It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.
The awesome co-hosts for the August 7 posting of the IWSG are Feather Stone, Kim Lajevardi, Diedre Knight, C. Lee McKenzie, and Sarah - The Faux Fountain Pen!
August 7 question - Do you use AI in your writing and if so how? Do you use it for your posts? Incorporate it into your stories? Use it for research? Audio?
I have never used AI for anything that I know of. I do my own research. (So, I guess if Google is AI…?) I don’t use Grammarly. But ultimately, true AI doesn’t exist for the general public. The AI we have access to has restraints. It’s not true AI. (Real AI is a bit scary.)
We need two more co-hosts for September and then four co-hosts each month for the remainder of the year. Leave a comment or send me an email if you can help. If you have never co-hosted – it is a blast! Ask our regular co-hosts. You will get a ton of visitors and meet some new friends. Go ahead – give it a try!
And don’t take my word for it – this is what first-time co-host JS Pailly had to say last month:
I wanted to thank you for letting me co-host IWSG last week. I wasn't 100% sure what I was getting myself into, but it turned out to be way more fun than I expected.
Movie Review – Deadpool and Wolverine
It was a lot of fun to watch. I laughed a lot. Tons of funny lines, most of which I can’t remember now.
Tying it in with all the other Marvel properties was smart. And obviously the pairing of the two leads was brilliant. Wolverine is an A-list Marvel character and he really brought in the crowds to see the film.
The cameos and Easter eggs are overflowing.
Also the bloodiest Deadpool movie to date.
However, they broke the fourth wall so many times with references to 20th Century Fox, Disney, and Marvel that it kept reminding me it was just a movie and that pulled me out a lot. There might have been some plot holes as well. Nothing that ruined the movie though.
If you enjoyed the other two, you will enjoy this one.
New Releases!
Deep Curse: A Mermaid Romance (Cursed Waters Book 1) by Patricia Josephine
A thousand year curse.
A mythical creature of the deep.
Is true love enough to save a cursed mermaid?
Find it on Amazon
Because No One Noticed by C. Lee McKenzie
Five juniors at Las Animas High have a long history together. They love, dislike, or tolerate each other depending on the day. Occupied with class assignments, career choices, family disharmony, and the usual teen turbulence, none of them thinks seriously of the danger lurking in their near future or how fragile and temporary life is.
Find it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo
Laya’s Vacation by Jean Davis
Short-tempered from the summer heat, Laya takes a vacation in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, far away from her family and friends. She travels to Paradise, Whitefish Point, and Tahquamenon Falls to see what animals and sights exist beyond the chicken yard.
Find it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble
The Trespassers by Steven Arellano Rose, Jr.
After crash-landing on a desert planet, astronaut and forensic anthropologist Gav Torres becomes separated from the rest of his expedition. He soon enough reunites with everybody except one person: his fiancé, Shelley Wu. Gav’s persistence to find Shelley will soon reveal to him the alien terror from beyond death that may be responsible for her disappearance, the previous expeditions’ disappearances and the likely annihilation of himself and the rest of the current expedition.
Find it here
August Movie Preview
Here are the theatrical releases for August. Descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snark provided by me.
8 –
RiffTrax Live – Point Break
The guys are riffing Point Break, the early nineties flick starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves.
The only bummer is this isn’t actually live, as they have already recorded it and will broadcast it on August 8 and 13.
9 –
Borderlands
Director: Eli Roth
Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Haley Bennett, Gina Gershon
Based on the best-selling videogame, this all-star action-adventure follows a ragtag team of misfits on a mission to save a missing girl who holds the key to unimaginable power.
Do the video game to movie adaptations that suck also end up in the landfill with ET?
16 –
Alien: Romulus
Director: Fede Alverez
Stars: Isabela Merced, Cailee Spaeny, Archie Renaux
While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
Stop me if you’ve heard this – a group of people go on a ship and encounter an alien…
23 –
The Crow
Director: Rupert Sanders
Stars: Bill Skarsgård, FKA twigs, Danny Huston
When soulmates Eric and Shelly are brutally murdered, Eric is given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself and sets out to seek revenge, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right.
