Ghost Post: November 2025

I like these transitional seasons, spring and autumn. On my morning walks to the metro, the sky is dark grey, and the changing leaves pop brightly against the clouds. Autumn seemed to take so long to arrive, but I remember the morning I felt the change. It seemed like it’d never happen, and then suddenly it was here.

I’ve been thinking a lot about change lately. Change excites me, especially when I’m unhappy with a circumstance and I’m pursuing the possibility of changing it. I think this makes for a lot of conflict I have with other people; as I understand it, it’s much more common to fear change than embrace it, and I have trouble understanding people who let fear shape their actions so fundamentally.

I think fear of change is what leads people to deny the possibility of it. If change is possible, it becomes obvious that you choose not to do it. And if you choose not to do it, that makes the continuance of the status quo your responsibility. People don’t want to be held responsible for things they don’t like, but not more than they don’t want to put in the work of changing.

Certainly change has been on my mind because of Hades II, and I don’t want to spoil it for you if you haven’t yet got there, but I need to talk about the ending a little bit, so come back to this once you’ve rolled credits.

Prometheus calls Melinoë ‘Agent of Change,’ a moniker which takes on greater meaning by the end of the first story arc. Zagreus’s story, too, was about change: a situation he could no longer accept, and that he fought against with all his strength to alter. In Hades II, it’s partly due to his sister’s witchcraft, but also partly due to Zagreus’s kindness and belief in change that Chronos meets the end he does – not an end, in fact, but a beginning.

Chronos sees an alternate life he could’ve lived, had he not chosen vengeance above all else. He sees what was and is possible through an honest commitment to change, to taking responsibility for his past actions and choosing better ones in the future, fully informed by the possibilities on either side of his choices.

Other characters are sceptical of his change. I no longer engage with fandom but the faint whispers of discontent I hear on the wind may be equally disbelieving. I love this ending, and I see why other people don’t – because the reality of change as a possibility is difficult for most people to accept.

I don’t believe in making the world smaller. I don’t believe in denying people the possibility of growth, change, and hope. I believe we have to believe that change is possible, and give people the grace to accept when they want to pursue something different, something better. I still live in hope that some people will accept responsibility for their past actions and choose to work towards a better future than what the past has been. Is it likely? Maybe, maybe not. But I wouldn’t be happy closing and locking that door. It is available, if those people want to choose to open it. Every day they make the choice whether to open it or not; I hope someday they choose to reach for it.

Change isn’t unrealistic; we watch it happen, at least if we live somewhere with seasons. We change in ways that cannot be resisted, and sometimes we pursue change if we believe it’s worthwhile. The world is full of bitter, unhappy things and bitter, unhappy people. But it is within our reach, even if only in a small way, to start changing things for the better.

You probably know all this if you’re reading this somewhere, but just for posterity: the Ghost Post is available to supporters on Patreon and Ko-fi on the first of the month, then for free Patreon members, Dreamwidth community members, and readers of the blog on the 8th.

I wrote two drabbles for the Trick or Treat special: a trick for SamCyberCat and a treat for myloveshine.

Behind the scenes, this month I did some poetry practice and Hollywood Gods foundational thinking, which Phantom-tier members can read about here or here.

Listen, I know I’m always promising the moon, but I’m really working hard on being able to quit my shitty job and give myself more time for creative projects! I’m hoping to be out by early December if all goes well, so crossed fingers, prayers, lit candles, etc appreciated.

In theory, I have a number of things to work on: Hollywood Gods, some short stories I’ve outlined but not written yet, an essay on Hades II I’d like to write, some articles on fairytales and folklore I’ve also wanted to write for a while, the podcast. If any of these make it to the Patreon/Ko-fi this month, that would rock. But for right now I can’t say with certainty what’ll shake out.

I’ll be starting a mini campaign on StartPlaying soon; you can follow me there if you want to be the first to know when it’s available.

There will, of course, be a Behind the Scenes post for Phantoms.

Joanna M. Lawrie’s written the sweetest poem, and even read it out for you.

I’m always so excited to see another chapter of Crunchy’s Lightning Country in my inbox. These last few chapters have been especially tasty.

Cris has some gorgeous art and stickers in their shop.

If there was a vampire AU Les Mis fic-shaped hole in your life, Nell’s got you covered.

I appreciated Jenna Stoeber’s evaluation of the Nintendo Museum.

