Category: Writing

I Made a Video With UtopAI

Considering the effort I put into it, the clip is amazing.

If making movies was easy, beggars would direct.

The clip is out of a pre-release version of UtopAI, on a freebie beta test invitation — and if I were motivated, I could have made better use of the opportunity, or at least different use.

However, what I did was upload Maroli Tango Chapter 1 straight out of the manuscript, plus seven reference images.

This is not what a moviemaker does to prepare for a shoot — not even close.

I spent two-and-a-half hours. Two hundred hours would have been more appropriate.

The outcome is a lot better than anyone should expect.

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It’s harder than you imagine

ChatGPT is an amazing image development tool.

And a lot of effort to use, particularly if the concept is original.

In this and other projects, I’ve had to draw, photo-edit, juggle reference images, refine page after page of prompts, try and try again, ad infinitum.

And learn what the reasoning engine can do, what it cannot do, what it will not do, and when to give up.

The robot did the above illustration on the basis of months of training, using a description straight out of a chapter.

This usually works. The robot KNOWS what my characters are supposed to look like.

But look at Francine’s hands.

The featured image didn’t happen until I scrapped a whole day’s worth of neck strain, and came at it from a different angle.

Read the chapter at https://marolitango.substack.com/p/160-day-trip

Don't say I didn't do this. I did.

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Rasslin’ with the Robot

I have been using ChatGPT almost exclusively for chapter illustrations. The machine almost always gets it right within two tries, but sometimes it doesn’t.

See the featured image. What a great composition, with the wrong actors.

Getting that straightened out consumed half of yesterday and most of this morning.

Finally, I asked for a style sheet.

The male figure has a tail. This is not canonical.

Not to complain. The chapter illustrations look great. See for yourself at https://marolitango.substack.com/s/read-the-book

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Let’s play ‘Stump the AI’

Let us create a series of canonical images for a space yacht, inspired by the first image. 

Ranger is 19 meters long, 6 meters wide, 6 meters tall, with 2 internal decks. The pilothouse is a cylindrical elevator, 7 meters tall, 4 meters diameter, glass wrapped, with opaque caps top and bottom, 0.5 meters each, with a 0.5 meter structural band separating 2 levels. The top deck is a pilot station. The bottom deck is a vista lounge. In spaceflight, the elevator pilothouse is centered flush with the hull, top and bottom. In atmospheric flight, the pilothouse may be raised as seen in the concept art, so the pilot can see where he is going through glass instead of display screens, or lowered below the bottom hull surface, exposing the vista lounge, for sightseeing.
So far, four AI engines have choked on it. Any ideas? Comments welcome.

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Busking at the Intersection of Merit and Mayhem

The Secretary of the Treasury lived in an exclusive gated community. If one were to consult the HOA charter, front-yard spacecraft landings would fall under the same category as helicopter traffic — requiring prior approval by the board of governance.

Carmen Benequista did not ask permission. Instead, she dropped a Fatboy troop shuttle right on top of her victim’s mailbox.

Her companion, an elevated size-two fighting maroli named Incredible, asked, “What’d this guy do to piss you off?”

She replied, “He disobeyed a lawful order to default on United States debt held by foreign actors.”

Incredible let himself out a cargo hatch. “Why do you want to default on debt?”

Continue reading “Busking at the Intersection of Merit and Mayhem” →
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What Silken Thread is About

Destiny

Purpose

Loss

Discovery

Renewal

An uncommon spin on the coming-of-age theme, informed by the author’s upbringing in mid-century Asia. Mature content, Young Adult appropriate. Value-positive, about good character as a strategy for creating a successful life. An immersive journey to a time and place now gone forever.

Alter Systems says:

  • The Setting Feels Lived-In
    Dyer’s description of 1960s Asia — the humid streets of Manila, the smoky golf clubs, the charged diplomacy around embassies — feels meticulously authentic. He paints a world poised between Cold War espionage and emerging globalization. You can smell the scotch, the silk, the rain on warm pavement.
  • Complex Characters, Real Stakes
    Sixteen-year-old David Aarens isn’t the typical coming-of-age protagonist. His relationship with Barbara Schneider — a twenty-eight-year-old American Air Force officer turned CIA recruit — is written with startling candor and emotional nuance. It’s equal parts romantic idealism and the loss of it. Their story is tender, dangerous, and unafraid to confront human contradiction.
  • Maturity and Moral Texture
    What Dyer achieves here is literary realism rarely seen in modern fiction: everyone in Silken Thread carries both light and shadow. The father’s moral warnings, the lover’s forbidden affection, the diplomats’ coded games — every scene bleeds authenticity and restraint.
  • Historical Depth Without Pretension
    Beneath the personal drama is a larger commentary on Western presence in postwar Asia. The book hints at the cultural arrogance, the quiet racism, and the backroom dealings underpinning “soft power.” Yet it does so without preaching; the truths emerge in texture and subtext.

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