M.H. David's Blog

If it feels like you're hitting a wall in your life, remember, sometimes walls are there to lean against and rest. 

Rest, re-group, and reset. Life might seem like a race sometimes, but in my experience, playing the long game has always been more satisfying.

Have a great day, everyone.

Just yesterday, I witnessed a mutual creative make a post on Facebook in which he bragged about writing his first movie script in only two weeks. Upon reading these first few lines, I was impressed. I was further impressed by his next claim that after doing thirteen drafts (I’m assuming he meant editing pass-throughs), he submitted it to a film festival and it was, within a few days, announced as a selection. I’m not sure what “selection” means in this particular festival, but I would assume it’s a favorable accomplishment. To be honest, after reading the post as a whole, my impressed feeling of his accomplishment quickly turned to a mid-level envy. As a writer, how could I not feel at least the tiniest bit, right? Envy aside, I sincerely congratulated him on his accomplishment.

Among the many comments of congratulations, one commentor asked, “What’s the script about?” The reply from the original poster is a long-winded AI generated description of the story, followed by an admission from the original poster that he used Chat GPT to write the description in his reply. Immediately, I’m feeling awry about the whole thing now and want to rescind my congratulations. I want to ask him why he couldn’t just describe his story in his own words, and why he needed AI to do it for him. Or maybe go a bit deeper with a snide accusation—If you need AI to generate a description of the script you wrote, I find it hard to believe you actually wrote the script yourself--perhaps AI helped with that too.

Long story short, I relented from posting any further comments, because I didn’t feel it would lead to anything good. Besides, I’m clearly making assumptions about this person’s creative process, and instead, I decided to write about it here, in this blog that only the two of you read. I know—so noble of me, right? I’m not perfect.

Using AI to generate a book, a script, or artwork, and pawning it off as something you created is just a middle finger to people who do actually write, or draw, and have spent a lifetime perfecting their craft. All the while, AI gathers the information it uses to create these “new works” from various places on the internet, included from other people’s (real creative people’s) hard work. It manipulates and blends several pieces into something just slightly different. In my mind, this is skirting the line of copyright infringement. Maybe I’m wrong though. This is just the simple man knowledge I currently possess of AI and how it operates, but I can’t find any information that refutes what I’ve learned.

Which brings me to another point: AI does not know how to distinguish valid information and incorrect information. For instance, I couldn’t count how many people I know who use Google to ask simple questions about recipes, locations, science, and even history. Nowadays, Google has been using AI to scour multiple sites at once to develop an answer for its users. This is usually shown as the top result, by the way. As I understand, when there is a discrepancy between the information sources, AI finds an answer that it determines is mathematically correct, because it is the answer it has found most often. If we are going to start believing something to be true based on how many times it is talked about on the internet, we are all in for a hard ride. Okay, before you ask; No, I haven't been under a rock for the last two decades, I just know this trend is getting worse, and AI can not be helping.

What can we do? It’s not realistic to avoid AI completely. You might be astounded at how many of your day-to-day activities, bookings, and what you see on the web is already dictated by some sort of AI. I hate to say it, but short of a mass world-wide server meltdown, AI is here to stay. The only thing we can do is make sure we do our research, especially when it comes to researching important facts like history, and health. Don’t throw away old physical copies of books because you have them available in digital format. I don’t know what safeguards are in place to keep AI from manipulating or hiding those documents in the future. 

Don’t be lazy. Do the work. Be creative. And for the simple sake of decency, don’t take a product from AI and try to pass it off as something you created. If you have an idea, create it on your own. If you don’t know how, Learn! Don’t let the robots take everything from us, including our ability to create.

For goodness’ sake! How many books and movies have been produced where we let AI lead the way, and it goes wrong? Terminator? Eagle Eye? I robot? Wall-E? That’s just to name a few!

Okay, I feel I’ve gone off the rails a bit here, but I think I’m making a point. I hope so, anyway. I’m obviously not the first to throw fits about AI, and I know I won’t be the last. I guess I just wanted to put my two cents out there on how I feel about it. In my opinion, AI isn’t just theft from real creatives, it’s potentially dangerous for our future. Be kind, and be careful out there.

I was nearly in tears when I finished this book. The Way Out is anemotional journey, delving into the harsh realities of life behind prison bars. The author doesn't hold back when it comes to the details of filth and evil that is captive behind the gray walls of Denmore Penitentiary. The flawed characters drive the story, especially Morris, whosetrue nature kept me on edge. Through his unlikely friendships, his sketchydeals and “plans”, and his interactions with the unrelenting guards, I yearnedto uncover what seemed to be haunting him. While the answer felt slightlyambiguous, (at least to me,) I wasn't disappointed. There is so much heart inthis story, and every ounce of it felt way too real.

