Slip the Trap
Curious Creature
updated
Writing with AI helpers:
The ever growing list of AI-thingies that are not useful for creative fiction writing:
1. ChatGPT - where we all start, but I got no where with it in those days
2. Sudowrite - gets stuck in action/adventure-land and adds new characters out of the blue; too expensive = 90,000 words lasts like 3 days
3. Verb.ai - stops midsentence
4. NovelAI - looked promising, but the writing was whacky
5. Bard - refers to itself in 3rd person, and forgets previous writing very fast ... but it win out, it's Google
6. Jasper - no
7. Rytr - no
8. Poe using Claude+ - is ok, but adds stuff, and forgets everything from the previous day or browser session
9. ChatGPT Plus + GPT-4 - it takes a lot of guidance and patience, but I got it to do an entire screenplay while I learned exactly what a screenplay is, both at the same time. So far it is the only AI-thingie that "mostly" remembers, even overnight.
Aside: what's an entire screenplay, well it turned out to be 110 pages, where a page equals a minute of video time.
To be honest, I am no Herman Melville or Virginia Wolfe, but these AI-thingies have a long ways to go even when one watches over them: ask it questions, read what they write, rewrite that and ask them for feedback, yelling (uppercase and "!") at it gets their attention. As you may notice it is a bit of work on the humans part, you know "us", which is ok and kind of expected. But a big upside is that AI types words way faster than most of us and without spelling/grammar mistakes.
So that is my thoughts on the state of AI writing on Friday, June 9, 2023 ... and yes I will sign up for the next AI-thingie, it has been interesting, but I do wonder if the world ended in September 2021, as that is when the training ended.
Interesting reading:
1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stochastic_parrot
2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem … even mentions Pascal and Swift
Enjoy! ☮️
0:00 Rambling about writing with AI-thingies
12:10 Claude+ on Poe
13:30 ChatGPT+ for an entire screenplay
19:50 Ending
No it's not paper cards nor an app, but my tarot web page combined with a reading ChatGPT+4 … it does lack soul, for sure, but this might be a useful for learning more about tarot, plus it is free and always available (well, mostly).
See:
slipthetrap.com/tarot_taropian_songs.html
The cards revealed and a prompt for the AI thingie:
Please use the proper RWS tarot card number and name in your reading, and I have the following cards for a Tarot Horseshoe spread: 10 Wheel of Fortune, 12 Hanged, 7 Wands, 3 Cups, 2 Swords, 2 Pentacles, 6 Wands
...............................................
AI thingie I used in the video is at: chat.openai.com ... and it said:
Absolutely, here is an interpretation for your Horseshoe spread using the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) tarot deck:
1. The Past - X Wheel of Fortune: This card represents cycles, change, and fate. In your past, there may have been significant turning points or moments of destiny that brought about significant change.
2. The Present - XII The Hanged Man: Currently, you are in a phase of pause, surrender, and seeing things from a new perspective. This card suggests the need for a different approach, possibly through sacrifice or letting go.
3. Hidden Influences - Seven of Wands: The hidden influence is a spirit of defiance, defense, and standing your ground. You might be facing challenges or competition that's not overtly apparent but necessitates courage and perseverance.
4. Obstacles - Three of Cups: Usually a card of celebration and friendship, as an obstacle it might indicate distractions, overindulgence, or conflicts within your social circle. It might be necessary to focus more on individual tasks or introspection.
5. Attitudes and Beliefs - Two of Swords: Your attitude is one of indecision or impasse. You believe in seeking peace and balance, but there could be a need to make a decision that you've been avoiding.
6. Others Around You - Two of Pentacles: Others might be juggling tasks, adapting to changes, or managing their time or resources effectively. There's a dynamic environment around you that calls for flexibility.
7. Outcome - Six of Wands: The outcome points towards success, victory, and recognition. Your efforts could lead to public acknowledgment or progress towards your goals.
Remember, tarot readings are subjective and are meant to provide guidance rather than concrete answers. The meanings can vary depending on the situation and the individual's own circumstances.
.................
