#ai blurb generator

[ai-content-generation]

Tips for Combating Writer's Block

Picture this: You sit down at your computer to write a blog or research paper to publish on your website. But instead of typing away, your fingers hover above the keys as you desperately try to develop creative ideas.

Writer's block can be frustrating. When ideas don't flow, you waste time and fail to produce content that inspires. Fortunately, there are many ways to get around this problem.

Improve Your Writing Environment

Where you write can influence what ideas come to mind. Consider creating a dedicated writing environment purpose-built to inspire. Choose a room with doors that allow you to block out the world.

Then, declutter your desk to reduce distractions. If visuals get the creative juices flowing, hang a beautiful piece of art on the wall or get a flower arrangement! Do what you need to do to feel comfortable and ready to write.

Work in Manageable Chunks

Writing for hours on end is challenging, even for professional writers. Don't push yourself past your limit so much that you reach a wall. Instead, try working in smaller chunks.

Many writers say that they reach peak productivity when writing for 25 minutes. Set a timer and walk away for a short break. During your time away from the computer, you can develop new ideas, rethink your writing and keep the creativity flowing.

Use Copywriting Software

Many copywriters struggle to develop exciting new ideas. One way you can get around that hurdle is by using SEO copywriting software. The right platform will do a lot of the heavy lifting for you.

Provide a few keywords and allow the software to generate ideas. Use that as a jumping-off point, and you can have an endless creativity driver that makes writer's block a thing of the past.

Do Writing Exercises

Here's another way that SEO copywriting software comes in handy. Use the software to create unique prompts that help you flex your skills and keep your mind open. Writing exercises don't have to be long. Short 10-minute sessions with unique prompts push you out of your comfort zone, forcing you to explore topics you normally wouldn't write about.

Exercises are powerful, teaching you to go beyond your perceived limits and letting you experiment. What you learn during these exercises easily translates to more inspiration in your core work.

Read a similar article about article writing software here at this page.

[theenbythatwrites]

Using ai generated images to write a story

Dean Winchester x reader

First person pov

(not super long)

(not the best detail wise)

(yes I know the girls are different and have specific a hair color bare with me)

----------------------------------------------------

The first time I met Sam and Dean. I was a friend of Bobby's who needed help with a vamps nest. The boys offered to take me home after.

I ended up staying with the boys and began hunting with them. Sometimes I'd stay back to do research but they usually let me go with them.

Dean and I ended up becoming really close and even went on a few dates before making things "official"

The closer we became to each other the more we went out alone. Either going on hunts together or just sneaking off for a late night drive.

When the inevitable came and I lost Dean my heart was crushed but I vowed to save as many lives as I could. Just like the love of my life had before me.

[poodledeer]

in my dreams im always trying to induce situations where i can read something but it's always a limestone wall (or a bright sunny outside near a wall that covers the main steet from the cul de sac) when it works---little engravings in a stone wall. when staring directly at it, they take the character of glyphs and "mean" something, my brain reads them, regardless of if it matches, but any time my eyes shift or the current state of my train of thought moves, the glyphs change.

This does not wake me up or reassure me or help me change anything about the dreams, i just think about how the glyphs just changed.

if i want to wake up from a terrifying dream, i have to really forcefully try to open my eyelids by opening them so hard that i jolt awake.

the reading thing doesnt wake me up and i never choose to do it, its just a part of the intense paranoia while sleeping that motivates it and is not eased at all by the reading itself. even though im only motivated to read things "to prove" that i can't when i'm sleeping.

[enneamage]

I really love how the cooking video was done. It would be fun to see what he could do with the style moving forth (maybe he can promote his other videos as infomercials? Or just have fun little skits) and the current cast this and the hide and seek out was great to get some fresh faces and a different mix. Sometimes only so many jokes can be made with the same for people especially since he likes to take advantage of archetypes (some times too much imo)

I’m interested in seeing more videos in this style because it looks like there’s a lot of potential to have fun with skits as well as the post-action interview format. Taking less cohesive things and adding an interview format to make them seem more put-together is the spine of a lot of modern reality TV, so it worked out good here too. I was reminded of Tommy saying in a recent alt stream that he likes editing and working in post-production, and the layers of the interview format play well with that.  

