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Using AI Art to Illustrate a Children’s Book: Confessions from a Reluctant Collaborator
When I first started working on Doris’s New Home—the illustrated children’s companion to my novel Nothing Really Bad Will Happen, about a young Jewish girl fleeing Vienna in 1938—I didn’t expect to have so many sleepless nights over the pictures. Words? Sure, I know how to choose a verb, tighten a paragraph, untangle a timeline.…
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“Done-ish”: That Time I Finished My Book—Until Catherine Seeley Said Otherwise
I typed “The End,” pushed back from my desk, and smiled. My manuscript was done. Complete. Finished. I even told people so. Silly me. I was about 75% through reviewing my “finished” manuscript—one final read before sending it off to my writing coach for a developmental edit—when I decided to double-check a small fact. You…
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Three Times NOT the Charm: When AI Illustrations Go Off the Rails
When I set out to improve an illustration for my forthcoming children’s book, Doris’s New Home, I wasn’t expecting a breakdown of logic, perspective, and anatomy. I expected a quick revision. Just a few tweaks, really. I just wanted a warm family dinner scene. So I gave ChatGPT a clear prompt: “All the family members…
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Independent Bookstore Day at the Book Cellar: Stories, History, and a Few Good Laughs
On April 26, I had the pleasure of participating in an author talk hosted by the Friends of the Woodbury Library in celebration of Independent Bookstore Day. The event took place at the Book Cellar, the library’s used bookstore, tucked behind the library. Proceeds from the shop help fund the library’s many excellent programs. I…
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When AI Crosses a Line: A Lesson from a Steerage Scene That Looked All Too Familiar
Posted by Deborah Samuel Holman, Author of Nothing Really Bad Will Happen and the upcoming children’s version inspired by it NOTE: This post also appears on my family history and the book blogs—because it touches all three worlds. When I began adapting my adult novel Nothing Really Bad Will Happen into a version for my…
deborahsholman.com 