I then said:
can you give me a reading all 7 cards together (notice it understand "missing speak")
AI thingie said:
Certainly, in an overall context, your Horseshoe spread signifies a journey of introspection, change, and eventual victory.
You are moving from a phase of significant changes and turning points (X Wheel of Fortune) into a time of contemplation and change in perspective (XII The Hanged Man). Hidden influences suggest an ongoing inner struggle or unseen challenges (Seven of Wands), but the spirit of perseverance remains strong within you.
The obstacle here is related to social distractions or potential conflicts within your circle (Three of Cups). You might need to pull back from social engagements to focus on individual tasks and decision-making, especially given the ambivalence and need for decision depicted by the Two of Swords.
Your environment is filled with dynamism and the need to balance multiple priorities (Two of Pentacles). This demands adaptability and efficient time management. But your overall trajectory leads towards success and public recognition (Six of Wands). Your efforts, struggles, and the changes you're undergoing are likely to lead to a victorious outcome, affirming your efforts and journey.
This reading suggests a journey filled with change and introspection that ultimately leads to success and recognition. Remember, tarot is subjective and provides guidance. The interpretations can change based on the individual and the specific situations at hand.
************************************************************
What are your thoughts about the usefulness of all of this?
Enjoy! ☮️
Meaning in Silence
Contest winners on Fine Art America, links to the winners:
1. fineartamerica.com/contests/meaning-in-silence.html?tab=vote&artworkid=7934536
2. fineartamerica.com/contests/meaning-in-silence.html?tab=vote&artworkid=47594675
3. fineartamerica.com/contests/meaning-in-silence.html?tab=vote&artworkid=16497716
leaderboard: fineartamerica.com/contests/meaning-in-silence.html?tab=leaderboard
Enjoy! ☮️
In a single lifetime, I have gone from chalk on a blackboard to a trained computer (A.I.), being able to write an almost decent novella. I did not see that coming. Note: the magick writing happens at about 11:40
Enjoy! ☮️
Candle April 2023
A Taropian Song on Saturday, April 29, 2023 (in silence)
Kandinsky Rides Out: artwork with bundles on Etsy & itch.io
Available on Etsy:
etsy.com/listing/1463488697/kandinsky-rides-out
... or itch.io ($0 or “name your price”) at:
slipthetrap.itch.io/kandinsky-rides-out
Enjoy! ☮️
My morning tarot cards … thoughts?
From my online free tarot app: slipthetrap.com/tarot_taropian_songs.html and you
may be happy to notice there are no ad's, pop-up's, tracking, nor email harvesting ... a nice peaceful page/screen of tarot cards.
Enjoy! ☮️
Sharing, as in free to read and listen, my small ebook of short read stories; along with this video.
Links to other ways to read and listen for free:
1. bit.ly/MundaneSpeaks ... the best way as seen in this video 😍
2. slipthetrap.itch.io/mundane-speaks … itch.io where you name your own price books & zines, well some of them
3. etsy.com/listing/1441048724/the-mundane-speaks-stories-from-life … alas, it’s Etsy, so it can’t be free = $0.20 just to list it 😱
4. This is no longer on Amzaon due to stricter rules about author pen name, but may return when I start using my real name ... time will tell.
Enjoy! ☮️
Contents:
0:00 Preface
3:51 Formic
8:52 Edge Walkers
12:33 Odd Umbrella
16:23 Speculating About Speculative Fiction
20:17 Stuck Inside
24:02 Mac the Knife
27:58 Mac At Home
32:07 Straight Between Us
35:57 Backyard Bayou
40:18 Face Off (my fave)
43:55 The Old Woman
48:31 The Old Man
52:11 Old Together
56:21 Delta Morgan (another fave)
1:00:58 fin ... last words
Love to hear if you enjoyed reading, listening, and/or both.
Share you thoughts about a hybrid web-based eBook combining words, images, and audio.
Thanks for tuning in.
How I create a hybrid eBook with images and audio (video is possible too) in 2023.