I feel like I’ve linked this here before but it’s crossed my feed again; the Epic of Gilgamesh is really having a moment in my particular social circles, which is a delightful fact to me. If you haven’t already, you can listen to part of the epic read in Akkadian.

From Great Art in 15 Minutes: Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan.

Guillermo del Toro talks similarities between AI practitioners and Victor Frankenstein, amongst other excellent clips.

Very important data.

We might know what causes will-o-the-wisps now! Probably still don’t follow them into the marshes, though.

This is potentially the coolest thing I’ve read this month.

In WONDERFUL news, the world now has its 1500th bat species!

I guess I could just steal what I want but if I feel like paying for replicas of art in the Louvre: Inside the Secret Workshop of the Louvre.

Somehow I didn’t know they used to award both a black and white and colour film award for Best Costume Design at the Oscars. How cool!

Currently Reading: Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

Halfway through I threatened to DNF this but I stuck with it hoping there would be some sort of twist or, like, anything interesting or meaningful at all. This appears to be of the ‘sometimes fucked up things happen for no reason because humanity is inherently chaotic evil’ variety which is so criminally boring I feel like I’m owed money for my wasted time. Sorry to be mean but he’s a white man so he’ll be fine.

Currently Watching: Critical Role

Baby’s first Crit Role! This show is just so huge and daunting to get into, so the fact that they’re currently on a fresh start made it seem like the right time to jump in. I’m...still a little overwhelmed, but doing my best to keep up. I’m glad Brennan Lee Mulligan is getting to write a big epic fantasy novel, but the thing about big epic fantasy novels is that it’s hard to get your head around everything in the beginning. I am enjoying it, though, and intend to stick with it.

Currently Playing: Hades II

[rabid cackling]

Currently Listening: Mythological Africans Podcast

I don’t know why it took me until now to put this in my podcast rotation but I wish I’d done it sooner. Bite-size and fascinating episodes; I really enjoyed the episode on the Kilifi Caves, which is another example of what we talked about with Hawaii’s Mauna Kea in Ether & Ichor 3x05.

Major Knick Pnack takes great pride in his meticulous timekeeping, and has taken the changing of the clocks rather hard. His usual 5:00 insistence that it is 6:00, and thus dinnertime, has begun at 4:00 the past few days. “Happy 4 o’clock 5 o’clock 6 o’clock,” we’ve taken to saying when he begins yowling at the closed kitchen door.

Hope saving the daylight doesn’t hit you too hard, and that the month ahead is full of good things for you. Take care of yourself and those around you. Tell us what you’re up to lately in the comments, and keep in touch on Discord or Revolt. Whatever time it is for you, Knick Pnack and I wish you a very happy 4 o’clock 5 o’clock 6 o’clock.

29/08/24: I'm Pulling My Books From Draft2Digital

Short version: I am pulling my books from Draft2Digital’s distribution. Ebooks are still available through my Ko-fi shop and paperbacks are available through the end of August. I want to have print copies available again sometime in the future, but I don’t know how long that will be.

Long version:

Apparently generative AI companies have been approaching my book distributor, Draft2Digital, seeking to acquire books distributed through them on which to train their AI. Some authors (not me; I was alerted to this by December on Pillowfort) received an email with a survey link asking how we feel about receiving 1/10 of a cent per word for our work in exchange for training an algorithm to write stories we’ll then have to compete with in the publishing market. For context, bare minimum industry standard is 5 cents a word. We’re being asked to take a fraction of what our work is worth in order to put ourselves out of jobs in the future.

Y’all? I’m miserable about this. I’m angry, I’m exhausted, I’m devastated. It feels like this is happening at every turn and now my fucking book distributor is salivating at selling my work out from under me for pennies so that AI can write stories instead of me.

Right now it’s just a survey. But the fact that they’re even considering it tells me they aren’t trustworthy with my work. I suspect no matter how much pushback they get in the survey, they’re going to do it if they want to do it. I’m not giving them the opportunity to do this to my books.

When I was unemployed and writing was my only income, I resisted wider distribution for so long. Nearly every channel I could find required me to go through Amazon, and I wanted to stick to my guns on not letting Jeff Bezos make one red cent off me as long as I could. But I needed money, and people wanted to buy my books in Real Bookshops (and also Amazon), so I caved. And it was nice! I was grumpy about Amazon making money off me but people bought my books and I could buy groceries. If you bought books from me back then, you cannot know how grateful I was and am, and how much that helped me.

