Hey, Mark! You still writing? What you been up to? Well, like to hear it, hear it go!

Urban Fantasy writing

Been a while since I gave a writing update because, well, haven’t really been writing. General funk brought on by the general funk the world’s in. Hard to hold on to the handbasket wearing riding into hell.

But as all artists say, the show must go on, and I’m long overdue.

Gonna do a soft relaunch of the first book of the Shadowdance action urban fantasy saga this fall. More of a do-over, since sales on Two Sisters are low to non-existent, and reviews are even lower.

(Feel free to follow that link and hook a brutha up with some review love.)

If nobody knows about the book, I can sneak it back in like it’s brand spanking new. Maybe add some frills to heighten anticipation. Wonder if I can do one of those foil covers from nineties comic books.

At the same time, I’m reworking my older book, By Virtue Fall, as the second in the “Assassin’s Absolution” trilogy.

I have a whole new opening that’s gonna tie it in to Two Sisters, broaden an existing element from the original work, and drop a whole bunch of foreshadowing for the next trilogy, “Illusion of Love.”

The AI elephant in the room – Night Cafe and ChatGPT

Full disclosure: I’m also playing around with AI via Night Cafe and ChatGPT.

I’m using Night Cafe to create concept art of the characters. It’s a long tradition that started with gathering pictures of actors and models as the characters, which led to photo-manipulated stock photos (and the occasional live model), to the latest tech.

When it comes time to do artwork that will be for sale (covers), I’m finding a human artist. Sure, the concept art will serve as a basis for creativity, but I wanna put money in a human’s pocket.

It may be anti-capitalist to some and foolish to businesspeople looking to keep costs low and profits high, but I wanna honor the artists while we still have them.

Writing with AI – ChatGPT

As for ChatGPT, a work buddy of mine turned me on to it. I’ve used it for writing prompts for fanfiction. Working on some premo ideas for Elektra, and another story for a run-in between Batman, Wolverine, and X-23.

I’ve seen other authors using ChatGPT for everything from editing to outlining to actually writing the story.

That last one I WILL NOT do. ChatGPT will not write the story for me. No sir.

I tend to provide pretty in-depth prompts on the characters, worldbuilding, overall plot, and themes. I don’t have a problem with ChatGPT then breaking that down into a loose four-act structure with a few writing prompts.

But I will take it from there. I don’t want a damned robot taking over all our writing jobs. We humans have to do something!

As for editing and outlining, the rough breakdown from the AI is interesting but needs a bunch of work. That’s my outlining. Editing requires a human to really get the nuance of character and theme. I have Grammarly (basically a dumb AI) to do the copy edit as I write.

Other writing projects – fanfiction

I’m finishing up another Conan fanfiction featuring the ladies I used in my “Red Pit” adventure. Once again, I’m conceiving it using the old Modiphius 2d20 Conan tabletop role-playing game system.

I hope to finish the game in June, so I can start writing and posting in July and August.

I also have some “ripped from the headlines” adventures for Iron Man, Black Widow, and Silver Sable. They’ll be fun little sidebars while I work on the two Shadowdance books.

Using the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing game for those adventures.

And now, back to writing

I admit I’m not the most consistent writer.

George R. R. Martin can be lazy and not finish his story after umpteen years because he’s already established his brand. I have to get more consistent so the gods will notice me again.

But thanks to finally figuring out how to deal with the real world without it crushing my soul, I think I can get into a few months of writing stint. At least get the trilogy under control, especially since I’m so jazzed about the next one.

Very epic, yet very personal at the same time, “Illusion of Love” will be.

So yeah, back to the grind. If you don’t see stuff from me in the next few weeks, send me a DM on Instagram and kick me in the butt.

In the meantime, help a brutha by spreading the word about the fanfiction, the original fiction, and the never-ending struggle to use new tech without losing one’s soul.

And go watch Andor and The Handmaid’s Tale as training manuals for dealing with the world. While you’re at it, check out Two Sisters as well.

— Mark out.