Disclosure Day: AI, Ghostwriters, Aliens? An IWSG post

 (Reminder: this site is now ONLY my blog. If you're looking for my book links or contact options, events, or any other aspects of my writer life, please visit http://dangerouswhenbored.com )

 

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy, ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek behind the curtain of a writing life.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the October 7 posting of the IWSG are Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Liza at Middle Passages, JH Moncrieff, and Jemima Pett!

October 7 question - Many people are calling for writers who use AI to disclose it. Most who employ ghostwriters do not admit it - do you think authors who use ghostwriters should have to disclose that, too?

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I wish people would be more honest and transparent in general. We all make our choices and we have our reasons to do so, so why not stand by your choices and say, "Here's what I did and why!" 

Yes, you may attract vitriol from those who don't like your choice. You may attract praise and validation, too, from those who do like your choice. And others will shrug their shoulders and wonder why you bothered to tell us because whatever the issue is just isn't an issue for them. 

But all this sneaking around, pretending that you created something you didn't? This is why I have trust issues. 

What are you? Francis Crick, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins stealing Rosalind Franklin's work and taking the credit? It's not 1962 anymore, y'all. 

If you yourself think that there is something shameful about the way you're doing things…then maybe you ought not to do it that way?  

For example, I recently read the memoir Nobody's Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Amy Wallace is listed publicly as a collaborator and the text itself pulls no punches about the use of a collaborator to get this difficult story told. And given the painful nature of the story and the lasting trauma, I can see why she might need a collaborator to help her tell her story, especially since she hadn't been a writer previously. 

screenshot of Goodreads entry for Nobody's Girl.

 

I don't really believe that everyone who has lived a life worth reading about is able to write about it in an engaging, coherent way. Living an interesting life and writing about one are two different skill sets. So, collaborating with a writing partner or hiring a ghostwriter seems reasonable to me…if you just admit that's what you did. 

James Patterson is doing this, too--working with collaborators to keep up a dizzying publishing pace and capitalize on the sales-appeal of his name while sharing the work with other writers, writer whom he credits on the cover of the book. 

Goodreads screenshot of a Patterson collab

 

Ghostwriters kept secret in other scenarios have eventually come to light (like Tony Schwartz who ghost-wrote Trump's Art of the Deal: read the wikipedia article for quite a publishing ride), and there sometimes seems to be quite a bit of bluster and denial about the whole thing. And, honestly, if it's NOT a collaboration, but just a handing over of the task to someone else then publishing with your name on it, that reeks of narcissism and self-importance. Taking credit for something you didn't do. 

I feel the same about generative AI. If you just made a prompt that say, "make me a 85,000 word story about a woman coming home to find that her house blew up while she was gone and trying to figure out what happened" and you just take what the machine trained without permission on other people's work is draining our water supply to make and publish it? Then, nope. You didn't write a book. Not even if you revise what the AI gives you. 

There are all kinds of variations of course. People talk about using it for brainstorming, but claiming to write the actual book themselves. But, it's still profiting on the unethical theft of the work of others to train the machine you're talking to. And you know what? You can run a Samantha on a lot less water than ChatGPT. 

You can't think outside the box if you only ask questions from inside the box, either--EVERYTHING AI provides is by the nature of LLM (large language model), derivative pastiche. It's why there are copyright issues surrounding "work" "created" this way. 

So, yeah. However whether it's AI or using a ghostwriter, own up to what you're doing. Stand by your decisions if you believe in them, and take the praise and flack coming your way (most decisions come with both). 

If you don't believe in your decisions, then there's your problem, Bub. Your conscience was trying to tell you something. 

***** 

Sorry that got rantier than usual. Guess this one hit a nerve on a day when I only had one left. If you're interested in reading more about how I'm actually doing things, I've got a free series over on Substack about my journey into indie publishing, including why I've made the decisions I have and what everything is costing me. Check it out!

Archetypes? Or just my types?

 (Reminder: this site is now ONLY my blog. If you're looking for my book links or contact options, events, or any other aspects of my writer life, please visit http://dangerouswhenbored.com )

 

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy, ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek behind the curtain of a writing life.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the August 5 posting of the IWSG are Kate Larkinsdale, SE White, JS Pailly, Olga Godim, and Natalie Aguirre!  

September 2 question - Do you have a favorite character archetype you tend to gravitate toward in your writing?

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 Happy 15th Birthday, IWSG! 

So far as I can tell, I joined this party for the first time in 2014…so I haven't quite done the whole 15, but 12 years isn't too shabby. I'll be that tween trying to hang out with the teenagers at my big sister's party. 

 Seriously though, this community has meant a lot to me and has encouraged a habit of reflection about my writing life that has kept me going when the going has been rough. I appreciate y'all!

