Elizabeth Hauser's Blog

That’s the big question right now. The topic of AI is a controversial topic depending on who you ask. For some it’s a tool to aid them in expressing their creativity in a way they might not have been able to do so on their own. While others see it as a program that could ultimately affect their livelihood due to higher up seeing it as a cheaper option then having to pay a person to do it.

Yes, it can be misused and treated as a short cut for a quick buck. But maybe it can also be used to bring a story to life that a writer can’t quite figure out how to put into words. It’s a fine line that has to be approached carefully, when does it go from a helpful resource to a crutch doing all the work.

This was the rabbit hole I found myself in the other day. I was having issues word an author bio, which is not unusual because I’m not a good hype person for myself. So I decided to put it through an AI program to see if it could polish it up. It took my words and add more substance to them, something I have a huge problem doing. That got me thinking how well could AI craft a story with someone holding its hand.

A few years back I started a story that formed from a dream a friend had and had gotten a few chapters in when I lost interest. It was a good idea, I just couldn’t figure out how to get past the initial set up. So, after a late night delve into creative chaos, I decided to try something I scoffed at for years.

Using the chapters I started, I’m going to see if I can complete a full novel using AI. I won’t just publish a book with complete nonsense, I plan on proofreading and editing the story as I go, but the bulk of the writing will be done with AI.

I’m hoping to share the journey here. Maybe with some laughable prompts or unexpected results. I am curious to see how it all ends ups, if it’s good or a complete disaster, only time will tell.

Hopefully you all join me on this journey.

What’s the first impression you want to give people?

It’s been awhile since I’ve answered a prompt question — mostly because I haven’t felt interested, and partly because I never quite knew how to respond. But this one relates to what I’m currently going through, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Most people want their first impression to be friendly or warm. They want to seem approachable, open to conversation, and willing to listen.

These are things I know I’m not.

I’ve learned how to fake it — customer service will do that to you — and I’ve gotten good at it without even realizing. But the truth is, I’m closed off. I don’t enjoy approaching others, and I tend to shut down in large groups. Social situations have always felt awkward for me, so I avoid them when I can. In person, I know I can come across as prickly or even angry, but I’m not. I’m shy. I just have a hard time connecting.

This topic feels timely because I’ve been working on putting myself out there more as an author. If I want people to read my stories, I have to be social and open — two things that don’t come naturally to me. Over the last few days, I’ve started posting on different sites and slowly interacting with others. Whether it helps their first impression of me is too early to tell.

Maybe one day, people will see me as friendly and approachable — and it won’t be because I’m faking it.

What’s the first impression you want to give people?

It’s been awhile since I’ve answered a prompt question — mostly because I haven’t felt interested, and partly because I never quite knew how to respond. But this one relates to what I’m currently going through, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Most people want their first impression to be friendly or warm. They want to seem approachable, open to conversation, and willing to listen.

These are things I know I’m not.

I’ve learned how to fake it — customer service will do that to you — and I’ve gotten good at it without even realizing. But the truth is, I’m closed off. I don’t enjoy approaching others, and I tend to shut down in large groups. Social situations have always felt awkward for me, so I avoid them when I can. In person, I know I can come across as prickly or even angry, but I’m not. I’m shy. I just have a hard time connecting.

This topic feels timely because I’ve been working on putting myself out there more as an author. If I want people to read my stories, I have to be social and open — two things that don’t come naturally to me. Over the last few days, I’ve started posting on different sites and slowly interacting with others. Whether it helps their first impression of me is too early to tell.

Maybe one day, people will see me as friendly and approachable — and it won’t be because I’m faking it.

I decided to set up a Goodreads author page. I figured it was time to start coming out of my shell and dip my toe into the social pool. At some point I’ll have to break and get Instagram or X, but I can barely keep up with one blog let alone a bunch of media pages. Most of the posts on the Goodreads blog will be from my main site, maybe at some point if I gain followers there I’ll do something different. For now we will see how things go. Check it out at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21921299.Elizabeth_Hauser

Any advice on how to juggle social media or general ideas on how to draw interest? I’d love to hear what people think.

It’s been a few days since I published the first book in The Crimson Rose series Night Hunter. Originally I was aiming for it to be a full novel, but I’m not sure I’m wordy enough for 50k words. That said 32k isn’t too bad in the grand scheme making the book in the novella category. I think my first one An Unexpected Beginning maybe hit 27k so there was some progress I suppose.

