ Tips for Writers (Part 2) 

Posted on by novabellaxyz@gmail.com
  1. It can be fun to go through lists of writing prompts and just play around. If you’re having the so-called “writer’s block”, you’re probably not doing well physically and emotionally – sort that out, and then find one of those prompt lists.
  2. Join a writing club for decent feedback. And dip out if it stinks. There’s online groups, MeetUps, groups you can form… just make sure everyone is trading and getting feedback, and that the leadership keeps it comfortable.
  3. Positive feedback can also be a trap. Some people just like everything – they are the diametric opposite of the critic, and can really lift your spirits, but then you’ve got this big puffy head… yeah, mostly just ignore the praise too. You’ll know if you like your work or not, without someone else telling you.
  4. Never ever respond to a remote reviewer, not the positive ones, and definitely not the negative ones. Don’t copy paste them into social media. Don’t touch them. Breaching that glass wall will only cause you problems. Also, don’t spend too much time on social media – whatever your reason is – because it’s mostly a waste of time. Try to respond to nice DMs and emails though.
  5. Consider very carefully, who are you writing for? You? The audience? I have stories that I write exactly as I want them, and I have trendy junk. And yes, obviously use a pen name… hey, especially if you’re writing romantic erotica.
  6. Your writing does not have to be perfect. You don’t have to write the Next Great Classic. You don’t have to steal the breath from your readers. Most of the good writing that makes decent income is quite forgettable. Don’t stifle yourself by setting the bar too high.
  7. Not everyone will like Vincent Van Gogh, or even Pablo Picasso, and many will say that their art is child’s work. You cannot please everyone, and trying to, or comparing your work to others will not serve you well. Write your own flavor, and know who you are writing for. You don’t need to workshop every discouraging review. Some are just disco rage spittle. (How clever.)
  8. As for Pablo Picasso, he was a classically trained artist, and could make photo-realistic art, but that cubism was so fun! When he broke rules, he did so intentionally with a purpose. You too can break rules! Just know what and why, and get your classical standards down first. (Yeah, I break many, many rules.)
  9. Write what you know. You might not have been in the spaceship, but you’ve been in the relationship that you’re describing. Are you confident of your research? Did you research until it all clicked? Be very careful when you stray outside of your culture. (Okay, I do that too.)
  10. If your computer program seems to delete everything, don’t panic. Call the company and get a tech to retrieve it. The Feds can do it, you can too! On the other hand, if you wrote everything in an online program, but your device was offline and didn’t save, and it didn’t update when reconnected, you’re doomed. Don’t let that be you. Get a flash drive that automatically backs everything up or set a timer to remind yourself to “save” every 15 minutes.
  11. Not everything gets finished right away. I have 18 stories that I’m working on, probably a few that I’ve forgotten about, a few electric ideas that I’m eager for, and another 21 that are finished and not yet published (mostly because they’ll be packaged with stories that aren’t done yet).
  12. Get a laptop keyboard, an office chair, two 10lb weights to exercise your back, a big rock to hold the tablet stand (mine is petrified wood from the Dakotas), a tablet, a set of over-the-ear Bluetooth bass-boost headphones, and a tablet stand that will place the tablet at eye level.

Well, I’m a writer writing about writing, so I can go on all day. Peace out.

♫˚ Favorite Music 

Posted on by novabellaxyz@gmail.com

1. This is my music list of artists from Far East Asia. While creating this website for my fantasy romance stories, I listened to so much music, and found a lot of favorites. I now save these songs for special occasions. 

2. Here are my favorites of ambient sound videos. Sometimes when you’re writing you don’t want total silence, but you also don’t want a beat messing up your rhythm, so ambient is the way to go. 

3. And this is my orchestral list: 

✎𓂃Nova Bella vs. ₊˚⊹ AI Writing 

Posted on by novabellaxyz@gmail.com

Care to see how a real writer compares to AI generated writing? Here is a side by side comparison. I wrote the same scene three times in three different styles for a baseline standard. (And if you’re especially liking these scenes, let me know…maybe I’ll turn one into a romantic story.) Next, I sampled several of the popular AI writing generators. Each generator received the same prompt about a man who unexpectedly transforms into a werewolf in front of his new girlfriend.

✍️AI Can’t Touch This:



✎𓂃Sample #1: Non AI by Nova Bella: Similar to the style of some of the AI samples.