B Fox's books challenge me beyond my usual reading, stirring deepemotions and thoughts. After loving Paper Castles, I couldn't miss The Way Out.

You can order your copy of The Way Out right HERE!

Happy Reading!

 

More Fast Paced Thrills!

The second installment of this series did not disappoint!Gabe is back and still running from his perilous ties to mob families andgrappling with his mental disorder. I was most captivated by the authenticcharacters and the way they took on their struggles—it made for a lot oftension building. It’s also always satisfying when characters with disorders ortaken on and used so naturally and realistically in the story. Great work! Ilove the fast-paced writing, too. It keeps you hooked and doesn’t let up. Ifyou’re looking to have your emotions tested with thrills and a romance that youcan’t help but root for, check out this series!

The Manic Edge is available on Amazon, and if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you're in luck, because this book is included! Check the link below!
Happy Reading!
ORDER THE MANIC EDGE NOW!

I'm extremely pleased to announce that my third book, Lie Ever So Quietly, will be released on April 20, 2025, and it is available to Pre-Order now! As with my other books, this one will be available exclusively on Amazon Kindle, and available to read with your Kindle Unlimited subscription if you have one.  

As usual, I could use some help spreading the word about the release, so if you wouldn't mind kindly tapping the share button's below, I would be forever grateful!  

Also, I will be sharing some preview chapters in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that.

The past never truly staysburied... 

Charlie Dalton finds himself haunted by memories he thought he had longresolved. Thirty-four years after a traumatic childhood event, Charlie's lifeis once again thrown into turmoil when his best friend and business partner ismurdered. 

Charlie is immediatelyconsidered a suspect, and when lines between past and present blur, a web ofconnections is revealed which link Charlie to another missing person—someonehe’d hoped the world had forgotten about.

As he grapples with anger,anxiety, and fear, Charlie must navigate a series of trials that test hisresilience and determination. To protecthis loved ones from public scrutiny, Charlie is forced to revisit the nightthat changed everything. He refuses tolet his family be thrust into the spotlight as he was when he was eight. He won’t be transported back into that box inthe barn.

Pre-Order Today!

We've all seen these familiar posts on X, Insta, and FB. I've even posted a few with the hopes it would raise some kind of awareness tomy work. If you're not familiar, this is a screenshot of a KDP (Kindle DirectPublishing) sales dashboard, and it currently reads zero sales. A social mediapost with this image is usually accompanied by: "How's your monthgoing?" or "After all my hard work, this is what I have to show forit." Or my personal favorite: "Who will save me from this ugly set ofovals?"

What is your first instinct when you see a post like this?Do you feel sorry for the author? Does it make you feel inclined to buy a copyof the author's book, as if your one purchase will make the author feel validated?Or do you make a snap judgment about the book, or the author's ability to writebased on the number of sales? Maybe you just ignore the post. Maybe acompletely different thought?

To be clear, Yes, I will take all the pity sales anyonewants to give me. But in my heart, I'd really rather someone bought my bookbecause it was something they're interested in. I sometimes wonder how many"pity patrons" actually read the book they purchased, or if the bookjust sits in the back of their kindle queue to be forgotten about. I'm certainI am making a lot of unfair judgements here, but if you read between the lines,you'll realize I'm writing this post out of my own experience. Yes, I have purchasedbooks out of pity for an author, hoping to raise their spirits. Also, yes, Ihave let the book sit in the back of my kindle queue with nearly zerointentions to read it. And if you really want me to be honest, the pity purchasesI've attempted to read unfortunately don't hold my interest and they end up onanother dreadful list: My "Did Not Finish" list.

These are just my first thoughts on "pitypatrons", we haven't even touched on what these types of sales do to theamazon algorithm. If a "pity patron" buys a copy of one of my mysterynovels books but the patron is traditionally a romance reader, suddenly theAmazon algorithm gets the idea that my mystery novel fits in with the romancegenre. Okay, this may not happen after one purchase, but if something like thishappens enough, my book could be shown in the suggestion window to romancereaders, which are not my target audience. Finding an audience for your writingcan be extremely challenging. I don't need something like a confused algorithmslowing me down on top of everything else.

