Posts Tagged ‘social media’

Review: “Incarnate” by Alma Katsu

Posted: October 27, 2026 in Review, Scary Stuff
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Social media. Avatars. Influencers. AI. It’s everywhere these days, and although some of it does add something good to the world, most of it just makes things worse. (Especially influencers and AI). With that in mind, it’s no surprise that horror stories about them have started coming out. And one of those stories is the novel we are here to talk about today. What’s more, this novel is brought to you by Alma Katsu, who is a retired government intelligence and technology expert. So, you know she knows what she’s talking about.

Incarnate follows Dorothy, a talented computer programmer and VFX artist who has been hampered all her life by the knowledge that she isn’t one of the pretty and popular girls. While working for an up-and-coming VFX company in LA, she decides to create an avatar that is everything she isn’t: Isabella. Beautiful, charismatic, and almost impossible to tell that she is made entirely from pixels. When Dorothy starts posting pictures and videos of Isabella to social media, someone approaches her online and offers to make Isabella the biggest thing on social media. And from there, things take on a terrifying life of their own.

To put it mildly, this is a relatable novel. We’ve all seen before how things happen on the internet and take on a life of their own. One little mistake or decision, and suddenly a phenomenon occurs, with everyone and their cousin having an opinion and insisting the rest of the world heed it, no matter what. Things spiral out of control, and in the end, entire lives can be irrevocably changed. And I’ve noticed that with Alma Katsu’s horror stories, she focuses less on the fantastical or the monster, and more on how people react to the situations that happen to include the fantastical or the monster. So, between all that and her background, as well as meticulous research, it’s no wonder she wrote such a compelling story set in the world of social media, deepfakes, and internet culture.

I also found Dorothy to be a very relatable character. Despite the decisions she makes and the consequences of those decisions, I sympathize with her. She’s been wounded by the online world before, but she can’t leave it behind because that’s where her talents and passions lie. That’s something we can all understand to a degree. And her decision to create Isabella (who in my mind was portrayed by actress Aubrey Plaza) comes from a desire to create something meaningful and that will give her the attention she’s always wanted, rather than the attention she’s been given. For many creatives, that’s something we experience on a day-to-day basis.

I do have one complaint, and that’s that we only get so much information on whoever or whatever offered Dorothy the deal in the first place. And while I understand why we don’t see more of them (do we see all the factors that cause a viral trend or sensation at play IRL?), there’s clearly a mythology there I would have liked explored a bit more.

Nevertheless, Incarnate by Alma Katsu is a beautifully-written story with characters you can empathize with and a story that’s extremely relevant to us in the here and now. Plus, those last hundred pages or so really surprised me! On a scale of 1 to 5, I award this novel a well-deserved 4. Unplug from the Internet for a while, sit back with a copy, and dive right in. You won’t regret it.

Also, stay away from AI and random strangers whose identity you can’t verify offering to promote you or your work. Just saying.

I’m Still Alive

Posted: September 6, 2026 in Living and Life, Progress Report
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“I’m not dead yet,
I can dance and I can sing.
I am not dead yet, I can do the Highland fling.
I am not dead yet. No need to go to bed.
No need to call the doctor because I’m not yet dead.“

That, my Followers of Fear, is from the chorus of “Not Yet Dead,” one of the songs in the musical comedy Monty Python’s Spamalot. A show I would love to see someday, but as of yet, I have not had the opportunity to do so.

It is also a good opener to a post to let you all know that, yes, I am still alive. I know it might seem like I wasn’t, or maybe, God forbid, I have given up on this blog! After all, it’s been nearly a month since I last posted on here. But in reality, I’ve just been super busy lately. You know how it is: between the writing and the day job and everything else, I’ve just been a busy little demon.

Plus, as I mentioned back in February, I don’t want to post just to keep up with some demand or to make sure I stay visible. I want to post because there’s something worth posting about. Whether that be my thoughts on writing or horror, a review of a book I really think you should read, or I have an announcement that I want the world to know about.

Sadly, I don’t have any of those right now, but I did feel it was necessary to check in. And since I’m here, why don’t I give you some updates on how things are going with me? Ready? Okay!

