A girl with realistic dreams penned something!
-Mitisha
Mitisha Mukherji is an young talent, enthusiastic about writing. She is born and brought up at Kolkata and is well rooted to her family, background and cultural heritages. She loves to portray her experiences of life, the changes she observed in the society, the transformations through the various incidents of life. She draws inspiration from the conversations with elderly people, daily activities, discussions in her friend circle etc. She penned Saat-Panch (Collection of Bengali poems), Carols of Caroline and few anthology projects like 120 Best Poems by Authors of India and Nebula Dreams. She won International Excellence Award 2024 for Saat-Panch. She is hopeful in pursuing her career as a writer. The above poem is extracted from her book Carols of Caroline which is also available in Amazon and flipkart.
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CNET
an hour ago
- CNET
Prime Video: The 29 Absolute Best Shows to Watch
Have you run out of TV series to tackle on Prime Video? Chances are, you're leaving some great options unwatched. You might know Amazon's streaming service best for shows like The Boys and Fallout -- and both are great -- but you shouldn't stop there if you have a subscription. The streamer is home to lesser-known series like The Devil's Hour and continues to add excellent options, such as the new college-set comedy Overcompensating. Note that Prime Video is ad-supported and charges an extra fee to remove commercials. Read on for this month's new releases and a collection of the best shows on the streamer. What's new on Prime Video in July Note: These descriptions are taken from Prime Video press releases and lightly edited for style. July 9 Ballard, season 1 premiere (2025- ): This series is set in the Bosch universe and follows a detective as she leads the LAPD's new and underfunded cold case division. July 11 One Night in Idaho: The College Murders, premiere (2025- ): This docuseries intimately explores a 2022 American tragedy and its continued impact and fallout. July 16 The Summer I Turned Pretty, season 3 premiere (2022- ): This is a coming-of-age series about first love, first heartbreak and the magic of that one perfect summer. July 21 Justice on Trial, season 1 premiere (2025- ): Judge Judy Sheindlin puts the justice system on trial in this courtroom drama. Best Amazon Prime Video original TV shows This list focuses on shows that have premiered a new season since 2022. Thriller Prime Video The Devil's Hour (2022- ) The Devil's Hour sets up an intriguing mystery: Why is a woman, Lucy, waking up at 3:33 a.m. each night, and why does her 8-year-old son, Isaac, seem oddly emotionless? Starring Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife) as Lucy, Nikesh Patel (Starstruck) as a kind detective and Peter Capaldi (Doctor Who) as a suspicious character, the Devil's Hour is a twisty series that eventually delivers satisfying answers. A bonus? A third and final season is on the way. Niko Tavernise/Prime Video Dead Ringers (2023) Oscar winner Rachel Weisz plays not one, but two main characters in Dead Ringers, Prime Video's version of David Cronenberg's 1988 psychological thriller. The darkly comedic series follows identical twin doctors pursuing their goal of opening a birthing and research center. Spend some time with these unconventional sisters, you'll want to see the whole thing through. York Tillyer/Amazon Studios Chloe (2022) Led by a stellar Erin Doherty, this British thriller will swallow your attention. It centers on Becky, a temp with an unusual pastime: assuming different identities to sneak into fancy art galleries and yoga classes. When a woman she follows obsessively on Instagram suddenly dies, she attempts to uncover more details, once again posing as someone else. Tear away from your timeline and check out this six-episode limited series. Crime Shane Mahood/Amazon Studios Reacher (2022- ) Adapted from Lee Child's best-selling Jack Reacher book series, Reacher's eight-episode first season packs a muscular punch. Reacher, a brawny former US Army military policeman played by Alan Ritchson, arrives in a small town and is promptly arrested for a murder he didn't commit. Armed with killer strength and some solid detective skills, the protagonist eventually fends off an array of enemies while uncovering a criminal conspiracy. A treat for crime thriller fans and lovers of Child's novels. Comedy Prime Video Overcompensating (2025- ) If the news of Max's Sex Lives of College Girls getting canceled left you aching for a new collegiate comedy to obsess over, don't skip Overcompensating. The series' first episode follows university freshmen Benny and Carmen, who feel the pressure to do the deed on night one, lest their social statuses plummet. However, former high school football star Benny is attracted to guys and closeted. Genuinely funny and authentic, this series from comedian Benito Skinner is one of Prime's best new shows. Prime Video The Outlaws (2021- ) Seven strangers are assigned to the same community payback sentence in this appealing