Tag Archives: creativity

Announcement, Lauren, Sarah, Upcoming WOWI Session

Praying to The Podcast Gods – Initial Results

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star wars unlimited power sith jedi
This is the picture taken when Tom gave his 1/2 of the show to me … ghesh … I really need to moisturize!

RECENTLY ON WOWI
Tom has departed from WOWI because he’s a busy guy …
The podcast has become mine, and I intend to continue the show after a brief hiatus (because I too am a busy guy) …
and …

I prayed to The Podcast Gods
and they have shared their grace!

three podcast broadcast gods
If anyone ever learns about The Podcast Trinity, it will probably be a discussion presented as a downloadable audio file

After Tom took his leave, I thought about who might make good new co-hosts.  Long story short, 3 of my favourite former WOWI guests have gotten on board with the show.  Just in the past 2 months, there’s excitement in our emails — and I’m thrilled about what’s to come!  As we spoke, it seemed that we should meet face-to-face and record a ‘trial podcast session’ — also since a hot topic in the writing scene came up between us.

So …

!!!SURPRISE!!!

I’ll be back for your manuscripts!

Lauren Flake, Sarah McCarthy, and I met this past Saturday  at the Coupeville Library.  First, I talked about where WOWI is at and what’s to come.   Then, after introducing each of them, we dove head-long into our topic — the use of Artificial Intelligence in writing and the creative process … is it good, bad, or outright evil!!!

If you are not already familiar, Lauren is a writers group founder and fantasy novelist.  Sarah has authored several physics and fantasy books.  And long-time listeners of course know me as a WOWI podcast founder, along with being a recipe and music history book author.

Interestingly, I went into this session understanding that we each had different levels of understanding as to where this technology is currently at in development.  I though I had a decent level of awareness — and I am comfortable in admitting that I knew considerably less than I thought.  Similarly, I knew that we had 3 different positions about the acceptability of A.I. in commercial arts — making the prospects for this conversation nothing short of dynamic.  In the process of the discussion, and upon learning where my perspective falls within the spectrum of opinion, I am potentially more in support of A.I.’s use than I thought!

March of Man and Artificial Intelligence AI A.I.

Our conversation about authors’ use of A.I. ranged from ‘Is this legitimate creativity?’, to ‘Who holds what amount of the copyright?’, dipped into ‘How will this put people out of jobs?’, and even into ‘Where is this at now and what possibly could the future hold?’  It was a charged conversation, also full of laughter — it was the sort of thing I had hoped for in working with WOWI’s new co-hosts.  YES — I prayed to The Podcast Gods, and the initial results look … GOOD!

And there were no fist-fights!

Shiva podcast god
Shiva podcast god

This first meeting with Lauren and Sarah was nothing short of GREAT!  Hands down, it has me thoroughly excited for WOWI going forward.  When Writing On Whidbey Island gets back into full swing around Fall 2023, I will be pleased to reintroduce poet Daniel Edward Moore as the 3rd new WOWI co-host (he’s also a busy guy).

As for our conversation on A.I. — the podcast should be posted in the coming week.  As for now and the until-Fall WOWI-hiatus … maybe there will be other ‘surprise’ podcast sessions — so keep your eyes & ears here!

~ Don

PS — Thank you to Sarah for producing the preceding images using A.I. along with the “podcast gods” prompt.  Here are the others she and it created…

Friends don’t let friends
let A.I. write obituaries …

Following the recording session, the three of us continued to talk.  Among other Artificial Intelligence produced graphics, Lauren shared with us this A.I. generated obituary.  Look closely at the photo and writing, and you will see where AI seems to presently imitate what we do but doesn’t yet seem to quite get things right.

AI A.I. Artificial Intelligence writes Obituary

 

Don, Guest Interview, Online, Tom, WOWI Session

Children’s Books, Creative Cards, And Coaching – An Interview With Deb Lund

At least on Whidbey Island, creative people tend to create more than one way to express themselves and help others. Yet another reason the island’s writing community has multiple layers that support each other. Deb Lund is probably best known for her children’s books, but she’s also taught writing and coached writers, which inspired her card deck designed to inspire them. But, really, it is hard to ignore and easy to remember someone whose books include dinosaurs that “take to the skies, the rails, and the high seas” as well as monsters on machines (wearing hardhats, of course.)

The conversation started with the dinosaurs because, why not. They may be children’s books, which can be much more complicated to write, produce, and publish than conventional novels. With a conventional novel there may be effectively no limit to the word count, except the thickness of the binding. Deb pointed out that children’s book are much more constrained (imagine editing a story of a few thousand words down to a few hundred), and require the writer to relinquish much of the control to the illustrator. Instead of only one graphic which is limited to the cover, every page can be a graphic from edge to edge. A children’s book is more of a duet, but with the two artists working separately much of the time, and yet the two efforts become one creation. 

Deb also has teacher cred, a natural background for someone writing children’s books, as well as a natural lead to teaching and coaching writers. Along the way, she created a series of inspirational playing cards to give writers fresh perspectives on their works in progress. They became popular enough that her students encouraged her to create and sell the decks. Welcome to yet another publishing accomplishment that was much more than lots of words on blank pages. Concise messages on colorful cards required multiple art forms, again. 

Her accomplishments are impressive, but are better heard about from her. Listen in on the podcast for the stories in her own words, and maybe contact her if you want to benefit from an experienced artist – who also can tell stories about gargantuan dinosailor goofballs.

Writing on Whidbey Island (WOWI) episode 21 – Deb Lund, Childrens’ book author, card creator, and coach

Deb Lund can also be found on:

Her web site: deblund.com

Facebook: (pages for 
Deb Lund, author
The Creativity Cafe
Writing With Kids

Twitter: @deblund

Instagram: deblundauthor