  • The writing is going well. I’ve been making slow but steady progress on Crawler, the mummy novel I’ve been working on. It’s not as fast as I would hope, but it’s better than making no progress, which is what I was making for four years. And I will continue to work at it, while also finding a more permanent title for the story. (There’s a movie with a similar name coming out soon, and “Crawler” was never meant to be a permanent name, anyway.)
    I’ve also been working on and sending out other stories here and there, and I’m hoping to have news on some of them any day now. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even have a publisher for The Shape of Evil, my 3D Printer from Hell novel. You never know.
  • I got a pay raise at work. This is very good, as I’ve had to replace both my water tank and my washer and dryer this summer (and the latter was a saga of trying to find something that fit my tiny laundry room, let me tell you). But it also means that I’m able to save more, which means I get closer to writing full time. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: how does getting paid more at the day job lead to writing full time? Well, it means I can save a bit more after each paycheck (hopefully, anyway). And if that happens and I decide to leave that day job for writing someday, I’ll have more savings to rely on and I won’t have to go back to work in an office so quickly.
  • I’m planning some travel for the near future. It’s still early days, but I’m working on going on a trip or two not related to a convention or book event. It’s been some time since I did any sort of trip like that (remember, my last one was supposed to be Israel in winter 2024, but that got canceled due to the war), so I’m looking forward to it. However, a lot of details are still in the air, so I will wait to give you any specifics until I have some stuff nailed down. Until then, know that I’m looking forward to sharing plenty of photos with you.

Anyway, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I can guarantee it won’t be another month till you hear from me, but it might still be a while. In the meantime, you can keep up with me by following my social media accounts, which I will link to down below. Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 55 days till Halloween. Who’s already putting up their Halloween displays?

Bluesky
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“The Shadows That We Carry” is Now Available!!!

Posted: May 7, 2026 in Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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I don’t know if I’ve ever been more excited for an anthology to be out over the short story I have in it. It’s a weird feeling, but still amazing. An anthology I am extremely proud to be in. And it is now available.

So, in case you didn’t hear, The Shadows That We Carry is an anthology organized in memory of my friend and colleague MG Mason, better known as Matt. Matt was a British horror author who also organized a huge weekly meetup on Twitter (which later moved to BlueSky) called #HorrorWritersChat. For many, #HorrorWritersChat was not just a lot of fun–you know, talking about horror, writing habits, coming up with creepy microfiction–but a community. It still is. We’re still doing it, every Wednesday on BlueSky.

Sadly, Matt is no longer with us. He died of pancreatic cancer in November 2025. And he was such a cheerleader for his fellow horror writers. So when it was announced by one of the #HorrorWritersChat regulars that an anthology in his memory was in the works, I wrote something with the hope that I could be part of that noble effort.

As you can guess, I have a story in the anthology. “The Static Man” follows a college coed who is being stalked by an entity that resembles a man made a TV static. My beta reader Louise Conway, who is also in the anthology, told me she thought it was very creepy, so I’m very excited to hear what the rest of my Followers of Fear think.

Did I mention that proceeds from the anthology will go to charity? No? Well, proceeds from sales of The Shadows That We Carry are going to charity. Specifically, to the MacMillan Cancer Support fund, a UK cancer charity that seeks to aid all people in Britain affected by cancer. It was Matt’s favorite charity, and I’m glad I’m able to contribute to helping it, even if only a little.

Anyway, I hope you decide to check out the anthology. I’ll include links below. If you do and you read it, I hope you leave a review online so we know what you thought. Also, tell all your horror-loving friends and family. The more people who know, the better. And if you really like “The Static Man,” then please let me know. Your feedback makes me want to write more and better stories!

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope you enjoy the anthology when you get a copy (mine arrives this weekend). And until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Amazon UK
Amazon US
Ko-Fi

That Time I Was Accused of Using AI

Posted: April 22, 2026 in Living and Life, Reflections, Writing
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I’ve already written posts about this across my social media, but I know everyone doesn’t follow me on Facebook and whatnot. So, I’m writing this blog post to update you all. Plus, let’s face it, I can do the long-form thing a bit easier here than on Threads or BlueSky.

So, not too long ago, I posted an ad for Hannah and Other Stories on social media. And someone commented, basically saying, “Because of this and that, I think this cover is AI. I bet the stories inside are AI-generated as well.”

For reference, here’s the cover of Hannah and Other Stories.