comedy thriller set in Bristol, England. The six-episode show is fun, dark and touching, offering an engaging look at its rule-breakers backgrounds and the relationships that form between them. The plot thickens when some members of the group come across a bag of cash. If you need another draw, the show is co-created by Stephen Merchant, who co-created the UK version of The Office. Amazon Studios Undone (2019-2022) This unique series uses the Rotoscoping animation technique to tell the story of a young woman who, after suffering a near-fatal car accident, discovers she can manipulate time. Intriguing, right? It gets better: Bob Odenkirk plays Alma's dead father, who enlists her help in investigating his murder. Bending both time and space, Undone is surreal and beautifully existential for those looking for deep material. Jackie Brown/Amazon Studios The Kids in the Hall (2022) Prime Video has resurrected The Kids in the Hall, the Emmy-nominated Canadian sketch comedy show that originally ran from 1988 to 1995. (By "resurrects," I mean the show literally exhumes members of the comedy troupe from a grave they were buried in at the end of the original show. That's just the beginning of the fun.) Follow the comedians as they freak out over mislabeled desserts, fight over imaginary love interests and write Earth's last fax. Be warned: Some of these sketches are highly NSFW. Amazon Studios A League of Their Own (2022) Prime Video's TV series A League of Their Own is inspired by the 1992 film of the same name and introduces new characters portrayed by Abbi Jacobson, D'Arcy Carden and others. In the comedy-drama's first episode, women try out for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the '40s. The show explores themes of race and sexuality and offers a satisfying period setting and compelling characters. Amazon Studios The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017-2023) A '50s housewife who becomes a standup comic? This brilliant series from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino is filled with sparkling performances from Rachel Brosnahan and Alex Borstein, with dialogue to match. Set in a vibrant and changing New York, our delightful heroine moonlights as a comedian, while doing her duties as an upper-class Jewish American housewife. With impressive visuals, warmth and zingers, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is the full package. Sci-fi Prime Video Fallout (2024- ) Prime Video's video game adaptation is an entertaining postapocalyptic adventure you shouldn't leave sitting in a vault. The series follows three characters occupying the same wasteland. One is Lucy (Ella Purnell), who wanders in search of her kidnapped father and feels the need to invoke the Golden Rule to a cruel post-human Ghoul (Walton Goggins). Meanwhile, an eager Maximus (Aaron Moten) gets his big break as a squire in the Brotherhood of Steel. It's an unpredictable series with humor and gore. Don't let long episode runtimes deter you from exploring Fallout. Prime Video The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy (2024- ) A wacky, stellar adult animated comedy about exceptional alien surgeons, the Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy follows best friends Dr. Sleech and Dr. Klak (voiced by Stephanie Hsu and Keke Palmer) as they perform daily duties like treating a patient using an anxiety-eating parasite (that's just episode 1). The series' out-of-this-world voice cast also features Maya Rudolph, Natasha Lyonne and all five Culkin brothers. Prime Video Paper Girls (2022) The first episode of Paper Girls, a sci-fi TV series based on popular comics by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang, brings together four kids riding bikes on their paper delivery routes in 1988. While that may sound like a sci-fi-er you've binged already, (yep, Netflix's hit Stranger Things), Prime Video's show stands on its own. Follow along as the girls travel through time, navigate powerful adversaries and learn more about themselves. Another reason to watch? Comedian Ali Wong is also part of the cast. Drama Prime Video Expats (2024) A new miniseries starring Nicole Kidman may be enough to guide your finger to the Play button, but you may also want to know that Expats comes from Lulu Wang, the director of the critically acclaimed 2019 comedy-drama The Farewell. In the six-episode show, Kidman portrays an American woman who's living in Hong Kong and is one of three characters linked by a sudden family tragedy. David Hindley/Prime Video Riches (2022) A soapy drama about a family after the death of their wealthy patriarch sits tantalizingly on Prime Video. In Riches, the will reading goes in an unexpected direction, leading Stephen Richard's two sets of children to vie for control of his business. You'll glide through the stylish first season, which includes Ted Lasso Emmy nominee Sarah Niles. Amazon Studios The English (2022) Gripping Western drama series The English stars Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer as an unlikely duo traveling across a treacherous landscape. The first episode of