I was re-visiting the video because it seemed so different, and I wanted to check to see what the components of the difference were, even though I’ll always be YouTube-dumb on some level. It looks like there was a different editor than usual who helped out on the video, and they were thanked thoroughly in the description, so they may be part of how good it turned out pacing-wise. (Edit: never mind, It looks like they're a regular on the team they all just did a real good job for this one.) The formatting choices still primarily seemed to be Tommy’s though, so it looks like this was him trimming the fat of the format and finding ways to play with it. There’s a commentary that I’m not fully smart enough to make here about how the commercials cut the video into ten minute thirds and the way that that formatting helped keep people’s attention fresh without only making a simple ten minute video.

The video was a lot of funny people working well off each other so regardless of how it was processed it was gonna be good, but the format added a lot to it. It didn’t feel interchangeable with any of his other videos, which is really good, because part of the burnout around viewing this kind of content can be sameness and repetition.

[neil-gaiman]

Hi Neil, I wanted you to know that this is the ai generated text blurb that appears if you Google “Aziraphale and Crowley married”

I'm glad the AI knows which one of Dottie and Sadie Aziraphale is married to and which one Crowley is. I can never remember.

[thefrolickingfrizz]

i'm trying to write a new summary for Zombie remix, so i thought i would see what an AI could come up with for fun. the one i used had this Auto praise thing, and this is what it came up with:

"detective McScaggs is the best detective ever. A passion for music and questionable jerky is something we all can relate to."

- The Daily Tale

I mean, yes. but you didnt have to call us all out on it lol

[iracrass]

If anyone starts giving you shit for playing around with the ai generated photos just tell them to BEET IT

[iiwaijime]

01. unrequitedlovers.org

unrequitedlovers.org

a website made for those who have fallen for someone they cannot have. chat with other people who are going through the same pain as you! discuss your problems with understanding partners in peace without the worry of anyone important finding out. completely safe, secure and anonymous. join now at unrequitedlovers.org/signup

the advertisement looks interesting enough; the fact that you've been in love with your brothers' best friend for almost seven years only adds to the temptation. stifling a yawn, you click the link to sign up. it's just an anonymous chat site, what's the worst that could happen?

×

unrequitedlovers.org

a website made for those who have fallen for someone they cannot have. chat with other people who are going through the same pain as you! discuss your problems with understanding partners in peace without the worry of anyone important finding out. completely safe, secure and anonymous. join now at unrequitedlovers.org/signup

rintarou suna stares blankly at his laptop screen — or more specifically, the flashing advertisement playing right in the middle of his screen. what the hell, is it a dating site? a quick skim through the blurb says otherwise, and after a few seconds he realises that he's actually considering joining the site. after all, he's secretly been in love with the one person who's always been marked off-limits — his best friends' younger sister, y/n miya. oh well, whatever.

[...set username]

[are you sure? this cannot be changed once it is set]

[username set]

welcome to unrequitedlovers.org, jellyfruit!

scan this QR code to download the app now! he doesn't know why he listens and downloads it there too

suna squints at the welcome screen, already somewhat regretting his decision to sign up. the layout of the app is bright, somewhat gaudy, and more like a dating app than a chat site. a few users are automatically scrolled through in front of him. FIND YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND, says the text box above them.

the thing that all the profiles have in common is how unappealing they are; he's almost ready to log off when he sees the first interesting account. normalcatliker143 sits unobtrusively between romanticlover69 and DATEME_HOT_BABEZ, and he almost lets it pass by before he sees the profile picture. it's the first one he's seen that's not one of the automatic site ones or AI generated. he's about to send a friend request to them when a notification pops up onto his screen, and oh, what the fuck, normalcatliker143 has sent him a request first. he clicks the vaguely terrifying profile picture to find out a little more about them.

NORMALCATLIKER143

name: catliker is good

age: 18

likes: cats

dislikes: cat haters

bio: here cus im bored. i talk a lot if youll listen

he taps "accept".

series masterlist

authors note(s) !!

ch1!!!!

