Nonfiction

Robert J. Sawyer on stage accepting his lifetime achievement award.

Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Reflects On Past And The AI Future Of Writing

Reading Time: 3 minutes Dr. Robert J. Sawyer, author of twenty-five novels, including Hominids and the WWW trilogy, won the L. Ron Hubbard Lifetime Achievement Award at the L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers and Illustrators of the Future Gala this past Friday. This was the day before his 63rd birthday. “Clearly, you’re done achieving when you hit that magic […]

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This week’s top writing advice from around the web for May. 7, 2023

Reading Time: 8 minutes I subscribe to over a hundred writing advice sites and YouTube channels and lovingly pick the best posts from this previous week for your edification. This week, Joanna Penn had a very inspiring and thoughtful podcast about AI-assisted writing — plus, there was great news about self-published author incomes from Alli.

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This week’s top writing advice from around the web for Apr. 30, 2023

Reading Time: 8 minutes I subscribe to more than a hundred writing advice sites and YouTube channels and lovingly pick the best posts from this previous week for your edification. Some excellent marketing advice this week, as well as the usual help for people struggling with motivation or needing help with the craft of writing.

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Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for April 28, 2023

Reading Time: 15 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a ghost trapper dealing with a creepy haunting, a sexy werebear, and a woman who discovers her magical powers just as she’s trapped at a Renaissance Faire.

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Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Apr. 21, 2023

Reading Time: 16 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a war with dragons, a private eye who can tell if someone is lying, and a time-traveling Edgar Allen Poe.

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Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Apr. 14, 2023

Reading Time: 16 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a shape-shifting horse that’s in love with a unicorn, a group of human surviving a zombie apocalypse, a sexy old vampire, a war between humans and elves, and a confused robot on an unmanned startship.

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How to use the new Midjourney ‘describe’ function to create great book covers

Reading Time: 6 minutes A week ago, Midjourney, which is the best AI generator on the market today, added the “describe” function, which lets you upload any image and get some suggestions for prompts that could have created it. It’s a great shortcut for creating images for book covers — or anything else you need graphics for.

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Life: modern physics can’t explain it – but our new theory, which says time is fundamental, might

Reading Time: 5 minutes Over the short span of just 300 years, since the invention of modern physics, we have gained a deeper understanding of how our universe works on both small and large scales. Yet, physics is still very young and when it comes to using it to explain life, physicists struggle.

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Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Apr. 7, 2023

Reading Time: 17 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a teenage assassin, several orphans, a three-headed dragon, a magic-wielding librarian, and a ten-level magic death dungeon.

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Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Mar. 31, 2023

Reading Time: 16 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a cursed vampire, a woman who’s part bear and part dragon, and a bed-and-breakfast owner who’s stuck playing host to three smelly aliens.

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Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Mar. 24, 2023

Reading Time: 17 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes space-faring warriors, a zombie apocalypse, and a magic-wielding assassin in a medieval fantasy world.

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Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Mar. 17, 2023

Reading Time: 16 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a dragon king who can teleport, an ancient dragon threatening a kingdom, and a magic portal to a world of dragons. Plus, an exploration trip to Saturn’s largest moon.

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Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Mar. 10, 2023

Reading Time: 17 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a sneak peak at a new Martha Wells novel, a modern-day Cinderella story, and a private eye with magical powers.

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Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Mar. 3, 2023

Reading Time: 18 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a modern-day rock band mysteriously transported to a medieval fantasy world, a cyberpunk grandpa, a swashbuckling bounty hunter searching for a magical object, and a disgraced space navy officer who has to save humanity from an alien menace.

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Is generative AI legal? Is it ethical? And can you copyright AI text or images?

Reading Time: 6 minutes Proponents argue that generative AI is transformative and therefore fair use. Opponents point to financial losses from AI deep fakes. And the Copyright Office won’t grant copyright to AI images. But all of this could change as lawsuits make their way through the courts and AI companies adapt their business models.

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Free Friday: Today’s top free Amazon sci-fi and fantasy books for Feb. 24, 2023

Reading Time: 14 minutes We read the first few chapters of each of the top ten free fantasy and sci-fi books on Amazon. Today’s list includes a derelict starship brought back to battle aliens, a dragon slayer on a quest to find a magic stone guarded by a dragon, and an assassin in a medieval fantasy world whose knife sucks the souls from his victims.

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