This is a cash grab! Skip it and watch the original brilliant and haunting version with Brandon Lee.
Do you use AI? Have you seen Deadpool and Wolverine? Picking up some new books? What movies catch your eye for August? And can you co-host the IWSG any month this year?
60 comments:
Hi, I want to watch Plane and the movie with Eddie Murphy. They're on Netflix, but I need to take the time to watch them. I can co-host in November or December. Have a lovely day. Shalom shalom
"100% Pure Adrenaline!"
Hi, Alex!
To this day, I still use that quotable quote from Point Break, having watched the film shortly after its original release. I routinely use AI generated art. The preview of Alien: Romulus has me stoked. Sounds like 100% pure adrenaline!
I'm back with a new Shady's Place post this coming Sunday and invite you to swing by. Enjoy the rest of your month, good buddy Alex!
Hi Alex, Happy IWSG Day. Thanks for the review. Not a huge Marvel fan but saw a trailer and it had me intrigued.
I'm hopefully going to the cinema over the weekend to see Deadpool & Wolverine. From the clips I've seen it does look a lot of fun.
Congrats to Patricia, Lee, and Jean! I like Marvel Movies, however, Deadpool was not my one of my favorites. Alex, excluding September, I'm available to co-host any month.
Hola and Hello! As a marvel fan, I'm happy to see a positive and a no-spoiler review of this movie:) It's not as easy as it were to open social media with all the spoilers in the air.
Yeah, I guess it's a good thing you've never used Grammarly. I hope you get more co-hosts. I miss the days of being able to do that. I always enjoy Patricia Josephine's work and have picked up her ebook. The current movies look interesting but only of if I'm watching from my couch on a day off. Thanks for another hop. I'm off to work.
Congratulations to Patricia, Lee, Jean, and Steven! I hope the rain doesn't hang out for days in your hood like it has in Bluffton, SC. I had the same question about whether I'm using AI when I Google. Manipulating search results for secret purposes does seem rather artificial and intelligent! I can co-host in October or November.
I do use AI as a tool, for sure. I remember Point Break! That will be a good film to riff on.
I already have so many movies on my To Watch list, but I might make a note of the Alien movie. What's one more, right? Sigh.
Thanks, Pat!
Shady, I'll be there.
Ray, it is.
Anastasia, I try not to give spoilers.
Thanks, Jennifer!
Can’t wait to see these two together! I can co-host September and November….
This is Jacqui at WordDreams. Plug me in wherever you need for co-hosts. I can do any of the months.
Didn't see any movies that caught my eye, but Laya's Vacation made me smile. My daughter just bought a house in Paradise, MI. My grandkids are all grown, but it would have been a cute book when they were younger.
I wanna see Deadpool and Wolverine! The new book releases all look good, I hadn't heard about Trespassers yet, so thanks!
I haven't used AI for writing or assisted writing--wait I have used ProWritingAid to help find my grammar mishaps.
Loved Deadpool and Wolverine. I was laughing throughout the movie. Especially at the references to 20th Century Fox and their Marvel produced movies. Love, love, love the introduction of the one X-men character that never made it to the movies. IMO, Channing Tatum did the character proud. Deadpool and Wolverine are my new favorite ‘buddy cop’ genre.
There’s nothing coming out this month that I really want to see.
Congrats to Patricia, C. Lee, Jean and Steven on your book releases!
Did you know that Nicepool is his rl twin bro?
New Alien movie. 🐈 Will there be a cat? Cats live. 😁
Good looking book covers. Sound like cool reads.
https://www.comingsoon.net/guides/news/1816854-ryan-reynolds-twin-gordon-reynolds-nicepool-deadpool-wolverine
Fake twin brother 🤣🤣🤣
Like all tools, if used right AI can be beneficial, but in the wrong hands and for the wrong purposes, it will/can be a disaster. Thanks for the shoutout about my book and for the movie mentions.