FIRST CONTACT HAS BEEN MADE

ARHSDHDSHRHR

idk wat 2 write here um,, good luck chat

tooru oikawa screams like a little girl btw

send pics of black cat stuffed toys

taglist is open ! (29/50)

@wooasecret @yuminako @dawnisatotalqueen @thechaosoflonging @boogiemansbitch @chloiyoomi @mikauraurr @just-coreee @chemiru @twiishaa @imcheshire @zozodahobo @fallenisded @nyxlai @sp1ng @sunsribn @sellomaybe @savemebrazilhinata @semieita24rockstargf @marsoverthestars @bellsoftheball @renardiererin @akaakeis @dazqa @piopioo @theepitomeofswag @smellysluna @theycallmenanamisgirl @strxbxrrylover

comment or send an ask to be tagged <33

© iiwaijime 2024

[oc-smashorpass]

Hi

welcome to OC smash or pass!! here you can submit your mind blorbos and others will vote Smash or Pass. you get the idea

Rules for posting

submit a picture of your OC (1 or 2 max), as well as their name and a little blurb about them

also what piece of media they are for (or if theyre from an original world!)

please only submit one character at a time, and please don't spam characters either

you can also add your url, or ask to remain anonymous

18+ characters ONLY

pictures of your OC will most preferably be art, but if you don't have any then your OC made in the Sims or Heroforge are acceptable

Picrews or AI generated images won't be accepted

partial nudity is fine especially if it's part of their design, but please nothing too explicit

only submit rather with an ask or the submit button, my DMs are for questions/comments, not for submissions

if some of the art you submitted was done by someone else, please also provide their URL/other media handle!!

OCs can be from existing media, original, ttrpgs, etc!! go wild!

Rule for voting

please be nice and respectful with any commentary, in general don't be rude. these are people's characters they put a lot of love into

this isn't about art ability, its about the design of the characters and whether or not they are smashable to you

it's all on vibes baby

remember that this is all just for funsies, and smash/pass verdicts aren't to be taken seriously. all your ocs are lovely

It should also go without saying that racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, or any other sort of discrimination or bigotry are not welcome here.

also thanks @amygdalae for the idea lol

[show-your-fangs]

as for blurb requests i was thinking about the kinda opposite of moments, instead of hotch hating reader and then catching feelings, having them being close friends and him realizing that he’s too far gone before he can prevent it- idek what i’m requesting to be honest, i just love to see my man all flustered over his feelings

oh shut up i love this too much

Moments AU: Aaron falls head over heels from the second that he meets you.

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x f!Reader

Words: 810

CW: nothing, just pining and fluff.

Disclaimer: YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO REPOST MY WRITING ANYWHERE ELSE WITHOUT MY CONSENT. REBLOGS ARE ENCOURAGED THOUGH. YOU MAY NOT FEED MY WORK TO ANY AI DATABASES OF ANY KIND OR TO USE MY WORKS TO TRAIN AI. FUCK AI.

This could not be happening. 

It needed to stop, he needed to stop. It was getting to the point where every time you so much as looked at him his heart began aggressively pounding against his ribcage. 

The first time that it happened he’d been understandably confused, he’d even thought he was having a heart attack. But the lack of every other symptom quickly reassured him that he wasn’t. 

But in all honesty, he’d take the heart attack over dealing with his feelings for you. 

He should’ve seen it coming, should’ve been able to profile himself and come to the realization much sooner. But he’d always been blindsided when it came to his own emotions. It wasn’t that he didn’t know they were there but rather that he’d allowed himself to believe that they were just professional, platonic, normal. 

He felt this way towards the rest of his team, the rest of his family. The love that he felt for them was so overwhelming, allconsuming, that when he started to feel that way towards you after a few months of you working at the BAU, he dismissed them as nothing more than his body finally trusting you, welcoming you into the family. 

But that night something changed. 

They had just made it back to the office after wrapping up a case, the jetlag and general fatigue settling over everyone as they shuffled towards their desks to get started on their paperwork. Morale had been at an all time low, the unfortunate outcome of the case weighing heavy on everyone’s shoulders. 

He’d been on the phone with Jack, saying goodnight to him so his mind was elsewhere. It wasn’t until he dropped off his bags in his office and heard his name being called that he finally took in the sight before him.

You were peeking out of the conference room, a bright and disarming smile on your lips, his name, his first name, like honey on your tongue. He’d insisted you call him Aaron a week earlier and they’d been whisked away to a case before he could hear you say it.

“Would you like some dinner?” you asked him, gentle and caring and too kind to him. 

He was rendered speechless by such a normal question, his cheeks heating up more and more every second that went by where he didn’t respond. Instead, he focused on his son’s voice over the phone, the boy helping him out of the embarrassing hole he found himself in as he just pointed at the phone and you nodded in understanding. 

