Welcome, friend! Today I am chatting with author Jennifer Lewy about her debut novel, The One Game. This is the first book in the Game of Paradise YA SciFi series, with book 2 coming in November. Let’s welcome Jen and learn more about the book.
Get to know the author: Jennifer Lewy
Hi Jen! Welcome to Armed with A Book. Tell me and my readers a bit about yourself!
So glad to be here, thanks for having me! I’m a new author but I’ve been working with words for a long time. I was into music and theatre as a kid and always journaled. Writing fiction didn’t come easily to me. I dabbled in it during my college days but found it quite challenging at the time. Instead, I ventured into consulting and marketing, where I honed my writing skills in different ways. I eventually started my own freelance marketing writing business so I could have more flexibility to be with my two babies (both teens now).
We live in a small patch of woods not far from Boston. My family hikes all over New England, and we particularly like the Minuteman Trail through the Old North Bridge national park in Concord. It’s a special place where every April hundreds of people re-enact one of the earliest events of the American Revolution. If you read The One Game, you’ll notice the first chapter takes place right there—on the night before the Revolution started.
What inspired you to write this book?
Every day during the pandemic, I read Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American. She’s a history professor who summarizes the news with a long-term perspective. When things were looking especially dire during that time, I started wondering: are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of history over and over again? Or is there some way to learn the lessons of the past and make decisions that benefit people and the planet?
The answer—and the premise for the book—struck me one day as I worked on an assignment for an AI company: What if artificial intelligence became powerful enough to comprehend all of human history? What if AI could offer guidance based on centuries of knowledge?
The fictional future of The One Game came to me quickly, probably because I’m a huge science fiction nerd. Through the eyes of Rayne, a talented teen coder, I envisioned a time after lots of bad things had happened, like the collapse of the food supply chain and the fall of democracy in the U.S. As a result, society turned to AI to help them rebuild. What would that society look like? And what would happen if their AI started to break down…?
How long did it take you to write this book, from the first idea to the last edit?
It took eighteen months from the first idea to the completed manuscript. The first draft of the novel only took four months to write because I found Christopher Downing’s Foolproof Outline. That step-by-step guide (and the template it came with) helped me understood the structure of a good story and how to flow from one scene to the next.
The hardest and longest part was editing the manuscript. I asked my (then) 13-year-old to be my first reader. He gave me good notes on the first draft. Then I put it aside for a few months while I figured out what to do next. I had never written or published fiction before, and there was a lot to learn!
I hired a developmental editor and spent three months doing two full revisions with him. Then I sent the draft to seven beta readers who provided valuable feedback over the course of another couple months.
After I incorporated the beta readers’ feedback, I hired a proofreader. Then I sat on the completed manuscript for another few weeks while I had a minor crisis about whether I would make the book public or not. I’m so glad I did.
What makes your story unique?
What’s unique about this story is its post-apocalyptic setting where people are thriving instead of struggling. It invites readers to imagine a future where all life has been optimized, from food production to house construction, and people live comfortably and in tune with their natural surroundings. Yet all around there are clues to a violent past, like species extinctions and occasional massive storms. And it sets up an interesting dynamic I don’t see too often in fiction, but that is extremely relevant today: the question of whether AI is capable of being used for everyone’s good, instead of for the power and profit of a few.
Who would enjoy reading your book?
Read this if you’re a fan of cyberpunk with empowered heroines and LGBTQ+ rep!
This book is for young adults who love post-apocalyptic futures and thrilling adventures.
It’s also for techies, gamers, and those fascinated by the possibilities and ethical implications of AI.
And it’s for anyone who enjoys thought-provoking dual POV narratives. This book offers some cool slices of history, virtual worlds, and a satisfying story about human resilience.
What’s something you hope readers would take away from it?
I hope readers feel like they’ve gotten a gripping story with an unguessable ending, one they couldn’t put down. I also hope readers wonder a little about the potential good of AI – not just what it can do to us, but what it can do for us. And what our society would look like if we optimized AI for life-affirming outcomes like health and happiness instead of solely for productivity and economic growth.
