Mike Carss

Fair enough. 😄 Thanks for hearing me out.

I appreciate all the genres an author can set for their story, but choosing them is very awkward (on step 3 in the "Edit Story" page). It's a long list to scroll through in a small window, compared to the tags window (on step 4 page) which lists everything clearly with checkmarks. If the genre selection could be viewed the same way, that'd be helpful. As an aside, I think the Manage Story cogwheel button has a lot of options that don't need to be there. My recommendation: keep "Edit Story", "Add Prologue", "Add Chapter", "Add Discussion Topic", and remove everything else from the list. All those other options should be accessed via the "Edit Story" pages. Having multiple ways to do the same thing only adds to the messiness of the UI. (Perhaps the "Unpublish Story" could be moved to the step 1 page.)

Thanks! I recently completed the outline for part three, and work on the first draft began early this week. My aim is to start posting chapters either late November or early December.

Ads will appear when stories are rated Everyone or Teen. Mature-rated stories don't have ads. As to why they're appearing, disappearing, and then re-appearing, I'm going to assume it's just a glitch.

For me, it's the time required to set up the landing page for each novel and post individual chapters, and my catalogue only consists of three novels and two novellas. What about those who have literally dozens of works? 😓

I'm sorry to say that once Sam and Graeme leave the village, it'll be the last time we hear about the grizzled soldier. I think learning his past would ruin the intrigue, and really, while we don't know the details, it's safe to say Sam's assumptions are correct. Mr Kent surely witnessed and/or was a part of some terrible brutality during his service, and he'd rather leave it behind.

Thanks. More recently I've been using Stable Diffusion for my cover art. I've updated my story pages accordingly.

In my experience, when I used ChatGPT or Claude to review for grammar errors, it's never pointed out technically incorrect character speech as a problem. It understands the distinction, sometimes pointing it out but then saying it fits their style of speaking. Your professor was indeed correct, but word processor spell/grammar checks don't compare to using AI for review. I've also used NotebookLM to review entire manuscripts for plot holes or inconsistencies. As an example, early in a story there was a mention of a turnip farmer. Five chapters later, I'd mistakenly written beet farmer. I was blown away that it caught such a tiny mistake, missed by myself and a beta reader. That said, it's far from perfect. A number of "plot holes" it found were misunderstandings in the nuance of my writing. For example, it took a character's comment as fact, when it was just a friendly compliment. I know using AI in creative arts is a hotly debated topic. There are those who've embraced it, others who've outright vilified it. I'm in the middle. I see it simply as a tool. Sure, there are people out there using AI to write for them. I'm a musician and there's plenty of "AI artists" out there. I just shrug my shoulders. I feel like the people creating entirely with AI are missing the point of creating in the first place. Creating art shouldn't be easy. It should take time. That's the pleasure of it. I don't mean to derail the conversion. Circling back to @CarlAccolla's concern about doubt in their work, I can absolutely relate. But what I've found is using AI as a sounding board has raised my confidence in my work because it catches errors I'm often blind to. If you're curious to dabble, I recommend Claude over ChatGPT. I've found ChatGPT to be less helpful and miss errors that Claude found.

That's the ultimate goal in the overall story I want to tell. ♥️

Yes, that would be the right course of action. Hopefully he'll tell him before Graeme inadvertently finds out on his own. But, knowing how I generally write, I doubt Sam will make the right choice.

In the third part, we'll witness an outburst from Graeme that will shine a light on his own trauma (it was hinted at early in the first part), and we'll finally learn how he sustained those terrible burns.

The afternoon bustled with relentless activity. After departing the inn, Sam and Graeme retrieved Winx and Tusk from the stables in the rear. Given the horses had been sheltered there since their arrival days earlier, both were eager to get moving again. The watchmen escorted them to the safety of Blakenhall Keep, accompanied by the three scoundrels in custody. Duncan received them enthusiastically, confessing their investigation had proved more helpful than he’d dared hope. That was despit

Haha! I thought the same thing while writing it. FWIW, the guard is trustworthy.

Graeme’s gaze swept the streets for hidden threats while marshalling Sam east toward the town market. The effects of the gryphon ash in Sam’s system twisted his instincts into knots of contradiction, making it difficult to understand Graeme’s wariness. “Shouldn’t we be okay?” Sam asked. “We made it out.” “We are still very much at risk, Sam. A guard escaped. Doubtless that woman is aware we’ve managed to free ourselves. There’s no telling how many men she has in her employ. They know o

A hush swept through the cramped room, every eye drawn to Rafe. Camilla’s expression sharpened in indignation as she glared at him, then pointed to Sam. “You know him?” The big man held the silence. His eyes darted uneasily at the guards, but now, none would return his gaze. “Wait!” she cried. “Is this the guy from last night?” “Yes, madame,” he managed to choke out. She gestured wildly at Sam and Graeme as she continued to berate Rafe. “All this is your damned fault. So