Posts Tagged ‘Threads app’

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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Threads
BlueSky
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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!

Book Links & Excerpts

My Writing Goals for 2024

Posted: January 1, 2024 in Reflections, Writing
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Happy New Year, my Followers of Fear. I wasn’t going to do this sort of post, let alone on New Year’s Day. After all, I went over a lot of this stuff in my “Looking Back at 2023, Looking Forward to 2024” post. But plenty of my writer friends were posting their 2023 accomplishments and their 2024 goals on social media, so I thought, “Why shouldn’t I? And why should I limit myself to however many characters?”

Thus, I’m writing a full blog post.

So, with all that said, let’s get into my writing goals and how I plan to keep busy on the writing front.

FINISH THE SHORT WORKS I STARTED

After the Great Editing ended last year, I went through my list of ideas and chose seven story ideas I thought would be fun to work on (and hopefully had a chance of getting published). I’ve already finished two stories: a surprisingly short weird horror story called “White Leaves,” and a Jewish exorcism story called “The House on Lafayette Square.” And at the moment, I’m working on a story about owls under the temporary title “Strigiformes.”

With this particular goal, I aim to finish “Strigiformes” by Martin Luther King Day, and then get the other four stories done by around May. Don’t know if I will, but God knows I’m going to try. I’m already at the halfway point of “Strigiformes,” so assuming nothing messes with my life between now and the 15th, I should be off to a good start.

FINISH CRAWLER

My big project for 2024, assuming nothing else pops up, is to finally return to my mummy novel Crawler and finish it. Hopefully after I finish these last four and a half short works, and around May-ish. I want to go over what’s already been written, then get around to finishing the first draft.

Don’t know if it’ll get published at some point, but I definitely want it to be at least finished. I hate the feeling of it being left undone when I feel it has great potential.

GROW MY AUDIENCE

This one should be pretty self-explanatory. I love my Followers of Fear and how ardent you all can be, but I am a writer. We love having people enjoying our work. So, I’m trying to build my audience and the number of people who I can claim to be Followers of Fear.

Part of this will be done by selling books at events, which are great places to meet new readers, and another part will be some slight changes to how I do things on social media.* With a bit of luck, the right interactions, and sympathetic algorithms, maybe more people will come to love and look forward to my stories when they release.

*BTW, I’ve left Twitter due to Elon Musk going full anti-Semite and have moved to Threads and BlueSky. So, if you want to follow me there, click on the links.

GET SOME ACCEPTANCES

Again, this is also self-explanatory. While I do self-publish some of my work, I still like to get publishers to release some of my stories. There are benefits to going indie and going through a publisher. And all that being said, I hope to have some presses accept my stories and help me polish them up to their most beautiful before letting them out into the world.

And I may self-publish some stuff, as well. If the circumstances are right.

HAVE A GOOD 2024 FISCALLY

Writing is a passion and a calling, but it is also a job and a business. That’s especially true during tax time. And while this past year, I had the most income from writing ever, I also had a lot of expenses. Not enough to overtake my income, but still, a lot. For 2024, I hope to have fewer expenses. Or that my income far outpaces my expenses. It’s something I’ll be working on throughout the year, so hopefully it goes well.

MAYBE ANOTHER COLLECTION?

Yeah, putting together and editing Hannah was difficult at times, but it was gratifying, too. And I’m thinking of maybe putting together another collection. If I do, what stories will be in it, what it’ll be called, if there will be a theme, and if I self-publish it or not, we’ll see. This part of the future, at least, is still up in the air.

MAYBE AN ADAPTATION?

I know, I know. Getting any of my stories adapted into any medium is a long shot. Still, some things happened in 2023 that give me hope that it could happen. (And if you’re lucky, you’ll hear about what later this year.) So, I’m putting it on this list as a goal.

GET THAT MUCH CLOSER TO WRITING FULL-TIME

This is my overall goal for 2024. Granted, this is my overall goal every year. But I feel like I made significant progress this year towards this goal in 2023, and I feel like 2024 will take me even further. I want to get to the point where I can actually see a path to eventually being able to write full-time. Where it stops being just a dream and starts to morph into a reality.

If the majority of these go these goals go well, then maybe, just maybe, I’ll end 2024 with goals towards making dreams reality in 2025. And wouldn’t that be glorious?

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope 2024 treats us all very well (though honestly, I feel like roaring at the year to intimidate it instead of hoping it’s nice to us is a better move). Thank you for all the support you guys showed me in 2023. I hope you continue to do so in 2024. And one way to do that is to read my books and leave reviews, and/or follow my social media. I’ll leave buttons that’ll take you to where you can find both.

Book Links and Excerpts
About Me

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night, pleasant nightmares, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! RAWR!!!

