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Well done Terrie. A truly ghastly tale.

What fabulous entries, all of them fantastical, brilliant and captivating. Halloween has prompted very good stories.

@jillsted – here was an enticing mystery with a comic touch. Told with great pacing and a strong atmosphere of folk tale, it hooked me from start to finish.

@purplewitch (Terrie) – what wonderful creepiness. I loved the rich lan…[Read more]

A reminder for anyone who, like me, forget this month’s competition deadline is tonight: the October monthly comp deadline is midnight tonight! You might have a suitable WIP hiding away somewhere…

The Estate Agent’s Appointment

I arrived at the house in pouring rain. The light was fading on a day that was already dark with cloud. I didn’t want to go in. I wanted to get in my car, drive home, shower, and settle down with a Scotch and whatever delicious microwave meal was next in the fridge. I had no choice. This old house wasn’t going to…[Read more]

This the result of apending 5 days writing with a gathering of Self-Edit participants.

Games people play

Monday morning’s plumping of the pillows of our marital bed effortful, thanks to both sleep and sex absent as snow in August throughout the weekend. Similarly,  energy enough to dissipate the sourness of my reaction when I noticed  the wor…[Read more]

Thanks, Ath. Yes, I was thinking that writers might collect some AI produced fiction and do something with its tropes, sort of like Pop Art did. I’m vague about this. Am looking for reasons for optimism!

Incidentally, Sandra’s comment is still there but she replied to the update on the activity page rather than directly to the thread

I think you’re right.

Of course, AI writing is effectively a sampling of other authors’ work, albeit with some sophisticated algorithms that hide the truth away. An author may say that they are using AI to produce something original, but AI simply won’t work with just small samples such as from one author. It needs a “large language model” as…[Read more]

Hi Sandra, I saw your comment about self-pub authors but it has disappeared from the thread. As you say, it’s harder to see how authors could guarantee their own writing. I expect someone will think of something to address this, or try to address it.

I also think some readers will seek out AI novels because AI writing will be reliable. It will…[Read more]

Some great stories have already come in. We’re half way through the month – plenty of time for more entries.

A reminder of the details:

It’s October and I’m going for the obvious: Halloween. Or All Saints’ Eve or Hallowmas Eve or whatever you prefer. It doesn’t have to be ghostly, though if you can give us all the shivers that would be fun.

M…[Read more]