Thanks for listing my book, Alex! I wasn't expecting that, especially since I never got around to mentioning it for the IWSG newsletter for the month.
For my preferences, it's been a bad summer for newly released movies. Nothing really appeals to me as far as new movies go. I think I'm just going to attend a local film fest that's coming up and anything else I'll just watch on video.
The only AI I use for my writing is the one I don't know about in common tools such as spell checks and the AI characters in my stories! Lol
Congrats to the authors with new releases and thanks for the reviews:)
That's a lot of new books. Borderlands looks interesting.
I think it's important to recognized the difference between AI generated or AI assisted.
The information on IWSG Writing Tips, AI, and More page is very helpful. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see AI links. Here's the link.
https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/writing-tips.html
I may be at a point of using AI without even knowing it. I just don't know. Ha.
Congratulations to the new authors.
Keep a smile, Alex. We love you.
I'm hopeful that some good could eventually come from AI. So far, it seems to be causing problems.
Good book and movie selections.
Howdy, Captain!
I thought Grammarly might have more of a personal touch than 'plain old word'. I find it helpful in a bossy kind of way. I'm not giving up on Word.
Congratulations to all for the new releases! I've got new releases by Sandra Cox and C Lee McKenzie already on my TBR list, and a few assorted Dean Koontz and Catherine Ryan Hyde, also two works in progress. I'm keeping busy this year ;-) However, I am happy to help in November, Captain.
I'm not even sure how we should define AI for this question. I use spell-checkers and (reluctantly but of necessity) grammar checkers, but don't care to encourage the sorts of things that look like trying to take over writers' jobs. And the energy costs of all that AI generation is non-trivial, something I only recently thought about.
I definitely want to see Deadpool and Wolverine. The reviews seem pretty consistently like yours.
I agree that you should probably just stick with the original Crow with Brandon Lee. I thought the whole thing of a new one was it would be more like the original comic but I read that this year and this doesn't seem like that, so yeah, cash grab.
Thanks for the movie reviews. All are on my list!! Checking my wallet to see if I can afford popcorn. I'd be happy to co-host since it's been a while. Just not in September - have writerly obligations.
Google is AI now. It's why it keeps generating such massively wrong answers these days.
Going to see D&W this weekend. Can't wait.
Put my name down as cohost for September and beyond. It's a privilege to be part of this group
Hugh Jackman has never disappointed me before.
I can co-host any month, but not September.
Lisa and Jacqui, thanks!
Lidy, the references to Fox and the like were funny.
Lee, you're welcome!
Steven, you're welcome - I had t include it!
Diedre, thanks!
Nancy, appreciate that.
PJ, thanks!
Olga, cool.
True AI is very scary - and I am more than a little scared of the uses that this version will be put to.
Co-hosting is fun! But it does help if you schedule your post for 3AM like you meant to instead of 4:30 PM. Oops!
I'll probably watch the new Deadpool movie eventually but I still need to watch the second one.
Hi Alex,
I thought I already commented but, it doesn't appear to be here. Anyway, AI scares me. I haven't seen any movies in the theater lately. I was going to watch Twister in 4D while traveling but, decided against it. have you ever watched one in 4D?
Wait. The AI we have access too, that is scary enough on its own, isn't even it??? That's not surprising now that you said it, but for some reason it didn't occur to me. Eesh. Oy!
I always appreciate your comments. Saves us a lot of wasted time. Deadpool and Wolverine sound excellent.
Thank you for hosting #IWSG, Alex. Reading all the posts on this month's topic has been quite informative, giving me a more comfortable perspective on what we already consider AI products and what the future might hold.
Deadpool is on Firestick, which means someone filmed it off the theatre screen while they were viewing the movie. I'm going to be patient and wait. Happy IWSG day, Alex.