the miniseries presents some terrible characters and reveals a bit of what motivates both protagonists -- Blunt's aristocratic Englishwoman and Spencer's Pawnee ex-cavalry scout -- to continue in the face of danger. Gorgeous visuals and superb acting make The English worth a binge. Alan Peebles/Prime Video A Very British Scandal (2022) Unfurling over three hour-long episodes, A Very British Scandal dramatizes the highly publicized, real-life divorce between the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in the 1960s. Claire Foy, of Netflix's The Crown, and WandaVision's Paul Bettany star. Ali Goldstein/Amazon Studios As We See It (2022) A newer entry to Prime Video, As We See It earns a spot among its best shows. Starring three actors who identify as autistic, this sincere series follows young adults on the autism spectrum as they navigate jobs, make friends and find love. Neurotypical actors usually play autistic characters on screen, so the casting sets this one apart. It's also heartfelt, funny and poignant, with well-rounded characters you'll want to root for. I could let the show's glowing Metacritic score speak for itself -- but whatever convinces you, this needs to be your next watch. Superhero Brooke Palmer/Prime Video Gen V (2023- ) Gen V is a spin-off of Prime Video's hit violent and satirical series The Boys. Despite efforts to keep her head down, freshman Marie Moreau gets swept up in a mystery at Godolkin University, a prestigious but shadowy school for superheroes. The new series' strong characters and fresh story establish it as something pretty super in its own right. Another reason to watch? Season 4 of The Boys picks up after the events of the first Gen V season. Amazon Studios Invincible (2021- ) For those who aren't a fan of cartoons, Invincible could be your converter, up there with other adult cartoons like BoJack Horseman and Rick and Morty. Based on a comic book from Robert Kirkman, the creator of the Walking Dead, Invincible follows 17-year-old Mark Grayson and his training to become a superhero just like his father, who happens to be the most powerful superhero on the planet. Episodes run long at nearly 50 minutes, connected into one big, blood-spattered story. A subversive series with a huge cast featuring Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh and J.K. Simmons, Invincible will engross you in its smart animated world. Amazon Studios The Boys (2019- ) The Boys stormed Amazon with its ultra-violent tale of antihero vigilantes seeking revenge against the world's most beloved superheroes. These heroes aren't what they seem: Their corporate overlords cover up their shady personal lives, including sexual harassment and the odd assassination. With social commentary, black comedy and pops of gore, The Boys takes a thrilling and unapologetic step away from the family-friendly genre. Romance David Lee/Prime Video Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024- ) Prime Video's Mr. & Ms. Smith cast Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in a story about strangers turned married spies. The eight-episode series reimagines the 2005 action film starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, following the unconventional spy couple as they encounter risky missions and, inevitably, a change in their feelings for each other. Dana Hawley/Prime Video The Summer I Turned Pretty (2022- ) If a coming-of-age tale with a peak summer setting, a teenage love triangle and a soundtrack stocked with Taylor Swift songs sounds appealing to you, keep reading. The show centers on Belly (breakout actor Lola Tung), who makes a much-anticipated annual commute to a beach house with her mom and brother. She looks a bit different than she did the last time she set foot on Cousins Beach and spent time with her mom's best friend's sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. Young-adult author Jenny Han wrote the book on which the TV series is based and serves as one of the showrunners. Prime Video With Love (2021-2023) Looking for love? With Love might be the perfect feel-good rom-com. The charming premise sees the Diaz siblings, Lily and Jorge, navigate major holidays across the year, from Halloween to Christmas -- major holidays that put pressure on singletons in search of romantic relationships. Follow the Diazes on their journey, along with their delightful and sometimes delightfully awkward extended family. An earnest, enjoyable breeze. Fantasy Jonathan Prime/Prime Video My Lady Jane (2024) Lady Jane Grey, the Queen of England for just nine days in 1553, is the subject of this Prime Video series. The show doesn't stick closely to the events of her life, weaving in fantasy elements like humans who can turn into animals and imagining a world where she met a fate other than execution. Based on a book of the same name and blending comedy, action, romance and more, My Lady Jane is a wild, enjoyable ride you won't find in a history book. Prime Video I'm a Virgo (2023- ) Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You) created this surreal series about Cootie (Jharrel Jerome), a 