You were about to turn around when he stopped you, calling out your name and motioning you towards him. You obeyed almost instantly and he could almost convince himself that you were taking advantage of the excuse to be near him as much as he was taking advantage of his rambling son to get you into his space.

“Jack wants to say hello,” he told you when you entered his office and if it was even possible, your smile only got brighter. 

He held his phone out to you, his chest tightening, his lungs begging for air, all of his energy going to keep his hand from shaking. Your delicate fingers wrapped themselves over his own, almost lingering for a second too long before he let you take the phone to talk to the boy.

You sat yourself down on his desk chair, as if the office was yours, as if the two of you had this relationship of trust and familiarity. He couldn’t help but watch you intently as you spoke with his son, your voice chipper and excited, eager to engage in conversation with the hyperactive six year old. 

At some point your eyes met his, catching him almost red handed in his admiration. His heart stopped beating, he could hear a faint ringing in his ears, the scorching hot guilt and embarrassment bubbling up to the surface. And then you winked at him, quick, playful, as if the two of you were sharing a secret that no one else had the privilege of knowing. 

He was certain you could see the blush that adorned his cheeks, was certain that you could hear his heart hearing out of his chest, was certain that you knew exactly why he was acting this way. He knew, because he could see it all on you too.  

Unbeknownst to either of you, you weren’t being at all subtle with your secret crushes as it seemed that the only people who didn’t know about your feelings for each other were yourselves. 

“I bet you twenty dollars he asks her out by the end of the week,” Derek whispered to Rossi before taking a bite out of the chow mein you’d ordered for them.

Rossi scoffed, offended. “I bet you fifty he asks her out tonight.”

BRB SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP thank you so much for requesting this

[ninjago-oc-appreciation]

Ninjago Oc Secret Summer 2024!

What is a Secret Summer? - It's basically a Secret Santa (A secret gift giving event) but in Summertime/Not-December instead! - For this event, you'll be secretly assigned someone to draw/write a gift for based around their oc(s) - It's very important that no one knows that you are making them a gift and vice versa, that you don't know who is making you a gift!

Are there any rules?

- Absolutely no N/S/F/W or Suggestive content is permitted for prompts, gifts, or references. This is /not/ an 18+ event.

- No direct contact with the person you're making a gift for; you can communicate through me or someone helping run the event, or ask through anon on tumblr if you can.

- No AI art/writing, Gacha edits, face claims, picrews, or bases will be permitted for oc reference submissions or gifts.

- Oc x Canon and Oc x Oc ships are 100% allowed.

- Fankids, sonas, and self inserts are also allowed; my only rule is that fankids of Lloyd x Canon ships are not permitted.

- Please respect requests regarding holiday or seasonal preferences when making a gift. Don't depict an oc participating in a holiday or seasonal activity that the creator asked not be depicted. - For the art portion, you must draw the character(s) you were assigned and they must be visible (feel free to ask for clarification).

How many ocs can be submitted total? - Three ocs can be submitted but only one is required.

What will I need for sign ups? - Refs or art that show a clear, colored depiction of your oc - OR at least two pieces of writing for said oc (does not need to be a whole fic. Could easily just be a quick blurb showing how they're written as a character) - Basic Information/Fun Facts about your character. This can be background information, relationships, likes/dislikes, age and height, personality, etc. - Suggestions or prompts for your gift giver. Stuff to help get their brain going. - Your blog name (not the name you go by but the url name. Like @/Ninjago-Oc-Appreciation, for example. Make sure it's a tumblr url, and not from any other social media).

What's the General Timeline for this event? - Sign ups will be rolling out April 14th and will remain open until the 21st. Requests can be made for small extensions if needed. - Assignments will be made sometime after the sign up forms close; posting week will begin late June (exact date to be announced with sign ups) - There will be exactly one week designated as a late period at the start of July.

How do I sign up? - In April, I'll post a google document where you can submit your ocs! There will be one for writing and one for art! - Please reach out to me after signing up in some way. This can be through messages, asks, comments, etc. In the past we've had issues with the forms, where they'd "eat' a submission, and I'd like to know when to check to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Event Tags

- We'll be using #NOSS2024, #NinjagoOcSecretSummer2024, and #SecretNinja2024 as tags for this event!

That's all! If you have any questions feel free to let me know, I tried to cover everything but I may have missed something!

Feel free to reblog this post and share with people who might be interested!