Now, full disclosure: I did experiment with AI image and story generators when they first became available to the public. Not because I planned to use them for my career, but just to see what the big fuss was about and to see if they had any deficits. This blog has a few posts containing AI images, just to show how overrated and unhelpful AI-generated art is. However, I no longer try out those generators, not even to experiment. They cause too much damage to communities and environments and are usually trained on stolen works.

And I have never used AI to write stories or create images I use for my writing career. Especially not for Hannah and Other Stories! In fact, the stories themselves were written between 2016 and 2021, well before AI story generators were available to the public. And after I got the rights back to Hannah and decided to re-release it, I used GetCovers, a company that designs book covers for cheap, to achieve the vision for the new cover I had in mind.

I explained this all to the commenter, and they seemed to accept that. However, they told me that some authors have raised concerns about GetCovers using AI images as assets. I took it under advisement, but assured them that I didn’t think AI was used in the creation of the cover at all, and left it at that.

Okay, that’s not true. I spent the next twenty-four hours slightly anxious that people would latch onto that accusation, believe it, and things would snowball from there, leading to me being canceled.

Which sounds like a silly thing to worry about, except something similar happened to another horror author. For those of you who don’t know, horror author Mia Ballard self-published a novel called Shy Girl, and it became popular enough that it was picked up for a traditional publishing deal by Hachette Book Group. However, rumors started spreading that AI was used in writing the book. And there was apparently enough to the rumors that Hachette canceled the book’s new US release and stopped printing it in the UK. Ballard herself said that she didn’t use AI to write the book, but that she believes that an editor she used may have used AI instead of editing it themselves. Ballard is now pursuing legal action against the editor in question.

Now, I have not read Shy Girl, so I don’t know if the book reads like a computer wrote it. And while I would like to write a post just on the incident, I have already said enough on social media, so I won’t. However, it did spur me to cover my ass and make sure there wasn’t any AI in the cover GetCovers made for me. I got in contact with them and they sent me the assets they used for the cover.

Here’s the link to the horse asset.

And here’s the link for the background.

GetCovers also assured me that the assets were not made by AI and that all they did was use a common filter and other normal editing tricks with the cover. No AI involved.

That was good enough for me, and armed with the assets, I posted about it on social media. No surprise, everyone found that easy to believe. One friend/colleague even said he ran the cover through an AI detector to help back me up, and it showed as “no AI used.” And another friend/colleague mentioned that since AI programs learned by stealing other people’s work, it’s no wonder someone would think it was AI!

Honestly, I’m just glad that I wasn’t deceived and I’m not going to be canceled over a case of mistaken AI. And now that I’ve gotten through it, I’d like to say one thing: I will never use generative AI in my writing, and beyond what I’ve previously used in my posts to illustrate the failures of AI, I won’t use AI-generated imagery. I love the creative process. I love the sense of accomplishment I get when I finish a new story, and when, after lots of edits and searching, I find it a home. I love collaborating with editors and artists to get the story right and the covers attractive. And I especially love it when readers tell me they read my stories and enjoyed them or even were frightened by them!

Besides, I pride myself on telling weird horror stories with off-the-wall pitches and wild elements thrown in for fun. I doubt an AI program, which looks for recognizable patterns, would be able to reproduce those kinds of stories. Even if it were trained on all my published work! (And if anyone tries, I will consider it copyright infringement.)

So yeah. If you ever read a Rami Ungar story, you can be assured it’s 100% human created (or whatever the hell I am) and not from a computer program.

And that’s all for now. Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Writing, Loneliness, and the Community That Lifts Me Up

Posted: December 30, 2025 in Living and Life, Reflections, Writing
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Writing is a lonely occupation at times. If any of you write, you know this. We lock ourselves up in our rooms or offices and spend hours with our imaginations. Sometimes, we go hours or even days without direct interaction with another person. In fact, the loneliness can get so bad, there was a whole panel about it at StokerCon earlier this year. I believe one of the panelists on that panel started an online meetup group so members of the community can get regular interaction.

And that’s the thing: while writing is a lonely endeavor, there can be a lot of people around you who make writing a little less lonely. Not only that, but the help they can provide in your career can make all the difference!

As you might know, I’m working on a lot of projects right now. This includes an essay or paper on the intersection of ballet and horror (come on, you know my interests!). And I was hoping to submit it to a particular publication once I’d edited it. Unfortunately, after taking another look at the guidelines, I realized that I would have to cut about thirty-five hundred words to submit it there. Needless to say, that wasn’t happening.

