Icon by Peg Kerr Ihinger
It’s open mike day again! Chat amongst yourselves, brag, complain, nag, ask questions, whatever.
June Open Mike!
Icon by Peg Kerr Ihinger
It’s open mike day again! Chat amongst yourselves, brag, complain, nag, ask questions, whatever.
I used to have over a thousand entries in my blog – essays, short fiction, novel excerpts, poetry. But I found a couple of years ago I was getting scraped regularly. (I.e., someone coming in a grabbing all the content.) I’ve since removed almost everything from the blog, partly because of the scraping.
I always wondered if it was pure piracy, or the next “best” thing, AIs using my content without permission.
So I recently asked a friend if she used any of the popular AIs, and she said she used ChatGPT to help her with menus and shopping lists. I asked her if she’d do a query for me, and she did. This is how it came out:
* * *
“ Certainly! Here’s a piece inspired by Kevin Wade Johnson’s writing style and themes:
Title: “Echoes of the Forgotten”
In the dim glow of the old library, the scent of aged paper filled the air. Detective Clara Hayes sat at a weathered oak desk, her fingers tracing the edges of a faded photograph. It was of a young girl, no older than ten, standing beside a dilapidated house. The image was haunting, not because of its age, but because Clara had seen that house before.
Years ago, during her early days on the force, she had investigated a series of disappearances in the small town of Eldridge. Each case had led to a dead end, and the trail had gone cold. But this photograph, tucked away in a box of forgotten evidence, had reignited a spark of hope.
Clara’s mind raced as she pieced together the fragments of her past investigation. The house in the photograph matched the descriptions from the old case files. The girl, though, was a mystery. No record of her existed. No family, no friends, no one to claim her.
Determined to uncover the truth, Clara returned to Eldridge. The town had changed little over the years—same cobblestone streets, same shuttered storefronts. But the memories were still fresh, and the townsfolk were wary.
She visited the local diner, hoping to find someone who remembered the girl. The waitress, a woman named June, eyed Clara with suspicion.
“You’re not from around here,” June remarked, wiping down the counter.
Clara nodded. “I used to work here, years ago. I’m looking into an old case.”
June’s expression softened. “You were the one who left, weren’t you? The one who couldn’t handle the truth.”
Clara’s heart sank. She had left Eldridge after the case had unraveled, unable to cope with the unanswered questions. But now, she had returned, seeking closure.
“Tell me about the girl,” Clara urged.
June hesitated before speaking. “Her name was Emily. She was a dreamer, always lost in her own world. Her family… they were never the same after she disappeared.”
Clara’s pulse quickened. Emily. The name matched a note found in the old case files. But what had happened to her?
As Clara delved deeper into the town’s history, she uncovered a web of secrets and lies. Eldridge had its share of dark corners, and Emily’s disappearance was just the tip of the iceberg.
The more Clara uncovered, the more she realized that some truths were better left buried. But she couldn’t stop. She had to know what had happened to Emily, even if it meant confronting the darkness that had haunted Eldridge for decades.
In the end, Clara discovered that the past was never truly gone. It lingered, waiting to be uncovered, waiting to be remembered.
This piece reflects Kevin Wade Johnson’s focus on deep character development, intricate plotting, and the exploration of themes such as memory, identity, and the impact of the past on the present. If you’d like a different genre or tone, feel free to let me know!“
* * *
Gosh. It makes me feel so important, that I’m a significant enough author to be worth taking my stuff and rendering weak, imitation crap “inspired by” my “style and themes.” Gee whiz. What a compliment. Golly.
Maybe you’re in line for such a “compliment” too. But I hope not.
I’m off to 4th Street on Friday. Can’t wait!
Well, various works are in progress, I may be able to publish again before the summer is out, but for now, I will just give the location where all of my long works are listed — and the short ones in their collection.
https://writingandreflections.substack.com/p/shameless
I’ve launched a rolling rewrite of my novel in progress, and have been poking at various short story ideas. Including that one about the monster slayer who gets crowned king when he really wants to become a small-town accountant.
I should love to read that one!
Entirely to my own amazement, earlier today I committed my first professional submission in longer than I care to think. It was a piece of flash fiction sparked – topically enough – by some of my own gut-grumblings about AI slop. I had a sudden attack of “If this goes on…” and decided the result was good enough to want putting out.
Condolences to Kevin on his tribulations!
Woot! Go you on submitting!
Narrativity is in two weeks. My life revolves around convention prep.
https://www.narrativity.fun/
What I really want to be working on is my author website, which is 99% ready to go live. Maybe by the next open mike!