A Thought for the Day...

If it feels like you're hitting a wall in your life, remember, sometimes walls are there to lean against and rest. 

Rest, re-group, and reset. Life might seem like a race sometimes, but in my experience, playing the long game has always been more satisfying.

Have a great day, everyone.

A Rant on AI—Sorry…

I feel I need to get this off my chest... 

Just yesterday, I witnessed a mutual creative make a post on Facebook in which he bragged about writing his first movie script in only two weeks. Upon reading these first few lines, I was impressed. I was further impressed by his next claim that after doing thirteen drafts (I’m assuming he meant editing pass-throughs), he submitted it to a film festival and it was, within a few days, announced as a selection. I’m not sure what “selection” means in this particular festival, but I would assume it’s a favorable accomplishment. To be honest, after reading the post as a whole, my impressed feeling of his accomplishment quickly turned to a mid-level envy. As a writer, how could I not feel at least the tiniest bit, right? Envy aside, I sincerely congratulated him on his accomplishment.

Among the many comments of congratulations, one commentor asked, “What’s the script about?” The reply from the original poster is a long-winded AI generated description of the story, followed by an admission from the original poster that he used Chat GPT to write the description in his reply. Immediately, I’m feeling awry about the whole thing now and want to rescind my congratulations. I want to ask him why he couldn’t just describe his story in his own words, and why he needed AI to do it for him. Or maybe go a bit deeper with a snide accusation—If you need AI to generate a description of the script you wrote, I find it hard to believe you actually wrote the script yourself--perhaps AI helped with that too.

Long story short, I relented from posting any further comments, because I didn’t feel it would lead to anything good. Besides, I’m clearly making assumptions about this person’s creative process, and instead, I decided to write about it here, in this blog that only the two of you read. I know—so noble of me, right? I’m not perfect.

Using AI to generate a book, a script, or artwork, and pawning it off as something you created is just a middle finger to people who do actually write, or draw, and have spent a lifetime perfecting their craft. All the while, AI gathers the information it uses to create these “new works” from various places on the internet, included from other people’s (real creative people’s) hard work. It manipulates and blends several pieces into something just slightly different. In my mind, this is skirting the line of copyright infringement. Maybe I’m wrong though. This is just the simple man knowledge I currently possess of AI and how it operates, but I can’t find any information that refutes what I’ve learned.

Which brings me to another point: AI does not know how to distinguish valid information and incorrect information. For instance, I couldn’t count how many people I know who use Google to ask simple questions about recipes, locations, science, and even history. Nowadays, Google has been using AI to scour multiple sites at once to develop an answer for its users. This is usually shown as the top result, by the way. As I understand, when there is a discrepancy between the information sources, AI finds an answer that it determines is mathematically correct, because it is the answer it has found most often. If we are going to start believing something to be true based on how many times it is talked about on the internet, we are all in for a hard ride. Okay, before you ask; No, I haven't been under a rock for the last two decades, I just know this trend is getting worse, and AI can not be helping.

What can we do? It’s not realistic to avoid AI completely. You might be astounded at how many of your day-to-day activities, bookings, and what you see on the web is already dictated by some sort of AI. I hate to say it, but short of a mass world-wide server meltdown, AI is here to stay. The only thing we can do is make sure we do our research, especially when it comes to researching important facts like history, and health. Don’t throw away old physical copies of books because you have them available in digital format. I don’t know what safeguards are in place to keep AI from manipulating or hiding those documents in the future. 

Don’t be lazy. Do the work. Be creative. And for the simple sake of decency, don’t take a product from AI and try to pass it off as something you created. If you have an idea, create it on your own. If you don’t know how, Learn! Don’t let the robots take everything from us, including our ability to create.

For goodness’ sake! How many books and movies have been produced where we let AI lead the way, and it goes wrong? Terminator? Eagle Eye? I robot? Wall-E? That’s just to name a few!

