@Timothy Colomba don't get mad at me for this bit of personal talk. It is just my own personal therapy for this old writer. I recently gave it a shot and plugged the opening of one of my stories into AI, asking its oppinion and got some good feedback. The thing is that even though it told me where my writing could be improved it started giving me examples of how it thought what I wrote would sound better. It felt like a back seat driver to me and who likes a back seat driver. There is just something more satisfying for me in finding that better way of saying something or that sweet moment when an idea of how to make it sound better occurs to me on my own. I suppose that one might glean a better way or style of writing through the suggestions AI makes but where is the personal touch in using AI? Like the loss of math skills due to the invention of the calculator, are we heading to a lack of true writing skill when we let AI 'fix' what we have done rather than simply telling us where we have possibly strayed. Is it our skill or the AI's skill? I look at it as the difference between watching someone put a puzzle together compared to putting it together yourself. I wouldn't like to have put the easy frame outline of a puzzle together and then saying to someone, "Ok here is a piece of the puzzle where do you think it would fit best" I just find more satisfaction with putting the pieces together myself, on my own. I'm not nocking you for doing it. I'm just saying it left me with a bad feeling. Call me oldfashioned but sometimes it is better for the body and the mind to take a walk round to the corner to the store rather than jump in your car to go there.

Its all good. I wasn't trying to attack you in any way. And I know the same of you. I was just expressing, aka venting, after my attempt at using AI for the first time as you were doing. You are right about adapt or die but I think I will try to hold out as long as I can since I am closer to the latter than I care to think. Maybe I can leave a legacy of how it used to be done. Still I may take you up on that live, even though I probably don't stand a chance of coming out with my dignety intact. I am reminded of the story of Ol' John Henry beating the machine at laying railroad track and then dieing in the end. I would probably have my behind handed to me and the story would end with the opposite outcome and me dieing of shame. I think I just got spooked (a lot) when I tried it with ChatGPT. I read a little of the rewrite it suggested and I saw it as being smoother and possibly more appealing to the reader than what I originally wrote. It creaped me out that the AI did it in the first place. I guess I was just thinking too much of myself and expected it the not want to change anything. I know I am not an expert but I try to put out my best. The thing is that it was the second edition I am working on that I fed it and though I knew it wasn't perfect I thought it was better than the first one and the best I could do. We can talk more about this and that live AI edit on my story, perhaps you can change my mind a little and maybe I can give some counterpoints on why changing would not be best in certain cases. Thanks for the discussion.

It hummed through the gloves, vibrating my hand with just a slight noticable thrum, like that of a cat purring. It was deseptively light considering it looked like a chunk of iron and was about the size of a grown man's head with roughly the same shape, except that it was flat on top. I handed it to her and she took it ungloved. We continued down the hall. In the room at the end of the hall there was an old wooden table in dire need of a repaint. Her chair moved out to receive her and I wondered if I missed her kicking it away from where it had been tucked in under the table. I pulled out my own chair, tossed the gloves on the table beside me and sat leaning my elbow on the table. She set the rock on the table with a gentle hand, then carresed its top like she was petting a cat. It began to glow with a yellowish white light from the flattened top and I squared away from it in my seat, startled.

Which one there are so many. I'm currently working on a 2nd edition of my first book which is fantasy fiction but I have many other stories of different genre. For the most part, I focus on historical fiction, fantasy fiction, Christian fiction and even inspirational. The current one I'm working on, the second edition, is strictly fantasy fiction. It focuses on a man who has been betrayed and is in search of the betrayer. It has many twists and turns throughout the story. The one in the end might not be the one you expect to save the world.

@Timothy Colomba I didn't think about that. But I'm not too concerned with being specific. I believe staying broad is sometimes good to attract more attention.

@Melinda Parry Thanks for that part about my incorrect usage. I am wondering if you have any ideas on expressing the lack of communication ability since this story is taking place in a world or time when sign language is not available.

I am not sure. The narrator speaks for him, relating his feelings so far. This part of the story is not finished yet and he has not joined the party. I suppose he will need to communicate in some way when he becomes a member of the party or maybe he will be mysterious and silent. Just to be clear he is not the one who gains power over the Unspoken. HIs part is unique and I have not fully developed it, but because he cannot hear he is not subject to the hearing of the Unspoken's name and does not fall under the Unspoken's power.

@Timothy Colomba makes perfect sense.

@Rae Merritt I really like you honesty and suggestions.