Gary Baysinger's Blog

To AI or not to AI? That is the question. Does technology control us or do we control it?

Do you think AI is evil or a godsend? Amazon KDP is beta testing a new product called Audible AI. That’s exactly what it is, an audiobook generated by artificial intelligence. Amazon offers this product to authors allowing them to convert their E-Books into Audio Books. People have a strong reaction when they hear “AI”. Some think it is the work of the devil, while others view it as a useful piece of technology. I have mixed feelings about the application of AI. As a self-publishing author, people ask if I do Audio Books. I don’t because the start-up cost is prohibitive. Does it make sense to produce an Audio Book that costs thousands of dollars, just to sell a handful of books? No, it doesn’t. When I saw this new product being promoted, my interest peaked. How could I not explore the opportunity to create an audio book for free?
I hear feedback that AI Audio Books don’t sound as good as human voices. That’s a fair critique and everyone has their own standards of what is acceptable. I also hear feedback saying it is putting book narrators out of work. That my be the case, but isn’t that how technology works? Think back to before the printing was invented. Everything had to be written out and copied by hand. The printing press enabled the mass production of books and the dissemination of knowledge. Did people pine for all of the scribes who were no longer needed? Maybe there was a hue and cry. I don’t know, it was before my time.
What about E-Books? Back in the day, if you wanted to publish a book you had to either write it out by longhand or type it up. Then you had a go through a publisher or you could self-publish. Either way, some printer had to set up the printing press with all the headers, footers, margins, line-spacing, indentation, font size, etc . . . A tedious process. Now, you can do all that in MS Word with a click of the mouse. You can then send out the finished product in digital format and bypass the printer entirely. Does this mean there are fewer opportunities for that overworked printer? Would you stop reading E-Books in protest?
I think everyone has their comfort level with technology. Embrace or don’t embrace it. Either way, it is here to stay. As a self-publishing author, if someone gives me the opportunity to put my work in front of an audience that I was previously unable to reach, I’m going to check it out.
I could go on with other examples of technology that we take for granted, but I won’t. I have to take the carriage down to the blacksmith so he can fix the front axle. Man, I wish that someone would figure out how to rig an internal combustion engine to one of those things. It would be so much easier. Better yet, I wish someone would invent an internal combustion engine.

My new novel, What We Say in the Dark, is out. You can pick up a copy at Amazon by clicking on the link, https://www.amazon.com/What-Say-Dark-...

I collaborated with a new editor and I think we are a good match. Decide for yourself.

I never set out to be a writer. From a young age, I always enjoyed reading but the thought of writing a full-length novel seemed daunting. When I published my first novel a few years ago, I kept telling myself that I wasn’t writing a novel, that I was just putting some ideas down on the page. Four hundred pages later, I had a novel.
Having published a novel, I now read other novels differently. Before, I either liked a book or I didn’t. I never gave much thought as to why. Now I read books and I analyze what the writer is doing; how are they telling the story? How do they introduce the character, what plot devices do they use? I think it’s made me a better writer but maybe it’s reduced the pure enjoyment factor of reading.
Having said that, here are some books that influenced my soon to be released new novel, What We Say in the Dark.

Night Soldiers, Alan Furst – A sweeping espionage epic that follows a young Bulgarian, Khristo, as he is recruited by the KGB. We follow him from Moscow to Spain, France, and eventually America. I read this a few years ago and found it liberating because the author wrote about things that I wanted to write about. Go beyond all the cloak and dagger stuff and remind the reader that these spies are flawed people. Try and give the story a little humanity, something we can relate to.

A Small Death in Lisbon, Robert Wilson – A mesmerizing dual timeline story set in Lisbon in the 1990’s and 1940’s. The murder of the teenage daughter of high-ranking Justice department official leads back to WW II and Portugal’s role as a neutral haven in a continent embroiled in conflict. This book put the hook in me regarding Portugal. I’ve never been to Lisbon, but after reading this, I became fascinated by the place and went down a rabbit hole of research about the City of Light. Sounds like a fascinating place.

My second novel, What We Say in the Dark will be released April 28th. Available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/What-Say-Dark-...

I am happy to announce that my soon to be released novel, What We Say in the Dark, is a finalist for the Chanticleer International Book Awards. The winners will be announced in April. Fingers crossed.

What We Say in the Dark

I am pleased to share that my debut work, A Kind of Homecoming is a First Place Winner for Short Prose, Novellas, and Collections as selected by the Chanticleer International Book Awards. I thought it was pretty cool just to be nominated.

A Kind of Homecoming

I am pleased to announce that two of my books are finalists for the Chanticleer International Book Awards. "Margaret's Last Prayer" is a finalist for the Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction. "A Kind of Homecoming" is a finalist for Novellas and Short stories. It's not often your work gets recognition. Two for two, I think this calls for a celebration.

I've always been a fan of Ernest Hemingway, something about his spare, lean, writing style I found compelling. I always wanted to write like him, until I realized I couldn't. So, I was thrilled when my Novel "Margaret's Last Prayer was shortlisted for Chanticleer's 2023 International Book Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction. It's known as the Hemingway Award. It's not that often your name and Hemingway's name are spoken in the same conversation. Enjoy the moment while it lasts, because it never does.

https://www.chantireviews.com/2024/02...

I often base characters in my book on people I know, at least as an outline to work off of. Some I know personally; others are well-known figures. I find it makes it easier to write about. For my novel, Margaret's Last Prayer, set in Alsace, I'd become fascinated with bi-culturalism and the idea of people who had roots in two different countries. I based one of my characters, a young Alsatian man named Paul, on Lou Gehrig, the famous baseball player. Known as the Pride of the Yankees, Lou was as American as they come. But I learned that Lou's parents were German immigrants, and he didn't speak English until he attended school. His birth name was Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig. He later attended Columbia University where he was discovered by the New York Yankees baseball team. The rest is history. I couldn't resist giving the real Lou Gehrig a cameo in my novel when one of the characters gets his autograph. You can do stuff like that when you're a writer.

I was fortunate enough to be interviewed by a radio station from Blackpool, England, about my novel, A Kind of Homecoming. You can hear it by clicking on the link below. (It's only nine minutes)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tCyc...

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Inspiration comes from the strangest of places. I wrote a scene of a harvest celebration. Having never lived 18th century France, I had to guess what the vibe would've been like. So, I thought of the Grateful Dead song "The Music Never Stopped." That line captured the mood for me. Singing and dancing never gets old. Sometimes I get a little caught up in trying to get in the heads of the characters. I often forget that people are still people, some of the simpler things like; singing, dancing, and romancing, never change.