My daughter, Susie, learned a lot about using Chatgpt to create images while designing T-shirts and other items for her "fossil-oriented" online store. Recently, she applied her new skill to creating family pics.
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| Flight training at Age 10? |
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| Susie - self-portrait |
To take a look at the AI-assisted fossil-oriented merchandise Susie has created,
Susie sells custom-built homes in the very special town of Mt Dora, FL. Here is a sunset she captured this past week from the building site.
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| Sunset, Mt Dora, Lake County, FL |
To take a look at the Custom-built homes Susie is selling in beautiful Mt Dora, FL,
click here. ("Custom-built" is really rare these days!) And Mt Dora, a lakeside mini-city with unique character, is a truly special place to live.
Below, a bit of humor on the importance of correct punctuation . . .
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And on a more serious note, the Seven Deadly Sins by Mahatma Ghandi.
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SUSPENDED DISBELIEF
As my long-time readers know, this blog was begun primarily as a "how to" for beginning or would-be authors, with grandgirl photos and occasional pics and articles on other topics to fulfill the "Mosaic" of Grace's Mosaic Moments. After somewhere around ten years, I organized all those "how to" articles into Making Magic With Words, and settled down to blogs that are mostly "Mosaic" instead of "How-to."
But every once in a while I read something that inspires me to break out my "how to"—or perhaps I should says, "how NOT to" hat and write about a topic I've mentioned back in the Good Ol' Days. This time: "Suspended Disbelief."
For those who are going, "Huh? Suspended Disbelief? What's that? A brief explanation:
Many novels, particularly in the genres of Romance, Mystery, & Thrillers, require "Suspended Disbelief": A romantic situation that should have us shaking our heads instead of sighing. The amateur or professional detective stumbling all over the place before that inexplicable "Eureka" moment. The action scene that is so "over the top" even the strongest hero/heroine could not survive, yet inevitably does.
As readers we accept this. If basic plot, characters, and setting are well done, we shrug off the unbelievable. Hey, it's FICTION!
An example from a series of cruise-set mysteries I've been reading.
In real life, if a murder occurred every time a certain cruise ship set sail . . . say, after the first three or four times, it seems likely the cruise line would a) hire an exorcist; b) change the ship's name & sell it at a loss to a country on the far side of the world. INSTEAD, the series goes happily on, a murder on every cruise, and not a complaint in sight. The setting is exotic, the characters well done, the plots suitably tangled, and dash of romance for mystery fans so inclined. What more can one want?
This, then, is Suspended Disbelief. We willing give up a scornful, "Aw, come on!" for "Isn't that clever," a romantic sigh over the romance, even if it's minimal, or maybe just, "I wanna take a cruise!"
To reinforce the point:
In one of my all-time favorite series, an assassin becomes the hero (well, anti-hero) and goes ELEVEN books before he gets to kiss the heroine. Now, there's another good example of Suspended Disbelief. It works because the action—well, lack of action—is perfectly justified by the nature of the two people involved.
There are, however, moments when Suspended Disbelief absolutely, positively does not work. I eagerly downloaded the first book in a new series by an author whose works I always enjoy, but Oops! Only a few pages into the first chapter, I'm shaking my head, saying, "No way, no how!" Yet knowing this author had never let me down, I kept reading. The impossibility of the set-up mounted; the decisions of the supposed main character so stupidly egregious, I was grinding my teeth. I did NOT want to know this character. I did not care what happened to her. There was simply no way I could justify either the plot or her behavior. And yet, I went so far as to read Book 2. More bad decisions, more impossible ignorance, and only the faintest hint of these books developing into an intriguing mystery series. I did not torture myself with further books, although I'm still wondering how a good author could fall so low. If an experiment doesn't work, chuck it, but according to my Kindle research, this series went on for many more books. Sigh. It does, however, provide an excellent example of the fact that Suspended Disbelief does not always work. Surprise, surprise, readers have brains, and there's only so far we can allow our imaginations to stretch.
Personal "Disbelief" Question
I am currently writing a novella with a Regency heroine ripped from today's headlines. Somewhere around Chapter 8, I had to face the fact that the only possible ending I could see when I started—emigration to the Americas—was too much of a downer. But how could I find any other way for this poor girl to rescue her life? The answer that finally popped into my mind was so outrageous I could only wonder if readers would accept it. Would Suspended Disbelief stretch that far? I can only keep my fingers crossed and hope so! (This week, I totally committed to the new ending, so no going back!)
SUMMARY.
I suspect avid Fiction readers (like me) are devoted to that vast genre because these stories not only entertain but make it possible for us to ignore reality—if only for a short space of time. We want to suspend reality. We want to believe in Happily Ever After. But if an author takes advantage of our Suspended Disbelief, then we readers have the right to say, "Enough! I'm not wasting my money and time on any more of this nonsense."
Which brings me back to the Lost Lady in my current Work in Progress? Instead of a "ruined" lady fading sadly into the dimness of history, can she make a comeback without society turning on her with cries of condemnation? Only time will tell.
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Featured Book of the Week - The Captive Heiress
No need for Suspended Disbelief when reading this book. Many of the characters are straight out of the history books, if at a younger age than history usually records them. The fictional characters and plot are based on actual events and practices of the time. Please see "Author's Note" below.
This is a my only "Young Adult" book, my only Medieval setting, but I think you'll find it a fascinating read for all ages. It also has my favorite cover.
Alecyn de Beauclaire, an orphaned heiress, is taken captive at age nine by the Earl of Rocheford who wants to enjoy the income from her estates. Her first friend in the strange new world at Castle Rocheford is Ranulf Mort à Mer, a descendant of Vikings and a penniless squire with no hope of ever being able to afford a horse and armor so he can become a knight. As the years go by, their friendship is unwavering, even when tested by the preaching of monks who declare that all women are evil and should be shunned.
When Alecyn is almost fourteen (a marriageable age in Medieval times) King Henry II makes Alecyn his ward. She is thrilled because she knows the king will want to keep her money for himself and, therefore, will not marry her off for several more years. Perhaps there is still time for Ranulf to become a knight and distinguish himself in battle.
In her position as companion to the royal children and songstress to the royal court, Alecyn learns not only the epic romance of chivalry, but the dark side of romance as she witnesses the love/hate relationship between the king and queen. Ranulf, meanwhile, learns to fight side by side with a new friend, William Marshall. But even Ranulf's eventual elevation to knighthood is not enough to qualify for the hand of an heiress to four fine estates.
Until, one day, Queen Eleanor goes for a hunt on her lands in the Aquitaine, and Ranulf and his friend, William Marshall, are among her escorts. Perhaps, just perhaps, if the three young people survive captivity by Eleanor's rebellious knights, they may have a future after all. But which young knight will King Henry choose for Alecyn?
Author's Note: The Captive Heiress was written as a painless way for people from nine to ninety to learn about Medieval times, particularly the tumultuous twelfth century. In addition to a look at the dramatic lives of King Henry and Eleanor of Aquitaine, readers will catch a glimpse of the early days of their many children, including Richard and John who became famous through the Robin Hood legend. Another very important character is William Marshall, often called the greatest knight who ever lived. Please see the "Whatever Happened to . . ." section at the back of the book for the rest of the story of the many real characters in The Captive Heiress..
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