Instead, I posted to my social media about the situation. And within an hour, I had responses from some of my writing friends for potential venues. One of them, I’ll try submitting to in spring (and I may only need to cut 500 words. Much more doable).

And as many of you remember, a writing friend of mine, Matt Mason, passed away a little over a month ago. Matt created a whole community online, Horror Writers Chat, and the following Wednesday, during our weekly meet up, we all got together and dedicated the meetup to his memory. Afterwards, one of the members, who owns his own press, announced he was doing a charity anthology in Matt’s memory, with the deadline to submit a story to it at 11:59 PM on New Year’s Eve (AKA tomorrow).

Naturally, I wanted to submit something. So, I wrote up something, and a fellow member of Horror Writers Chat was kind enough to read it and provide feedback. She got back to me within a day, and I sent in the story after going over it one more time and considering her feedback. She sent me a copy of her submission, and I’m going to read it ASAP. (Don’t worry, she’s already submitted her piece; I’m just going to read it.)

Having this community is so wonderful. Photo by Dio Hasbi Saniskoro on Pexels.com

Working with my fellow Horror Writers Chat participants for this anthology for Matt was kind of healing. But more than that, just meeting every Wednesday online and participating in Horror Writers Chat can be so healing. Even with Matt gone, it’s still going on. We’re still discussing horror and writing, and we’re still cheering each other on. It’s a warm feeling, and even though I’ve never met any of these people in person, I don’t feel alone when I’m with them.

If I don’t make it into the anthology, I won’t be sad (though I do hope I get in). Because I know these people are going to be there one way or the other, and that we’ll continue to discuss writing and horror far into the future.

And there are just so many other instances I want to mention, quite a few of them from this month! And it’s been wonderful. Because when it’s been tough to get the words out, or work’s been driving me crazy, or I just feel like I’m not making the progress I should be, everyone’s here. My fellow writers (some of whom are Followers of Fear as well). Helping me. Supporting me. Like a thousand hands, giving me hugs while carrying me forward.

And as we move forward into 2026 (and who knows what hell that comes with it), I’m going to need these hugs and hands carrying me forward. Pushing back against the loneliness of writing and helping me reach for my goals.

Happy New Year, everyone.

So, if you’re a Follower of Fear, a fellow writer, or both, thank you. You guys make working through my struggles, the dark grey winter, and everything else that much easier. And I hope I never forget the gratitude I feel for you all.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I’m heading to bed and tomorrow I’m going to enjoy New Year’s. I’ll see you all in 2026. Until then, good night and pleasant nightmares.

A Tribute to a Friend Who Passed Away

Posted: November 30, 2025 in Living and Life, Reflections
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A yahrtzeit candle. In my faith, they’re used to memorialize those who have passed on.

I lost a friend yesterday.

I first met MG Mason, known to his friends at Matt, on Twitter. He was running something called “Horror Writers Chat” there. On Wednesdays, horror authors would meet up on Matt’s account. Matt would then ask us a series of four or five questions over the course of an hour. These questions would be about horror, writing, our current WIPs, our favorite books or movies, and our thoughts on the craft. And at the end of it, we could post about our current publications and upcoming releases.

Obviously, it was a lot of fun, and I got quite into it. I even hosted it once. And when Twitter became a hellscape of toxic masculinity and far-right ideology, I moved over to BlueSky with Matt to continue with Horror Writers Chat. I wanted to continue enjoying Horror Writers Chat.

But more than that, I wanted to continue being part of this community. Through Horror Writers Chat, I was making so many new acquaintances and colleagues. So many new friends to talk about horror and writing with! Most of all, I was becoming friends with Matt, who I found a sort of mentor-like figure. Well, how could I not? He had basically created this community, and we were all thankful for it.

But he was more than just the Moses of our little community. He was demisexual and demiromantic, and openly talked about his struggles as someone who only feels attraction to people when he gets close to them. He also talked about his struggles with life and mental health, and about his home and living in England. As someone who is aromantic and also struggles with life and mental health on occasion, I could relate. And I enjoyed hearing about his life in England.

And of course, Matt was a horror writer. He found enjoyment and comfort in scary tales, as well as in writing them. So, obviously, we bonded over that.

The posts that let us know Matt had passed on.

Truly, Matt was a good man. He was friendly, easy to talk to, and willing to listen when you had a disagreement or misunderstanding with him. And as I said, he struggled with things, as do we all. But he had such a big heart.

