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Content Notes for Handsome and Hideous
I’ve just added some content note links for Handsome and Hideous to the relevant website pages. I haven’t yet learned how to hide text, but I did leave a some space and an image of the cover between the introductory text and the actual content notes, so hopefully no one gets inadvertently spoiled.
For the content notes, click here.
In other news, I’m proofing the paperback copy of Handsome and Hideous. Looking forward to announcing the paperback release sometime in mid-June!
[Edited original 5/27/25 post to update what formatting I did to prevent spoilers, 5/28/25.]
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Yes, I Am a Human
Unless you’ve been under a rock recently (and frankly, who could blame you for taking an under-a-rock break?) you’ve heard about Artificial Intelligence (AI) being used to generate content for emails, posts, memes, and so forth (for the purpose of these discussions, people are not talking about applications like spellcheck, but the generation of text, images, etc.).
AI apps and programs are also used to generate stories and art, sometimes in an ethical manner, and sometimes not. AI is very often “trained” on existing, copyrighted work—without the owners of the AI programs requesting permission from, or even notifying, the creators of such work that they are using it.
(One cannot help but wonder why many of these AI developers do not make their own products open source, free, and available to all. But I digress.)
Here is a smattering of articles, to give you an idea of the concerns and controversies, in no particular order:
“A controversial experiment on Reddit reveals the persuasive powers of AI,” NPR, May 7, 2025
“The Problem With AI-Generated Art, Explained,” Forbes, December 30, 2023
Naturally, as an author, I am interested in the rapid increase of AI, especially in how people may be stealing others’ work to make their own more usable, attractive, and profitable.
The Authors Guild is stepping up to advocate for authors and protect their rights while understanding that AI is not going away:
(If you are an author, I recommend exploring the resources on their site. And becoming a member!)
I’m personally concerned as a self-published author, because most librarians and readers are understandably not interested in purchasing AI-generated novels and stories.
And it’s not easy to determine if something has been written by AI:
According to the SBTB blog post, there are a few indicators that raise suspicions of an AI “author”:
- Mostly one or two syllable first names
- One syllable last names
- All very basic nouns and adjectives as surnames
In addition, a not-very-active social media presence may lead to doubts.
Friends, my name is Maria Fox. I have social media accounts, but I am an introvert whether on- or off-line. I don’t post a lot on my website because I’m not a prolific or fast writer and writing posts takes time from other writing that is more important to me (stories).
So how do I assure readers that I, Maria Fox, exist as a human being and that I wrote my book, Handsome and Hideous?
Well, first, I’m going to make an effort to step up my online presence (look, a new post!).
Also, I’ve certified Handsome and Hideous with the Authors Guild “Human Authored” project. That’s what the badge on the copyright page means.
What a time to be alive.
Happy reading, friends.