13-foot-tall Black man who leaves home for the first time at 19. The gentle giant from Oakland, California, experiences friendship, love and more milestones in this coming-of-age story, which brings humor, social commentary and undeniable originality to the small screen. Ben Rothstein/Prime Video The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022- ) Haven't watched Prime Video's buzzy, wildly expensive fantasy series yet? The Rings of Power brings incredible visuals, a sprawling cast and a sense of adventure to the streaming service. It's set thousands of years before The Lord of the Rings, and in part follows a young version of the character Galadriel, who's played by Morfydd Clark. Amazon Studios The Legend of Vox Machina (2022- ) Buckle up for a new animated series that centers on a group of boisterous, belching misfits called Vox Machina. Based on Dungeons & Dragons web series Critical Role (you don't have to be familiar with that to enjoy this show), The Legend of Vox Machina sees its protagonists go from being broke bar-hoppers to accepting a mission to stop evil brewing in Exandria. We're further introduced to the characters in a musical number that occurs about halfway through the first episode. That's right, I said musical number. You'll be down for every element this show throws at you. Why would anyone choose these misfits to fight for the kingdom? "Well ... they do have a bear," one royal decision-maker concedes. Documentary Prime Video LuLaRich (2021) In LulaRich, the directors of Hulu's Fyre Festival documentary explore the dark side of the multilevel marketing company LuLaRoe. The four-part documentary series interviews founders DeAnne and Mark Stidham and paints a not-so-rosy picture of the women's clothing giant, which is known for its loudly colored and patterned leggings and tops. In the doc, women who joined the company (investing a chunk of money in the process) dealt with stinky merchandise, a toxic culture and challenges in reaching financial goals. Settle in for a fascinating and well-made docuseries that spotlights the stories of former LuLaRoe retailers.
Buzz Feed
2 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
36 Useful 'Most Wished For' Amazon Products
Did you know Amazon has a fun little section called "Most Wished For," where you can see which products fellow shoppers are currently adding to their wishlists? From TikTok-famous beauty finds to practical home products, here are some items to add to your cart (or wish list) ASAP! A surprisingly effective *and* affordable instant foot peeling spray if you want baby-soft footsies but don't have the time or patience to visit the salon for a pricey pedicure. Just spray onto clean, dry feet and rub away dead skin! For an ~extra~ peeling effect, use an exfoliating mitt! An oscillating tower fan so you can cool down instantly when your not-so-trusty air conditioner isn't cutting it. This powerhouse has six speeds, three modes, and an ultra-quiet design that won't disturb you. It also has a remote so you can lazily adjust the settings from the comfort of your bed without ever getting up! The Owala Freesip — it has a clever built-in straw you can sip from, a wide-mouth spout for tip-back drinking, *and* an easy push button-lid to keep everything clean and free of germs while preventing leaks. After this bottle enters your orbit, you'll be saying "Stanley who??" A mighty useful veggie chopper with four interchangeable blades for small and large dicing, spiralizing, and making ribbons. This will become your future must-have kitchen sidekick thanks to its endless applications. Get ready to fall in love with meal prep again now that chopping is a breeze! OPI RapiDry Quick Dry Nail Polish, because have you ever tried to hurry through an at-home mani only to be left with 10 fingers full of nothing but smudges and ripples? This stuff will come to your rescue the next time you're rushing through your nail routine and need a *true* fast-drying polish — I'm talking 60 seconds fast, people. You're welcome. Some internet-famous Mellanni sheets that'll make it hard for you to get out of bed in the best way. It'll also be hard to believe they don't cost hundreds of dollars given the wonderfully soft moisture-wicking microfiber fabric that's giving pure luxury. And! A pair of Beckham Hotel Collection pillows — who doesn't love hotel-quality comfort that comes with a budget-friendly price tag? Your head's about to feel like it's floating on a fluffy cloud. You may even struggle to get outta bed in the morning, so sorry in advance. A snap-on pasta strainer so you can strain hot water and juices from a pot *without* potentially burning yourself OR losing any of your meal. The slim design takes up much less space than bulky colanders so your only regret will be not buying it sooner. A long-handled standing weeder because bending over (and over...) to pull pesky weeds should be illegal. Not only will you save yourself time *and* lots of pain, but the yard will be spruced up with much less effort on your part. Anua Heartleaf Pore Control Cleansing Oil for results you can actually