He also read many of our books, including one or two of mine. When he listened to the audio book of The Pure World Comes, he honestly thought the narrator was Jenna Coleman, AKA Clara Oswald from Doctor Who! When I told Nikki Delgado, the actual narrator, that, she was flattered. And I was glad that he really enjoyed the book.

And, of course, I read his work. In fact, last month, I read his book Residents of the James Hotel, and I just bought one of his other works, The Small Bronze Carriage on the Mantelpiece, today. The former was really good, and I’m looking forward to reading the latter.

I’m talking about Matt today because he passed away this past week. A few months he revealed that he was battling cancer and that it looked to be terminal. We were all devastated to hear that, and we sent him our well-wishes, hoping he could get better. And while he didn’t respond to all of our messages, he did continue to interact online with us when he could. But yesterday, he passed away.

Honestly, I’m devastated. Matt became such a big part of many lives, and his creations, especially Horror Writers Chat, have had such an effect on people. In the past twenty-four hours, I’ve read so many posts from so many people who are mourning Matt. I’ve posted online too, but it doesn’t feel like enough. For the effect Matt has had on so many people, I feel so many more people should know his books and his story.

So, I’m writing this post. I wanted to let more people know about Matt, about his works and his effect on people. I’m hoping people will want to learn about him and his stories after reading it.

And so, if you’re looking to check out a great author, check out MG Mason’s work. I really enjoyed Residents of the James Hotel, and I’m sure to enjoy The Bronze Carriage on the Mantelpiece, but he has ten other stories available besides those. Plenty to choose from, if you ask me. I’ll include a link to Matt’s Amazon page below for those who are interested.

Thank you for reading this post. Losing author friends is never easy, but losing Matt hit me very hard, and I wanted to do something to memorialize him. And Matt, I hope wherever you are, you’re at peace. We’ll be keeping your memory alive through Horror Writers Chat and through reading your works. Thank you for everything you did for the horror writing community.

Matt’s Amazon Page

The Communities That Keep Me Going

Posted: March 30, 2025 in Living and Life, Reflections, Uncategorized
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Photo by Leah Newhouse on Pexels.com

You may have heard of BlueSky as an alternative to Twitter. What you may have not heard is that  there’s a weekly event on BlueSky for horror writers called “Horror Writers Chat.” It started on Twitter and then moved to BlueSky after Twitter became a hellscape. Every week, authors gather to discuss horror, writing and their work posed by Matt Mason and Eryn McConnell. We answer questions, and even get to share links to our works.

I’ve been doing it for quite some time, and it’s become one of the highlights of my week. In fact, some weeks, I really need it.

During the past couple of months, life has been extremely rough. Yeah, there have been reasons to smile, but there’s also been a ton of stuff that just wears down my soul. Work, for one thing, has been absolutely insane since January, to the point where I come home a lot of days very exhausted. And with all the time I need after work to get ready for the next day, as well as get some sleep, my writing time has been cut down drastically.

Which sucks, because writing is one of my ways of de-stressing, as well as how I move forward this career I’m so devoted to.

In addition, recently I was in an accident. Don’t worry, I’m fine, but my car was totaled by the other driver. Thankfully, the other driver’s insurance company agreed to pay all the costs, but this whole experience has been very stressful.

In Tarot, the Ten of Wands represents being overburdened and weary. Matches me some days in so many ways.

Add in all the horrible things happening on the national and world stage (*cough* fascist wave sweeping America *cough*), and it’s enough that even with frequent therapy sessions and all the usual de-stressing methods aren’t enough!

That’s why I’m thankful for all the communities I happen to be a part of. They’re a soothing balm upon my soul.

Obviously, there’s the horror writing communities on social media, that’s been helpful. But there’s also been the horror and horror writing friends and communities I’ve formed IRL. These past few months, I’ve had a few opportunities to see and hang out with my colleagues, which is always a treat. In fact, we’re getting together near the end of April, and I’m super excited about that, as it’s going to be a big meeting and we’ll get to play board games while discussing cannibalism together.

And it’s not just the socializing, either. It’s the professional help. As many of you know, I’m hoping to pitch my novel The Shape of Evil to agents at StokerCon this summer. I was recently discussing this with another member of HWA, and he gave me some critical advice to keep in mind if I hoped to pitch and find someone willing to represent me. One of those pieces was to research each person taking pitches thoroughly to see if they were a good fit for me.

