Charles James

There are a lot of impressive things artificial intelligence can do. Replacing the human experience is not one of them.

November is coming. This year it's going to be different.

two men are standing in front of a large map that says great white north ALT: two men are standing in front of a large map that says great white north

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow hosers!

Your Brain on ChatGPT A new study from MIT reports that when being assisted to write essays with an LLM, neural connectivity is reduced, while memory and heterogeneity are also weakened.

Your Brain on ChatGPT | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/emot...

Quiet reflection.
Writing cons can feel like drinking from a firehose. A lot of information comes in, and there's so much to get excited about.
I find that it helps to take time to digest it all, mull it over and then figure out how to incorporate what I've leaned into my writing.
#pretendpanel

For a long time I was a storyteller.

But I've worked and worked to refine my craft.

Now I'm more of a story...shower.

#writingcommunity

I just learned that the narrator in the Wonder Years, the voice of "adult Kevin," was Daniel Stern.

Yep... MARV from Home Alone!

That's the biggest mind blowing voiceover factoid since I leaned that Knight Rider's KITT was voiced by Mr. Feeny (Boy Meets World's William Daniels).

Why Most Stories Go Unfinished…

If you're like most writers, you find it so much easier to start a story than to finish it. Sometimes you get ten thousand words in. Sometimes you only get a page or so. Then story trails off and hangs in an odd ethereal limbo. You might come back to it, or it might…

YouTube video by 4Drive Time Meet the new Kawasaki CORLEO: a four-legged robot that humans can ride

As a Science Fiction writer, sometimes it feels like I can't even keep up to the state of the world...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps1t...

Outtakes This year for April Fools, I’m posting a few outtakes from my Cassi Requin novels! These scenes were written in early drafts of my novels First Command, and Fractured Command. And as a specia…

Blooper Reel!

This year for April Fools I'm posting a collection of little scene screwups swept up off the cutting room floor.

wp.me/satXpa-outta...
🪐📚 💙📚

Outtakes

This year for April Fools, I'm posting a few outtakes from my Cassi Requin novels! These scenes were written in early drafts of my novels First Command, and Fractured Command. And as a special bonus, I'm including an outtake from the new novel Lost Command (coming soon). Each brief scene…

YouTube video by The Office Michael's Injury - The Office US

#rip George Foreman. Thanks for everything but especially this youtu.be/m_HR_o0jDqw?...

YouTube video by Hockey Films by Tim Thompson Dear Canada

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhiK...

First Command (Cassiopeia Requin Book 1) First Command (Cassiopeia Requin Book 1) - Kindle edition by James, Charles. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading First Command (Cassiopeia Requin Book 1).

First Command features a grassy land anemone that entangles its prey with fine grass-like tentacles.

www.amazon.com/dp/B096BFLHB3

It's an editing day for me.
Then if there's time, I might punch out some new lines.

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
- M. Curie

#AskAnAuthor Day 25

At today's author's panel at Analog Books, Copper, one of the bookstore cats, made himself at home in my author book box!

Why the News Feels Overwhelming—And How to Cope An explanation of the science behind news fatigue, plus expert advice to take control and protect your well-being while staying engaged

I wrote this for me, and also maybe for you? I hope it helps: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/feel...

Reading, Stories and the Human Brain Story telling is common to all human cultures. But why are people driven to tell and read or listen to stories? Humans understand the world through narrative. We use stories to make sense of our ex…

What happens to your brain when you read?
wp.me/patXpa-58
💙📚

Ways to Curse in Creative Writing: A Word List for Writers If it’s unrealistic for characters to say “shucks” or “jeepers,” how can you make them believable without resorting to expletives? #Words #WritingTips #Writers

🤬 A curse can relieve tension or express annoyance.

🤬 But does it belong in your writing?

kathysteinemann.com/Musings/curs...

#Words #WritingTips #WritingCommunity #WritingLife

YouTube video by The Tale Tinkerer Why Fantasy Writing is the ULTIMATE Creative Hobby in 2025

An interesting take on why fantasy writing is the "ultimate" creative hobby...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8R2...

📚🪐

I try to plot.
I really do.
I have files full of brainstormed ideas, beat sheets, plot skeletons, character sketches, and various other structure templates.
But the moment I start writing, the work takes on a life of its own. For the most part, I'm just hanging on and screaming "aahh!"
#pretendpanel

Progress Update for My New Book: Lost Command Starting out a new year, I’m happy to report that I’ve made considerable progress on my next book, tentatively titled Lost Command. I can’t believe I’ve been working on it f…

Progress Update for my New Book: Lost Command
wp.me/patXpa-zp

I have a file that I label "proto-stories."
Once I have a kernel of an idea, I start playing with it. I write out an opening, maybe a few scenes... to see if I can make it work. If it's good, I keep going with it. If it's not, it goes into the protoplasm of undeveloped ideas for later.

Horrified Taylor Swift Realizes Football Happens Every Year KANSAS CITY, MO—Growing increasingly alarmed as she stared at her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s upcoming 2024 schedule, a horrified Taylor Swift reportedly realized for the first time Friday that football ...

Oh Onion...

theonion.com/horrified-ta...

There's another example of some real-world inspiration for science fiction writers!

First Command (Cassiopeia Requin Book 1) First Command (Cassiopeia Requin Book 1) - Kindle edition by James, Charles. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading First Command (Cassiopeia Requin Book 1).

Got a gift card from Santa and looking for your next pulse-racing #scifi read?
www.amazon.com/dp/B096BFLHB3
Book 3 will be launching this spring!
#booktwt #booksworthreading

Fear Stops Most People from Writing — ADVICE TO WRITERS If you want to write, you can. Fear stops most people from writing, not lack of talent, whatever that is. Who am I? What right have I to speak? Who will listen to me if I do? You’re a human being, wit...

Free advice that could make a difference in your attitude toward writing.

advicetowriters.com/advice/fear-...

#Writers #Authors #WritingCommunity #Writing

According to www.measuringworth.com/blog/?p=256
Bob Cratchit's cited wage of 15 shillings per week in 1843, in terms of a relative wage, works out to an annual salary of $40,000 USD today!

💙📚

If you find yourself surrounded by idiots.
Remember... they're the idiots.
So that's on you.