A link to the overview document shown in the video:
drive.google.com/file/d/1abXULwhWQLjcFqOITONgHwQ_XwYCN75s/view?usp=drivesdk
ElevenLabs where I cloned my voice is here:
beta.elevenlabs.io/speech-synthesis
My hybrid eBooks are available here:
etsy.com/shop/SlipTheTrap
or directly from slipthetrap.com
Enjoy! ☮️
Taropian Songs Tarot animated by hand using iPad+Pencil, with the 22 original images of the major arcana, placed on stained glass windows in a spiral, and a figure from the back of the cards pointing out each card as it walks the spiral. Presented in silence.
The free online web app is available on my website at:
slipthetrap.com/tarot_taropian_songs.html
All of the images, decks, and books are available on my website at:
slipthetrap.com/TaropianSongsTarotBook.html
No A.I. was used to produce this animation/video.
Enjoy! ☮️
Vellum overview for self publishing books in 2023
Tools for writing:
Google Docs: google.com/docs/about ... can download a Word file (.docx)
Grammarly: grammarly.com
ProWritingAid: prowritingaid.com
Places to distribute your books:
Amazon's KDP: kdp.amazon.com
Draft2Digital for wide distribution: draft2digital.com
Best way to format an ebook or paperback:
Vellum: https://vellum.pub/
Alternatively, for PC users there is:
- MacinCloud (which has Vellum installed) : macincloud.com
- Atticus: atticus.io
All of the above are just aids to writing, which is the art.
Enjoy! ☮️
p.s. I have a more, still beginner, detailed video here about Vellum: youtube.com/live/cEU148L30dI?feature=share
0:00 Overview: writing, Vellum, publishing
6:04 A walk through of creating a simple ebook/paperback book using Vellum
A cloned voice reads chapter 4 of the Taropian Songs ebook. The cloned voice is my voice, and I read a 5 minute piece from some old writing and the A.I. was able to clone my voice. Amazing and scary at the same time. I think it did a pretty good job. So now I can just type or copy/paste some text and the clone voice can read it and record a MP3 audio file. That’s cool, and it can do that with any text. Yeah, sometimes it mispronounces words, but so do I.
What’s next for A.I. now that it's mastered art, voice, animation, chess?
Perhaps I will be uploading the contents of my brain soon. Immortality?
Well, it certainly will not take long to upload “me” 🙈 ... no zip required for that one. 😛
Am I more than what is in my noggin? 🧠 😱 What are you thoughts?
On a lighter note ... enjoy! ☮️
Candle lights for February 2023 … hope and remembrance
At last I can now host my own eBooks, webbooks really, at www.slipthetrap.com.
See the offer at: slipthetrap.com/TaropianSongsTarotBook.html ... and for that $1.99 you get access to two eBooks to read only any device. And I will be adding more writing as eBooks soon, and all of them together are available for that one price ... for all of them, not each one. That's a bit like buying the complete works of Chekhov on Amazon for $.99.
I like that a way presented itself that allows me to share my writing journey and protect them at the same time. Comments are welcomed! Enjoy! ☮️
Oops, here is the website I am talking about: www.slipthetrap.com.
An improved website, as in easier for me to change with a consistent and reliable end result.
At last! I finally got tired of dragging, relearning, and fighting with jQuery and Bootstrap. As cool
as those two packages are, w3.css is so much easier to understand and put to use. I do not
track any visitors to the website, and none of those annoying popup ads. Furthermore, the
tarot page has been completely redone.
Let me know what you think. Enjoy! ☮️
A quick start guide about how to use Vellum to format your book.