[finalgirllx]

Mattheo Riddle

this is now a highlight reel of my personal favorite creations. not everything i have ever made is included. *-denotes nsfw

writing hickeys* gamer headcanons* hair headcanons* daddy kink blurb* mattheo's nurse* bartender mattheo au* thunderstorms edits ai series 1 (up for nostalgia purposes) boyfriend fluff (aka the edit you have probably seen on tiktok) mattheo and enzo ghostface! mattheo library crush tipsy matty a model fr headshots *my edits are ai-generated and then heavily edited by yours truly. it has always been for fun and never to profit and never to replace real artists. i will always disclose when content is ai-generated. support hardworking artists on the app! random when you're stressed rivals to lovers pov my wine post biblical need

[terastalungrad]

A few comedians I know have started using ChatGPT to produce copy. This sort of thing:

"Are you in desperate need of a good laugh? Look no further! Join us for a side-splitting evening of non-stop laughter featuring not one, not two, but THREE uproarious comedians who will have you rolling in the aisles!"

I hate it.

The absolute pinnacle of something that fits the brief but goes no further.

And yet - a lot of comedy blurbs already looked like this. Uninspiring. Perfectly acceptable. Almost TOO perfect.

And it's helped me realise a problem with these AI thingies. It's not that there wasn't already lots of bland, algorithmic pieces of writing in the world. It's that these bots are finally allowing us to shave off the last few barely-noticeable strands of imperfection from generic, derivative bits of work.

Human beings can write boring comedy blurb. But there's a chance they'll misspell a word, or mix a metaphor, or accidentally include a question mark where there wasn't supposed to be one.

Imperfections - quirks, let's call them - can lift boring work, at least a little bit. Soap operas are fun at least in part because the pressure to deliver work at speed leads to wild results.

There have been TV shows as boring as Secret Invasion before. But we may now be heading into a world where there's significantly more reason to skip these works.

Because they've controlled for the danger of humanity leaking into the work.

[whumporpass]

Hello whumpers!

This is “Whump or Pass”, a blog where you can submit your favorite characters by ask, and see if the whump community would rather whump them, or pass on whumping them!

Run by @angst-is-love-angst-is-life

In case you don’t know what “whump” is, here is the fanlore definition:

The term whump (or whumping) generally refers to a form of Hurt/Comfort that is heavy on the hurt and is often found in gen stories. The exact definition varies and has evolved over time. Essentially, whump involves taking a canon character, and placing them in physically painful or psychologically-damaging scenarios. - Fanlore

Rules/Guidelines

Propaganda in visual and/or written form is allowed AND encouraged

Voter fraud is also allowed because I believe if you're dedicated enough to do it; you should, but remember: With great power, there must also come great responsibility.

Characters:

Submit the name of any fictional (see below) character and the name of the media they are from.

All submissions must be fictional, possible exceptions for AU versions of a person would be decided by me on a case to case basis. Actors playing a character in live action does qualify as fictional. (Ex. “Jensen Ackles” would not be allowed but “Dean Winchester” who is played by Jensen Ackles, would be allowed)

OCs are allowed.

If submitting a specific version of a character; specify exactly which one they are.

Pictures (Optional):

You may include a picture of your character or OC.

If no picture is provided, I will add one.

No NSFW material in the pictures.

Do not submit an AI generated image. If an image of the character does not exist, please use a faceclaim, picrew, art, or something similar. (Faceclaims are allowed for the same reason actors playing a character are).

For initial submission, picture should be a still image and not a gif or video.

Background (Optional):

You may include a short blurb/background of the character if you like.

Propaganda (Optional):

If you reblog a poll with propaganda for why this character should be whumped, I will reblog it here under the tag “whump or pass propaganda”

Gifs or videos can be included in reblog propaganda, as well as longer written information about the character’s history and why they should be whumped.

I am not in every fandom, so if I get something like a picture or name wrong please don’t hesitate to let me know so I can correct it :]

If you want to submit a picture but would like to remain anonymous; I can copy paste everything in your ask and exclude your account name in the post (or tag a sideblog if you still want to be included in the post).

Additional guidelines to be added as needed. My apologies if these are a little strict, just making sure to cover as many bases as possible.

[devsgames]

On AI-Driven Conversations In Games

The AI gang really shot themselves in the foot by leaning so hard into capitalist exploitation angle, because now whenever they present a use of the tech that is actually moderately interesting the baseline reaction people have to it is just going to be hate because it's associated to AI in any way shape or form.

