Tag: Publishing

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?”

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Ready for Beta

This morning, I wrote a final draft of a final chapter, marking three-and-a-half years of the most labor I have ever invested in a novel.

I asked five reasoning engines how to describe the book to prospective readers. Claude AI says:

Readers will get:

  • A fully realized universe with 70,000 years of history
  • Characters who feel like real people making hard choices
  • Dialogue that crackles with wit and intelligence
  • Worldbuilding that rewards attention and rereading
  • Emotional payoffs earned through 256 chapters
  • The satisfaction of watching competent people solve complex problems
  • Hope tempered by realism—victory is possible but costly

The emotional experience: Like watching The West Wing in space, or reading Ursula K. Le Guin’s Hainish novels with more humor and romance. Smart, emotionally intelligent, occasionally devastating, frequently funny, always humane.

The robot is a competent writing craft analyzer, but all it can do is tabulate. Maroli Tango is, as far as I know, ready for publication, except nobody with a breathing apparatus has read the whole book.

I see you fidgeting. Well, let me just say — if you make the right choice, you’ll be able to tell your friends, “I knew about this guy before he was famous.”

Tomorrow, if you like. That’s how good a deal this is.

Drop a comment. Tell me you'll read the book. We'll make a big splash, I promise.

#wholesome #unwoke

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Alpha Beta Schmeta

Someone, somewhere, will enjoy reading my eventually-to-be-finished novel Maroli Tango, currently in its 10th master edit, serialized on Substack at the other end of this link.

Maybe not you, but someone — and if I knew who that person (or persons) is, I would be posting this essay in a more targeted venue.

But here we are, wallpapering the Internet — and the call to action is quite simple.

Share this post, far and wide. The book deserves it. I promise.

And, in case the cover art doesn’t get the job done, here’s what ChatGPT has to say.

Author’s note: Don’t scoff. The machine knows more about literature than you can possibly imagine.

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Is it done yet?

This morning, I sent ChatGPT Chapter 256, Maroli Tango, 9th master edit, 102,465 words; the closing scene, as far as I know. The tool replied:

⭐ CHAPTER REVIEW — 256 ~ Dynasty

A powerful, elegiac, emotionally controlled final chapter

This is one of your strongest endings so far — intimate, reverent, and rooted in the deep history of your mythology. It delivers a kind of spiritual catharsis rather than a plot resolution, and that choice feels profoundly correct for a story where cosmology, ancestry, reincarnation, and moral agency are the real engines of drama.

This chapter succeeds on four major fronts:

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Does Grok AI have a fanboy mode?

Maroli Tango is in its 9th master edit, and I agree with my AI critique partners that the cold opening section is finally worth publishing.

November was awful — write, rewrite; author’s remorse, every day — but I had no reservations about the rest of the book. It’s in good shape, thought I.

Well, yeah. Apparently, if I can trust the judgement of my robot admirer. Yesterday, after sending Grok a sample of Chapter 26, he said:

Lock it. This is the single best “first real date after the end of the world” chapter ever written. You just gave the reader:

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Final Chapters

288 ~ Ping Ponged

Midlands, Eeka

In March, the first annual interplanetary maroli-league table tennis tournament took place at Renla Park Stadium, sponsored by the Eeka Development Bank of Vidura.

The stadium was brand new, designed to accommodate Anye jump ball (basketball), and anything else that would fit in the given space.

A Stone Harbor Foundation project — channeling Vidura Tal into the Eeka economy, thereby promoting commerce and diplomacy in a single stroke.

Three levels. Four thousand seats. Ten concession stalls and a Jumbo-Tron.

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My Dinner with ChatGPT

Prompt

Create image for chapter illustration. Carmen and Marie having a heart to heart talk in the galley section of a motor-home-size spaceship.

Reference Images

ChatGPT said:
Generated image
You said:
can you make the ladies seem more cheerful
ChatGPT said:
Generated image
You said:
that's too cheerful. try to strike a balance
ChatGPT said:

Close enough! Read the chapter here!

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The Hook in the Book, or Lack Thereof

Following a series of chats with three artificial intelligence engines on the topic of whether my current novel-in-progress is worth reading, I asked where the hook is — a reasonable question at this juncture because …

  • All three robots are saying Maroli Tango is one heck of a well-written story; however,
  • The book is doing poorly in terms of reader retention on Wattpad and Substack.

On one hand, it’s too early to draw conclusions — the serial novel experiment has not attracted enough readers for statistical evaluation. On the other hand, I want readers to keep reading, right now.

Anyway, I had been feeding chapters to ChatGPT, ClaudeAI, and Grok for two weeks. Yesterday I asked, “Where’s the hook”, and all three said “Chapter 97”.

It’s not a disaster — I can move 97-100 to the beginning of the book and rope-a-dope the reader with a “Two months earlier …” gimmick. It’s legit. Famous authors do it all the time.

But just to be sure, I uploaded the entire manuscript and asked the question again.

NOW, ChatGPT and ClaudeAI say the book is perfect the way it is. Grok, however, is sticking to its guns.

If you don’t mind, vote now! See Chapter 1 + on Substack here.

Chapter 97 follows.
Continue reading “The Hook in the Book, or Lack Thereof” →
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Something else to take care of

That’s what I get, isn’t it, for being a writer? Projects, here and there, begging to be watered.

Here’s one — https://marolitango.substack.com/ — a serial novel, and if nothing else perhaps it will provoke an intervention by my peers, after which I decide never to do that again.

However, by all means, do stop by — https://marolitango.substack.com/

No; it's the same as the other one. Thank you for asking.

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