It's not like I've never read aloud before. But it's a little different reading a story to my son and reading a story to my backers.
Some professional narrators act out the parts, but I'm not a SAG/AFTRA member. And I know my acting abilities suck. But I do enjoy reading to kids, and that's how I'm looking at this project.
I'm a little nervous because I don't like the sound of my own voice. But then, I don' think anyone does. But I do like the story. I hope the backers like it, too.
However, we did watch Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves on streaming. It was a rather adorable gender-bender of tropes. Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez were absolutely cute as best friends. We also plowed through the second seasons of Picard and Ted Lasso.
My crimping tool and crimp tubes arrived over the weekend. While Tacky Glue on knots works well, it's not as an attractive finish for beaded bookmarks. I'll be working on those for an hour or two every day until I can get my arts room cleaned out and arranged to my liking. I say "arts" because there's Barbie face painting and hair rerooting in addition to the sewing and beadwork. Plus the stickers I plan to design will be a wacky mix of Dia de Los Muertos and Barbenheimer.
Yes, I already bought the t-shirt above. It's available at TeeFury.com
Why am I going to all this trouble? I need something to do besides writing and crocheting during movies and TV at home in order to keep my mind active and my fingers nimble. I want to be as crochety and active as FIL and the dad of DH's best friend when I hit 90.
We finished the first season of Picard last night, and we started Ted Lasso last night. Do I wish we started these before now? Yes. Do I regret waiting? No.
I don't think I would have enjoyed these shows in the middle of the pandemic. I needed comfort viewing for the emotional support. While Star Trek: The Next Generation is a favorite, I would have lost it over Picard's bittersweet ending of its first season. At the opposite end of the spectrum, I would have had trouble connecting with the characters of Ted Lasso. Not with all the fury and agony swirling around me.
What does this have with the publishing industry?
Readers are the same. They may not be in the right mood to read your stories. I know if I'm feeling down I pull out my copies of Stephanie Bond's novels. When I'm feeling nostalgic, it's my boatload of Star Trek tie-ins, my comics collection, or the Oz series. If I'm super-stressed, then it's romances.
Not everyone is going to love my stories. But more likely they haven't had time to read them yet. And I say that as someone who has roughly 3,000 books. And those aren't counting comics or GK's children's books I'd like to read to my grandchildren if I ever have them.
Otherwise, I may create a new position: rent-a-grandmother.
As I'm working on the bookmarks, I realized the series and the sugar skull bookmarks would make a perfect #Witchstarter campaign! This will now be my second Kickstarter campaign!
It's gong to be short and sweet. Two weeks. $100 goal. Only the Millersburg Magick Mysteries ebooks and paperbacks and the Dia de los Muertos bookmarks for the main rewards. Maybe some stickers for the first stretch goal.
I'll post here and on the www.suzanharden.com website at the end of September before the campaign goes live.
Note 1: All Hallow's Read was started back in 2010 by Neil Gaiman as a book-giving holiday for us non-Icelanders. Iceland has Jolabokaflod, which makes me want to move there!
Note 2: Witchstarter is the name given to October Kickstarter campaigns with a magickal theme.
The issue is fairly simple. Anything "created" by AI is not copyrightable. Last week, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell upheld the March determination by the U.S. Copyright Office that a piece of art created was not copyrightable.
This isn't a surprise to me or anyone who paid any attention to Naruto v. Slater, No. 16-15469 (9th Cir. 2018), i.e. the notorious Monkey Selfie case. When the liberal 9th Court of Appeals leans into such a conservative opinion, it's highly unlikely, they, much less any other court will change its collective mind.
The basis of copyright law is to protect the rights of humans who create. Not animals, not computers, not anything that doesn't have some kind of human intervention.
This is the reason I've avoided AI for both writing, book covers, and miscellaneous swag. I've paid extended licensing fees to humans for the use of their art for my covers and swag. I've also had a couple of long talks to my cover designers/artists about whether or not they use AI. I had a feeling it was only a matter of time before the judicial system came down against the copyright of such an AI use.
It doesn't mean con artists aren't already using AI to rip off people. And the publishing industry is already up in arms. Hell, so is Hollywood. The big studios were planning on using AI to screw over writer and actors. Hence, the ongoing strikes of the SAG/AFTRA and WGA. This case is a major blow to the corporate plans.
But in the long run, the decision is a boon for all artists, no matter our medium. If we put the work in, we deserve the copyright and the money that comes from our work.