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So far as today's question…I don't consciously think about archetypes when I'm writing. My focus is smaller than that--on the individual character in front of me and trying to understand her. But when I look over my body of work, there are types of characters I return to again and again: 

HEROES! I finished my Menopausal Superheroes series in 2025, and it's now 5 novels, two novellas, a collection of shorts. And I've tried to explore a variety of paths to and definitions of heroism: reluctant heroes, antiheroes, true-blue heroes, unsung heroes. The series also has a lot to say about motherhood and caregiving, love, partnership, friendship, and aging. And despite all those heavy themes, it's my most optimistic and sunny work. You can check it out here: https://dangerouswhenbored.com/series/menopausal-superheroes

 

 

On the other hand, I'm also drawn to VILLAINS, and the darkness within all of us. I explore this in my short horror fiction, which you can find in nearly 30 anthologies as well as in my Stories From Shadow Hill collection. (HINT: if you buy these through my Bookshop affiliate, I get a little extra from the sale)

 

And then, because two genres isn't enough for me, I also love, well, LOVE! So, archetype-wise, I guess that's the LOVER in all their myriad forms: lovelorn, pining, confident, demanding, fragile, jealous, caring. My GenX romances (centering people in their 50s finding love) run the gamut!

 

 

 So, are these archetypes? Maybe…but either way, they're just my types :-)

 

 

 

 

 

IWSG: Regrets, I've Had a Few

 (Reminder: this site is now ONLY my blog. If you're looking for my book links or contact options, events, or any other aspects of my writer life, please visit http://dangerouswhenbored.com )

 

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy, ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek behind the curtain of a writing life.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the August 5 posting of the IWSG are Shannon Lawrence, Diedre Knight, Liza, and Pat Garcia! 

August 5 question - As a writer/author what is something you regret? Or something that you wish you'd done differently in your writing process?

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You know, all you can do at any time is make the best decision you can based on what you know at the time. And, mostly, I've done that.  

I'm not someone who ever gets described as "spontaneous" or "impulsive." If anything, I've probably lost opportunities because I thought too long about it and the moment had passed. 

I also don't see a lot of point in wallowing in regret. Whatever mistakes I made, I already made them. I can try and learn from them and make a better decision next time, but beating myself up now doesn't help. 

Except, that these kinds of reflections MIGHT help someone else. So, here's a short list of things I'd kick younger Samantha about if I could: 

1. "Genre" fiction is not lesser than "literary" fiction. In fact, it's often better. You don't have to stuff your imagination into that corset just because your college professors bought into that particular snobbery. Write what you love, young Samantha!

2. Demand space and time for your creative work. Just because something isn't making you any money (yet) doesn't mean its not worthwhile. Tell your first husband to stuff it, young Samantha (maybe a few years earlier than you actually did). 

3. Don't waste your time listening to people whose advice isn't helping. In the end, it's your work. Not all feedback is created equal, even that which comes from people who are older or more experienced than you. Don't be so polite to people who aren't there with a heart to help, young Samantha. 

But here on the north side of 50? I like where I am and feel hopeful about where I'm going. The mistakes were part of my learning process…and the new mistakes I make will teach me, too. 

Like the redhead said:  

 

IWSG: If I were Queen

 (Reminder: this site is now ONLY my blog. If you're looking for my book links or contact options, events, or any other aspects of my writer life, please visit http://dangerouswhenbored.com )

 

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy, ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek behind the curtain of a writing life.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.  The awesome co-hosts for the July 1 posting of the IWSG are Rebecca Douglass, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Cathrina Constantine, and Jacqui Murray!

July 1 question - Is there anything you'd like to see changed, added, and/or rearranged about the book publishing industry?

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Hmmm…I guess this is one of those "If I were Queen" kinds of questions, where suddenly I have the power to make sweeping changes. The problem is that I don't want to be queen because I don't know if I know how to fix things. What if I made it worse? 

But if I was going to try, I'd take on the giant (silly little guy with a slingshot that I am): Amazon. 

(leave now if you don't want to hear my anti-big-business rant). 

Indie authors RELY on Amazon. When they first came out with Kindle in 2007, it revolutionized the publishing industry, opening up new pathways to publishing and putting real distribution power in the hands of penny ante folks like me. Without the Kindle revolution, most of us wouldn't be able to get our work into the hands of readers. 

But as often happens as businesses grow and become more powerful (I'm looking at you Google)…it's gotten worse and worse (see: enshittification). 

image source

Amazon killed other bookstore chains (remember Borders?) and made it harder for indie bookstores to keep afloat. What had been a pretty sweet deal for authors got sourer and sourer and every year, with new restrictions and re-stacking the deck to make sure the house always wins. KU page read rates keep going down, making it less and less worth it to participate from the author-side. 

Amazon needs our products, but it doesn't treat as partners. To them, we're another avenue to exploit. So, the very thing that once opened up the world to us has shut down other options. And along the way they stopped being a bookstore and became an AI-driven cesspool full of inferior knock-off products that aren't what you thought you were ordering. 