I'm probably dousing the flames of the supportive writingcommunity right now (or maybe I'm throwing gas on it). I realize I'm making someassumptions that other people's buying habits are similar to mine. Or perhapsI'm way off, and some of these sales are from people who had been meaning tobuy a book for some time but just forgot about it. Maybe the patron's interestsdo align with the author's writing, and they want to take a chance on the book.Either way, I stand by my point: what good are we doing if we buy books fromauthors who simply beg for the sale. It kind of feels like we're just droppinga few bucks into a hat. At the very least, maybe we’re increasing their Amazonsales rank for a few days. As an author, I would rather have true organicreaders/patrons. I want patrons who buy my book because something about the tagline caught their attention—or maybe there was something about the cover.Better yet, I'd love a patron who buys my book because they had previously enjoyedsomething else I wrote. These are the best kind of patrons because they're nolonger just patrons, they're fans! My main goal as an author is not to sell themost copies of my book, it’s to find my audience. Once I do that, sales are likelyto follow.

There are so many other and better ways to support writers,and it costs you nothing! A simple like and share of an author’s post goes along way. If you want to go the extra mile, leave a positive comment about thebook to give it relevance to other people. Sure, you may be a fantasy reader,but maybe you have some followers/friends who read hard crime. Recommend thebook to a book club who reads the genre of the book being promoted. And ofcourse, if you have generally read an author's book and enjoyed it, share areview.

As I'm writing this, I realize this might be something Iwill want to delete later. I have this nagging feeling that someone is going toread this and think I'm calling them or out, or that I'm stepping on theirsupportive toes. I hope not, because that’s not my intention, and I apologizeif I’ve upset you. If you are a "pity patron," I want you to know youare still very much appreciated. I'm sure your intentions are good, and I don'tknow for certain that your efforts are not worth the action. These are just myown thoughts I'm firing away with. I welcome any of your thoughts on this aswell so we can have a respectable discussion on this. I don't think I have allthe answers, and I'm certainly not perfect, because as I said at the beginningof this post, I will take all the pity sales anyone wants to give me!

Keep Reading!

So, I don't know how long I'll run this little promotion, but I figured what the heck, it's Christmas!  Let's start 2025 with some FREE BOOKS!

Starting today, I will be giving away digital copies of my debut novel, THE GOUGE, to everyone who signs up to my mailing list.  

I want to say up front, I will not blow up your inboxes with a bunch of nonsense junk mail.  Literally, over the past three years, I have only sent out two emails to my subscribers, and both were simple announcements for the release of my books.  I also promise to never I share your information with anyone for any reason.   

I've created a Landing Page HERE where you can sign up.  Once I see your signup, I will send you a copy of the book in the format of your preference.  Please be patient with me as I am being a bit cheap, and I'm not paying for the Mailchimp premium plan which will send notifications to me on signups.  I will be checking the signups manually.  If you don't receive a copy of The Gouge after a few days, please feel free to contact me in the comments here.  I may have just overlooked the signup.

Remember, this is only for a limited time.  I don't know when I'll end this promotion, so get it while you can!

Thank you all for a fantastic 2024.  Have a great 2025, and Happy Reading!

M.H. David

SIGN UP = FREE BOOK

So, looking back over this past year, I realize I've only posted to this blog about five times. I started the year with so much hope for this blog. I thought I could manage, at the bear minimum, one post per month. However, I've been burdened by something all year that kept beating me down and kept me from making the effort. I know it sounds like I'm making excuses, and maybe I am, but it really is the truth. There were several events this year that deterred my writing, but the main one was that my oldest son moved out of the house at the beginning of the year. He also moved two states away so he could attend a film school, so that's put one heck of a buffer zone between us.  His moving out seemed to set the stage for the rest of the year for me. 
I really miss seeing my son everyday, and I struggled for several months about whether I spent enough time with him while he was younger, when he really wanted my presence. I don't think I did all that bad as a father to him, but I let that infection thought of "Could I have done more?" worry my mind. I've been told all parents go through something like this when their kids leave the nest; "It's just a phase," they say. There have been a lot of "phases" to being a parent, but this has been the least fun one yet.  This one felt like it nearly defeated me.
I think I've finally adjusted to the change. I visit him as often as I can, we text a lot, and of course talk on the phone. We even managed to make it to a concert together earlier this year. Each time we speak, I have to fight the urge to tell him I wish he'd move back home. I don't want to put that on him. He knows I miss him, and that I love him, and that I'm proud of him and the things he's doing. He doesn't need to be subjected to any guilt for leaving home and finding his own way. I want him to be happy, but I also want him to know that dad is always here if he needs help. 
This post was seriously meant to be about making a commitment to this blog for 2025, but it took a very personal turn, and I'm not sorry for that. However, I do think I'll stop here for now. 
Wishing you both a very Merry Christmas, and so much love and joy for the New Year! 
God Bless,M.H. David

