The May issue brings NEW FEATURES to Books & Pieces Magazine, at least in our Flip-Page Edition which works so well in ALL formats. SCROLL DOWN TO READ IT. We now have VIDEO! Right on the digital flip-page magazine you can watch videos. We also feature MUSICIANS, ARTISTS and much more. So tell your MUSICIAN friends we can show their music videos, play their songs and allow readers/listeners to link to them for purchase. Same for Artists—your paintings, scuptures and more. IN THIS ISSUE: WRITINGS FROM: •Nancy Lane •Julian Font •Marjorie Brody •Michael Barrington •Denice Penrose •Roly Andrews •Emil Rem •Books Reviews •Poetry •Artwork •Foolproof Cooking •Take a Poll: Who was the BEST MOVIE PRESIDENT? And for fun, watch Gandalf—Sir Ian McKellen (below) show you the best-scrambled eggs out there. We have more videos in this issue including Julian Font, author, musician and more. He’s on our cover. SCROLL DOWN TO READ THIS ISSUE. Click the [ ] icon to expand to the full size page. Flip pages. You may download a PDF from the cloud with the down arrow icon (Note: Video does not download). Enjoy! And please share!
A mailing list tells you a lot. Ours tells us where readers who have signed up are from. Now you might think they are mostly USA or Canada, and that’s true, however, so many readers come from across the world, from many countries we forget are English readers and—writers take note—an added market for your books. If you have not yet joined our mailing list, I hope you will do so. An old list we had from a few years ago was corrupted and so we had to purge a lot of it, asking readers to resubscribe. If you believe you subscribed and have never received our monthly emails, do sign up again. You do not have to worry about a duplicate entry as our system weeds those out. Click the image above or click HERE. The MAY edition of Books & Pieces Magazine comes out in a few days. It includes stories, artwork, poetry, videos, cooking and more! Cheers, William G
It’s the question of the ages, at least the current age, whether or not the use of AI in any form is acceptable. I do not believe that AI should be used as a writing tool for a lot of reasons. Chief, among these, is the fact that it cannot reproduce the author’s voice, or style with any degree of accuracy. I have tested it out to see whether it can do things like generate a short story from a prompt, and, in that regard, it can do so in a minimalistic way, a very generic style, but not defeating the purpose of having an author at all. This is not to say I think it’s a bad tool, but that it needs to be used constructively and not as a cheat. Using AI to develop story ideas, to research, and to assist in all the pieces that go into writing is acceptable. I also don’t have any issues with using AI to generate imagery to use on a blog site or a magazine, so long as it’s identified as such. In the April edition of Books & Pieces magazine, we have used AI imagery, including the cover image. This was identified on the cover and also on the inside. Since I’m not attempting to sell any imagery, it seems a benign way to fulfill the purpose. The transformation of artificial intelligence over the last few years has been astounding. I do not doubt that even within the next year, the progress will be even more astounding. I believe at some point AI could represent the tone of an author accurately. I say this after finding an AI-generated musical group called the AI Beatles in which AI has generated Beatles songs that have not existed prior, and with somewhat similar stylistics of the band members themselves. Is this a bad thing? It depends. On the one hand, it’s nice to hear something fresh with a somewhat Beatle sound to it, yet on the other hand, it’s quite obviously a fake. I guess the ultimate question is whether at some point AI can replace a human being, both in looks, style, speech, and attitude, as well as actions. Will AI take away my job? That’s a bit like asking whether the automobile was going take away the employment of the horse industry at the return of the last century. Progress always inflicts damage and creates change. People must adapt. When I look at the level of our culture now and how computers and electronics have managed to take the most incompetent person and elevate them in their ability, whether in music or art—have you seen some of the things passed off as art, recently?— I realize that is the norm of today’s society and widely accepted by a demographic that has experienced nothing better. So maybe it is not about whether something is good or bad, but whether it fits into the existing world. At the end of the day, I will treat writing as an art form that requires skill, patience, research, and lots of practice. And maybe when AI writes the best-selling novel, and mine struggles to sell, I might think differently. But until then, I believe authors and artists should rely on their talents. What do you think? Let me know. ~ William G. [Note: All imagery in this post is AI-generated.] PS: Next week the May 2024 issue of Books & Pieces Magazine is released. Our flip-page magazine now includes VIDEO!
Books & Pieces Magazine now offers musicians, artists and actors access to be in the magazine. How, you ask? Our flip-page magazine allows us to embed videos, music, and more. This means your music can play right on the page. Your art can be seen. You can shoot a video from your phone and submit it. Include buy links and you’ve just garnered a whole new audience. If you have not yet read the APRIL issue, check it out below. You will see the video links in there. ADVERTISERS can also have a static ad on the PDF but a video ad on the flip page magazine. And WRITERS, POETS, think of videos of live readings, book signings and other events. The sky’s the limit. BTW, our MAY issue is out next week, loaded with videos and content you will enjoy. PS: Double-click while on a page to zoom in. Same for Zoom out. Use [ ] for full screen. And if you want the PDF downloaded, use the cloud with the down arrow (videos do not get downloaded). Enjoy and please let us know what you think.
While the country is embroiled in the nasty politics of an election year, and without commentary about any of the candidates, I thought it would be fun to see who was the best movie president. Here are the candidates: Kevin Kline: Dave 1993 Michael Douglas: The American President 1995 Jack Nicholson: Mars Attacks 1996 Bill Pullman: Independence Day 1996 Harrison Ford: Air Force One 1997 Morgan Freeman: Deep Impact 1998 John Travolta: Primary Colors 1998 Jeff Bridges: The Contender 2000 Billy Bob Thornton: Love Actually 2003 Geena Davis: Commander in Chief 2005 Jamie Foxx: White House Down 2013 To cast your vote click HERE. Your answers are anonymous. Please select only one answer. More than one selection will void your result. Results will be posted on this site 5/15/24. This poll will also appear in our May 2024 issue available 5/1/24.
• A brand new April 2024 issue of the magazine is available for you. Enjoy. CLICK HERE
William Gensburger is the bestselling author of Texas Dead, Angle of Death, American Dead, Homo Idiotus, and Distant Rumors: 10 Short Stories.
He is also the publisher of Books & Pieces Magazine since 2017 featuring short stories, interviews and articles. You can learn more and view his books at www.MisterWriter.com.
©2023 William Gensburger