Have you tried even just FINDING something there lately? Since they switched to AI-driven search, it's like asking your 90 year old aunt with dementia where she left her book. Last time I tried to look up one of my books, I had to type in the title, my first and last name, and change the search drop down to "book" and it still offered me three products that weren't my book above the actual search result. One of them wasn't a book at all. 

(and I feel like puking because I know about data centers and water use and what the environmental impact of all this AI is. I've got enough guilt leftover from my AquaNet days, thanks). 

Selling there is like sailing among pirates in an unarmed rowboat. 

So, when I released my first indie work earlier this year, I knew I didn't want to be beholden to Amazon, even though I knew I'd also need to have my work available there. My work is published widely, so that if any one avenue shuts down, there are always others. 

• Bookshop! My affiliate link pays me an extra commission if you buy from there 
• Curios: a new-to-me platform for direct sales
• Bibliobean Books: an indie bookstore (woman-owned) I consign my romance work with 
• Books2Read aggregators: On my website, I link to as many of the places my books are available as possible, trying to be anywhere readers might look for me.  

Amazon, of course, punishes me for this, making it harder to find my work on their site, making it more difficult to change my prices and run specials, and paying me a smaller cut because I won't give them the whole pie. Good thing this isn't how I pay my mortgage.

And it's hard to get readers to do something less convenient like buying direct from me, downloading from Bookfunnel and transferring a file to their favorite reader. 

Amazon did a really great job making shoppers reliant on them, and now they're pressing that advantage. *ssholes.

So, my current policy is to have my work available there, but funnel people away from them whenever I can, and do my own shopping elsewhere whenever possible, even if I have to pay a little more for it. (The Kobo reader is my favorite right now, and their KU equivalent doesn't require that writers give up the right to sell elsewhere, too).  

So, yeah. This is one Amazon I'd like to raze to the ground. I'll stick to the actual river, jungle, and Wonder Woman. They're all better Amazons.  

 

Ideas Stalk Me

(Reminder: this site is now ONLY my blog. If you're looking for my book links or contact options, events, or any other aspects of my writer life, please visit http://dangerouswhenbored.com )

 

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy, ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek behind the curtain of a writing life.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.  The awesome co-hosts for the June 3 posting of the IWSG are Victoria Marie Lees, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and C. Lee McKenzie!

June 3 question - Do most of your story ideas come from one place (the news, dreams, etc.) or do they hit from all over the place?

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Story ideas seem to stalk me. They're EVERYWHERE. Some of them just open up like trap doors and I fall in. Others snatch at my ankles and trip me up when I'm trying to go to the grocery store. A few are responses to things I've seen or read or heard.  The weirder ones just sort of drift in like a cloud and rain on me for a moment. Every idea I have calls up her cousins and invites them to the party, too. Sooooo many ideas. 

image source

 The difficulty for me has never been coming up with ideas, but more in the choosing one and staying focused on it long enough to see it to fruition. I think that's part of why it took me so long to "get serious" about my writing life and start finishing things and ushering them down the whole road into publication. 

These days, I'm getting better at assessing quickly which ideas are "good" in the sense of having enough meat on their bones to make a whole story out of and which ones are more like a shower thought that might make a semi-clever social media post. The ones that are going to make it into short stories or books are persistent. They poke me more than once. That's part of how I know. 

How about you?  

A to Z: Going Indie: Z is for Zag

 Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

 

I always intended to be a writer. My definition of what that means has shifted many times across my life so far. 

As a child, I was pretty sure writers were some kind of zany hermits. The kind of people that Raold Dahl might've made up. They somehow still had money to live in interesting places and just create, though.  

Coming up in academia, I really thought there was one right way to do it, and that involved traditional publishing through established routes, winning awards and building acclaim, and writing literary achievement kinds of things that would earn me gold stars from my teachers. 

Looking back now, that seems kind of silly. Literary fiction is only ONE of the kinds of things I read (I'm a omnnivore when it comes to books)…and if you read a lot of it, there's a sameness to it after a while that gets boring. And the stuff that is innovative is often smug, pretentious, and precious about it. Where's the fun? Where's the joy? Where's the creativity? 

So, each of these zags in my path led me to where I am now, a hybrid author (traditionally and indie published) who writes in several different genres, living her best life and having a great time. 

Thanks for coming on this A to Z ride with me. I hope you found something interesting, entertaining, or educational in all these posts and I wish you the best of luck as you zig and zag on your path to whatever it is that you want most.  

A to Z: Going Indie: Y is for YOLO!

 Welcome to Blogging A to Z! My theme this year is Going Indie. I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs. 

 If you read my post yesterday, you already know that I just turned 55. This isn't me complaining. It's a privilege to have made it this far and I'm hopeful of having many more years yet to enjoy. But, it also means that I've crossed a sort of meridian in my life and there's for sure fewer years left than I have already lived. 

So, it's time to DO IT. Whatever it is that you've been wanting to do and haven't done. For me: that's making a go of self-publishing, taking my writing life firmly into my hands and making all the decisions, accepting all the blame and any glory that might come from it. To BE A WRITER. 

Lucy had the right of it: