First, the bad news. I’ve pushed back the release of Ghosts Cry to July 30. It’s a Thursday. I’ve given up trying to avoid launching during a crisis, and that’s all I’m saying about this disruptive political year. (Other than to bemoan, again, how hard it is to attract new readers to a series set in a parliament house when everyone is increasingly allergic to politicians, who famously infest…ahem…serve with honor and dedication in parliament houses. Sigh).
Second, the idea of reading journeys that I mentioned a few weeks ago is definitely something I want to do. They would make a nice Christmas present: books to read before reading a particular book of mine; books to read after. It’ll be a challenging project, but hopefully fun.
Thirdly, I’ve been thinking about the value of fiction in what I can only consider “interesting times” (a la the ancient curse “may you live in interesting times”). I haven’t come up with anything worth writing a whole post about—yet. But I did want to mention two ideas I’m musing on.
- Open a book. Open a door. Going out of yourself and your world to discover your truth in fiction. In a world that can feel very oppressive, fiction is a safe space in which to be vulnerable and to explore.
- Speculative fiction in an age of derivative or scripted AI creations faces new challenges. AI can predict trends, cobble together plots (tropes and target audiences/niche subgenres), and hit the market with a full advertising package. I imagine this will happen more and more, and be done not only by AI enthusiasts, but by independent authors and by traditional publishing houses. I fear it will degrade and devalue the reading experience, and it is vital that authors write books with heart (sharing themselves, respecting others, discerning meaning, and communicating hope) and that readers continue searching for such books and sharing them with other readers.
Comments
8 responses to “Delays and Doorways”
I saw the delay in release on Amazon, and was concerned for you. I hope you are ok.
Reading is such an escape for me. I have a job that deals with many of the nasties that humans do to each other and my reading is almost entirely SF, fantasy, etc. I do not want gritty reality, I want worlds apart and where people try to behave well and grow.
One of the effects of reading speculative fiction is that sometimes I feel we have fallen into a wholly unrealistic plot scenario where venal stupid people have power, where greed over-rides science, and where a dishonest morally bankrupt (and fiscally shaky) reality TV star is elected to a high position. What an unrealistic plot device! When do I wake up?
The sense of uncertainty pervading our lives these past years makes me hunker down with authors I trust, and do some good solid re-reads. Comfort reading. I’m all for it!
AI is a menace. And it irritates me that it is called AI, in comparison to what SF thinks of as AI – actual thinking machines.
Like you, I keep looking at reality and thinking things/people can’t be this bad – but they are! And then I escape into fiction.
The recent irony was that I set back my release date for Ghosts Cry so as to get a few things done, then I tripped, bashed my knee spectacularly and I’m on crutches with everything in chaos. 2026 is quite the year!
There’s a deluge of AI-schlock in the Romance field already. I started working on a research paper in March, but things move so fast that I can’t keep up with it. Also since March, it’s moved into the mystery field. I belong to a “genealogical crime” FB group that’s discussing whether AI-produced books should be mentioned. One author in that specialized sub-field has put up ten ebooks for Kindle since March; that’s far from the fastest rate of production I’ve seen.
I have compiled a list of several “tells” that frequently come through. A limited list of given names and surnames from book to book (shared in Romance by many authors), a lack of continuity (names change randomly from one book to another of a connected series; sometimes they live in a penthouse, sometimes in a detached house; sometimes in the city, then in the suburbs without ever having moved), difficulty in keeping track of time (four years pass but the children are only a year older), and a tendency to repeat — not just sentences and paragraphs, but sometimes three slightly different versions of a chapter in a row.
It’s the disrespect for readers from AI abusers (who call themselves authors) that bottom line worries me. All the things you list will turn readers away from places like KU (absolutely flooded with AI dross) and then people like us lose the means to keep publishing since readers will look to small curated lists of books, and how do we break into them?
I’d love to see your research paper if you get a chance to finish it.
I was looking forward to your book and I am quite disappointed with the delay. It also makes me want to forget about the book altogether, which is harsh, I know. And you delayed it because you thought people would be more inclined to buy a book about politicians if you released it in July instead of June? I don’t understand that thought process. Your books are lovely fantasy which I don’t think anyone would confuse with real life politicians.
Sorry. I phrased the post badly. Originally, I had a long pre-order for Ghosts Cry, and I thought I could bring its release date forward to a quiet news week. Instead, life derailed my plans and I’ve ended up delaying the long time between book releases even further. I understand how frustrating that is and why you’ll pick up a different book instead. I am sorry. 2026 has just not been my year.
I was sorry to see the date pushed forward. I find your books to be warm and compassionate escapes from the unpleasantness of reality life and am now looking forward to July 30.
I’m glad you’re enjoying my books. I’ve tried so hard, especially the last couple of years, to make them a safe space. Thank you.
Unfortunately, I’m probably going to disappoint you in a few days. I’ve been stuck on crutches longer than I anticipated and it’s had a domino effect on everything else – when the everything else was already overwhelming. I’m currently thinking how to manage Ghosts Cry and 2027. Stay tuned! Maybe I’ll produce a miracle 😇