Do you have a favourite quote or scene in the book that you find yourself going back to?
“Without the Games, we become what we fear the most: monsters stumbling in the dark.”
It’s from discussion among leaders after they find a problem with the community’s AI, which manifests as strange attacks and breakdowns in the immersive virtual games they play.
The One Game is the first book in the Game of Paradise series. Tell me about the series. Do you already know how many books it will have?
The second book in the series, The One Exiled, is launching in November 2023! After that, there will be at least one more book, but maybe more. There’s so much to explore in this version of the future. Without revealing too much, the series will continue to explore immersive virtual worlds, how to preserve history and use technology safely, and what happens when all humans don’t want to depend on AI.
What is something you have learned on your author journey so far?
That we don’t write books alone! Yes, even for diehard introverts (like me) who just want to hole up with a laptop in solitude. So much needs to be done in collaboration to get a book into the world. For example, I brainstormed the plot of The One Game with my kids, joined critique groups and took writing classes to learn how to write better prose, listened to self-publishing podcasts, got professional services like editing and book cover design, and asked for beta reader feedback. My book is in no way the result of a single person’s work. That’s really beautiful, isn’t it?
What’s the best piece of advice you have received related to writing?
“If not now, when?” That’s what I asked myself in 2020 before I sat down to write this book. It’s a question anyone can apply to any creative project. There will never be a “perfect” time. The only time we have is now. So why not now?
If you could give a shout out to someone(s) who has helped in your writer journey, please feel free to mention them below!
My husband and two kids have been very supportive and patient with me as I stare into space at dinner, rant about new AI developments, and take time alone to write. I love listening to podcasts while I walk in the mornings, especially The Creative Penn, the Sell More Books show, the Self Publishing Show, and How Do You Write. I am grateful to the Metrowest Writers’ Guild and Silver Unicorn bookstore for hosting my in-person book launch. And a huge shout-out to the women of Feminine Wisdom Way and the Spiritual Warriors program who gave me the courage to act on my writing dreams.
Where can readers find you on the Internet?
- IG: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferlewyauthor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferLewyAuthor
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/JenniferLewyAuthor/
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jennifer-Lewy/author/B0BG97Z78J?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jennifer_lewy
- To up for my newsletter: https://jenniferlewy.com
The One Game
Published 2022
Game of Paradise Book 1
They put climate chaos behind them and placed their trust in a powerful AI. But when tech goes haywire, can one teen coder rescue her safe haven?
Seventeen-year-old Rayne takes pride in the vivid virtual realities she codes. And with society finally emerging from environmental catastrophe, she relishes knowing her creations play a pivotal role in the vital artificial intelligence the world uses for guidance. But when her own program tries to kill her, the young techie fears she’s triggered an unstoppable horror that will destroy the entire globe.
Teaming up with fellow programmers, she digs into the system to uncover the fatal flaw. But when the computer genius suspects the patch is deadlier than the bug, she stumbles into a conspiracy that could see her permanently deleted.
Can Rayne undo the viral destruction before all humanity short-circuits?
The One Game is the thrilling first book in the Game of Paradise YA science fiction adventure series. If you like empowered heroines, fast-paced action, and dystopian settings, then you’ll love Jennifer Lewy’s high-tech page-turner.
Book Excerpt from
The One Game
Rayne hesitated a moment before she nodded and ended the call with her mother. Slipping into her footslides, she hurried to the front door and pulled it open.
“Rayne! Rayne! Rayne!” Two boys, fresh from their snowball fight, tumbled inside. “Raaaayne!” Their dark hair was plastered to their foreheads, clothes soaked through. “Can we have a Game for the shelter? You said last time we could have a Game if it was a Level Six! You said!”
“Did I?” Rayne glanced outside, searching for the boys’ grandmother. Seeing no one, she closed the door.
“Take off your shoes and coats,” Luci barked from its docking station. It unhooked itself and barreled over. “You’re dripping wet.”