You can get Vellum at https://vellum.pub/
Notes for video:
Vellum #01: format your books; a quick start
1. mention Vellum's tutorial here: https://help.vellum.pub/tutorial/
2. Vellum's tutorial provided a docx and png file suitable for publishing to KDP as an ebook
… H. G. Wells “The Invisible Man” so it is a good place to start
3. for your book you will have a docx file = "xxx.docx" previously created manuscript via Word, Pages, or Google Docs
4. download and click on Vellum, it is free to use until you want to generate a book
5. import the docx file into Vellum
6. notice the 3 panels/windows: 1) navigator, 2) text editor, 3) live preview
7. notice the chapters in the "navigator" panel (far left)
8. notice you can edit text in the "text editor" panel (middle)
9. notice the "live preview" panel (far right), which shows your book on various devices or print(PDF)
10. ensure your chapters and text are ok
11. add front matter pages: copyright, table of contents(automatic for ebooks), and so on
12. add back matter pages: about the author, other books by you, and so on
13. other than steps 11. and 12. there is nothing else to do, but you can style and customize, a lot
14. now, if you purchased a license (pricey, yes) you can generate your book
15. generate a book: ebook=epub and/or paperback=PDF
16. upload your book to Amazon or somewhere
17. done, now, go write another book
****
Pros:
****
- Just the default styling, i.e. you change nothing, looks far better than so many ebooks and paperbacks sold on Amazon.
- It is like Vellum was done by programmers that are also writers and authors of books, and their default settings work perfectly.
- Of course, you can customize with other styles and images and so on.
- You get to be a control freak, i.e. a self-publisher, so you write the book, format the book, and decide where to sell your book. It is all on you, and the world is your oyster.
****
Cons:
****
- Only for Apple Mac and MacBook ... not PC, not iPad, not iPhone
- Yes, Vellum is expensive! Depends on your perspective. But maybe not if you are an author who writes and self-publishes books. And not if you already own a Mac or Macbook. The money you save by not buying Word can pay for Vellum, as Pages or Google Docs can both export a docx file. Some book designers charge $150 or more PER book, involving extra time and back/forth communication … of course, their work can be very custom. Example designer:
champagnebookdesign.com/?page_id=35
- However, a PC owner can rent a Mac by the hour/day, see: https://help.vellum.pub/guides/using-on-windows/
Good luck and enjoy! ☮️
For hope and remembrance ☮️
Crafterian tarot cards Amazon
For more info see:
amazon.com/gp/product/B08JJGG9WR?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image
Enjoy! ☮️
Anti Watermark contest winners
FineArtAmerica contest: fineartamerica.com/contests/anti-watermark.html?tab=overview
Winners:
1st place: fineartamerica.com/featured/perfect-pastel-avenue-tim-kieper.html
2nd place: fineartamerica.com/featured/happy-sunflowers-sandra-selle-rodriguez.html
3rd place: fineartamerica.com/featured/around-the-bend-andrea-whitaker.html
Congrats to the winners and to everyone for participating and sharing your art; beauty.
Enjoy! ☮️
Welch Trail
The two web pages shown near the beginning of the video with info about the trail are here:
1. planningchautauqua.com/2022/08/26/the-welch-trail-nears-completion
2. westfieldny.com/sites/default/files/2017-11/welch_trail_project_document.pdf
Enjoy! ☮️
Art show October 2022
If you wish to look at any image in the video you may here:
slip-the-trap.pixels.com/collections/digital+collage
... click to view any image larger and ignore the prices.
Enjoy! ☮️
... music is:
No.10 A New Beginning by Esther Abrami ... via audio library
Hope and remembrance ☮️
More Reading ... books:
Mammoth - Chris Flynn
A Writer's Notebook - John Scherber
The Bookstore Sisters - Alice Hoffman
One Hundred Very Short Stories - Eric Alagan
The Other Emily - Dean Koontz = a book that moves, sometimes, but scrolls left/right 🤨
Cherokee Women - Theda Perdue
Howie In Love - Linda A Lavid
Dead End - local writers I do not know, well, except for Linda 🤗
The Mystic Test Book - Olney Richmond = photos of pages in a book 😡
The Poet's Taro - Rachel Peters
Fortunate: Tarot Poetry - Kim Rashidi
Mysteries of Cardology - Stefan Meyer
A Beard Tangled in Dreams - Steve Wiley
Flash Fiction Magazine - several
A Time For Violence - several
Into the Abyss - Travis McHenry = i tried 👽👣 do you want to believe? 🙈
American Indian Stories - Zitkala-Sa (without the umlauts, sorry)
... and lastly
Vapo and Cramb ... and ...
Taropian Songs - me, cheesy right? but i do read it
Also, a big thank you to the folk who dropped two bucks to read along with Taropian Songs, and I hope you are enjoying the journey as someone (me) is in the throes of becoming a writer.