A few weeks later, when the agents and editors taking pitches were announced, I did my research, and reached out to authors who had worked with them, as my friend advised me. Some of these authors have become good friends of mine, so I was able to get some amazing feedback from them and make my choices about whom to pitch to from there.

Community saves me, in more ways than one.

And it’s not just the horror communities that have been helping me. My Jewish community, my family and friends community, and even my work community. Yeah, as tough as work has been, I’m surrounded by a team of people who know what we’re going through and are willing to help me when I ask for it. Not to mention, if we deal with a difficult customer (that happens, sadly), my leadership don’t mind going to bat for us. And when my car got hit, my workmates were among the most concerned about me.

So, despite all the hardships, I’m really happy to have all these people around me in the same situation. We’ve already gotten together once for some much-needed R&R, and have plans for the near future as well.

And guess what? The Followers of Fear community is a wonderful community, too. While engagement and growth changes over time, many of you still take the time to read every post, and provide helpful comments as well. Some of you even read my books and provide reviews, and one or two even created fan art of my work, which was a big honor! In addition, many of you have become dear friends of mine.

All that keeps me going, and holds the doubts that threaten my writing career at bay like no wall can.

So yeah, life’s been hard lately, and therapy and anime and writing can only do so much. But then, there are the people around me who give me encouragement and listen when I vent, or who go to see shows and movies or to grab dinner and drinks with me, or the ones without whom I would not be where I am today. They give me a much needed boost when I need it.

With that in mind, thank you, Followers of Fear. As I said, life’s been a chaotic rollercoaster lately, but you being there makes it somewhat more manageable. So, never forget: I am endlessly grateful for you.

Also, if you would like to take part in “Horror Writers Chat” on BlueSky, make an account and follow Matt Mason (username @chaoticauthor.online) and Eryn McConnell (@erynmcconnell.bsky.social). They switch off hosting every other week, so following both is a good idea. The actual event happens every Wednesday at 2 PM EST, with four questions posted every twenty minutes or so. You quote-post your answers from the post with the original question, and like and repost the ones you like from other participants. And don’t forget to use the hashtag #HorrorWritersChat.

(You can also find BlueSky my account here.)

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Hope to see some of you on BlueSky. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

The Crazy “Die Hard” Viral Incident

Posted: December 14, 2024 in Living and Life
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So, it’s been a bit of a strange week for me. Most of it was work, where my workload somehow doubled this week and a bunch of other things occurred, but the thing that I want to talk about is about Die Hard. As many of you know, there’s a big debate over whether or not Die Hard counts as a Christmas movie. This humble Jew not only counts it as a Christmas movie, but as many of you know, has the tradition of getting takeout and watching the movie every Christmas Eve.

And earlier this week, I was at my chiropractor’s office getting an adjustment and was talking to the receptionist while I was paying my bill. Here’s a reproduction of the conversation:

Receptionist: “Are you doing anything for Christmas?”

Me: “Just getting Chinese food and watching Die Hard.”

Receptionist: “What’s that? Some new TV show?”

Me: “…”

Receptionist: “From the look on your face, this is something I should know about, isn’t it?”

And that was the conversation in a nutshell. And you can imagine how stunned I was. I can understand people having never seen the film (I used to be related to someone like that), but having never heard of it? And no, she wasn’t some youngster, this woman was old enough to be a few years behind my parents in high school! You’d think she would have heard of a major blockbuster that came out in 1988.

Anyway, I explained to her what the film was, and she said she’d consider checking it out (whether or not she does, I won’t know till next month). However, that’s not where the story ends. If it was, it would be amusing, but not enough to warrant a blog post.

No, what happened next was that I posted the conversation on my social media so other people could laugh at it, too. And Followers of Fear, over on Threads (Facebook’s answer to Twitter, if you didn’t know), it went viral! I kid you not, within twelve hours, I had tens of thousands of views on that post! Hundreds of people commenting every minute, talking about how old they were when they saw the movie, incidents where young and old alike were unfamiliar with something that was supposed to be common knowledge, and a hundred other things that, more and more, strayed away from the main topic at hand.

