We are living in interesting times, thanks to AI, which, by the way, I refuse to use, so I’m now going back and adding updated disclaimers to my earlier contemporary romance novels. All were written well before anyone had even heard of AI. The disclaimer simply states that the books were written and edited by real human beings, and that I don’t use AI software of any kind. Most readers appreciate this. They don’t want to read machine written books. They want to read books by real authors, inspired by their human imaginations.
Part of being human, however, means I’m not perfect. No matter how many times I go over my manuscripts, I’m going to miss something. Thankfully, my editor and proofreader will catch many of these errors, but they too are human. They will miss things, as well. So, I figured as long as I’m there, I may as well go over the manuscript and give it a little refresh. Some authors hate doing this, However, I find it interesting. I’ll come across details I forgot were there. I’ll recall conversations I had with my editor or beta reader about whether I should do this or do that. Then there is revisiting the characters. It’s like meeting up with long-lost friends.
I’m currently reviewing The Journey, and I’m making little nips and tucks as I go. My brain works faster than my fingers can type. I often omit words such as the articles a, an, and the, as well as conjunctions such as so, but, and for. Small, simple words we use in everyday conversations. Funny how my brain just assumed those words were there, when they actually weren’t. So, back to the manuscript. Two of the locations I included in The Journey were horse ranches. One in Montana, the other in Colorado. Like many of my locations, the ranches are fictitious. I visualized them in my head and described them in the narrative.
They say life imitates art, or maybe this was just a coincidence. Either way, I recently contacted a friend I hadn’t seen in awhile and invited her to lunch. She gladly accepted, but instead of it being just lunch, it turned into an afternoon outing. A mutual friend found out she would be in the neighborhood, and she wanted to see her too. So, after lunch, we drove to the mutual friend’s house. I’ll call her, Sarah, and as it turned out she lived about twenty minutes away from my house. It was a bit more of a drive than I expected, but my lunch buddy was driving and I hadn’t seen Sarah in a long time, so I looked forward to seeing her as well.
As it turned out, Sarah lives on a beautiful horse property. She has horses, goats, and donkeys as well as a big black dog. My face lit up as soon as we parked in her driveway. When I’m not writing I enjoy photography, and I of course had my phone with me. The new iPhone cameras are amazing. So, with Sarah’s permission, I took several photos, including this one, taken in the barn breezeway. There was a scene in The Journey where two characters have an interesting conversation on a bench inside a barn breezeway. One of them has just connected the dots and is about to have an “aha!” moment when her companion says, no, it’s just a coincidence. While I may not have envisioned a pair of red chairs, I thought of that scene while I shot the photo, and I can easily imagine those two characters sitting in those chairs.
Marina Martindale
The Journey is available on Amazon, Barnesandnoble.com, and with other online booksellers.
Marina’s Journal does not include AI (Artificial Intelligence) generated content. It is written and edited by a real human being. No part of this blog may be used or reproduced or transmitted in any form, or used in any matter by AI, without the express written consent Good Oak Press, LLC. Requests for permission must be addressed to Good Oak Press, LLC, P.O. Box 51244, Denton, TX 76206-1244.