Welcome back writers. Due to Thanksgiving mayhem at our house, I was unable to complete my posting for the November 24th meeting on time. For that I apologize.
I will catch up with you now and continue through our December 4th meeting. A note for our Dec 18th. It will be our annual Holiday meeting. If you wish, bring a dish or goodies to share. All leftovers will be donated to the firemen that evening. Also, we will make a semiannual donation to the firehouse as they allow us to use the facilities, bring an appropriate cash amount for your donation; $5-$10-$20, whatever you feel necessary.
Eight writers attended the pre-Thanksgiving meeting on November 24th, and we enjoyed each other’s company with a light discussion about writing issues and how AI might affect our work. AI is sneaky, worming its way into our everyday lives without us even suspecting its presence. Be careful.
Of the eight writers in attendance, seven were stalwarts, our regular contributors. One new face, Mike Sedlak, joined us this evening. We hope he enjoys his time with us and returns.
Bruce Haedrich led off the reading with a proposal for his new essay/book Further Conversations With Gaia. Our mother earth, called Gaia by the ancients, has regular conversations with Bruce and he records her thoughts and wisdom for us to learn and possibly change our ways towards how we treat our planet. Gaia tells us she has survived for eons living in sync with the residents on and beneath her surface. However, she has never seen a being so destructive as us humans. But never fear, she will adapt, limit, and survive our onslaught.
Gary Conkol is a technical writer by trade, but he is venturing into the field of sci-fi in his latest endeavor. Following the discovery of a previous civilization on Mars who shared some common traits with earthlings, the team of Martian explorers returns to spend a final week on Earth before returning to populate the new colony on Mars.
With her story in a final draft, Ursula Wong is ready for beta readers and edits on her latest draft of Strategic Deception. Physical and electronic copies are in the hands of readers and editors currently. Look for it on Amazon soon.
December 4th, 2024
Tonight, seven members, all our stalwart regulars, were in
the house, four of them came prepared to share their work for questions,
suggestions, and comments. Gary Conkel brought up an interesting point about
Microsoft changing the privacy policy. A liberal reading of the updated policy
might be an issue for some of us. Check the privacy policy and make changes to
protect your work. Our meetings in January will be on the 2nd and 4th
Wednesday the 8th and 22nd due to New Year’s day falling on the
first Wednesday. We will return to our regular schedule for February.
Four of our attendees wished to share their work with us this evening. First up was Bruce Haedrich. An introduction and opening chapters set the tone for alternating chapters. Gaia speaks in chapter one and the author speaks in chapter two. The trend should hold throughout the text. Bruce is a unique writer and although his style changes for this book, we always look forward to hearing what he has to say, no matter whose voice he uses.
Dennis Cathcart led us to a lesson we all must learn. His soliloquy on Mistakes reminds us to learn from our mistakes and not rue them for the rest of our lives. Sometimes, most likely, more times than we’d like to admit, the mistake was better for us than our original thought. Think about it. Dennis usually gives us something to think about.
Epistemology allows us to tell the difference between reality and fiction. Gary Conkel is using epistemology to study AI. As AI grows it learns from what is on the internet, news, books, etc. Is it taking things from the world of fiction, science, language, etc. and making them real. Do you trust the answers you get from news sources who may use AI to generate text or pictures? Do you use sources in your research which may glean information from sites using AI? Does AI possess the ability to reason? Can it tell the truth from untruth?
James H Kelly is a career soldier and his books about the Mackenzie family
from the battle of Gettysburg through the Indian wars on the Great Plains and
Black Hills provided a setting for the blood letting in Mexico and the
Southwest against Pancho Villa and Mexican troops. Then we rode with Teddy Roosevelt up San Juan Hill. Now, young men graduating
from Military schools are preparing for war in Europe. A different kind of war.
No longer do the brave men charge forward on horseback. Now, they ride in monster
machines of steel armed with cannons and machine guns. Tanks are the new Calvary, and the War is the War To End All Wars.
If you can’t join us on December 18th, we wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, HAPPY HANUKKAH, and A SAFE AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR. Above all remember to KEEP ON WRITING!