see. This K-Beauty cleanser removes all traces of makeup and sucks sebum from your pores so that your skin is visibly clearer and smoother. If clogged pores are giving you a hard time, this stuff will be a HUGE help. Plus, a TikTok-famous overnight collagen mask so you can give your parched skin a giant gulp of hydration while you catch some Z's. It'll also help reduce the appearance of enlarged pores while firming the skin and boosting elasticity. Wake up and peel it off to reveal visibly tighter, smoother skin that looks downright magical. A washable floral runner with a nonslip backing so it won't go flying around when all you want is a cute lil' cushion under your feet. Use it in the bedroom, kitchen, hallway, or entryway! It has a .35" pile height, which is juuust thick enough to be supportive without being so thick that it's hard to vacuum or clean. The best part? Simply toss it in the washing machine when it needs a refresh! A Ninja Creami if scrumptious desserts might as well be your middle name and you want more of them into your life immediately. This nifty gadget allows you to create dreamy, ~creamy~ treats at home, including ice cream, sorbet, milkshakes, gelato, and more! An instant mold and mildew stain remover spray for eliminating pesky mold from your patio furniture. Spray, wait 15 seconds, and watch the mold vanish! Bonus: It can also be used in the bathroom and kitchen so you'll never run out of ways to put it to use. A pack of ultra-thin velvet hangers, which means you're about to save a jaw-dropping amount of space in your closet when organizing it. These hangers are much slimmer than the bulky plastic ones so you'll appreciate how much more stuff you can squeeeeze in there now. A spacious lay-flat makeup bag to hold all your beauty items and then some. You'll actually be able to find what you need since it opens wide to provide a clear view of the contents! It has several pockets and a clear middle divider that also functions as a clear zipper pouch. If all others have failed to store your robust collection of cosmetics, this bag is up to the challenge. Antibacterial paper soap sheets you'll keep around the house *and* in your bag at all times. The next time you find yourself in a public bathroom with the dreaded no-soap-anywhere situation, you'll be so glad you bought these. Just grab a sheet, add water, and rub your hands together to create a foamy lather! A moisturizing Mise En Scene hair serum if your locks are feeling brittle and drier than ever — this K-beauty product has you covered. It's made with seven nourishing oils, including argan, coconut, olive, apricot, marula, jojoba, and camellia. Reviewers praise this serum for helping to combat dryness! Plus, it smells divine. A set of acrylic dispensers with lids *and* labels so you can achieve peak bathroom organization in one fell swoop. They'll complement your aesthetic while keeping your toiletries in pristine order. Who says you can't have it all? A bottle of Angry Orange citrus deodorizer, which will address that pee stain you just stumbled upon. Spray the spot, let it sit for up to 10 minutes, then blot. No relentless scrubbing required! It'll fill your home with a heavenly citrus aroma so heavenly, you'll have zero regrets about buying it. A lidded charcuterie board that'll have you on track to become the designated host for all upcoming events. When you're not busy impressing guests, you can use it to store fruit and veggies you cut for the week. Meal prep is about to be, dare I say, FUN! Solar Buddies refillable roll-on sunscreen sponges for a super simple and effective way to apply SPF (no sticky mess included). It's also great for kids who *love* to do everything without help. Add sunscreen to the bottle and use the sponge to apply it! A set of slide-out cabinet organizers — it'll help you take charge of the cluttered situation under your sink that's been haunting you. These trusty organizers will help you use the space available to get organized ASAP! A handheld mini fan because as excited as we all are for this warm weather, it's also important to be able to cool down ASAP. This multitalented gadget also acts as a flashlight *and* a backup power bank. New summer essential unlocked 🔓. A genius 2-in-1 oil dispenser — a single device you can rely on for all your spraying *and* misting needs. Now that's useful! The precision nozzle delivers a fine mist or steady stream of oil depending on what you're prepping. Whether you're oiling up your popcorn or spritzing a sheet pan of veggies, this dispenser has you covered. A small but powerful Levoit air purifier tons of reviewers swear by, especially if you're an allergy sufferer. This will help keep your home clean by filtering out pet dander, dust, mold, and pollen from the air so you can breathe a whole lot easier. And an ultra-quiet Levoit humidifier designed with a top-fill tank for seamless refills — no splashing or spilling to worry about here. It also has a wide opening so cleaning and maintenance are a breeze too. The 2.5-liter tank allows it to run for 25 hours at a time, so you can enjoy its magnificence