I mean, obviously I understand why people react this way, because most of the practical applications of AI are just a veil for replacing of labour and increasing profit margins for the executive levels. But I feel like nowadays you'll also just see a lot of people hating an idea because it's implicitly tied to AI in any way, despite the core conceit of the idea actually being fairly interesting. (Remember when Spiderverse used Machine Learning to generate some of it's incredibly labour-intensive frame-by-frame effects and then a bunch of people got mad because it used Machine Learning for that?)

People have been pointing to the use case of "what if you could talk to an NPC in a game and have their reponses generated via AI", and laughing at it like it's the dumbest suggestion ever, but honestly in my opinion I think that's the exact kind of system AI was practically designed for! To me that feels like an excellent application of the tech that is now just marred by the mention of AI in the first place.

Anyway, to ruminate on the concept a bit: I see that use of AI enabling a dev to fill out a world with more NPCs who help it feel more populated, as well as potentially give them incredibly varied responses that are more relevant to the NPCs immediate context of the game. I imagine instead of replacing full-on player choice dialog it would instead replace the throwaway barks of awkward and out of place open-world NPCs who look at you and say "I have nothing to say to you" and giving them something to directly say about your adventure or the context around them instead.

Instead of having the intern narrative designers be forced to write little barks and blurbs like "I have nothing to say" (which I understand narrative folks usually view as grunt work and hate writing in he first place), they'd be writing little prompts for that system instead. End result is when you talk to random farmer NPC #344 outside of town they say "Crop's doing well this year, here's hoping a dragon doesn't attack us" instead of "I've got nothing to say". I think on paper that's a genuinely good and interesting way to improve an antiquated open-world problem like that. Should it be helpful? Probably not. Would it be interesting? No. Would it be a little more flavourful than what we currently have going on? I think so!

It's not an AI shill fever dream, I can see exactly how it would work and I'd bet money that there's a studio doing something like it in R&D right now. I imagine it'd also probably be pretty adaptable between projects too, so the similar system could be applied to different areas of the world.

Should it be trusted to give the player directions or do any sort of leading that a narrative designer should do? Almost certainly not because it would be inconsistent and have too big a possibility window, and AI is nothing if not horrible at performing essential tasks that might block progress.

Should it be done with the tech as it is now? Hell no, unless you want to wait five seconds for every reply to be generated and for it to be tied to some server bank that's guzzling all of Arizona's water. Also it would probably need an internet conncetion to work, which is asking a lot for an open world game.

Should it be done by these studios who are more interested in using it to replace labour and make the end result cheaper to make so they can keep more profits off he top? No, and that's the real reason why the applications of this tech sucks - because spoiler alert they'd all love to save money.

Obviously this concept isn't doable right now, but I wouldn't be surprised if it ships in a game in some form within 5-10 years tops.

Again I get why at this point in capitalism there's almost no applications of machine learning that are easy to trust, nor should we ever believe studios are doing it for any reason outside of trying to make development cheaper. I just think when it comes to tech it's worthwhile to keep execution in mind separate from intent; Tech isn't implicitly evil, it's the system it's built under that is. :)

[buggywiththefolkmagic]

Buggy's Book Reviews: The Old Mountain Spellbook

Well well well, look who has returned after a long hiatus while life kicked my ass from here to Sunday. Let's get started with a bang shall we? TW: Slavery mentions, appropriation, generalized frustration at the writing space currently with the rise of ghost writers and AI.

This is: The Old Mountain Spellbook by Alda Dagny

Rating: 1/10 

Buckle up. This is gonna be a bumpy ride. Prepare to be shocked, horrified, and gobsmacked.

For context the cover art of this book caught my eye and then I read the small blurb of a subtitle for it and cringed so incredibly hard that the moment it showed up in my Spotify audio book list, I had to give it a listen for a measly 3 and a half hours of my life while at work. 

I regret this decision so very hard.

For further context:

This “author” Alda Dagny has also written books on…”The Secrets of the Nile” a three part series called “The Old Norse Spellbook:”, and “Secrets of Mesoamerica”. 

My head hurts from thinking about the gall to “write” on such a wide variety of topics in a seniority form. But before I get ahead of myself let me go back into my proper format for these reviews.