As of writing this, that post has over 189,000 views, 2,700 likes, 1,100 comments, and twelve reposts. And I’ve still no idea why it went viral like that. I mean, I know Die Hard and whether it’s a Christmas movie or not is big around this time of year, but holy shit! If any post about one of my books gets even a hundredth of that sort of attention, I would be in heaven!

So yeah, that happened. As did a post about the Disney Princesses duking it out to the death getting nearly 17,000 views (Mulan and Merida are the favorites to win if you force the magical ones not to use their powers), and over on BlueSky, the director of the movie Suitable Flesh saw my review of it (I found it unnecessarily horny), and was pretty much like, “Oh well, I thought it was horny enough, but to each their own. Thanks for watching.” With a GIF of Elmo shrugging. I was touched.

Like this, but with “OH WELL” over his belly.

And this is only part of what has been a weird, weird week. But this is the part that I’ve been dying to tell someone all week and which I’ve only been able to do now. Really, no deeper reason than that. Thanks for indulging me while I unloaded what’s been rolling around in my head this week.

Anyway, hope you’re all doing well as the year begins to wind down. I’m counting down the days till I’m off for two weeks and working on The Shape of Evil in the meantime (nearly halfway through the second draft). And in the meantime, if you’re looking for a good scary book for yourself or for someone else this holiday season, I’ll leave a link below. From plant/human hybrids and strange gods to Mafia-hunting serial killers and carnivorous horses, I have something for every horror fan, so be sure to check them out. They’ll make the holiday gatherings that much easier.

Rami Ungar’s Books

Also, if you would like to keep up with me on Threads, BlueSky, or any of my other social media platforms, I’ll include those as well. I post more often there than here, and it’s another way to support me, so please do check me out.

Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

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On the NaNoWriMo AI Controversy

Posted: September 3, 2024 in Reflections, Writing
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The NaNoWriMo logo

It’s a damn shame when something that’s supposed to be pro-writers turns out to be exactly the opposite.

Now, for those of you who don’t know, National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short, is both an annual event and a non-profit organization. The former takes place in November every year, during which participating authors try to write a fifty-thousand word novel in 30 days (that’s about 1,667 words per day if you’re curious). If you actually manage to write that many words, you get bragging rights and a printable certificate (it’s a self-challenge, so that should be enough. Besides, previous attempts at “prize packages” have not gone well). The non-profit of the same name runs the annual event, as well as connects writers in the same area and other services and programs.

Sounds great, right? And for a while, it was. In fact, I even participated while writing the first draft of my novel Snake, and hoped to do so again someday. However, the organization’s statement on AI writing, which I’ve included as a photo below, has now made that impossible.

So, to summarize, not only is NaNoWriMo going to allow people to use AI to write their novels for them, but they claim that people who condemn use of AI writing are classist and ableist.

Um, excuse me?

I’m going to quickly respond to that last part first, as it’s outrageous. It’s not classist to ask writers, who span the whole range of socioeconomic backgrounds, to write a novel themselves. You know, like they’ve been doing for hundreds of years? Besides, AI use isn’t restricted to any particular class, let alone those living in poverty. If it was, and writing the whole novel yourself was restricted to those above the poverty line, then it would be classist.

And ableist? I have disabilities! I’ve managed to publish five books and write many more stories despite that! And so have many other authors, such as Octavia Butler (dyslexia), Fyodor Dostoyevsky (epilepsy), Flannery O’Connor (Lupus), as well as many writers who I consider not just colleagues, but friends. If anything, saying a disabled person can’t write a novel without the use of AI is what’s ableist!

But let’s get back to the fact that NaNoWriMo is willing to accept AI writing. I’m going to let you in on a little secret: AI writing isn’t even writing! AI writing is a computer program studying hundreds or even thousands of pieces of work, often without the original authors’ permission or even knowledge, looking for patterns, and then putting out something that has patterns like the ones found in the works studied. The results are usually full of contradictions, unimaginative characters, little mystery (because how could a program grasp mystery or secret-keeping for later payoff), and a lack of love.

Because that’s what AI writing really is. A cold calculation by a computer program based on analysis of so-called patterns gleaned from stolen works, rather than a labor of love by an author who wanted to share their stories with people who enjoy similar stories.

And the people calling themselves writers who are using AI, like the guy on Threads who said I was jealous that he was going to reach fifty-thousand words in one day (he’s been blocked)? They’re not writing. At best, they’re checking the finished project to fix the algorithm’s mistake. Other than that, they’re probably playing video games or making sandwiches or otherwise finding other ways to not write!