for a long time before a refill is needed! A revitalizing cuticle oil infused with vitamin E to moisturize and strengthen plus a nourishing blend of sunflower, safflower, and cottonseed oils to repair nail damage. If you're prone to dryness and breakage, adding this oil to your routine may help you grow thicker, stronger, healthier nails! A set of magnetic spice shelves that'll come in handy when your cabinet and drawer space is sorely lacking. Stick 'em on the fridge and load 'em up with spices that have been patiently awaiting a permanent place to call home! A corduroy foldable sleeper chair when space is limited but the cozy vibes are not — this is the perf option for a reading nook *and* it transforms into a bed for any houseguests you may have, so it's plenty practical. I foresee many impromptu afternoon snoozes on this thing. Some cult-favorite Clean Skin Club Clean Towels with so many uses, you'll be amazed by their versatility. Combine them with makeup remover or face wash for a gentle cleansing experience OR use 'em to dry your skin after washing. Bonus: They're soft, disposable, and free of chemicals — unlike reusable towels, which are basically bacteria's fave breeding ground. A Bissell Little Green machine, which is a portable, lightweight device that can combat ALL the yucky stains in your home with ease. Whether it be pet accidents, wine spills, or kid-related messes, you'll be amazed by its abilities. When you see what was in your carpet, you'll have no doubt in your mind that this is one of your smartest purchases ever. A set of clear plastic bins for anyone who's been avoiding their cluttered desk drawer AT ALL COSTS due to the chaos that awaits. Everything will have a designated place and you'll no longer dread looking for things. These can be used for so many things, like office essentials, bathroom supplies, and makeup products. Your junk drawer doesn't stand a chance. Tushbaby's hip carrier if you *literally* need to take a load off when it comes to carrying your kid around. This will help prevent back strain and it has plenty of storage pockets for your parenting essentials. The adjustable waistband extends up to 46 inches or you can grab their waist strap, which adds an extra 24 inches. A double-layer cat litter-trapping mat with a honeycomb design to catch and trap litter, which helps reduce the scattering you end up having to clean multiple times per day. Press in on the sides to open the mat, then dump the litter back into the box (or the trash). SO simple and SO useful! An ~aesthetic~ 2-in-1 cooler side table when you've been anxiously waiting the arrival of backyard gathering season. Mark my words, everyone will marvel at your brilliance for having a chic side table that also happens to double as a massive cooler for ice-cold refreshments.
Indianapolis Star
2 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Romance authors busted using AI expose alarming trend in publishing
When I open a book, I expect every word to be produced by a human. Why shouldn't I? Humans have written literary masterpieces without machines for hundreds of years. There is more than enough evidence to prove it is possible. However, the literary landscape has changed since then. Reading in genres like self-published romance and fantasy, often called romantasy, has enjoyed a recent surge in popularity, thanks to social media platforms like TikTok and its BookTok community. But with the rise of AI and its abilities in writing, it seems some people are drawn to the quickest shortcut. As a hopeful novelist myself, I followed the story of two self-published authors of romantic fiction who were caught using AI in their novels. Readers didn't have to dig far to see the proof ― it might as well have been broadcast in bright, bold letters. Fans of the romantasy series "Darkhollow Academy: Year One" by Lena McDonald were excited for the second installment of the series, but a passage in chapter three of "Darkhollow Academy: Year Two" gave them pause: "I've rewritten the passage to align more with J. Bree's style, which features more tension, gritty undertones, and raw emotional subtext beneath the supernatural elements." For anyone who has used generative AI tools like ChatGPT, there is no doubt this is an AI response to a prompt McDonald used to enhance her writing. What's worse is that she chose a specific, successful author to mimic. Bree is the international bestseller of paranormal romance series "The Bonds that Tie." Hicks: AI won't steal your job. It will make human tasks more valuable. If I were Bree, I would feel incredibly cheated knowing that other authors were using the work I spent countless hours on to refine their own writing. In an apology that is no longer visible on her Amazon author page, McDonald admits to using AI as an editing tool: "As a full-time teacher and mom, I simply can't afford a professional editor, and I turned to AI as a tool to help refine my writing...I'm taking this seriously and will be reviewing the book carefully, making corrections where needed, and being more transparent in the future about my process." Those