Boo! 👻
Enjoy! ☮️
Taropian Songs tarot update:
1. the tarot deck is available on the Game Crafter
2. the "ebook-in-progress" is available via PayPal for $1.99, as well as Amazon's Kindle Vella
see: slipthetrap.com
0:00 home page and new big button
7:27 ebook-in-progress via PayPal in any web browser
12:14 ebook-in-progess on a cell phone (Android)
Enjoy! ☮️
Winners for the "Contestivus For the Rest of Us" contest on Fine Art America.
The links to the winning artworks:
1st place: fineartamerica.com/featured/2-poppy-meadow-sabantha.html by Sabantha
2nd place: fineartamerica.com/featured/glowing-blocks-sabantha.html by Sabantha
3rd place, there was a tie:
fineartamerica.com/featured/nightfall-tracy-hammond.html by Tracy Hammond
and
Sunrise by Catherine Wang, see: fineartamerica.com/featured/sunrise-catherine-wang.html
*** Oops and update:
But "we" noticed that there was actually a tie for 3rd place, as two members had 9 votes each.
Perhaps a bug in how FAA shows the winners and tie's, my apologies for not catching it.
Thank you to everyone for playing along and congrats to the winners! 😛
The entire contest is here:
fineartamerica.com/contests/contestivus-for-the-rest-of-us.html?tab=overview
The AI artwork created using this contest's tag line is here:
https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/09J963MqFGyEa6mWAFhQ
Enjoy! ☮️
Candle September 2022 ... in silence ☮️
Weiser Tarot
0:00 box and cards at-a-glance in rows of 7
5:54 single card flip-thru
10:42 a spread using this deck
Enjoy! ☮️
A.I. Art using NightCafe. The demo of cat on a hot tin roof is here: https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/d2NJdOBsFvQJn5g466tQ
... and the boy looking out window is here: https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/AYcFRkmgsSdQXf0pH5Tw
Other than wasting hours of time, what can you do with this AI art thingies:
1. You know you "can't" art, no way and no how, but you would like to, and you do love staring at art, and you're ok with typing words = bam it's art!
2. You need a book cover or a poster for that special family gathering, again you like words = bam it's art!
3. You can not afford art supplies, and definitely not some drawing tablet+pen tech, but you can type words = bam it's art!
4. Your personal art seems to be missing a "little something, something" (maybe you nodded off in art school) so you can use one of your many attempts at an artwork as a starting place, and let the AI bot-thingie do its thing = bam it's art!
5. A "what if" scenario, you pull a card from some deck like everyday or whatever, so instead searching and shuffling through decks and cards (which I would still do, of course) and hunting down the guidebook and so on and so on; you go to one of these AI art thingies and type in something like: how you feel (sad, happy, meh, not awake enough for AI),
where you are in the world,
what is that in my oatmeal?,
the weather outside your window,
why do I have 400 text messages from mom?,
and so on and so forth = bam you get a picture that may be specific to your situation, and you can stare at it throughout the day.
There are probably more reasons I can't think of since this is not a promo and I did very little research (I know there is MidJourney and others), but it sure is fun to play with this new stuff. Also, I have an odd attraction to that moment where the AI is working ("running" they call it) on the art and slowly it morphs into something and then appears ... kind of, sort of like turning a tarot card over, anticipation, mysterious.
Enjoy! ☮️
Telezma Tarot by Tara Cochrane at www.tarachchrane.com Enjoy! ☮️
Books I have enjoyed reading:
1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
2. If You'd Like to Make a Call, Please Hang Up: Stories by Bob Thurber
3. The Lobster's State of Mind by Hovav Heth
4. Flash Fiction Magazine by the magazine
5. The Book of Speculation: A Novel by Erika Swyler
6. Howie in Love: A Hattie Moon Mystery by Linda Lavid
7. One Look is Worth A Thousand Words by me (be kind I'm a newbie at this)
8. Nickel Fictions by Bob Thurber
9. In Fifty Words!: Micro Fictions by Bob Thurber
Yes, that's a lot of Thurber, perhaps is the year of Bob's (for me), and that's a lot of reading for an old country boy.