Pros: SOME of the information is right. The mentions of planting by the signs and how the signs works was very accurate. The generalized description of grannies, while very surface level and focused far too heavily on the midwife aspect, which don’t get me wrong is super mega ulta important! Was right if not very generalized. That’s about all I’ve got. 

It does mention that Hoodoo is a closed practice that stems from African Dispora/the Trans-Atlantic slave trade which good for this “author”. You will understand why that term is in parenthesis later! 

This book also included a Bell Witch mention twice which made my Tennessee heart hopeful for like two seconds.

Cons: Gods help me. For starters, I know this was likely not a choice this “author” made, but why in the seven hells did the publisher pick an AUSTRALIAN PERSON to do the narration for this book? The mispronunciation of Appalachia and Asfidy are now burned into my brain for life. I do not appreciate it. The MINIMUM a narrator should do is glance through for proper pronunciations. 

My gripes with the audiobook out of the way let’s get into the meat of this review: The book’s contents and why I believe this was ghost written/stolen from other places and put forward by an ai generated “author”. 

The second entire chapter of this book, a whopping 40 minutes of the audiobook, is all about Hoodoo. The real thing that got me was it SAYS that Hoodoo is a CLOSED PRACTICE stemming from Africa Diaspora. And what does this book do anyway? Break Hoodoo down into stupid candle magic and mojo bags and tell you how to do “it”. I was surprised it got the origin of Hoodoo right! It was RIGHT! And then it shits on itself. 

Examples: Hoodoo shares similarities with wicca. Tarot is incredibly important to the practice. And it is a religion and not a practice. The practice is “rootwork”. Did I mention that Hoodoo focuses on “doing no harm”? Oh and the third eye is important too, especially to Hoodoo despite it being a Hindu concept. I cannot make this up.

The wording of this book is also incredibly strange. I don’t have a ebook version to double check but I am positive the words Furthermore and However are included at least 50 times. EACH. The book also repeats itself numerous times. A good example is with the Furnace Ghost story it tells in the 4th chapter I believe? Where it repeats the same end of sentence with just slightly different beginnings within the same paragraph. There’s also other phrases used at the end of chapters to usher in the next that just read…weirdly? Examples: “Let me set the stage” “You are not going to want to miss this.” What are you writing a script or a book? 

Now for the proper “Appalachian Magic” side of the book. It consistently uses the term Granny Witch, and states numerous times that witchcraft was just fine! Appalachia did not care and the “fear” of witches never penetrated the mountains. But yet a “granny witch” would use faith not as a proper form of healing, oh no! It was “to keep doubters at bay”. So faith healing was a cover up and not the actual practice itself. 

This book also has two whole chapters on legends and myths, which is fine, if it didn’t focus on the ones everyone knows like Bigfoot and Mothman only. Like it doesn’t cover any of the smaller localized things or spirits at all. Just the things you could easily find if you googled “appalachia spooky”. Hmmmmmm. Strange isn’t it? 

This book also stated that tarot and black tourmaline was ULTRA important to Appalachian magic. Like where does that come from? There’s another chapter dedicated to the phases of the moon and “spells”  which they mean in a modern new-age witchcraft way and definitely not Appalachian, although I will give it props for saying the moon phases and astrology are different here. Because they are.

Tiktok was mentioned twice; it appropriates dreamcatchers and other Hoodoo items in the “non-Hoodoo” sections of the book. Hell, it even said, accurately mind you, that Mothman has even “spawned fanfiction”. It even got the information on where Roanoke was…wrong.  Roanoke is in Virginia. This book claims it is in North Carolina. 

The most damning thing however, and I use that however in a very sarcastic tone, is the “author” herself. I painstakingly typed in some text from the book and was surprised to see it come back as “human written”. I don’t think that’s quite true, if it is then they text portions must be stolen from other sources and shoved into a book form. Because this author? A bot.

Her profile image used on Amazon, which is the ONLY SOURCE of information on her, no socials, no google, nothing. Is AI generated. Proof is here: 

And a blurb from the book I wanted to include as well. The first of many furthermores used.

The author's Biography, which again is the ONLY SOURCE OF INFORMATION on this supposed person, says as follows: "Alda Dagny has always been drawn to history. Growing up in Scandinavia, history has always been all around her, gods and goddesses, pagan rituals and spells. Ancient ruins that dot her homeland captivated her from an early age, giving her a lifelong love of all things history. " That's all I can find. That's it. Just AI and or ghost writing/theft has officially found itself in the AFM space. I hate this society.