Okay, I feel I’ve gone off the rails a bit here, but I think I’m making a point. I hope so, anyway. I’m obviously not the first to throw fits about AI, and I know I won’t be the last. I guess I just wanted to put my two cents out there on how I feel about it. In my opinion, AI isn’t just theft from real creatives, it’s potentially dangerous for our future. Be kind, and be careful out there.

Book Review: The Way Out By: B. Fox

I was nearly in tears when I finished this book. The Way Out is an emotional journey, delving into the harsh realities of life behind prison bars. The author doesn't hold back when it comes to the details of filth and evil that is captive behind the gray walls of Denmore Penitentiary. The flawed characters drive the story, especially Morris, whose true nature kept me on edge. Through his unlikely friendships, his sketchy deals and “plans”, and his interactions with the unrelenting guards, I yearned to uncover what seemed to be haunting him. While the answer felt slightly ambiguous, (at least to me,) I wasn't disappointed. There is so much heart in this story, and every ounce of it felt way too real.

B Fox's books challenge me beyond my usual reading, stirring deep emotions and thoughts. After loving Paper Castles, I couldn't miss The Way Out.

You can order your copy of The Way Out right HERE!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Manic Edge By: CJ Simone

 

More Fast Paced Thrills!

The second installment of this series did not disappoint! Gabe is back and still running from his perilous ties to mob families and grappling with his mental disorder. I was most captivated by the authentic characters and the way they took on their struggles—it made for a lot of tension building. It’s also always satisfying when characters with disorders or taken on and used so naturally and realistically in the story. Great work! I love the fast-paced writing, too. It keeps you hooked and doesn’t let up. If you’re looking to have your emotions tested with thrills and a romance that you can’t help but root for, check out this series!

The Manic Edge is available on Amazon, and if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you're in luck, because this book is included! Check the link below!

Happy Reading!

ORDER THE MANIC EDGE NOW!

Here We Go Again!

I'm extremely pleased to announce that my third book, Lie Ever So Quietly, will be released on April 20, 2025, and it is available to Pre-Order now! As with my other books, this one will be available exclusively on Amazon Kindle, and available to read with your Kindle Unlimited subscription if you have one.  

As usual, I could use some help spreading the word about the release, so if you wouldn't mind kindly tapping the share button's below, I would be forever grateful!  

Also, I will be sharing some preview chapters in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that.

The past never truly stays buried... 

Charlie Dalton finds himself haunted by memories he thought he had long resolved. Thirty-four years after a traumatic childhood event, Charlie's life is once again thrown into turmoil when his best friend and business partner is murdered. 

Charlie is immediately considered a suspect, and when lines between past and present blur, a web of connections is revealed which link Charlie to another missing person—someone he’d hoped the world had forgotten about.

As he grapples with anger, anxiety, and fear, Charlie must navigate a series of trials that test his resilience and determination. To protect his loved ones from public scrutiny, Charlie is forced to revisit the night that changed everything. He refuses to let his family be thrust into the spotlight as he was when he was eight. He won’t be transported back into that box in the barn.

Pre-Order Today!

What is a "Pity Patron?"

We've all seen these familiar posts on X, Insta, and FB. I've even posted a few with the hopes it would raise some kind of awareness to my work. If you're not familiar, this is a screenshot of a KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) sales dashboard, and it currently reads zero sales. A social media post with this image is usually accompanied by: "How's your month going?" or "After all my hard work, this is what I have to show for it." Or my personal favorite: "Who will save me from this ugly set of ovals?"

What is your first instinct when you see a post like this? Do you feel sorry for the author? Does it make you feel inclined to buy a copy of the author's book, as if your one purchase will make the author feel validated? Or do you make a snap judgment about the book, or the author's ability to write based on the number of sales? Maybe you just ignore the post. Maybe a completely different thought?

To be clear, Yes, I will take all the pity sales anyone wants to give me. But in my heart, I'd really rather someone bought my book because it was something they're interested in. I sometimes wonder how many "pity patrons" actually read the book they purchased, or if the book just sits in the back of their kindle queue to be forgotten about. I'm certain I am making a lot of unfair judgements here, but if you read between the lines, you'll realize I'm writing this post out of my own experience. Yes, I have purchased books out of pity for an author, hoping to raise their spirits. Also, yes, I have let the book sit in the back of my kindle queue with nearly zero intentions to read it. And if you really want me to be honest, the pity purchases I've attempted to read unfortunately don't hold my interest and they end up on another dreadful list: My "Did Not Finish" list.

These are just my first thoughts on "pity patrons", we haven't even touched on what these types of sales do to the amazon algorithm. If a "pity patron" buys a copy of one of my mystery novels books but the patron is traditionally a romance reader, suddenly the Amazon algorithm gets the idea that my mystery novel fits in with the romance genre. Okay, this may not happen after one purchase, but if something like this happens enough, my book could be shown in the suggestion window to romance readers, which are not my target audience. Finding an audience for your writing can be extremely challenging. I don't need something like a confused algorithm slowing me down on top of everything else.

I'm probably dousing the flames of the supportive writing community right now (or maybe I'm throwing gas on it). I realize I'm making some assumptions that other people's buying habits are similar to mine. Or perhaps I'm way off, and some of these sales are from people who had been meaning to buy a book for some time but just forgot about it. Maybe the patron's interests do align with the author's writing, and they want to take a chance on the book. Either way, I stand by my point: what good are we doing if we buy books from authors who simply beg for the sale. It kind of feels like we're just dropping a few bucks into a hat. At the very least, maybe we’re increasing their Amazon sales rank for a few days. As an author, I would rather have true organic readers/patrons. I want patrons who buy my book because something about the tag line caught their attention—or maybe there was something about the cover. Better yet, I'd love a patron who buys my book because they had previously enjoyed something else I wrote. These are the best kind of patrons because they're no longer just patrons, they're fans! My main goal as an author is not to sell the most copies of my book, it’s to find my audience. Once I do that, sales are likely to follow.

There are so many other and better ways to support writers, and it costs you nothing! A simple like and share of an author’s post goes a long way. If you want to go the extra mile, leave a positive comment about the book to give it relevance to other people. Sure, you may be a fantasy reader, but maybe you have some followers/friends who read hard crime. Recommend the book to a book club who reads the genre of the book being promoted. And of course, if you have generally read an author's book and enjoyed it, share a review.

As I'm writing this, I realize this might be something I will want to delete later. I have this nagging feeling that someone is going to read this and think I'm calling them or out, or that I'm stepping on their supportive toes. I hope not, because that’s not my intention, and I apologize if I’ve upset you. If you are a "pity patron," I want you to know you are still very much appreciated. I'm sure your intentions are good, and I don't know for certain that your efforts are not worth the action. These are just my own thoughts I'm firing away with. I welcome any of your thoughts on this as well so we can have a respectable discussion on this. I don't think I have all the answers, and I'm certainly not perfect, because as I said at the beginning of this post, I will take all the pity sales anyone wants to give me!

Keep Reading!

Sign Up = FREE Book!

So, I don't know how long I'll run this little promotion, but I figured what the heck, it's Christmas!  Let's start 2025 with some FREE BOOKS!

Starting today, I will be giving away digital copies of my debut novel, THE GOUGE, to everyone who signs up to my mailing list.  

I want to say up front, I will not blow up your inboxes with a bunch of nonsense junk mail.  Literally, over the past three years, I have only sent out two emails to my subscribers, and both were simple announcements for the release of my books.  I also promise to never I share your information with anyone for any reason.   

I've created a Landing Page HERE where you can sign up.  Once I see your signup, I will send you a copy of the book in the format of your preference.  Please be patient with me as I am being a bit cheap, and I'm not paying for the Mailchimp premium plan which will send notifications to me on signups.  I will be checking the signups manually.  If you don't receive a copy of The Gouge after a few days, please feel free to contact me in the comments here.  I may have just overlooked the signup.

Remember, this is only for a limited time.  I don't know when I'll end this promotion, so get it while you can!

Thank you all for a fantastic 2024.  Have a great 2025, and Happy Reading!

M.H. David

SIGN UP = FREE BOOK