“Luci, I’ve got this.”
“Luci! Luci! Luci!” The boys jumped up and down. “Here’s my shoes!” The younger, Aden, sat on his bottom and tugged at his boots. The older, Clem, shucked off his coat and knelt to help his brother.
“Where’s your Baba?” Rayne picked up the fallen coat.
“You need to get ready for the shelter.”
“Game first.” Clem wrangled the boots off Aden’s feet.
“You promised. You said you’d give us a special Game if we had to be in the shelter during a Level Six.”
“Don’t make it a boring one,” Aden added. “The Games at school are boring.”
Rayne sighed. “Fine. I’ll find a good Game for you. Not a boring one. Let me check with your Baba.”
She settled them in the kitchen with knobs of maple sugar. Back in her bedroom, she told her Thread to call the boys’ grandmother. Did a final check of her go-bag and zipped it up while she waited for the call to go through.
There was no answer.
Lifting her bag to her shoulder, she hollered, “Hey, what was your Baba doing when you left her?”
“Rayne?” Another voice came from the living room.
“Cynthia!” Rayne was relieved to see her neighbor, the boys’ Baba, poking her head through the front door.
“Are the boys here?” A shriek of laughter from the kitchen.
Luci rolled out, removing a damp towel from its head. The older woman suppressed a smile. “I’m sorry. They’re bothering you.”
“They’re not. Please, come in.” Rayne dropped her bag by the door and Cynthia stepped inside. “I promised them a special Game for the shelter. If it’s okay with you…”
“Yes, yes. Do what you need to. I can’t take the time now.” Sometimes Cynthia had trouble keeping up with the boys, especially the last few years.
Rayne squinted at her elderly friend. “You know we’re getting a Level Six, right?”
A snort. “I don’t need that thing in my head to tell me a storm is coming. I can see it in the clouds. Feel it in my bones.”
Rayne didn’t know Cynthia’s age but guessed she had been born before the Great Divergence. Cynthia probably survived several years of winter superstorms without the protection of the Ark’s shelters.
“Baba, we want to play the new one.” Aden burst out of the kitchen and latched onto his grandmother’s leg. “The one with the animals.”
“No, we want to play the Game where we’re building a fort.” Clem elbowed his younger brother out of the way. “And then we’re going to play the one with the warriors. I’m going to be invincible. I’ll take out all the enemies. It’ll be so cool.” He shook his head, awestruck. “I’m invincible!”
“Yeah, we’re invincible.” Aden nodded. “Everybody wants to play the warrior one.”
“Let’s play that one now!” They ran over to Rayne. “Rayne, can we? Please—”
“Hey.” Rayne touched Aden on his head. “You’re not invincible. That’s what the Games teach you. You’re human.”
Cynthia nodded. “I tried to tell them.”
Luci darted around, sopping up melting snow with its pad.
Clem, the older one, tilted his head. “But we fight the enemies and we win.”
“Nope. That’s not how it works.” Rayne tried to shoo Luci away. “You don’t just go around fighting battles. The Games show you bits of history. Right? They drop you into the past, into any event that’s ever been written down or recorded. That’s a lot of events to choose from. And you get to be a character from that event.”
“Like an animal?” Clem’s smile wavered.
“No, like a human. So you can see, feel, and hear for yourself how those events in the past played out. And you learn the lessons from that moment. That’s how we know how to make good choices now. And, you know, be good people.”
Clem threw his head back. “You sound like a Teacher!”
“The Games don’t have to be boring, though.” When she was in school with Cas, they had discovered their talent for tweaking the Games to make them more challenging. More risky. More fun.
Two more blasts of the weather siren made them all look outside. Snowflakes danced at the window. In a matter of hours, the Level Six would wallop the village with snow and ice, closing the overland routes, but they were prepared for that. Good thing it wasn’t a Level Eight. They hadn’t seen one of those for years.
“We should leave you. Boys, come!” Cynthia reached for their hands.
