In Today’s Journal
* This Just In
* The Bradbury Challenge Report
* Of Interest
This Just In
“Meta to develop an AI pendant—a clip-on Bluetooth microphone that records and interacts with users throughout the day—over the next year, according to reports (More)” from 1440 Daily Digest
Story ideas abound for science (fiction?) writers, legal thriller writers, et al. I mean, how can you read even just that quote and NOT get story ideas?
- “Records and interacts with users….” So it will also record those with whom users interact? Aren’t there privacy concerns? But aside from that…
- Will the device also report your activities, routines, and spoken interactions to a local, state, or federal government entity?
- Does this have potential court use for parolees?
- Will some who wear an apparently identical device be able to report—or even tasked with reporting—their neighbors to thought police?
- Will the device itself, unbeknownst to the wearer, be able to read and report the wearer’s thoughts?
- If I’d written this in June 2028 or ten or twenty years from now, would I be “disappeared” one night?
I personally suspect this bodes well for the next fully socialist government that comes to power in DC.
Of course, all clouds have a sarcasm-saturated silver lining: At least maybe young Americans will no longer be asked to spill blood battling oppressive socialist forces overseas on behalf of a population who blindly brings the same thing on themselves at home. Sigh.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t care either way about your personal politics. None of my business. I’m just sayin’, be careful what you ask for.
The Bradbury Challenge Report
Participating in any challenge is a great way to have fun and grow as a writer.
The requirement is to write at least one short story per week, then let me know the title, word count, and genre per the format below. During the past week, the following writers wrote these new stories:
- Balázs Jámbor “The dream that stucked in” 3500 Literary
- Vanessa V. Kilmer “Hunter’s Ball” 3285 Speculative
- Christopher Ridge “A Chainsaw Named Cupcake” 1525 horror
- Christopher Ridge “The Working Man’s Lie” 1664 horror
- Christopher Ridge “The Secret” 520 Dark Thriller
- Christopher Ridge “Whispers” 681 Dark Thriller
- Christopher Ridge “A Good Day at the Office” 1282 Dark Comedy
- Christopher Ridge “Television” 674 Horror
- Christopher Ridge “Stalker” 648 Dark Urban Crime
- Christopher Ridge “Windows” 726 Urban Crime
- KC Riggs “Rose Colored Glasses” 4485 Paranormal
- Dave Taylor “The Hunter ” 3012 Action/Adventure
- Glynn Young “The Surgeon” 3161 General
Congratulations to all of these writers.
Chris Ridge successfully completed his “Story a Day for May”
and he’s continuing into June.
Chris reports,
“I had a really great time with this and I learned a lot. I had no idea what I was going to write other than I just wanted to write stories as I would like them to unfold.
“With these, I practiced my settings. A character in a place with a problem and described the setting as the character saw it and the stories just followed right along. It was also the fastest I’ve ever written a story.
“I tried to get some other writers involved in this but they were too afraid to try. Writing like this eliminates all that fear. The biggest reason I heard was, ‘It’s too hard to come up with a story idea every day.’ Once I heard that I just stopped talking.”
I resemble that last remark.
If anybody wants to join Chris in this challenge, hitch up your britches and get with it. Let me know and I’ll connect you.
Of Interest