I was born in 1984, and for most of my life, stories with black and white morality—in other words, stories about the struggle between good and evil, with good guys who are good and bad buys who are bad—have been considered unfashionable and out of style. This is especially true of fantasy, where grimdark has… Continue reading In Defense of Black & White Morality
Category: Uncategorized
Short-form vs. long-form fantasy
For the last month, I’ve been doing a lot of research into the fantasy genre, rereading all of the original Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E. Howard and a bunch of the other ones too, by authors like L. Sprague De Camp, Lin Carter, Bjorn Nyberg, Robert Jordan, etc. I’ve also been reading a… Continue reading Short-form vs. long-form fantasy
Would you read an AI-written novel?
That is the question, more or less, that I posed in subject header of my last email newsletter. The goal was to be a bit provocative, of course, but I did genuinely want to hear from my subscribers on this topic, and in the author’s note I shared a lot more of my thoughts on… Continue reading Would you read an AI-written novel?
ChatGPT owns the transgender movement with facts and logic!
So I was having a conversation with ChatGPT about how (in the context of a fictional novel) a superintelligence could domesticate humans and/or keep them in a sort of controlled enclosure or zoo. ChatGPT decided that the optimum tech level within this artificial human habitat would be the early modern tech level, before the industrial… Continue reading ChatGPT owns the transgender movement with facts and logic!
A hot take for Carl
One of the members of my writing group recently posted on Facebook that for his birthday, he wants his friends to share their most controversial and/or hilarious “hot takes.” Here’s mine: SFWA (The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writer’s Association, or whatever the hell it is now) was founded by perverts and communists to purge the… Continue reading A hot take for Carl
Some early thoughts on AI-assisted writing
I remember the early days of indie publishing. Back in 2011, when self-publishing was still a dirty word (and Kindle Unlimited wasn’t yet a thing), there were a LOT of opinions about “indie vs. tradpub,” most of them heated opinions, and some of the arguments I witnessed at conventions like 2011 Worldcon Reno very nearly… Continue reading Some early thoughts on AI-assisted writing
Jordan Peterson defeats a dragon and saves a princess
Once upon a time, in a far-off kingdom, a ferocious dragon was wreaking havoc on the land. The people were living in constant fear, and no knight dared to face the beast. But then, a wise professor named Jordan Peterson arrived in the kingdom. He had studied the 12 Rules for Life and knew that… Continue reading Jordan Peterson defeats a dragon and saves a princess
Chat GPT Writes Fantasy in Various Authors’ Styles
Generic (no author style specified): Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a brave knight named Sir William. He was renowned throughout the kingdom for his valor, loyalty, and unwavering sense of justice. One day, a dreadful dragon named Gorthor, known to terrorize the kingdom, descended upon the land, spreading… Continue reading Chat GPT Writes Fantasy in Various Authors’ Styles
Happy Easter!
Great story! “A Thousand Echoes in One Voice” by Debora L. Davitt (Podcastle 778)
One of the things I’m going to start doing more of on this blog is recommend books and stories that I’ve enjoyed. I recently decided to start listening to all of the major SF&F short story podcasts again, and while they’re all batshit crazy woke, a good story will occasionally slip through. So I suppose… Continue reading Great story! “A Thousand Echoes in One Voice” by Debora L. Davitt (Podcastle 778)