Almost Summer Update 2025
What’s Coming
How are we? I wanted to check in, do a quick recap, and share what’s ahead for Tell Me a Mystery.
Just Finished: We just wrapped up the cozy mystery Fit Girls: Snowmen are Murder, so if you missed any or all of the serial, you can binge-read it now.
Link to Fit Girls: Snowmen are Murder episode 1.
Something new & ongoing: I’m part of a multi-author horror/thriller called Freakshow. It’s fun to see how every author brings something different to their chapter, and the story is taking shape. If you’re interested, here are some links. I’m diving into A.I. animation and have experimented with four programs, creating a Freakshow trailer.
A.I. Animation Projects: My A.I. animation experience launched me into new areas that I never expected to go—as in fully bringing my stories to life with a huge Hollywood film crew. I’m using what I learned to work on two projects. (Still no Hollywood film crew, but the next best thing.)
Stalking Hitchcock. This story was on my back burner, but I now believe I can do it justice, and I’ve renamed the project. It’s now called “The Girl in Scene 54.” A little insider knowledge: I picked Scene 54 because it’s the scene number in the shooting script for Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, where Jimmy Stewart’s character tips his wine glass to Miss Lonely Heart, who was pretending to have dinner with a man. It’s a great little moment in an excellent movie. (That scene has nothing to do with my project; it just means something to me.) The project will be created using animated images and will feel like you’re watching a TV show. It’s a time-consuming process, but it’s also fun!
Time Witch Podcast. As with “The Girl in Scene 54,” I’ve found a great A.I. program to create realistic character voices, which will bring a much fuller experience to my graphic audio podcast of the first Time Witch serial. It’s theater for your ears, but I can do it all myself, and it won’t sound like I’m doing everything. I’ll time the podcast’s release with the release of the Time Witch book’s print & ebooks, but the podcast will be a movie for your ears—like old-time radio shows.
Substack Serials:
DARKLY is an ongoing series that comes out every Tuesday morning. Eleven episodes are out so far, and it’s action-packed. It’s set in the near future, and the rise of A.I. triggered a pushback from magic. It’s not talked about, but the FBI are tracking arcane forces. Of course, there’s a serial killer to catch, and our devilish heroine, Kinley Scott, finds herself in the middle of everything! I dare you to binge-read and catch up if you haven’t already discovered this serial.
I’m also working on the second serial for The Harvey Girl, but I don’t have a release date for it just yet.
Thanks for all your support for my writing and creating! You make me want to keep at it and write the good write!
ABOUT USING A.I.
I would like to share my perspective on A.I. and its applications in my work. Everyone needs to make their own decisions on this topic, and I don’t judge. As a writer, I believe A.I. can never replicate what I can do with the written word. I don’t mind brainstorming with A.I. and find ChatGPT very friendly and encouraging. For a writer that spends most of my time alone, it’s nice. And A.I. can help with the mundane and the grammar. Leave the creative to me! (For anyone who wants to use A.I. to write, I understand. It’s not what I do, but it’s a tool.)
Recently, A.I. changed. Did you notice? It’s insidious, everywhere, and that trend will continue. I certainly noticed how it changed my phone with the last system update. (Not a fan.) But it showed me that A.I. is here to stay. Fight it or use it to your advantage. I decided to use it.
I’m using A.I. to create little movies and audio shows at a higher, professional level. It seems to be the ground floor of what A.I. can put into the hands of the Little Guy or Gal, like me. And it’s AMAZING!
I chased the Hollywood dream for years. I wrote the scripts, I took the meetings, I had a manager for the blink of an eye—the manager was a big mistake—and I learned that the “Gate Keepers” were everywhere. I could see inside, but I couldn’t work inside. No one will tell you why to your face—but that’s because if you suddenly become a success, they don’t want you to hate them—but here’s the real reason they won’t work with you… they want to work with their buddies, and you are not one of their buddies.
If I’m being honest, and I believe that’s the best way to be—less to remember—I don’t want to be their buddy, either. We don’t like the same things. We don’t live the same lives. I’d hate hanging out with them, and they’d never want me around. So, we’re on the same page. And I’m firmly on the outside. Those are the facts that I learned the hard way.
But now… A.I. has given me the tools to create something at a professional level that could compete with Hollywood. Maybe not directly, but in the ballpark. It’s similar to when KDP emerged on the scene and put book publishing into the hands of self-published authors. It turned the stigma around; those same authors are now referred to as indie publishers. The stigma is gone because publishing has undergone significant changes. Well, A.I. is now at the forefront of transforming movie and TV production. Over the next few years, what A.I. can do will explode, and it’s already in our hands. Amazingly, I’ve been building all the skills I need to use A.I. to my advantage. I’ve got skills that fill in the existing technology gaps. The part of creating that A.I. can’t do right now, I can.
A.I. keeps advancing. It’s up to you to decide what form it will take in your life. For some, it will be a zero-policy of no A.I. For others, it will be where it makes your life easier. No matter what, it will creep into your life in ways you can’t stop unless you go off-grid.
I’ve made my choice, and it will take what I can create to the next level. It blows away the gate between me and the audience. I still have to do the creative work and then find the audience, but we’re already on that path.
Now… I get to do the fun part—fiction! The fun creating that makes life a stunning adventure! It’s still a lot of work to develop projects worthy of you—my loyal friends. But it’s fun, and now it’s possible to reach levels that weren’t open to me a year ago. So, off I go! Cheers!
My best wishes for you in all your ventures, new and old!