In today’s Journal
* A Day Late
* And a Dollar Short
* Good Comments
* Women’s History Month
* A Little More on AI
* Of Interest
A Day Late
I was surprised to learn the 1st of March is St. David’s Day, though that matters mostly in Wales. However, since I live just outside a tiny town called St. David, I thought I’d mention it, albeit a day late.
The “small but mighty nation” of Wales celebrated the Welsh saint’s day yesterday. From Updraft Plus—a company that designs WordPress plugins and many of whose employees live it Wales—yesterday was a “day for daffodils, dragons, delicious Welsh cakes, and a chorus of ‘Hen Wlad fy Nhadau.'” So for anyone out there who can read it, “Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus, everybody!”
And a Dollar Short
Yesterday’s first annual Tombstone Book Fair was a financial bust. Very few would-be buyers stopped in. (Well, it was on a Wednesday, duh).
When the day was over, I’d sold one book, given away three, and paid $25 for the privelege. (grin) I did meet Phil Mills, Jr., the current president of Western Writers of America. Yes, I’ll be following up with him.
I also got to visit with a long-time friend and fellow writer and meet a few interesting people I’d never met before, some readers, some writers. That alone was worth the price of admission.
I was also interviewed for a podcast called Voices of the West. Great fun. I’ve emailed them to ask when and where the podcast will go “live.” Naturally, I’ll pass that information along as soon as I know for those of you who want to hear my twangy voice.
Of course, there are still a few instructional DVDs left (see https://hestanbrough.com/the-daily-journal-archives-gifts-dvds/).
Also, I’ve updated my Patronage & Donations page. Now my audio lectures are available both outright at low cost and to patrons at every level. See https://hestanbrough.com/patronage-and-donations/ for details.
Good Comments
A lot of good comments on “Some More Thoughts on Ernest Hemingway.” Somehow my posts on Hemingway always seem to stir comments. You can read them at https://hestanbrough.com/some-more-thoughts-on-ernest-hemingway/#comments.
Women’s History Month
See “March 2023 theme for Women’s History Month is ‘Celebrating Women Who Tell Stories'” at https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/everything-need-know-womens-history-month. So to all of you out there who tell stories, thank you. (And to you guys, thank you too.)
A Little More on AI
You’ll remember that I’ll be including this statement in the front or back matter of every story of any length I publish from this point forward:
This fiction is a Creation, the result of a partnership between a human writer and the character(s) he accessed with his creative subconscious. This is in no part the block-by-block, artificial construction of any sort of AI or of any conscious, critical, human mind. What you read here is what actually happened there.
Now, “The 13,000-member Authors Guild in New York City–the United States’ leading writer-advocacy organization–has today (March 1) issued an update to its model trade book contract and literary translation model contract with a new clause that prohibits publishers from using or sublicensing books under contract to train ‘artificial intelligence’ technologies.”
Very interesting. To see the new clause for yourself, visit “‘AI’ at Bologna: The Hair-Raising Topic of 2023” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/ai-at-bologna-the-hair-raising-topic-of-2023/:
I think I’ll create a similar but less-wordy statement of my own for my stories too, banning anyone in the future (so basically my heirs) from allowing the use of any of my fictions to train AI technologies. Something to think about.
I hope you’ll spend some time in the “Of Interest” section today. It holds links to some really intriguing articles.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “The Dark Risk of Large Language Models” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/the-dark-risk-of-large-language-models/. Story ideas abound.
See “Why rockets don’t crash into airplanes” at https://interestingengineering.com/video/this-is-why-rockets-dont-crash-into-airplanes. Story ideas abound.
See “February 2023 Notes ” at https://franktheodat.substack.com/p/february-2023-notes. A new flash fiction market, among many other things.
See “The Art of Being Interviewed” at https://killzoneblog.com/2023/03/the-art-of-being-interviewed.html. Timely. (grin)
See “Connotation vs. Denotation: Definitions, Examples, and the Difference” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/connotation-vs-denotation-definitions-examples-and-the-difference/.
See “Dictionary.com adds 313 new words” at https://www.dictionary.com/e/new-dictionary-words-winter-2023/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 670 words
Writing of Wes Crowley: Deputy US Marshal 2 (WCG9SF4)
Day 1…… 3231 words. Total words to date…… 3231
Day 2…… 2990 words. Total words to date…… 6221
Day 3…… 1805 words. Total words to date…… 8026
Day 4…… 2025 words. Total words to date…… 10051
Total fiction words for March……… XXXX
Total fiction words for 2023………… 52824
Total nonfiction words for March… 670
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 42000
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 94824
Calendar Year 2023 Novels to Date…………………… 1
Calendar Year 2023 Novellas to Date……………… 0
Calendar Year 2023 Short Stories to Date… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 72
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 217
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31
Disclaimer: Because It Makes Sense, I preach trusting your characters to tell the story that they, not you, are living. Duh. See My Best Advice for Fiction Writers at https://hestanbrough.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/My-Best-Advice-for-Fiction-Writers.pdf.