And that’s the saddest thing about this. NaNoWriMo started out as a fun challenge, and the organization was meant to help authors reach their dreams. Both were to encourage authors to push themselves and see what they could do in a month’s time. In short, it was to encourage writing. For NaNoWriMo to embrace AI writing and enable this laziness, rather than supporting the writers who insist on genuine hard work and practice, is a slap in the face to real writers everywhere.

I’m not saying it all has to be handwritten, but it should actually be, you know, written!

So, what can you do, both as a writer and a reader? Well, I’ve heard some people say they want to form a new organization and event, but whether or not that leads to anything, we’ll have to see. In the meantime, the most popular reaction seems to be people are boycotting both the NaNoWriMo event and the non-profit. Personally, in addition to the boycott, I would encourage authors to continue writing one word at the time. You know, actual writing?*

I would also encourage you to support other authors, especially lesser known ones, who continue to put real effort into writing, and leaving reviews, as well as refusing to support the works of authors who use AI, or the organizations who support them. Together, we can work to ensure writing and storytelling isn’t corrupted by algorithms, piracy, and laziness.

*And it doesn’t need to be fifty-thousand words in a month. Great work takes time, so take all the time you need.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. If you would like to help this non-AI using writer, especially with spooky season just starting, I’ll include a button below to lead you to my catalog. From plant/human hybrids and strange gods to Mafia-hunting serial killers and carnivorous horses, I got something for every horror fan. And if you like what you read, please leave a review so I know what you thought.

And until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night, pleasant nightmares, and only 58 days till Halloween!

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Novelettes and Novellas Deserve More Love

Posted: February 10, 2024 in Novelette, Novella, Reflections, Writing
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I try to write short stories, but they rarely end up that short. They end up being novelettes and novellas.

Now, I know a lot of you are writers and are familiar with the terms. But for those of you who are not, novelettes and novellas are stories that are longer than short stories but shorter than novels. Depending on who you ask, the length can vary, but the HWA defines novelettes as 7,500 words to 17,499 words and novellas to 17,500 words to 40,000 words. Obviously, shorter than 7,500 is a short story and over 40,000 is a novel.

And like I say, I try to write short stories. I do. Most publishing magazines and anthologies prefer short stories, and many like them under five-thousand words. Can’t really blame them. Not only do short stories that short have a special punch, but it’s just more cost effective. If you’re paying by the word, then the cost per story goes up with the word count. And if you’re paying a flat rate per story, then the higher the word count, the more the author might expect to be paid. Hence why they tend to publish short stories.

However, I have trouble keeping my word count under seven-thousand. I’m an expansive writer, as one of my college writing professors once told me. Hell, even most of the stories in Hannah and Other Stories is more novelette-length than short story, and that’s marketed as a short story collection. I just like having those longer stories that still have that punch of a short story but don’t require the same commitment as a novel does.

And I wish there were more publishers that were willing to pay for novelettes and novellas. Especially novelettes, because a lot of the presses and magazines and anthologies that accept those don’t tend to go above ten thousand words.

Thankfully, my wish appears to be coming true. Perhaps in part due to popular collections of novellas by popular authors like Stephen King and Josh Malerman, and perhaps in part due to readers hungry for them, more publishers are buying and releasing novellas, both as standalone releases and as collections. And it’s a slow trickle, but we’re seeing a rise in publications accepting novelettes, including ones above ten-thousand.

Who knows? Maybe there are even publishers who would willingly put out a collection consisting entirely of novelettes. If the response to some of my social media posts are anything to go by, there’s an audience who would read that.

And I have been considering putting together a collection just like that, as well as a collection of novellas. After all, a lot of what I’m writing these days ends up either a novelette or a novella. Who knows? Maybe if I can put together enough stories of the right length and that gel together and if the stars are right…

Well, we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, if you have social media, make sure to post how you would love to see more publishers and magazines releasing novelettes and novellas. Trust me, if they see the demand, they will respond. The responses to my own social media posts have me convinced of that.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. This post wasn’t the most important thing I could write about, but I wanted to write about it. Besides, who knows? I could find a few more people who wish for more venues for novelettes and novellas. We could start a trend.

Anyway, until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and aren’t you glad this post didn’t become a full-length novelette? Or even a novella?

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