I might hit the next well-meaning almost-stranger that might say "You just need to Put Yourself Out There(if, indeed, plugging something into a Submission Portal even counts as that, which, meh.) What's gonna change, though? I mean, I do honestly think this is my best work, and that I get better every year or so, but, like, not night-and-day or anything. And I'm still getting older without that Master's or some grant to hang at Yaddo and Phoenix is still that spot where everyone says "I changed planes there once."(Maybe I really *am* here to make ABs feel better, in which case I have a *few* jobs I don't rule at.)

I'm disappointed about this one, but never making it into the literary review of my college after they gave me so little seriously chaps me. Also, not being fucked-up enough for, count-em ten, "Marginalized Crip Issues"{talk about being flooded with submissions, though.) But, really? It's like not being weird enough for the sideshow.

Writing is such a painful process so much of the time. Or maybe I should say getting published is the painful thing. There are waaaay too many writers and far too few outlets for it. I'm sorry you're discouraged, erika. Maybe you could write about that, though! How hard it can be to find the right places to submit pieces, and then try a writer's site.

I don't know. You might hate that idea! Just a thought.

It would be easier if the rest of my life didn't feel like that, too. But there is, literally, NO place in my life where I can say "Well, my big dream isn't coming true, but this part is pretty fab."Which counts against anyone wanting my thoughts on rejection, either, probably. ETA: But at least, I could be the one person not trying to pretend there's a bunch to be learned from "It's not you, it's me."(Whose idea was all that happy talk, anyway? If it ever used to help, it isn't anymore. Is there really... IDK, the literary version of Sue Heck out there, racing back to her desk because a computer wished her luck in all her writing endeavors? I don't know whether I'd want to smack her or be her, if there was one.) How would you know when your dream is really dead? Because, on the one hand, I know that "making a way out of no way" is tough--again, a minor pause from that lesson, somewhere in my life? Wouldn't hate it-- and you might have to dig deep sometimes.But am I kidding myself?

I tried... don't think anyone would pay, but maybe I feel a little better. [link]

Authors Are Accidentally Leaving AI Prompts In their Novels

Fans reading through the romance novel Darkhollow Academy: Year 2 got a nasty surprise last week in chapter 3. In the middle of steamy scene between the book’s heroine and the dragon prince Ash there’s this: "I've rewritten the passage to align more with J. Bree's style, which features more tension, gritty undertones, and raw emotional subtext beneath the supernatural elements:"

It appeared as if author, Lena McDonald, had used an AI to help write the book, asked it to imitate the style of another author, and left behind evidence they’d done so in the final work.

Wow! That is both hysterical and disturbing.

So weird to say "used an AI to help write the book" when the "author" seems to have barely edited the output

ew. as if. Don't want to ruin another writer, but I kind of hope they're, you know, done now. But, maybe not, even though the thought that "Nothing matters" is, in itself, a fearful cliche at this point. And, not to rehash a painful topic, but it still supremely grosses me out that NaNo used ableism/ disability access as a justification for all that. Even as I might appreciate more help with researching or formatting, some of the non-creative bits that still take a fair number of keystrokes I might wish I had one day.

also, so far, I don't like the way it writes yet. I don't care how many newsmagazine reporters lose their shit that a robot knows who Raymond Carver is. (I agree that we could get to a point where the ethical/metaphysical issues become more intense but to me...maybe we're getting a look at what's in the monkeys-with-typewriters' wastebaskets.) It's just, sort of off. Like a fake phishing e-mail from the bank that almost has you going, but then, mis-spells your name or is all crooked. It's not like I'm some kerning expert, but they get to a point where I think "No bank would send things that look like this."