Novella -Novelette News and #IWSG AI Writing

InsecureWritersSupportGroup.com

Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today: Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, Nancy Gideon, and Diedre Knight!

September 3 question -

What are your thoughts on using AI, such as GPChat, Raptor, and others with your writing? Would you use it for research, storybible, or creating outlines\beats?

I'm not cool enough to know what any of that actually is, so I don't have any thoughts on it. I don't use it. I do use Grammarly, which I have been very open about, and even have a link on my sidebar. I use it for spelling and editing. I don't use any of the "write it for me" features. 

August 18 - August 24 report:
Interesting statistics. 97 of my 111 words were unique??? 

TOPIC CHANGE!
Time to talk about my novella, or novelette, Jewels of Darterra.

 
Before writing, I discovered this term, STARGENDER.
"In more accurate terms the word may also refer to worldly non human gender that is beyond which genders are discovered, coined or comprehended by earthly terms."

I considered the possibilities of this when writing the story. The characters do not technically have genders, as reproduction is handled entirely by the moon world. (Yes, they have emotions, feel love, and express it. But they do not get pregnant, give birth themselves, or have reproductive organs. And I did use pronouns- though it's debatable if those pronouns are accurate.) 
Consider the Orcs in the LOTR movies.

And then I read this information on Paper Genocide.



As a Native American, I considered how I could tie this knowledge into my world-building. Which is how the antagonist Jaildarn was created. Those with a gold jewel were depleting in number, no longer relevant to the world. Unable to deal with this reality, they get all genocidal. This gave me Belp, the protagonist, and the question "Could Belp have prevented all this death, and if so, why didn't he?"

While it is a speculative fiction story set on a moon world, it's easy to draw parallels to social issues here on our real world, if one is so inclined. 

(A "race" that was known for exploration and discovery is declining in population and generates a villain, and a "race" known for their connection to the stones, rocks, the very world itself, produces a hero.)

Has a word or concept you had not previously encountered ever inspired you to write a story?

9798231627950 ISBN

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/241082039-jewels-of-darterra

Please 👏 add to your "want to read."

Expected publication September 9, 2025

https://books2read.com/u/mZOjGy

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1845486

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🕮 - J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZChallenge

💖Thank you to the 37 friends who wished me well on my Facebook profile timeline facebook.com/j.lennidorner

https://bsky.app/profile/jlennidorner.bsky.social  My current favorite social media site.
https://amzn.to/41QBB4P Author page on Amazon — please consider following and supporting this indie author!
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-lenni-dorner  BookBub author profile— I'd be grateful if you'd follow me.
  #AtoZChallenge a-to-zchallenge.com Kindly check out the blog hop's website. Watch for special features: 

Sept 3- Intergeneration Month - Arlee Sept 17- Condiment Month - J

Upcoming Book Release, Cover Vote, and IWSG

InsecureWritersSupportGroup.com

Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today: Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Natalie Aguirre, Sarah - The Faux Fountain Pen, and Olga Godim!

August 6 question - What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?

Apparently, some AI-generated books are plagiarizing the words and works of actual authors and, as if that weren't bad enough, making money for someone else. 

I enjoy doing my own work, my own writing. I don't understand this preference for computer-generated creativity. Time for a topic change!

Good Evening!

I'm excited to announce the pending publication of my next novella, JEWELS OF DARTERRA. 

Followers of this blog had a chance to read most of this story back in April during the A to Z Challenge.

Please help me decide on a cover.


What led Jaildarn to become the cause of such annihilation? Could Belp have prevented all this death, and if so, why didn't he? Do some people having more options impair the existence of others who were born with a distinct path and purpose? Jewels of Darterra is a fantasy about a world as it collapses into change.

I would love COVER FEEDBACK.

Left or right?

Darterra is a moon world. Belp, the main character, has his life and identity deeply intertwined with stones, rocks, and mountains. 

