AI Reference Art

by on December 9, 2023 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

One of the issues with AI art is they are kinda like idiot savants right now. Even the best can go down rabbit holes of crazy if you aren’t careful. And some do better at some things and worse at others. The key to getting good results from the various AI art generators is practice. Throw out some prompts and run a few generations to see what you get. If you don’t like it, modify your prompts and try again. There is a learning curve every time you try out a new model as well. Some are really good at showing emotions, some don’t emote at all. Find one with a style you like, and give it a go. You never know what you’ll get. For my uses, I create pictures of the characters in my stories so I can use them as references. It works really good for that.

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AI Reference Art

by on December 8, 2023 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The new AI art generators are amazing. They can take basic prompts and give you an image. Do I want a blonde-haired girl with blue eyes standing next to a Minnesota lake? I can ask for that. And it will generate something. I might like it. I might hate it. If you have a powerful enough computer you can run an AI model on your local computer. If you don’t, you can go many places on the web where you can try them out. Some are free. Some are paid. And some are a combo of both. I use the free side of dezgo dot com for character references and get good results that are awesome for putting up on the computer while writing a scene that features that character.

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A Date Which Will Live In Infamy

by on December 7, 2023 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. The United States was at peace with that Nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American Island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.

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Character Reference Art

by on December 6, 2023 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Art is an interesting thing. I’ve used art for my characters since the very beginning when I was writing my characters. Back then in was reference pictures taken off the internet. Then I paid artists to make pictures for me. Then I found the joys of 3D computer graphics and began making the pictures myself. Now there are the AI art programs that have hit the Internet by storm. All I have to do is type in some words and let the computer spit out an idea for me. There’s a lot of testing which text prompts work to get which results of course. But in the end you can get some good results, especially with some of the better AI art models coming out in the last year. And now that I’m about to publish another story, I want to show some of those characters off.

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Space Cowboys 404: Cow Not Found

by on December 5, 2023 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I just received a promotional cover for Space Cowboys 404: Cow Not Found. Raconteur Press will be publishing it soon so be on the lookout if you are interested. They are a young publisher that has made a big splash selling numerous short story anthologies, each one aimed at a different market, and they are going like gangbusters. Over a dozen authors contributed stories to this anthology, and I will now join the hallowed ranks of those who contribute to a work but are not famous enough to have their name on the cover, so are known as “And More.” This is my first published story since Mom started her final fight with Cancer. The world has changed. I feel scary good. Haven’t done this in a while, and when I ask the magic 8-ball what comes next it says… not found.

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