Last night, I received an email from BackerKit informing me that the AI images used to promote the book on this page violates their terms and conditions. Hence they will not approve the book launch until such time as all AI content is removed and I submit proof that the book, cover, etc, are not created using AI.
For the time being, I've hidden all pledge levels, and am suspending the campaign pending some replanning. If you've already pledged, you should already have an email from me, explaining the plan from here. For everyone else, I apologize for me error here and hope to have a new opportunity for you to get your copy of The Fractured Table soon.
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Hanita Bhat is on the run. Whether she's hiding in the crowd at an illegal sword fight in Bangkok or slumming it in an English stable, she knows they're after her. But who is they? Investigators sent by her famous dad? Police chasing her down for her criminal past? Or could there really be a shadowy cabal of military industrial complex types trying to pull Hanita into a massive conspiracy?
Did I mention she might be crazy?
Volume I of Legends & Demons invites the reader into the lives of a top secret task force aimed at a particular target so secret even they don't know what it is. It's Mission Impossible meets ... well, if I told you that would spoil it. Let's just say there are wizards.
I love getting to support other artists. That's part of the reason I'm doing the eBook bundle and the reason I write book reviews.
Right now, the inserts in the hardcover of The Fractured Table are simple parchment textures with embellished fonts showing fragments of the Thetford Journal.
If we hit $2000, I'll commission a painted liner showing original artwork from the book. I'll send that out as a digital file to EVERY backer, and hardcover buyers will get a much prettier liner.
If we hit $3000, I'll commission TWO painted liners (front and back) and send the digital artwork to EVERY backer.
Right now, there's a lot of drama in the arts communities about AI. Some people think it is the end of everything. Others think it is a panacea that will bring about new and greater works of art... I tend to think it's an overhyped tool that often sucks up more time than doing the task conventionally.
From a writing perspective, I don't use AI, not because I'm a conscientious objector, but because I write to write. If the AI does it for me, I've been robbed of the purpose that drove me to write to begin with.
On this page, you will find a mix of generated AI art and human design work (mostly mine, and I'm not a designer. Sorry!). In the book, you will find none. No AI writing. No AI art. Cover designs are by commissioned artists. If we stretch and add some additional insert artwork, that will also be commissioned.
On a personal note, I think we make art because we intend for it to last. Social media and crowdfunding campaigns are inherently momentary. I would hate to spend weeks painting something or drawing something for a kickstarter campaign that will be over in a month. That isn't my sole motive for using gen AI for the images above -- there's also the financial side. I can't afford to pay someone to make temporary art. But... back my project, and if all goes well, I'll pay more artists to make Legends & Demons related art that sticks around.