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🕮 - J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZChallenge

https://bsky.app/profile/jlennidorner.bsky.social  My current favorite social media site.
https://amzn.to/41QBB4P Author page on Amazon — please consider following and supporting this indie author!
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-lenni-dorner  BookBub author profile— I'd be grateful if you'd follow me.
  #AtoZChallenge a-to-zchallenge.com Kindly check out the blog hop's website. Watch for special features: 

August 6- Happiness Happens Month - Ronel August 20- Back to School Month - Jayden

#IWSG genres

InsecureWritersSupportGroup.com

Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today: Rebecca Douglass, Natalie Aguirre, Cathrina Constantine, and Louise Barbour!

July 2 question - Is there a genre you haven't tried writing in yet that you really want to try? If so, do you plan on trying it?

Every now and then, I consider trying the erotica genre. I don't read much of it. But, then I'll write a scene or two, and really dislike it, and then go back to my preferred Speculative Fiction. (Urban Fantasy. Paranormal Romance. Myths & Legends.)

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🕮 - J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZChallenge

https://bsky.app/profile/jlennidorner.bsky.social  My current favorite social media site.
https://amzn.to/41QBB4P Author page on Amazon — please consider following and supporting this indie author!
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-lenni-dorner  BookBub author profile— I'd be grateful if you'd follow me.
  #AtoZChallenge a-to-zchallenge.com Kindly check out the blog hop's website. Watch for special features: 

July 2- National Family Reunion Month - Arlee July 16- Culinary Arts Month - Csenge

Books #IWSG

InsecureWritersSupportGroup.com

Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today: PJ Colando, Pat Garcia, Kim Lajevardi, Melisa Maygrove, and Jean Davis!

June 4 question - What were some books that impacted you as a child or young adult?

Those who follow me on Goodreads (and saw some of my posts on my old blog), may know that I had a group of female friends in grades 7 and 8. Because of them, I got into reading the Baby-Sitters Club books. (I was so grateful when Logan joined the characters. Finally, a fellow guy. 😅) My cousin-in-law and I have been re-reading the series as it comes out in graphix novel form.

The impact of the BSC was that our friend group had something to discuss. We were a ragtag bunch. I believe only two of them ever did any actual babysitting. I was just glad to have people to eat lunch with who were capable of good conversation. (Yeah, I know, 🙊 I'm mute. But my ears work just fine.)

Beyond that, I recall reading a lot of horror back then, mostly Christopher Pike, Richie Tankersley Cusick, and RL Stine's Fear Street books. And, not in school, but at the big library, I found The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. (There was cursing! 🤯)

The impact of those books was just enjoying reading. Being left alone to read quietly, to just relax. It was excellent. 

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🕮 - J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZChallenge

https://bsky.app/profile/jlennidorner.bsky.social  My current favorite social media site.
https://amzn.to/41QBB4P Author page on Amazon — please consider following and supporting this indie author!
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-lenni-dorner  BookBub author profile— I'd be grateful if you'd follow me.
  #AtoZChallenge a-to-zchallenge.com Kindly check out the blog hop's website. Watch for special features: 

June 4- Audiobook Month - Ronel June 18- Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month - John

Giveaway winners

Congratulations winners!
Samantha won the $10 Amazon e giftcard.
Deborah won the naming of the "new level one" from the end of the story. 

#IWSG Fears

Woo! Celebrate winning another month of blogging. 
Another short story written.

https://bsky.app/profile/jlennidorner.bsky.social  My current favorite social media site.
https://amzn.to/41QBB4P Author page on Amazon — please consider following and supporting this indie author!
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-lenni-dorner  BookBub author profile— I'd be grateful if you'd follow me.
  #AtoZChallenge a-to-zchallenge.com Kindly check out the blog hop's website.

Please enter! a Rafflecopter giveaway

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InsecureWritersSupportGroup.com

Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today: Feather Stone, Janet Alcorn, Rebecca Douglass, Jemima Pett, and Pat Garcia!

May 7 question - Some common fears writers share are rejection, failure, success, and lack of talent or ability. What are your greatest fears as a writer? How do you manage them?

I'm hijacking the prompt this month. My answer doesn't exactly follow the prompt.

In Top Chef Boston Season 12, Episode 9, "Big Sausage", the chefs had to create a dish inspired by a New England literary work. Gregory Gourdet served an Edgar Allan Poe-inspired dish of seared beef tenderloin, grilled hen, parsnip puree, beets, and crispy nori, inspired by "The Raven".