Note: all of these are available on amazon.
Thoughts anyone?
Enjoy! ☮️
All cards for Taropian Songs Tarot
... see: slipthetrap.com for more details.
Enjoy! ☮️
Taropian Songs Tarot deck is for sale at MakePlayingCards:
makeplayingcards.com/sell/slip-the-trap
... or via: slipthetrap.com
This is a home/hand made tarot deck created using: muse(Linda), coffee, recliners, dogs, cat, iPad+Pencil, Procreate app, and lots of time. It is a deck based on the RWS tarot but with collage art.
Enjoy! ☮️
2nd & 3rd 🏆 Place Prize Winners FAA collage contest
Cruciform 3 by Nancy Merkle
-- see this 2nd Place Prize artwork here:
fineartamerica.com/featured/cruciform-3-nancy-merkle.html
Women of Yesteryear by Sandra Selle Rodriguez
-- see this 3rd Place Prize artwork here:
fineartamerica.com/featured/women-of-yesteryear-sandra-selle-rodriguez.html
Congrats!
-- see FineArtAmerica contest here:
fineartamerica.com/contests/collage-or-a-look-is-worth-a-thousand-words.html
Enjoy! ☮️
Paper Moon by Nickleen Mosher
-- see this 1st Place Prize artwork here:
fineartamerica.com/featured/paper-moon-nickleen-mosher.html
Congrats!
-- see FineArtAmerica contest here:
fineartamerica.com/contests/collage-or-a-look-is-worth-a-thousand-words.html
Enjoy! ☮️
Candle August 2022 ... in silence ☮️
Reading, Writing, Taropian Songs
0:00 books I'm reading now
7:59 ProWritingAid demo
9:40 books = ProWritingAid knowledge
10:17 updates to slipthetrap.com
11:52 online tarot decks, pull 7 cards
12:07 Taropian Songs tarot demo
12:40 how to see full size card
13:15 Taropian Songs as a ongoing Vella story
14:25 at last, ending remarks
Enjoy! ☮️
Taropian Songs Tarot in silence to avoid listening to my morning voice while reviewing the cards for this tarot deck. Enjoy! ☮️
Candle July 2022
Taropian Songs tarot
Images are here: slip-the-trap.pixels.com/collections/tarot
Stories are here: amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B09QK39XW7
Enjoy! ☮️
Meet the kitten named Smuffin, a new family member. Enjoy! ☮️
The author's YouTube channel is youtube.com/c/Scottmbradfield
The book is on Amazon here:
amazon.com/gp/product/B09WGX7YF1 (US? not sure about worldwide)
Enjoy! ☮️
Candle June 2022 ☮️
Taropian Songs tarot
This video displays the original digital images used in the tarot deck.
After adjustments and adding titles, it was printed as tarot deck using MPC, and arrived on June 10, 2022.
Also, I have started a companion book for this deck, see:
amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0B7ZWTR9D
Currently, the book is a story on Kindle Vella as episodes, the first three episodes are free to read. I am writing it on Kindle Vella for now, because they are paying a bonus to new writers (which I am, for sure). Unfortunately, at this time, Vella is not available worldwide. Once all 80 episodes are written the book will be available as a Kindle ebook, paperback, and maybe hardcover too. So in the end this entire effort was a bit like Kickstarter project.
To view each tarot card image individually go here:
slip-the-trap.pixels.com/collections/tarot . . . it's free to view.
Enjoy! ☮️
Taropian Songs Tarot: Introduction
Any comments about the images, how to do the numbers/titles, the back of each card, or even which card to show next ... all are welcomed.
All of the tarot card images I have created so far are here:
slip-the-trap.pixels.com/collections/tarot
... it's free to view, even the bigger size, so ignore the prices as this is not a promo for selling. I pay to put images on Fine Art America (FAA) because it is easy to do, offer unlimited storage, and there are no annoying popup's. I have been posting artworks to them almost everyday. You can also get FAA and all of my art via my website at slipthetrap.com/. Enjoy! ☮️


