M.G. Mason's Blog, page 12

Are there Any Ethical Uses of Artificial Intelligence in the Creative Industry?

Few pieces of technology has divided people so severely in recent years as artificial intelligence.

Introducing New Covers for Salmonweird! Plus Cover Reveal for Book Three!

I self-published the first Salmonweird in September 2019. A Salmonweird Sleighing came in summer 2021. By now you’ve no doubt seen the old covers. They were pretty basic and I was pleased when the Sleighing cover was described by several reviewers as “gorgeous”.

However, those covers were always going to be temporary.

I always wanted to replace them when I had the budget.

And now I have.

And so I’ve replaced them.

I’ve already released them on social media but not everyone who...

This Scene from Dead Heat Began Life as a Dream

Dead Heat was my first attempt at writing a novella. Even though my style has changed, I was (and remain) pleased with the outcome.

You may not know that it was inspired by a dream I had about myself and two friends on a zombie run that – yes, you guessed it – ends up in the middle of a real zombie outbreak.

Specifically, this (spoiler free) scene.

The trio stopped when Mike shouted.

Just beyond the brush in the middle of a clearing was the apparent dead body of a runner, a hole...

How to Get the Best Out of Any Social Media Platform

2023 saw several new social media contenders following Musk's Twitter takeover.

The Power of Words: Not / Coming Out

In 2022, a series of events made me realise that I'm no straight.

Why I Gave One Important Character in Phobetor’s Children a Sex Change

Livia Saturnia, the only woman in the group of six main characters, started the book as a male character named Tiberius Tadius Saturninus. A scene in the marketplace at the beginning of the book where Joseph is shopping for slaves to train to fight originally featured both men while in the final cut, it featured just Joseph.

He wasn’t working as a man and so I decided to make a decision I’d made just once before – I decided to turn him into a woman and change his status from freedman ...

Rule Number One of Freelancing: Get it in Writing

Protect yourself and avoid mix ups or clients blaming you for their mistakes by getting everything in writing

Salmonweird and Phobetor’s Children Merchandise at Red Bubble

After closing my previous Red Bubble shop earlier this year, I had a pang of regret. True – I had only sold one mug sporting a sunset image. Scaling back on the photography products was a good idea – abandoning the idea of selling printed products at all was not.

And so last week I launched a brand new shop!

I won’t be selling photographic products anymore (well, never say never) as it was not profitable and there are far better landscape photographers out there in a genre th...

Why I Write on Medium *and* Keep a Blog Here

Medium is a great platform to write about whatever we like. I now have a page there.

There is No Magic Formula for Going Viral

Those who claim to guarantee huge visibility are lying to you.