Granted, I can't cook (especially indoors) worth a damn. But ignore that a moment. If I had to do a dish inspired by Poe, I'd go with The Tell-Tale Heart. 

Get a beef or deer heart and some vegetables, especially tomatoes, and such for a casserole. 

Cover the dish with fillo dough, decorated to look like a hardwood floor. Then serve the dish to the table. Stare the people down while knocking on the underside of the table. Let them slice it up themselves. With the tomatoes 🍅 having it look all bloody. 

My silence would only add to the creepiness of the mood. 

"A heart under the floorboard?" Pretty obvious what story I put on the plate.

As far as fear, I think that would be served up. 🍽

May 7 question - Some common fears writers share are rejection, failure, success, and lack of talent or ability. What are your greatest fears as a writer? How do you manage them?

Okay, actual answer:

The greatest fear, or insecurity, I experience is that my writing isn't "perfect." A big part of that comes from a messed-up youth. My educational path was, in no way, traditional. (Especially not in modern America.) Grammatical rules vary by region. Modern Language Association and Chicago/Turabian style don't always match, for example. I use Grammarly. We don't always agree on articles, as one example. 



The story on my blog last month got ONE reread. I was publishing almost as I wrote. I didn't pre-schedule, like I usually do. There are probably mistakes. No "Beta" readers. I didn't run every scene through five different checkers. 

"What stories or poems or books or thoughts are suppressed because you haven’t yet moved on from whatever it is you’re working on now? " I read that somewhere once. And it stuck. Chase perfectionism, or focus on producing more? Finding the balance. That's a fear, worry, or insecurity with which I struggle.

Excuses cover up fear. Afraid the writing isn't good enough? Find excuses not to write! 

There's a quote (which I can't seem to find on Google) about the notion that we only fear failing at something which matters most to us. You can't fail at something you genuinely don't care about, or some idea along those lines.

😱😨🙀😜😕😬😣

https://www.facebook.com/groups/IWSG13/posts/3269890313169398/

I saw this IWSG post on Facebook. It mentions promoting your books and such at, among others, your local library.

https://www.facebook.com/NorthamptonAPL/posts/pfbid02LrC469aYeU8JfY1v4Tvn4E6VbqHmu6a7PTADq2VwfG8M9q2QFtXUvVLJvmbdhdg1l

This is the local library to me, the only one that has my books.

https://napl.chilipac.com/eg/opac/results?query=Dorner%2C+J+Lenni&qtype=author&fi%3Asearch_format=&locg=1102&detail_record_view=0


So it matters to me that the library stays funded. For whatever reason, most of the library funding comes from the school's budget. (Or is approved by the school board?)

https://northamptonapl.org/who-we-are/friends-of-the-library.html

$5 a year is the bargain to become a "friend" of the library. 

Those are my replies for this month. 

Alex- I'd like to volunteer for September to cohost.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you enter the giveaway-- it closes soon!

Reflections #AtoZChallenge 2025

• I am grateful I left Wordpress for Blogger when I did. The Wordpress blogs were being problematic for commenting. 
• Substack seems to only allow people who sign up to comment, so I was unable.
• I started following five new blogs
• I commented on all possible blogs. (Visual below)
• It was great to see how many blogs made it to the end! 

Some of my Favorite comments here this month:



https://jlennidorner.blogspot.com/2025/04/win-atozchallenge-2025-fantasy.html Enter the giveaway! ⭐🤗❤

I added to my TBR and wishlist.
I also bought some books in April. The Parking Lot Attendant - by Nafkote Tamirat, Rise of the Machines: Human Authors in a Digital World - by Kristen Lamb

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My A to Z 2025 theme was a fantasy story. (And some of the process of writing it as well.) 🕮

- J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZchallenge

https://bsky.app/profile/jlennidorner.bsky.social  My current favorite social media site.
https://amzn.to/41QBB4P Author page on Amazon — please consider following and supporting this indie author!
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-lenni-dorner  BookBub author profile— I'd be grateful if you'd follow me.
  #AtoZChallenge a-to-zchallenge.com Kindly check out the blog hop's website.