  ˗ˏˋPast the pale gold of the pine floor, and the flat panes of leaded windows, buffeted by wind, a storm muffled the skies in thunder, and rivulets of dark water poured from the eaves.  Jæna waited, and waited, checking the time on her silent wristwatch, and slowly, struggling to stay awake in the cozy warmth, she drifted.
  ˗ˏˋPotted ferns tapped the windows.
  ˗ˏˋWas that a feathered kiss, on her neck?  She opened her eyes to a…a—

  ˗ˏˋWolf?  

  ˗ˏˋShe froze in the heat of its thunder, as the magnificent danger rolled over her face and neck – its canines so close to tearing her…  Jæna slowly closed her eyes, willing the beast to go away, and retreated not one breath, not a decimal, in her rabbity fright, clutching the table as…
  ˗ˏˋDear G-d, she thought–
  ˗ˏˋAnd it was gone.  She opened her eyes again to–not a golden-eyed wolf–but Volker, naked, before her.
  ˗ˏˋ“Oh!”  Jæna spun around on her chair, still ready to run, and falling off the chair, as Volker awkwardly tried to catch her and also grab a white dish towel to cover himself. He managed both and apologized profusely in German, then English, while backing out of the room with a boyish blush.
  ˗ˏˋJæna stared after him, dismayed with herself, or him, and his… pet (?), she wasn’t sure. She laughed once, a crazy bark that echoed, and found herself scanning the room for a weapon. What was that? Delusions? “Do you have a dog? Or a wolf? A big dog here?” she asked.

✎𓂃Sample #2: Non-AI by Nova Bella Basic Writing Skill: This is written without AI and meant to match the AI’s level of skill, but with more dialogue, less cliché, a light tone, and a slight surprise.

  ˗ˏˋAlthough the movie was good, Jæna discovered that she was suffering from jetlag and promptly fell asleep. She awoke some time later with her face pillowed on something so soft, and warm, and… She sat up suddenly. Was that a dog? Jæna turned to look and found herself staring at a large, large dog (wolf?) in the dark. A wolf! She scrambled up and the wolf leapt onto the floor. It was huge. As Jæna stared, it seemed like she might faint. Her vision wavered, and everything shimmered. She closed her eyes, and opened them again, and discovered a sight almost as shocking as a massive wolf – it was an entirely divine man staring at her.
  ˗ˏˋ“Oh!” The man was Volker. Jæna wasn’t sure what to do or say, as she looked away and waited. He grabbed a towel off of the pile next to her and wrapped himself, while exclaiming in German.
  ˗ˏˋ“Woops, I don’t know enough German to understand what you’re saying,” Jæna bit her lip and waved her fingertips. What was going on? She almost wanted to laugh, and wondered if she’d gone hysterical or had a bad dream. Had he taken a shower and forgotten that she was here?  “Do you have – this is going to sound strange – but do you have a pet dog, or a…a wolf?”
  ˗ˏˋ“I’m sorry, I don’t even know how I ended up like this.” He knotted the towel around him. “A dog?”
Jæna nodded. “Or a wolf? A massive one?” She noticed that he had quite a nice form, athletic, but lean.
  ˗ˏˋHe was backing away, towards one of the bedroom doorways. “No, I don’t have a pet.” He ducked into the doorway, and called out. “Why?”


✎𓂃Sample #3: Non AI by Nova Bella: Minus the heavy moody feel, but not too light.

  ˗ˏˋJæna held the shining gold stiletto of her shoe in the air, hovering between them, eyes wide. “It was that…that…toilet goblin from the alley that got you?” 
  ˗ˏˋHer target rippled in the moonlight, with fur drenching his arms, and receding again. Her gaze flicked to the moon. Full moon.
  ˗ˏˋShe felt for the wall with one hand, making nonsense sounds to soothe him, as she shifted from one hip to another, and turned to run—

  ˗ˏˋHe lunged! 

  ˗ˏˋ —and her shoe spun on the floor in circles. She whimpered against the wall, covering her face as he almost, almost nuzzled the warmth of her neck. Her heart thumped like a juicy little rabbit bounding over meadows, dashing into shadows and hidden burrows. He traced one claw over the tumbling curls, that pulse, chasing that aroma of delicious fear!
She squealed, and he wished to hear that sound again, more. Little rabbit screams… his hand encased her neck, and now, now he’d take—

💻✨AI Made This:

₊˚⊹ AI Generator: Squibler: Instantly writes an entire 30,000 word story from beginning to end. Has a “train to my writing style” feature, and can pick tones/styles that you want it to write in.
As the night wore on, Volker’s condition deteriorated rapidly. He was in agony, his breathing becoming increasingly ragged and shallow. The transformation was slow and agonizingly apparent, his body contorting and twisting in ways that defied human anatomy. His muscles bulged, stretching the seams of his clothing, his limbs elongating and growing more powerful. His teeth grew longer, sharper, extending beyond his lips, taking on an almost animalistic sharpness. His eyes, once a captivating green, now glowed with an eerie, unnatural luminescence, piercing and intimidating.
I watched in horror, fear consuming me like a wildfire. The man I had met only hours before was dissolving before my very eyes, being replaced by something… else. Something primal, something terrifying, something impossibly powerful. The change was not merely physical; there was a visceral shift, a shedding of humanity that was both mesmerizing and horrifying. The vulnerability I’d sensed earlier was completely gone, replaced by an untamed, almost savage power.
The werewolf mythology I had dismissed as mere folklore was now a terrifying reality, playing out before me. The attack, the wound, the transformation – it was all too real, too horrifyingly tangible. My world, once a carefully constructed reality, was dissolving into a nightmarish version of itself.
I tried to help him, to do something, anything, but I was powerless. My rational mind screamed for an explanation, a way to understand what was happening. The panic was rising, threatening to consume me, but the instinct to protect him, the innate need to help the man I had only just met, overrode the terror. He was changing, yes, but he was still Volker, in some ways, and he needed me.


₊˚⊹ AI Generator: Open AI/ChatGPT:
The moonlight filtering through the slats of Volker’s apartment blinds cast shifting, silvery patterns on the walls as the night deepened. Kate, half-asleep on the couch, stirred at the sound of low, guttural groaning coming from the bedroom. At first, she thought he was having a nightmare—tossing and murmuring—but then the sounds grew sharper, animalistic. A thud against the floor made her sit up straight. Her heart began to race as she stood, slowly creeping toward the door. Through the crack, she caught a glimpse of Volker doubled over, his muscles convulsing under his skin like something alive and writhing beneath the surface.
Volker let out a strangled cry that echoed with something both human and beastly. His hands clawed at the floorboards, nails stretching, sharpening into talons as dark fur pushed its way out of his skin. Bones snapped and reshaped, his spine arching violently as his body grew larger, more hunched, more monstrous. Kate stood frozen in the doorway, her breath caught in her throat. She watched, wide-eyed, as his face elongated, jawbone distending and teeth erupting into long, sharp fangs. The soft moonlight flickered over his golden eyes, now glowing with an eerie, otherworldly intensity that seemed to lock onto her with terrifying clarity.
The transformation was over in seconds, but it felt like hours. Where Volker had once lain, a massive, snarling creature now stood—fur bristling, chest heaving, mouth open in a low growl that echoed through the apartment. Yet in the depth of those eyes, Kate saw a flicker of recognition, a spark of the boy who had laughed with her hours earlier, who had insisted the wound was nothing. She took a step back, unsure whether to run or reach for him. The wolf twitched, trembling as if caught between instincts—hunger and memory. And then, with a sudden jerk, he lunged—not at her, but past her, crashing through the window into the cold Berlin night.


₊˚⊹ AI Generator: Gemini:
As the moon climbed higher in the inky German sky, casting long, eerie shadows across Volker’s small apartment, a subtle shift began to ripple through him. The initial discomfort he had dismissed started to intensify, a deep ache settling in his bones that no amount of shifting could alleviate. His breathing grew ragged, and a low, guttural sound rumbled in his chest, a sound that was distinctly not human. Kate, who had been dozing fitfully on his worn couch, stirred, her eyes widening with a growing unease as she watched him writhe on the bed, his face contorted in pain.
The transformation accelerated with terrifying speed. Volker’s limbs began to lengthen and contort, his hands and feet twisting into clawed paws that scraped against the wooden floor. Coarse, dark fur sprouted across his skin, obscuring the familiar lines of his human form. His jaw elongated, teeth growing into sharp, formidable fangs that glinted in the dim moonlight filtering through the window. A primal snarl tore from his throat, a sound that sent shivers down Kate’s spine and banished any lingering doubt about the impossible scene unfolding before her. The gentle, charming man she had met just hours ago was gone, replaced by a creature of myth and nightmare.
Kate could only watch in stunned horror as the final vestiges of Volker’s humanity vanished. The transformation culminated in a creature of immense power and terrifying grace, its eyes glowing with a feral intensity that locked onto her with predatory focus. The air in the small apartment crackled with an untamed energy, the scent of damp earth and something wild and musky filling her nostrils. The bandage she had so carefully placed on his arm had long since been ripped away, the bite mark now a focal point on a creature that was no longer the man she had intended to help. Her dream of a carefree summer in Germany had just collided with a reality far more dangerous and unbelievable than she could have ever imagined.


