A COLLABORATION OF WRITERS

Last year, the Adventures in Writing Club, in which I am a member, decided it would be fun to write a cozy mystery novel. The members, five writers--two poets, Annette Larkin, John Stickney; two historical fiction writers Sandra Warren, E.Jax Willoughby; and a sci-fi writer, James Salkeld; gathered to do what some thought impossible. Yes, that's correct. All five were attempting to write a novel. 

Everyone else seemed to think that a collaboration of this type would be challenging, but not one of the writers voiced any doubts. It's safe to say, however, a collaboration of this kind could only happen with respect, something these writers had in spades. They respected each other's imagination, creativity and writing skills. And, even though not everyone had publishing credits, no one writer had more control than the other. 

From week to week, the writers, now known as the Lake Norman Writers Guild, developed interesting characters, created a setting ripe for mischief, produced a crime with many suspects and dropped a few red herrings. 

Inspired by the community in which they all live, the writers gleaned and tweaked their experiences to form a tapestry of guilt and intrigue that you could, but hopefully won't, find in any active adult community. 

The result: Auras of Deceit: A Trivolity Cozy Mystery! 

This cozy mystery marries a lighthearted look at life in an active adult community with daring and intrigue when a "game of murder" goes horribly wrong. 

Auras of Deceit debuted shortly before the Christmas holidays and is available at Amazon in paperback and Kindle ebook. 

Curl up with your favorite drink and Auras of Deceit for a delicious, funny-fun read! 

The Lake Norman Writers Guild is available for Book Talks and Presentations locally near Charlotte, NC or via Zoom. Recommend it to your Book Club and receive one FREE Autographed Copy and a FREE Zoom meeting with one or all of the writers. 

Contact: Sandra Warren                     www.sandrawarren.com 

TO AI OR NOT TO AI: THAT IS THE QUESTION?

 To AI or not to AI? That is the question I, like other writers, are facing. When my work-in-progress is finished, I want to be able to honestly say that artificial intelligence was not used to create the story. That is a question some publishers are asking with submissions. 

So what's a writer to do? 

It's tempting to allow the latest AI version to partially or completely do the work. But if you do, the finished product isn't really yours, is it? I think not. Others may argue that although AI will never be able to compete with the creativity and emotionalism needed in a good story, it can come pretty darn close.  

Personally, I'm against using AI to create a story, but I can see value in using AI to analyze the final product, as long as you take what is written with a grain of salt. Recently, while involved with a collaboration of writers creating a cozy mystery novel, one of the writers plugged the final manuscript into AI for an analysis. What came back was an amazing look at story arc, character development with percentages of time each character appeared in the story, plot development, chapter strengths and weak spots, etc. In short, I'd never seen a critique so thorough yet specific. It gave enough information to allow us to make some changes and beef up parts we felt needed it. It helped us look at the manuscript from a different lense. 

AI can also be helpful to research clothing or setting or products for a period piece. For example, What kinds of things might you find in a 1950's grocery store? Or what would a gravel pit look like? Or what kind of equipment would a blacksmith use? Or what kinds of jobs and equipment are needed to build a skyscraper? Anything you might need to make your characters, your setting, your story more authentic. 

I think it's safe to say artificial intelligence can be used by you in the same way you'd use any other resource. 

Condensing a complete manuscript into a synopsis is another way AI might be of help. It's always a challenge to write a synopsis, especially if only one paragraph is requested.  AI could give you ideas for a long and a short one. 

Any good submission letter includes or should include recent work comparable to your submission. AI might be able to help with that, too. 

It goes without saying that any help received should be put in your own words. 

How do you feel about AI? Are you using it? I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

************                                                                                                                                              Recommend one of Sandra's books for your next Book Club read and receive one FREE autographed copy and a FREE Zoom talk!                                                                            

www.sandrawarren.com    or   www.arliebooks.com 

http://sandrawarrenwrites.blogspot.com

http://twitter.com/SandraWarrenNC

https://www.instagram.com/sandrawarren_author/   

https://www.facebook.com/SWarren.Author    

New Year! New Goal!

 If you've been one of my faithful followers, you know that I've not been consistent in blogging over the years. In this NEW YEAR, 2026, my goal is to share more of what I'm up to on a regular basis. But, since January is already half over and I'm just getting started, I've already earned a C-minus or worse! I vow to be better! 

To be perfectly honest, I've always struggled with what to share. In my mind, posts needed to be meaningful, and to me, meaningful mean't something that teaches or inspires; something that will resonate with you, my readers and encourage you to make a comment, share with your social media friends or talk about it to others. Just writing this make me see my thinking is over-the-top. What others think about what I write is not my responsibility. What I write might be meaningful to some but it's impossible to inspire everyone. And to think I can is not realistic. 

So, scratch the meaningful idea. I'm just going to post whatever I'm mentally processing at the moment. 

If you have ideas or information you'd like me to write about, please share them them in a comment section. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR and Thanks for following me!