who keep up with BookTok controversies will recognize this broad and nonspecific apology style. What does "making corrections" even mean? Getting rid of the AI involvement, or hiding the evidence of it better? The next author is K.C. Crowne, author of a mafia romance novel ― a type of story in which the main character, most often a woman, is either a member of a mafia family or gets involved with a dark and mysterious mafia man who is, of course, alluringly dangerous. "Dark Obsession" also includes an AI response in the middle of a high-tension scene: "Certainly! Here's an enhanced version of your passage, making Elena more relatable and injecting additional humor while providing a brief, sexy description of Grigori. Changes are highlighted in bold for clarity." Opinion: Indiana prides itself on work. What happens when AI takes our jobs? | Opinion Due to overwhelming negative reviews, Crowne had no choice but to apologize in an email to Futurism, a technology-focused online publication. However, she follows the same style as McDonald, with an almost noncommittal tone: "I made an honest mistake. I accidentally uploaded the wrong draft file, which included an AI prompt. That error was entirely my responsibility, and that's why I made the tough decision to address it publicly," Crowne wrote in the email. Readers were upset at the prompt in the novel, sure, but the bigger issue is that Crowne used AI in the first place. She takes accountability for the editing mistake, not the use of AI. There is so much I could try to unpack about why some authors choose to use AI, but there is so much that I don't understand. In a survey recently conducted by the online industry publication BookBub, 45% of 1,200 surveyed authors are currently using AI in their process, at least for marketing and administrative tasks, but over 25% said they do include AI in the writing process. Around 69% of respondents said they are self-published. Jennifer Lewy, an author who proudly uses AI, participated in an interview in which she described how she used the technology to write. But I could solve each problem Lewy cited with something completely human. Need prompts for where the story could go next? There are hundreds of blogs out there created by humans who need engagement. Need to review a paragraph for clarity or intrigue? Ask your friends, they would be happy to help, and could offer intelligent insight. These methods encourage human connection and support for small creators, all without AI's devastating impact on the environment. I believe authors are turning to AI because they don't want to think. Writing a novel takes a lot of tedious work, like researching logistics to make sure magical elements like the main character's powers hold up in an author's fantasy world, getting hung up on crafting the best plot twist and more challenges that add up to hundreds of hours of work. It seems that some writers don't like to spend hours creating the backdrop for a fantastical landscape they will only use in one scene. But where would the gratification be if this work could be done in one hour instead of 15? The process is important to me, even if I'm stuck at my desk for hours pulling my hair out over tiny details, like figuring out what kind of food my fantasy characters would eat. Opinion: I love technology. AI is creating a future we don't want. | Opinion If I let AI do the work for me, I would lose the satisfaction of connecting all of the red string on the corkboard and seeing the pieces come together. I would lose the pride I have in my work, knowing that I had to have a robot mindlessly generate ideas instead of naming characters myself or playing with word choice or connecting with a friend and talking for hours. I would lose the part of writing that makes me a better writer. It seems impossible that authors using AI won't stagnate. Without those grueling hours of creative thinking, plots will turn towards cliches and become even more predictable, spelling a downturn in quality. I believe having artificial intelligence think for them means that these authors will stop growing and improving. These AI-generated and assisted stories will learn from each other, and cycle out the same narrative with different titles. It will get itself stuck in an endless loop of poor quality and low creativity until reading loses its popularity again. When I eventually publish a book, there is a high chance that some form of AI will steal it. This leaves me with two options: unwillingly become a part of a system that I despise, or never follow my long time-publishing dreams. Ten-year-old me would be devastated if robots got the chance to be bestsellers before she did. This terrifies me. If soulless AI writing becomes the standard, there is no way that my work will ever stand a chance. As a reader, I crave unique magic and diverse characters. If AI sticks to the script of what's popular, both could disappear entirely. Others may see AI as the future, a new tool to revolutionize the writing world. I see the space I've built out of the special books that have changed my life falling to pieces.