“Noooooo!”
“Hold on,” Rayne said. “I promised you a new Game, and I’ll give it to you. But first, promise me something. Promise you’ll go to the shelter and stay there. If you go outside, you can get lost. You can’t see where you’re going or follow the trails. You’ll have to spend the night outside and you won’t be warm.”
“Promise.” The brothers held up their hands. “We swear to the One!”
Cynthia raised her eyebrows. “That’s a real promise, you hear?”
Rayne touched her temple and swiped out, making her Thread visible.
“Make it a big game!” With a grin, Aden took a swing at Luci. Luci tucked its arm and navigated around the boy.
“No, the animal one!”
“I’m sending you each a summons to a very cool Game. One that my friend Vic designed.”
As she said Vic’s name, Rayne’s insides swirled, and heat climbed into her cheeks.
Stop it. Vic’s a friend. Nothing more.
Cynthia tracked Rayne’s hands as they moved through a series of commands on the Thread. “Here we go. It’s an ice climb up the Cayambe Volcano in a place that used to be called Ecuador. Vic likes designing adventures in nature. Climbing up peaks and racing down rivers. Right now, he’s kind of obsessed with volcanoes.”
“I’m invincible!”
“That’s not true!” The older boy shoved him. “You’re not invincible!”
“Are so!”
“You’re human! Human! Human!”
They fell to the floor, grasping each other and rolling.
Rayne stopped, her hand hovering over the Game summons.
A chill shot up her spine as she remembered the icy water filling her throat, the grip of the red-coated soldiers as she fought for air. Was something lurking in Vic’s Game, too? An odd attack waiting to happen?
Her Revolution Game had been in beta phase, an early version that was private to her so she could make changes before it went public. Vic’s Cayambe Game was fully tested and released. If the same kind of… problem was waiting inside his Game, it would be happening to people playing it now. She hadn’t heard of any strange attacks, so she probably didn’t have to worry about it.
Probably.
Rayne tapped her Thread, sending each boy a summons.
She sent one to Cynthia, too. “This should keep everyone occupied for a while. You’ll see it on your gamescreens when you put them on.”
Cynthia gave a sharp sigh, as if she’d been holding her breath. “That is beautiful. The Thread.”
“It is,” Rayne agreed. “Just keep an eye on the boys while they play, okay?”
“How do you… make it work so smoothly? When I make my Thread visible, it jerks all over the place. It doesn’t flow like that.”
“Cynthia, I’ve grown up with the Thread. It’s an extension of me. My thoughts. I talk to my Thread out loud, and I use hand motions. Mostly I use a combination of talking and using my fingers like this to move the data around…” Cynthia’s gaze clouded. “Never mind. Just know the Thread is always here for you—” Rayne put a finger to her forehead— “when you need to ask it something. Or check something. It’s really good at finding answers to questions. And if you ever need help, just call me.” The boys were still on the floor, with an image of an elephant between them. Aden was saying to his brother, “They did too exist! Look at my Thread!”
Clem his hand through Aden’s elephant, trying to grab it.
“Babaaaa! He touched my elephant!”
Rayne stepped in. “Aden, it’s your Thread. Unless your brother knows how to code, he won’t be able to touch it.”
Cynthia touched Rayne’s arm and spoke above the boys’ complaints. “Thank you. Now we really should go. Boys, what do you say to Rayne?”
The boys clambered to their feet. Clem closed his fist over the image, dismissing it. “Thank you.”
“Thanks. We are One!” They high fived her and collected their belongings.
Rayne opened the door for them. “Enjoy the ice climb. And remember your promise.”
Interested?
Find The One Game on Goodreads, Storygraph, IndieStoryGeek, Amazon. Book 2 of the series, The One Exiled is out in November! I am excited to read these books! A fast paced SciFi sounds like the one to take on a vacation if I want to read a lot of books. 😀
If you are an indie author and would like to do a book excerpt, check out my work with me page for details. Check out other book excerpts here.
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