It’s funny, I had such a hard time with Night Hunter over the last year that I was surprised when I found this weird second wind that hit me. While on vacation I just decided to start typing the last few chapters and suddenly I found myself writing a whole new one. I was so close to finishing that I said screw it and proofread and edited everything over the weekend. Then late Saturday night I hit the published button and listened to all the crickets around me. It’s not like I ever expect people to look at my work so I don’t really get disappointed. Hopefully one day it will catch someone’s eye and will start being looked at.

All of this is besides the point. Going back to the unexpected second wave of creativity led to waking up the day after I published and had a whole prologue  pop into my head. It was kind of annoying actually since it was the one time I didn’t have a journal on hand and I prefer writing by hand. Yesterday on my way home from work I grabbed one and today started putting jotting down what I remembered.

It was refreshing to be able to flow out words and scenes without having to struggle. If I’m lucky this will go smoother and not take 2 years to finish. At the moment the tentative subtitle is Midnight Shadows, but we’ll see if that sticks.

As always thanks for dealing with my rants. And if you have any ideas on a subtitle let me know in the comments!

After two years and a ton of pauses, I can finally say The Crimson Rose is completed. For anyone interested in reading, you can grab it on Amazon at this link. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G1JP1XCG?dplnkId=e223a331-3752-4d83-a4b3-d328bd952d38

My mind had already jumped to the opening of book 2 but it’s not going to get going until after then New Year. Unless I find myself with some spare time, or inspiration.

I don’t want to thank everyone who actually read the progress updates I did over the last year. I really do appreciate whenever someone takes the time to check out anything I have done.

Happy reading if you look at it. If not happy whatever it is you do.

It has been two years and two months to the day from my last update on The Crimson Rose. I can’t even blame major life events on the delay. No, it was all me and some major rut I was in for far too long.

I don’t really know why I stopped writing to begin with. Sure, I can say no inspiration or even desire to write, but I just think that it was just easy not to do it. One of my big issues is I can get distracted easily, which is why I can’t write at home. Between TV, computer, and just a phone in general keep me side tracked. Add in a pet and my dad, who needs to check in on said pet constantly, I never had a space to focus.

Before, I would write at work during my lunch break. 45 minutes to unwind and let creativity flow worked really well for me….. until it didn’t. I could never enjoy my lunches because people would constantly ask questions or ask for help with things, and I was in a cycle of frustration and burned out for a long time. Luckily, my boss allowed me to take lunch in a room that is rarely used, so I could my break without having to constantly tell people I’m on lunch ask so and so.

Not long after something happened, a co-worker asked how my book was going. Then, a few days later, another asked. Talking about it made me realize just how close I was to finishing, well, at least the first draft. So, with a quiet space, I got to writing, and things just began to flow better than they had in a long time.

One day, someone was doing work in the room I used for lunch, and after some time, they finally asked what I was writing. Since then, they have become my own personal cheerleader, helping to keep me motivated and finish this longer than necessary project.

All of this is just a really long-winded way of saying it’s done. At least the first draft. I have a large portion already typed up and mostly proofread, so it won’t be as daunting to do. It’s not as long as I wanted it, but I’m sure in the edits, I’ll find some inspiration to extend things. Right now, though, I feel a weight has been lifted. I almost squealed when I realized what I’d done, which anyone who knows me knows I’m not a squealer.

I’m sure I’ll never be happy with it, but that’s just part of my personality. What matters is I did it, and that’s a huge step in the right direction.

It’s been a few months since I last posted. The main reason was from a lack of inspiration and drive. Every so often, I fall into a funk, mainly from writers block, and I have difficulty getting out of it. Today, however, I’ve been feeling surprisingly motivated in the creative department, and it all started with a simple conversation with my dad.

For those who may not be familiar with some of my previous posts, I’m originally from upstate New York. Twelve years ago, I moved to the Houston area, and my dad recently retired and moved down. For a long time, I had trouble finding foods that were more common in the Northeast, but over time, I found restaurants that helped cure that part of homesickness. When I first moved down, several snacks that are sold at the grocery stores where I grew up couldn’t be found here. Thankfully, some of those guilty pleasures are much easier to find now.

Which brings me back to the conversation with my dad. He made a comment a couple of days ago how he just wanted a buttered hard roll. Traditional delis aren’t common in Texas, and the bakery’s in grocery stores have a softer roll, which just isn’t the same. On a whim, I told him I’ll make rolls for him.

Now, I’m a passible baker. I’m good at following instructions and checking different recipes before I start. With that said, the closest thing to bread I’ve made are pretzel bites. The funny thing is, I think the pretzel bites were harder to make than Kaiser Rolls. So, I woke up earlier than usual on my off day and headed to get the ingredients I needed. After some procrastination and vacation planning, I set to work.

In the past, when I made dough, I toughed it out and kneaded by hand. This time around, I decided to use my stand mixer, which cut the mixing and kneading time down significantly. Once it was done, I left the dough to its first rise for an hour before the next step.

The most difficult part was shaping the dough so it would have the look of a Kaier Roll. It involved tying knots and folding the dough. When that task was done, it was another hour long wait for the second rise.

After over 2 hours, it was finally time to bake. As someone who has no idea how to make bread, this was the most nerve-racking part. I’m always paranoid when cooking. I tend to feel I’ve messed something up, or I’ll under cook something. Even after the fact when people tell me it’s okay, I still think of things I could have done better. Even with that fear, after 15 minutes, I pulled the rolls out and hoped for the best.

They looked alright when I took them out of the oven. But, I felt they weren’t done. My dad reassured me, and we let them cool. Neither of us jumped to eat them. I think we both weren’t really in an eating mood, at least until dinner. We settled on hot dogs, and because I attempted to make two long rolls, we chose them for buns.

It turns out they were alright. For a moment, I had a hit of home in a bite, so I’ll call that a success.

This whole experiment was meant to reignite my dormit creativity. I’ve had friends ask how my writing is going, and each time I have to answer not well, it kills me a little. Will I pick up a pen tomorrow? Probably not. Will I write another blog post? Unlikely. But at least I took a step in the right direction.

Full disclosure, my brain shut down leading to writing this article. It may make about as much sense as Netflix’s Irish Wish.

Where to start….

Probably from the beginning. Facebook ads.

I’m not the biggest or most savvy social media user. Most of my profiles lack photos and let’s face it, posts. But I do occasionally scroll through Facebook to pass time. That’s how I first learned of Netflix’s latest attempt at a romantic comedy Irish Wish. I wouldn’t say my interest levels were particularly high. I recognized a few actors in the trailer, obviously Lindsey Lohan for one. I’m a 90’s kid, so Lohan was in several movies I watched growing. I think my understanding of remakes happened because of The Parent Trap. As well as my learning that movies could be near unwatchable thanks to that Disney movie she was in with Tyra Banks. Life Size I think it was. I really don’t care enough to double check the name of it, that’s how much Irish Wish fried my brain. But we’re not there yet.

I’m aware of the problems Lohan faced a few years back, and to be honest I never really paid too much attention to it. I know it was a big deal to some, mostly because she had just come off of Mean Girls, but she appears to be doing much better and that’s all that matters. Speaking of Mean Girls, am I the only person that can’t remember a thing about that movie yet it’s somehow still a thing?

While watching the trailer my eyebrow quirked a bit at Ed Speleers, who just came off of an excellent showing on Star Trek: Picard. He was also in Eragon, which I may have been one of a handful of people to see in theaters, because dragons will never not be cool. Believe it or not, the actor that swayed me to ultimately give Irish Wish a try was Alexander Vlahos. The only thing I’ve seen him in was the second season of Sanditon and really enjoyed his performance in it. So after several days of holding off, I finally put on Irish Wish.

I’ve never regretted something so fast. It took about 30 seconds for me to groan out loud and seriously consider turning the movie off. The movie opens with a red carpet event with Vlahos’ character Paul Kennedy (get used to his name, because you hear it a lot. The whole name.) arriving in a sports car. A Lamborghini I think. Nice car. Also an easy way to show the character is rich. This was not my problem by the way. Lohan’s character, Maddie arrives across the street, why I do not know, the characters lock eyes and we understand quickly with no dialog this is the object of her affection. Then she closes the door to the taxi she arrived in and the scarf she was wearing gets stuck in the door as it drives away. This was the start to me second guessing continuing the movie. I wasn’t sure if they were trying to show us that she is clumsy or blinded to anything else when he’s around, but it was played almost like an attempt at a pratfall. There’s nothing worse than forced comedy. It’s also an over used trait for love-stuck heroines to literally fall head over heels for a guy. After this we discover that Paul Kennedy (yes I’m going to do it every time since every character in the movie does.) is an author and Maddie is his editor. Do book releases get red carpet treatment? I know they do books signing and readings for release, but a full on red carpet with photographers and all. Someone please tell me.

The scene at the launch party was hard to get through. The dialog was horrible and the acting was stale. The interaction with Maddie and her two friends just seemed forced. It was like 3 strangers talking for the first time. Anyway, Maddie has a chance to tell Paul Kennedy that she has feelings for him, but she doesn’t because surprise, she never speaks up for herself and lets others know how she feels about things. We are told this in a phone conversation with her mom, who is played by Jane Seymour. She’s too good for this. After all this Maddie introduces her friends to Paul Kennedy, and would you believe that one of them instantly falls in love with him. There was a moment I thought they were gonna jump each other’s bones. It would have been the most exciting thing to happen in the whole 90 minutes of the movie. Cut to months later, (at this point it felt like actual months in real life) and we’re in Ireland for Paul Kennedy and Emma’s (that’s the friends name that I might have had to look up.) wedding. The airport leads to our “meet cute” with Speleer’s James. They have the same suit case and fight over it and it bust open and she picks up his underwear. Yep groan number 3 or 4. I lost count.

Maddie and James end up on a bus together because we have to have our real love interest talk at some point before the weird magic stuff happens. I just want to take a second and ask another question. Maddie gets on the bus and asks the driver if he can drop her off at a specific spot, being the Kennedy estate. Is that a thing in Ireland? Can you just ask your bus driver to drop you off somewhere? I like to also point out she did not pay for the ride. We have a scene later with James at a bookstore and you see him tap his phone to pay. Back to the bus scene. I didn’t get a spark from them. The movie kind of hits you over the head about people being fated, but I saw more of something from Paul Kennedy and Emma at the book launch than our two romantic leads.

After what felt like a lifetime, we finally got to the actual plot of the movie. Maddie discovers a wishing chair and meets Saint Brigid, who grants Maddie’s wish to marry Paul Kennedy. I had to look up what the wish givers name was mostly because I was either not paying attention or it wasn’t made clear. But I went to the Wikipedia page for Saint Brigid and couldn’t find anything about her granting wishes. I could be wrong of course, I only did a quick scroll of the page, but why didn’t they find an Irish myth associated with wishes or make something up. But that’s the least of the movies problems after all we have more hijinks that need to happen.

Maddie got her wish. She wakes up to Paul Kennedy now being her fiancee and immediately falls over her suitcase which was lost at the airport. I’m not complaining about this. It may be the most logical thing to happen in the movie. Her best friend’s fiancee is in the same room with you taking a shower after you wake up following meeting some weird lady that claims to make wishes come true. Anyone who doesn’t freak out needs to have their head checked. The problem lies with how Maddie acts afterwards. She shows signs of guilt and in ways like she doesn’t want what she wished for, but then we have a scene of her running through the village in a wedding dress chasing Saint Brigid screaming that she doesn’t regret her wish. Maddie keeps Paul Kennedy at arms length yet is dead set on marrying him. There’s a sequence that has James, who is now the photographer for Maddie and Paul Kennedy’s wedding, taking her on a tour of the sights. It all just feels off. At parts they’re acting smitten like they’ve known each other for a while, but they just met. They haven’t even had more than a brief conversation, which was stilted at best. There’s a whole scene involving him teaching her to throw darts that leads to an almost kiss and her saying she’s getting married in two days. All these moments come off like the actors just got the script pages and are saying words. There wasn’t a moment with Maddie and James that I thought they actually felt the emotions they were conveying.

The ending was bizarre. It wasn’t that it was anti-climatic, which it was, it was like somebody realized nothing interesting happened the whole movie so things need to go down at the wedding. Maddie sees Paul Kennedy and Emma sharing a moment the night before the wedding, this of course happens after Maddie and James get into the classic argument love interests need to have before the happily ever after. Paul Kennedy happens to see Maddie and James sharing a moment just hours before tying the knot. This leads into an interesting moment between Maddie and Emma. From the beginning I never saw these two as friends. For starters they barely interacted and they didn’t seem like people that would hang out together. This scene kind of summed it up. Mainly because I’m not sure if they even knew how long they’ve been friends. Maddie confronts Emma about what she saw and I couldn’t tell if Maddie was coming to the realization that she was essentially ruining her friends life, or if she was still deciding if she was going through with the wedding. I mean she was wearing the dress, so at least a part of her was going to go through with it.