Updates on What I’m Doing

Posted: July 11, 2023 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Writing
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It’s that time again. I have a lot going on, so I thought I would list it now right now. Besides, it’s a good excuse to slip in some reminders about things.

So, without further ado, here’s what’s going on in my crazy life. Enjoy!

Hannah and Other Stories
As you are no doubt aware, my new collection Hannah and Other Stories is on its way. It contains tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses, among other things, and it’ll be out on September 23rd, while currently available for preorder.

Before we get there, however, there’s a bit more work to do. BSC Publishing Group will be sending me the notes for the last draft any day now, at which point I will quickly edit it. We will then send out the eARCs to the ARC readers, who will hopefully read it and provide some helpful blurbs and reviews that will make people want to read Hannah more.

In addition, I’m doing everything I can to make sure this book is successful. I’ve already been booked for a couple of podcasts and shows, some of which I will list below, and I’ll likely be scheduled for more once the eARC is ready. I’m also posting short videos on my YouTube channel about the inspiration behind some of the stories in Hannah, as well as a candlelit reading of an excerpt from one of the stories. I plan to post more videos and excerpts as time allows.

With any luck, these and more avenues I’m pursuing will allow Hannah and Other Stories to be successful once it’s released. It would be amazing if that were to happen.

Speaking of which, if you would like to preorder a copy of Hannah, you can do so here. And you can read an excerpt here. I hope you check them out, because it’s a fucking great collection. Not something horror fans will want to miss.

The Quiet Game: Five Tales to Chill Your Bones
As I’ve said before, The Quiet Game, my first collection and first published book, will pass its ten-year release anniversary next Monday, July 17th, 2023. Obviously, I plan to do a blog post and a YouTube video, as well as other social media posts, to mark the occasion. I’m even doing a giveaway: if you preorder a copy of Hannah and email me letting me know you did before Friday the 14th, you could win a signed copy of The Quiet Game.

My email is ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com. I’ll hopefully announce the winner on the 17th. I hope you all take a chance to enter.

Short Fiction
I’ve some good news on this front. I recently wrote a weird fiction short story that I think has potential. And very soon, I’ll be writing a grimdark story for an anthology. I was actually invited to submit a story to this anthology, so I’m very excited to start on the story. And once it’s done, I plan to have it edited and submitted as soon as possible. Same with the weird fiction story.

After that, I have a bunch of short stories, novelettes, and novellas to work on. I want to finish rewriting the ending of “They Sleep Within the Rock,” AKA the story where I put neo-Nazis through hell. I also have to edit “It Changes You,” AKA the Backrooms story before shopping it around, and rewrite/heavily edit “The Underground Kings” and “Forever Young,” two short stories I think have a bunch of potential.

All of them, I feel, have a chance of being published somewhere. And after they’re worked on…

Crawler
For those of you who are unaware, Crawler is a mummy novel I started writing last year. I got about seven or eight chapters in, but then stuff with Hannah started to heat up, and I had to put it on the back burner. And then I took it off the burner and onto a trivet. I’d like to get it back on the stove again by the end of the year. It may not be the biggest new thing in horror, but I would like to get it done.

Fingers crossed that happens.

Upcoming Events
Here are some of the things I’ve got going on in the near future that I think you may be interested in. Hell, maybe you’ll have an opportunity to stop by for some of them:

  • This coming weekend, Saturday, July 15 and Sunday, July 16, I’ll be joining HWA Ohio at the Columbus Book Festival in downtown Columbus. It’s an amazing festival to support local authors, organizations and groups. If any of you are in Columbus this weekend, please feel free to stop by. There’s entertainment for all ages, and I would love to see you.
  • The weekend afterwards, on July 22 and July 23, I’ll be at the Dayton Convention Center in Dayton, OH for the Gem City Comic Con. I’ll be selling books and reading Tarot cards there, so please stop by if you can. I believe if you go to their website, you should still be able to get tickets.
  • On August 10, I’ll be joining some members of the New York HWA chapter for their podcast, Galactic Terrors. It’ll be broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube before becoming available as a podcast. I’ll be reading from Hannah and maybe answering some questions from those listening in. Further details, such as links and who else will be on the show, will be provided as we get closer. I’ll be sure to post those details as soon as we get them, so hopefully you can attend.
  • On September 9 and 10, I’ll be with HWA Ohio at Mystics & Marvels at the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Hilliard, Ohio. At this event last year, HWA Ohio really cleaned up, and I almost sold out! I’m looking forward to returning this year, and I hope more people come by. Including you!

And there will be more events as time goes on, especially with Hannah releasing in September. I’ll be sure to let you know about them as soon as they’re confirmed!

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. If anything else comes up, or there’s something I really want to talk about, I’ll be sure to let you know on this or any of my other platforms (which now includes the Threads app as rami_ungar_writer). Until then, however, good night and pleasant nightmares!