Josh’s Comments (group member since Jun 17, 2010)

Josh’s comments from the Q&A with Josh Lanyon group.

1 - Gardening with the kidlings. Heck they're in their twenties now, but they will always be kidlings to me.

2 - Friday evenings. The SO and I have started to turn Fridays into our pizza-and-a-movie night. Although a lot of the movies have actually been binge watching shows like the third season of Only Murders in the Building.

3 - The creative exercise of "rewriting" scenes from the POV of the NON-pov character. It's really interesting--and surprisingly fun.

4 - Running water. We currently have a slab leak -- well, it's more than that, a pipe burst in the kitchen -- so no running water while we wait for it to be repaired. Going on for a week now after the first plumber ghosted us.

5 - Civilized discussion on controversial topics. You only get points for staying rational about the tough emotional issues, not the things everyone already agrees on.

Antonella wrote: "Other topics got normal again, maybe the situation will get better also here...

Anyway I'm happy to announce that today I used my bicycle for the first time after three weeks. My doctor said I cou..."

Oh that's terrific! You'll be hitting the town again in no time. ;-D

Antonella wrote: "I had read a post by K.J. Charles, who found *seven* of her books in the database quoted by the Atlantic.

She was pissed - rightly so - and she says: if you use ChatGPT and simil..."

Yes, I believe I have about seven books in the database.

A lot of the hysteria regarding AI seems to come from people who haven't actually explored these programs and don't fully understand how they work.

AI writing is nor good. In fact, it's GHASTLY. Now, if you are yourself a ghastly writer, I suppose it does pose an immediate threat. Frankly, if you're expecting to push a button and have software write your books, I can't help thinking you deserve to lose your place at the table.

You'll notice I didn't say YOU deserve to be threatened because the witch hunt mentality that surrounds much of the discussion of AI is absolutely repugnant. Threats against other writers if they dare to even use AI as a creative tool for brainstorming or whatever.

Also stupid, since this is happening. We ALL use different kinds of AI NOW. IN EVERY ASPECT OF OUR LIVES. In ways we don't even realize or recognize. And moving forward, we will use it more and more. Like it or not.

I don't understand wanting to be a writer if you don't want to write.

What is that about?

Even so, this is not "plagiarising" in any currently recognized legal sense. The software does not regurgitate or even remix what has already been written.

In theory, it has trained on style and themes and plots of what has gone before, and then it tries (very badly) to create its own version.

This is why most of the legal challenges have so far failed--and why the current lawsuits against Openai are expected to fail.

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/...

Melissa wrote: "I'm currently re-watching Supernatural. That Jensen Ackles is sure nice to look at, lol.

I finished watching The Vampire Diaries, the Originals, and Legacies, and I've been watching a lot of stuff..."

John Mulaney's latest special is one of the funniest things I ever watched.

Jordan wrote: "Josh, this is what happens when you don’t keep on top of things! 😁😅😂"

I did wonder guiltily if I had just broken the group. :-D

1 - Working with my dad on his--well, at this point, our--Storyworth project. :-D This has turned out to be a lot more time-consuming than I hoped or wanted, but it's also bittersweet and special sharing this with him.

2 - My aforementioned Etsy store

3 - Reuniting with old friends. Reuniting with "new" friends. Or maybe just FRIENDS.

4 - Tackling things you've been dreading. Stalling just makes everything worse. It's just a relief to deal with stuff. Even stuff that is going to cost a fortune, like the leak in the slab beneath the kitchen floor.

5 - Autumn afternoon swims

Jordan wrote: "NICE!"

It's an entertaining hobby at this point. I have so much fun making the designs.

Melissa wrote: "Just a quick update on what I'm doing - I'm looking for a professional photographer to have like a really cool photoshoot done with me in all kinds of different outfits. I've always wanted to have ..."

Oh how fun! Good for you!

Marge wrote: "Josh wrote: "The SO has been trying to persaude me to watch Slow Horses for years now, and last night I finally thought, why not? We watched five episodes straight, and I hated to have to stop and ..."

It's well-acted, well-written, and very entertaining. I think the SO may have reviewed the book as well, but he really, really enjoyed it--so much so that he wanted to sit through it all over again with me.

Jordan wrote: "SamSpayedPI wrote: "Byron wrote: "Does anyone else have occasional dreams about Josh's characters? "

I had a dream that was such a fantastic idea for a murder mystery that I immediately scribbled ..."

This is so true. Give five authors the exact same story idea and you will eventually have five very different books!

Jordan wrote: "And let’s be honest. In reality, there are only so many places you can hide a dead body anyway. They’re all been done before. You’d have to go very much out of your way to find a place that’s uniqu..."

Although I will say watching true crime docs has expanded my understanding of where a body could be stashed. MORE THAN I EVER WANTED TO KNOW.

SamSpayedPI wrote: "Byron wrote: "Does anyone else have occasional dreams about Josh's characters? "

I had a dream that was such a fantastic idea for a murder mystery that I immediately scribbled it down as soon as I..."

:-D That's an oldie but always a goodie!

Well, I checked into this thread for another update, but actually everything is pretty much in a holding pattern.

I ended up not going to Bouchercon because the afternoon before we were supposed to leave, we discovered a huge leak due to a broken regulator valve. It meant the water had to be turned off completely, and since the kidlings couldn't stay without running water, I ended up volunteering to stay home with the dogs while the SO went to the conference on his own.

Which was pretty disappointing. But once the water was fixed, the kids and my sisters took turns staying with me, so we had some fun sleepover times.

It's still warm enough to swim, the garden is still lovely, I'm working on writing codas for the Secrets and Scrabble series from Jack's POV for Patreon, the Etsy shop is growing, we had my childhood bestie and her boyfriend over for a seafood extravaganza one night, and did a Barbie watchparty with my old college roommates, and I'm slowly but surely putting together the Storyworth book for my Dad.

The Storyworth project is a lot more challenging than I anticipated. My father has answered a ton of questions with single sentences that sound like he's responding to an unwanted phone call from a radio quiz host. I just don't get it. HE'S A WRITER.

A writer who does not want to talk about his own feelings, I guess.

Melissa wrote: "Antonella wrote: "This afternoon I suddenly had 11528 new posts to read in the topic ''Let's Chat''.
And this evening also 3497 in ''Ebook freebies and special offers''.
It is spreading...

Does ..."

That just happened to me. I suddenly have thousands of messages in several threads. I know I've been away for a bit, but...

Jordan wrote: "Ha! I love it!

But no, I don’t know an entertainment lawyer… i don’t even know an entertaining one."

*snort*

Byron wrote: "Josh wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Antonella wrote: "Thank you, Jordan and Ije. Although lately it almost feels like I'm occupying too much space if I share you what I do, because not many people write s..."

I would almost prefer that diet to my dad's because at least your mom is getting pleasure from what she eats!

Karen wrote: "Hugs to Josh and Jordan hoping things get better for you, and everyone here!

I haven't posted much personal news lately either, so here's a wee bit. :)

After spending most of the year traveling a..."

Karen, how is your foot mending?

Karen wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I watched Red, White, and Royal Blue on Thursday, 8PM EST. I was sooooooo excited when I found out I could watch on the 10th and not the 11th. :)

If you haven't seen the movie, and..."

IF ONLY THERE WAS A MURDER IN IT.

The SO has been trying to persaude me to watch Slow Horses for years now, and last night I finally thought, why not? We watched five episodes straight, and I hated to have to stop and go to bed. :-D It's excellent. HIGHLY recommended.