Got to be birds flying higher

I'm unsure what prompted me to install Chat GPT on my phone the other night, but I'm glad I did. I've been generating some stuff I find pretty hilarious. I always felt AI would be a slippery slope into creative heck which is why I refrained from experimenting with it. It felt like merely testing it would be a sign of endorsement.

It's pretty clear that Chat GPT writes with the wild imagination of a 12 year old who thinks they're worldly but ultimately lack life experience. The writing is mechanical and cliched and after a while it was just quickly returning similar stories with words swapped out, Mad Libs style.

It did, however, take a few minutes to come up with a My Little Pony / Star Trek crossover, so I cleaned it up a bit to share :-)

Title: "A Cosmic Collaboration"

In the vibrant realm of Equestria, where magic and friendship reigned supreme, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna embarked on a relaxing picnic adventure in the heart of the Everfree Forest. With the sun beaming down and the breeze whispering through the trees, they spread out a sumptuous feast, eager to enjoy a moment of respite from their royal responsibilities.

However, their serene afternoon took an unexpected turn! Suddenly, the atmosphere rippled, and before they could react, a swarm of pesky parasprites descended upon them. These creatures were unlike any they had encountered before--multiplying at an astonishing rate and munching on their precious treats.

Celestia and Luna exchanged incredulous glances, realizing that their picnic was rapidly spiraling into chaos. While contemplating their next move, a brilliant light illuminated the surroundings, and a strange vessel materialized before them.

From the vessel emerged the legendary crew of the starship USS Enterprise, led by Captain James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy. The princesses watched in awe as the interstellar visitors swiftly assessed the situation.

Kirk's charismatic grin lit up the scene. "Well, ladies, looks like you've got quite the pest problem."

Celestia nodded, her expression grateful. "Indeed, Captain. These creatures seem impervious to our magic."

Spock's logical demeanor chimed in. "These parasites appear to be highly adaptive and resistant to conventional methods of eradication."

As the parasprites continued their voracious feast, Celestia and Luna shared a glance, realizing that they might require assistance beyond their realm's magic.

Kirk's eyes sparkled with determination. "Don't you worry, princesses. We've dealt with our fair share of unusual challenges in the cosmos."

With the collaborative efforts of the Starfleet crew and the princesses, a plan was swiftly hatched. Using a combination of Star Trek's advanced technology and Equestria's magical prowess, they created a device that emitted a frequency specifically tailored to deter the parasprites.

As the frequency filled the air, the parasprites squirmed and recoiled, their appetites curbed by the unfamiliar sensation. With a coordinated effort, they managed to drive the pests away, reclaiming their picnic spot from the invasion.

Celestia and Luna exchanged smiles of gratitude with the Star Trek crew. "Thank you, Captain Kirk. Your assistance saved our picnic," Celestia said.

Kirk offered a dramatic salute. "It was our pleasure, princess. After all, in the vast cosmos, friendship knows no bounds."

As the starship USS Enterprise faded into the distance, Celestia and Luna returned to their picnic blanket, the memory of their unlikely encounter etched into their hearts. As they continued to enjoy their feast, they marveled at the serendipitous collaboration between two different worlds – one where friendship and magic thrived, and the other where the vastness of space held its own tales of exploration and unity.

A cross-post from my art journal, purpleponyart, from April 1st:

Well, I fooled myself today because I thought a submission I was working towards closed today, but it turns out it's actually April 8th!

I stayed up too late last night editing my story and was up early to finish it when I double-checked the submission page. At least I have another week to procrastinate?

I hoped to hear by now about three submissions in the hopper--but no news so far. Two are still marked in-progress in their respective submission systems and one could take longer.

However, it's good to always have at least one thing out there for consideration and three is the most amount I've submitted at one time.

The story I'm currently working on was written in May 2012 when we went to California. Suddenly I found myself with lots of quiet time. My Kobo e-reader was loaded up with a lot of books and short story anthologies and just for fun, I wrote some stories around some of the things we did and saw in California. These stories are by no means great and they're a little embarrassing to read now, but they are definitely the fertilizer for future success. The base ideas are not bad, just the execution. Like any skill, you have to practice it badly before you can practice it well.

I plunked the story into Word, let Grammarly spot all the missing commas and hyphens, and started breaking it up into logical sections in Scrivener. However, there was very little in the way of logical sections besides a beginning, middle, and end. After trying my best to reformat the story, I realized it simply must be rewritten while borrowing the basic framework. From the original 1300 words there are now about 5000 and I'm aiming for 6000.

I'm glad the submission deadline wasn't today--I'm so tired of this story--my brain needs a break from it!

It's been a long wait since Zombie Pirate Publishing's writing week and a longer wait since I found out that my story, SATURN RETURNS, made it to the long list of submissions for their anthology, THE RINGED GIANT. Well, holy cow, I found out yesterday evening that it made the short list. This isn't the final list, but to be in the top nine is quite an accomplishment in itself. There were 101 participants and 57 entries.

Wish my story luck! I was so excited when I saw the email that I jumped and screamed. Then, later, I had a fainting spell and threw up dinner. I legit passed out. I yelled "I'm fainting, I'm fainting!" to my husband and he came and grabbed me. I couldn't hear and all I saw were sparkles. All I could feel was that I was too hot. I legit passed out and hubs shook me a wake. Then dinner reappeared. Dang!