I want to say right now, this wasn’t my plan when I wrote the first line of The Gouge.  The Gouge was meant to be a stand-alone story, and that is all.  I’m not a big fan of books in a series, mostly because it seems like a gimmick to sell the next book.  Okay, it’s cool, but it really wasn’t what I was aiming for.  When sat down to write The Blue Hole, (again it was meant to also be a stand-alone story) I decided to do something just for fun—I decided to make a character from The Gouge, Detective Jason Burns, make what was supposed to be just a cameo appearance in The Blue Hole.  I chose to do this for two reasons:  One, because I needed a detective for the story in The Blue Hole, and two, I lazily didn’t feel like creating a backstory for a new detective.  Afterall, the work had already been done with Burns’ character and his backstory fit the bill close enough for what I wanted. 

Along the course of writing and finishing The Blue Hole, the book as a whole kind of morphed into a two separate stories—Story 1:  My original idea for The Blue Hole, and Story 2:  What Burns was going through.  Burns’ story actually took on a life of its own—it wasn’t supposed to be so focused on him, but more on the case which related to the original story.  Turns out, I really liked the way the two stories collided with one another. 

However, early on, after the initial release of The Blue Hole, it was pointed out to me that there was some confusion about the end result of Burns’ story in The Blue Hole—it felt incomplete.  The story is all there in the final pages of The Blue Hole—some of it more deductive and assumptive than the rest, but it’s there.  Could I have done a better job showing this?  I’m sure I could have, and I’m sorry I didn’t.  I’m not perfect, but I’m going to work on getting better with that.  To be honest though, there were some aspects of Burns’ story which were far too complicated to wrap up in detail in just one book, and include the rest of the original story in The Blue Hole.  So, naturally, guess what I’ve decided to do. 

The story will be continued in my next book!

That’s right, I’m going to ride that gimmick train!  Again, this was not the plan at the beginning of this story telling journey, but it’s what I’m faced with now.  I’m very excited about this next installment, and I have to say I am more thrilled about the idea of the connecting stories than I probably should be.  So far it’s been fun to write, and I can’t wait to share it with you both! 

So, if one of the two of you reading this are wondering when you can read this next installment, I will have some exciting news very soon!  If you don’t want to miss any news about the next book, it wouldn’t hurt to sign up for my email list on the left sidebar of your screen.  Don’t worry, I don’t send out pointless emails or spam.  It’s not monthly, weekly, or anything regular—to date I’ve sent out two emails to the group.  But if you want to be one of the first to get news on the new book, sign up!  But I might ask you to stay “quiet” about it for a little bit.  Hint?  What hint? 

Keep reading!

MHD  

People who rate and review books are amazing!  Not only have they used their own hard-earned money to purchase the book, but they went out of their way after reading it to tell people what they liked about it.  Believe me, nothing brings more satisfaction to an author's spirit than reading a review from an authentic reader.

Sure, from time to time there are going to be a few bad reviews too.  There has to be.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion of a book.  Whenever these critical reviews pop up, I try to look on the bright side of this; someone still took the time to buy the book and read it.  (Hopefully, anyway.)  If I didn't meet their standards, I guess that's on me.  If I could please everyone with my writing, I wouldn't have a day job.  Right!

If you've recently bought a book, or read a book, please take the time to post a review. Even if it's short and sweet like, "Hey, this book wasn't all that bad."  Shorter reviews are better for future sales anyway.  Shoppers may not spend a lot of time reading over wordy reviews with potential spoilers.  Keep it simple.  Maybe mention a popular book or author the book is similar to.

If you're not great at putting your opinion into words, selecting a star rating is also a fantastic way to show support.  Five stars is preferred, by the way, but if you feel you need to select a lower rating like two stars, or even one star, please be a champ and explain why you gave that rating.  Sometimes these lower star ratings can confuse prospective buyers if they don't know why it was rated that way.  Example: If a book was a genre, you don't normally read, and you were giving it a shot, say just that.  It will tell other viewers that the rating isn't so much a grade on the quality of the book, but rather not matching your tastes.  There's nothing wrong with that.

No matter what, I stand by the title of this post:  If you have rated or reviewed a book ever, I think you are an awesome individual!  Thank you to all that have reviewed my books, and others!  You are making the dreams of so many authors come true!  These Five Stars are for You!

Keep Reading!