One thing I can’t wrap my head around is why didn’t Maddie go back to the wishing chair to undo the wish? Why did she make the effort to call the wedding off? Was it so we could get a terrible fight scene between the men? It was borderline slapstick and was in no way funny. Did Maddie somehow think that if she broke off the wedding things would work out for everyone? She said she wasn’t in love with Paul, but by making the wish it stands to reason that he loved her, even if she did propose. After the scene with Maddie and Emma, I fully expected to see Maddie rushing to undo the wish, yet it wasn’t until James rebuked her did she go. It wasn’t like they had a world-wind romance. It was a couple of days, and if she was beginning to understand people being fated then it would stand to reason that they could end up together in any universe.

At this point the wish is undone and Paul Kennedy and Emma are married. Oh and Paul Kennedy is now a dick. Yes it was not so subtlety hinted that Maddie wrote most of his book, but there were moments that he seemed to almost care about her in a way. If I had to guess, someone felt that we needed a reason to dislike him. I don’t know why it couldn’t have been played off as she realized that he wasn’t right for her and they weren’t meant to be. So much of the main part of Irish Wish was about fate and it would have been nice if it was just an acknowledgement that it wasn’t right. It doesn’t always have to end with the other man or woman being a horrible person.

I didn’t even talk about the sub plot with Jane Seymour. Honestly I would have watched a movie about her as a principal at that school. She was having a video call with Maddie while walking the halls of the high school, because that’s what principals do. The kids are just watching her as she walks and I got this feeling that they were terrified of her. Outside of those small moments at the school she was relegated to comic relief and it was clumsy at best.

There’s nothing worse than watching something and constantly asking why is this happening. I think the problem is, the movie felt rushed. Too much time was spent in the lead up to the wish that when it happened everything was going at full speed. None of the relationships felt believable, which is unfortunate because most of the actors are pretty charismatic. Romantic comedies are hard to do. There’s a balance between being heartfelt and humorous that is difficult to achieve. When I watch these types of movies I want to feel something. I watch action to shut down my brain, horror to feel scared (or grossed out) and, sci-fi to think. When the main characters are separated you want to feel sad along with them and happy when they reunite. I had no reaction other than confusion while viewing Irish Wish. Maybe someone will get something out of it. I certainly didn’t.

This is what I get for watching a trailer with no sound on.

What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?

To say that I enjoy watching movies and TV shows is an understatement. It can be a great escapism. Letting yourself be drawn into the world’s created on scene can help relax you after a stressful day or heighten a good one. Everyone has a go-to when they’re feeling down or nostalgic.

At this point in my life, there has to be dozens of movies and shows I’ve sat through multiple times. But there are some that when the mood strikes have become my go-to.

At the top of the list has to be Stargate SG-1. I enjoyed the movie the show was based on growing up, but I didn’t discover the series until the end of season 6. I became hooked and watched the entire series. The show also represented the first convention I ever attended.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 has more of a personal spot in my life. My dad and I would watch the show as I was growing up, and to this day, we both share a fondness for B-Movies. Over the last couple of years, I have even become part of a larger community with fans, and we often have watch parties, looking back on classic episodes.

I’m a bit of a sucker for Regency romance movies. One that I have probably seen the most is North & South. It’s based on a book by Elizabeth Gaskell, which I have yet to read. I can’t quite place what it is about this one that tops the list, but I tend to lean more towards this one over some of the classic Austen adaptations.

I also enjoy revisting the Band of Brothers miniseries at least once a year. For as many times as I have watched it, I still find myself being emotionally invested in the story of the men of Easy Company from WWII.

When it comes to movies, I could have a list as long as my arm for what I’ve watched more than 5 times. From the Die Hard movies to The Rocketeer and Grease. I could spend hours typing out all the movies that are my favorites on rotation.

I find that sometimes I prefer to revist older movies and shows as opposed to watching something new. Maybe it’s a form of comfort, or I’ve become an old lady stuck in my ways. Regardless, movies and TV are a form of media that we can all understand and can connect people with conversation that they may have never thought about before.