₊˚⊹ AI Generator: NovelAI: 
Volker and I got in a cab and told the driver to take us to the hospital, but Volker changed his mind, and told the driver to drop us off at his apartment. It was close, so we went there. Inside, Volker and I were cleaning his shoulder, and the bite was small and not serious, so he said it didn’t need a doctor. Then we were on the couch, and I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, the sun was up.
The morning was different. Volker wasn’t there, and the bite mark was a lot bigger. The door was locked and the keys were inside. He was in the room, growling and looking at me, like he was hungry. When he opened the door, his eyes were bright yellow. Then his skin got pale, and his body hair grew. His ears grew and pointed, and his face changed. When he walked over to me, he looked like a wolf. I screamed, and then he changed back to his normal self, and fell asleep on the floor.
When he woke up, Volker was shocked. He didn’t remember anything that happened. All he remembered was coming back to the apartment with me. We looked out the window, and the street was full of police cars, and a man was lying on the sidewalk, with a big bite mark on his neck. It looked just like the one on Volker’s shoulder. We didn’t know what to do, so we stayed quiet. Then the door opened, and it was a detective. He had the man’s wallet, and Volker’s wallet was on the floor, too. He asked questions and made phone calls, and then took us both to the station for questioning.


₊˚⊹ AI Generator: SudoWrite:  Gives multiple options for each chunk of continued text.  For this sample, I provided the prompt in the synopsis bios, selected Romance, Supernatural, Fantasy, and Horror, and the first two sentences (from the ChatGPT generation). Has a more natural voice than some of the others, with better texture, and each generation offers several options. 
He shifted uncomfortably on his worn leather couch, unable to settle his racing thoughts. The transformation had come upon him three nights ago, ripping through his body with merciless intensity, leaving him trembling and changed in ways he was only beginning to understand.
A soft knock at the door startled him. At this hour? Volker’s newly heightened senses detected a familiar scent—vanilla and something earthy—before he even moved to answer.
“Elise,” he whispered, his voice catching. He hadn’t seen her since that night at the museum when everything had gone so terribly wrong.
Rising from the couch, he hesitated at the door, fingers hovering over the handle. Would she recoil at the sight of him? The amber glow that now permanently rimmed his irises was difficult to conceal, even in shadow.
“I know you’re in there,” her voice…


₊˚⊹ AI Generator: Claude 3
Kate awoke to a strange, guttural sound coming from across the room. In the dim moonlight filtering through the curtains, she could make out Volker’s silhouette, hunched over on the floor. His body convulsed violently, and he gripped the edge of the coffee table so hard that his knuckles turned white. The bite wound on his arm glowed with an eerie silver light, pulsating in rhythm with his labored breathing. “Volker?” Kate whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of cracking bones. When he turned to face her, his eyes had changed—amber irises expanding to consume the whites, reflecting the moonlight like those of a predator in the darkness.
The transformation accelerated with terrifying speed. Volker’s fingers elongated, nails hardening into curved claws that scraped against the wooden floor. His face contorted in agony as his jaw dislocated and reformed, pushing outward into a muzzle filled with razor-sharp teeth. Thick, dark fur erupted from his skin, spreading like wildfire across his expanding frame. His clothes tore at the seams as his muscles swelled and reshaped themselves. Kate pressed herself against the headboard, paralyzed with fear, watching as the boy she’d danced with just hours ago disappeared before her eyes, replaced by something ancient and feral.
A final, bone-chilling howl marked the completion of the metamorphosis. Where Volker had stood now crouched a massive wolf-like creature, easily seven feet tall even in its hunched posture. Its breath came in steaming clouds in the suddenly cold room. The werewolf studied Kate with intelligent eyes—eyes that somehow still held a flicker of Volker’s consciousness within their amber depths. For one breathless moment, the creature seemed to recognize her, tilting its head in an almost human gesture of curiosity. Then the beast threw back its head and unleashed a howl that shattered the night’s silence, announcing to the world that the hunt had begun.

^._.^ฅ Hello World!

Posted on by novabellaxyz@gmail.com

I’m gradually learning how to make a website, and e-books, and get everything working right. Be patient, and let me know if something isn’t working, or if you see a typo-mosquito.

Don’t forget to subscribe, and you can also find me on social media. It’s always nice to get feedback too, so leave a review if you’ve checked the books. Subscribers can get a free story.

I’m currently writing spicy sweet-ish romance – my short stories are packaged together into books of a theme.to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!