I mention this because there isn’t a mass exodus from D2D brewing. You’re not gonna see every author you know who distributes through them pulling their books. I want to be clear that I’m not making a moral judgment on everyone else. I depended on that book money and so do tons of other authors. We’re all weighing the factors in our lives and figuring out what we can bear to do. Some people are going to take that shitty deal because no money doesn’t pay the bills, and some money, even if it’s insultingly little, does. It isn’t our fault that we’re being put in the position of trading our futures for short-term cash; it is these AI companies and everyone who funds them, it is CEOs who hoard wealth and refuse to adequately compensate the people on whose labour they profit, it is capitalism, full stop. It is the system that’s been created to stop us from doing anything that isn’t making money for the man at the top.

I’m incredibly lucky in many ways, not least of which is that I start a permanent position next week which will allow me not to depend on book income as much. It still certainly helps (especially because I haven’t been paid since July and have had a broken bed and a broken laptop to replace ha ha ha) but I can afford to keep my books safe from exploitative entities.

I hate this. I really do. I wish I could just keep them available. But I really believe in doing the good I’m able to do. One person keeping their books out of the AI training buffet isn’t going to make a huge difference, but it’s four fewer books in the matrix. And if everyone who can afford to pull their books does, that’s even more of a difference. And if they don’t, at least I did what I could.

I had actually been looking vaguely at switching to a different print distributor, so at least that was already on my radar. They charge upfront, and as mentioned previously, I’ve had some financial hits between paychecks, so it’s not going to be an immediate switch. I’m also going to have to talk to them about AI now apparently!! I’ll keep you posted on how that goes. For now, I’m leaving the print books listed through the end of August, which I know isn’t much time. If you want a print copy but can’t afford it right now, let me know and I’ll be happy to get you a copy if you can cover shipping from the UK.

Ebooks are still available through my Ko-fi shop.

As a final note, in case you hadn’t picked up on this, it’s an incredibly demoralising time to be a professional author. If you’re looking for ways to help, genuinely the best advice I can give is to support your favourite authors in the ways they say help them the most. For some people it might be Patreon, for some it might be liking and commenting on YouTube videos. For me, it’s Ko-fi. And if you like someone’s work, it’s always worth saying something. Tell a friend you think might like it, or let the author know what it meant to you.

And don’t fucking use AI.

10/06/24: Authors for Palestine: Free Books for a Good Cause

I've joined over 50 other authors supporting Palestinian families in need through a fundraising giveaway! Here's how it works:

1. Donate to one of the families we've chosen through Operation Olive Branch

2. Fill in the form on our website and attach a screenshot of your donation

3. Receive free books and discount codes as thanks for your help

AND

Be entered in our giveaway to potentially receive even more free books and extras!

All participants will receive a free copy of my queer gothic ghost story romance, The Hunt and the Haunting, plus a code for 50% off everything in my Ko-fi shop. There are also two ebook copies of my novella retelling the myth of Ariadne and Dionysus, Crown of Ivy, up for grabs in the giveaway.

Check out our website for all the details!

25/05/24: Generic Foundational Blog Post Title

Preserving my post about quitting Instagram here:

I grow weary of the internet being run by tech bros who never took an ethics class. Not that it's in the least surprising, but IG is the latest platform to be mined for 'AI' datasets, and so this is where I draw the line. Link for further reading here.

For those who don't understand why artists are upset about AI - which, tangentially, is not artificial intelligence, as it doesn't think for itself but runs an algorithm on aggregated data to find the mode - these bots are fed art and writing taken from artists without either consent or remuneration, then used to approximate our creative work. From a purely ethical standpoint, these bots are trained on stolen art and used to recreate that art without paying the people who made it. From a standpoint valuing human creativity, this is both unforgivably inane and gallingly dismissive. People create art to say things to each other about the world we experience and the things we value. Who cares what the algorithm values? Art is an inherently human endeavour, and the people who create it deserve the resources to live our lives in this capitalist hellscape. Attempts to create a world where art is manufactured by robots and humans are stuck with the menial labour are so backwards it blows my mind.

I'm not a visual artist but my writing has been scraped for AI use without my consent, without my receiving credit or compensation, and without my ability to remove it from that sphere. I don't want to be part of a machine meant to replace writing jobs! I want to GET those writing jobs! But those jobs are being eradicated so that robots can have them instead, and that's supremely uncool.

Please stand with your artist friends. Don't use AI generators and don't feed the bots.