I agree with you about AI. Most of us have no idea.
Congrats to all who have new releases!
It seems like true AI might be like a wild animal that needs to be kept locked up for our safety. Congrats to all with books out, that's a great selection.
Sarah, no worries.
Truedessa, not in 4D. I guess wind blows through the theater?
Rosey, the closest thing to real AI has not been released because the tech companies are finding it is unpredictable and gives disturbing answers. It's still not a hundred percent true AI, but it's really close.
Gail, that's why we do it!
Joylene, good idea.
Nick, that is a great description.
I can co-host in October.
Point Break is a perfect movie to do a RiffTrax to. It's been ages since I saw it, but it is so mockable.
Interesting question, and I use AI a lot more than I thought I would, but never for writing (as that just feels wrong) or research as the accuracy for travel writers is appalling. I use it for formatting, as a thesaurus for expressions, and as a starting point for keyword research.
As for the movies, Borderlands isn't my favourite genre, but I love the cast.
I'm rather like you in that I try to avoid AI whenever possible, thinking it's mostly intrusive. Thank you for the movie tips, especially that new Dead Pool/Wolverine. Can't wait. Keep writing! And, as always, thank you for motivating so many with IWSG. Not sure how to e-mail you as I can't find your e-mail anywhere, but I'll volunteer for Sept if I'm still needed. bluebethley at yahoo and you know the rest.
I'm looking forward to Deadpool and Wolverine. I've heard so many good things about it. I'm quite a fan of breaking the fourth wall.
Congrats to the new releasers!
Wow, Point Break. I haven't thought of that movie in years.
I hope to co-host again, but right now I'm too swamped with moving and my new job. Maybe in 2025.
We agree on Deadpool/Wolverine - it was a howl. I don't use AI and the ad during the Olympics with the dad wanting Genesis to write the daughter's fan letter annoyed me. Kids need to know how to write their own fan letter - true sincerity. Arrggh!
I'm an old fart on this subject. Meanwhile congrats to all new books and writers. I wish them sales luck.
Thanks, Kim!
Beth, thanks - I'll email you.
Janet, that's fine.
I'm a Wolverine fan. Before this I'd never seen a Deadpool. I very much enjoyed when he said Fox killed him and Disney brought him back. He's gonna be doing this until he's 90.
Hi Alex - you'll know where I fall ... but congratulations to our author's new releases ... I've loved Lee's books. We have to learn how to read and write ... and comprehend - we're going to have contracts etc to sign up to ... life in the AI lane - just glad I'm on the edge thankfully! Looks like you have a fair number of offers for hosts et al - Cheers and continue to enjoy your break - Hilary
Yes, I can co-host any month except October. Love doing it. Congrats on all the new releases!! What a wonderful gang of working writers in this group.
I picked up Lee's book. Looking forward to reading it!
Alex, I can help out in one of the months for you. Just let me know when.
Bravo to all the authors on their new releases. They all sound fabulous.
You know, these movies look scary, Alex. I don't like scary movies. But my daughter says the new Twisters movie is great. I'm looking forward to seeing that one.
All best to you, sir!
I saw Deadpool & Wolverine opening weekend at my husband's insistence. I'm a huge Hugh Jackman fan, so that was the selling point for me. I actually enjoyed the breaking of the fourth wall, and I found myself laughing out loud A LOT. Guess I wasn't just there for Hugh after all!
Yep. Never touched ai either that I'm aware of. Deadpool and wolverine was good indeed. Much better sequel than the likes of beverly hills cop 4.
I do not use AI and don't see myself going there at all. I find it annoying and easily recognizable, frought with so many dangers that I wish it would just go away.
I'm late! I don't think I'd use AI because then, I'm not writing it. I don't want to be that lazy. I so want to see Deadpool and Wolverine which looks very funny. Maybe they will be the new Hope And Crosby for films. Congrats to the new books coming out. I have no clue about the new movies.
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