Artificial Intelligence

2026 is going to be an interesting and challenging year for authors and publishers. There has been a huge shift in how creative writing is produced, and it’s due to Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI is already having a serious impact on what people write, how they write it, and how readers react.

Pixabay

Proponents for AI say that it increases productivity and helps in overcoming writer’s block. They tout the fact that writers can delegate the “dishwashing” aspect of writing to AI. 

For example, AI can generate plot points or character names. It can make things like tone and style consistent throughout a manuscript—especially a lengthy one. Certainly, it can catch many of the grammar and punctuation mistakes, eliminating a lot of line edit issues. If you’re publishing online, it can create Keywords and SEO in a matter of seconds.

Opponents call into question the ethics of using AI because it is trained by models of work that have already been created by someone. If a writer asks for AI to generate a story based on their idea, and it kicks out a complete work, are they the creator, or is someone else who has helped train AI? 

Here is what one search asking that question produced: 

“…the human author is generally considered the author if they provide significant creative input, guidance, and substantially rewrite or arrange the AI's output…”

There are no descriptors that delineate what significant creative input, guidance, or substantial re-writing mean. 

Both proponents and opponents warn about the cost of a heavy reliance on AI. It can produce a flat, generic tone, it can generate false information, and it can lack uniqueness. 

Even though the industry says that AI is a “collaborative tool,” and not one meant to replace humans, one main concern that has been expressed is that as writers come to rely on AI, it may lead to lessening or ending the need for human writers.

But what about readers?

It seems that readers complain a lot about the lack of accuracy, authenticity, and especially the non-human feeling of AI-generated writing. The interesting thing is that while they complain about this non-human writing, people are reading it. 

Here's an interesting article about just that. The Irony of AI Complaints. 

The First Wedneday of the New Year!

Join Us!

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post. And please be sure your avatar links back to your blog! Otherwise, when you leave a comment, people can’t find you to comment back.

The awesome co-hosts for the January 7 posting of the IWSG are Shannon Lawrence, Olga Godim, Jean Davis, and Jacqui Murray!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Remember, the question is optional!

January 7 question - Is there anything in your writing plans for 2026 that you are going to do that you couldn’t get done in 2025?

Yep! I’ll see a new book published by Evernight Teen. I had hoped it would be released in 2025, but the publisher was busy, so I had to be patient. That’s okay. It’s something to look forward to this year.

Outside of that, I’ll just keep posting a short story on each Wednesday on Substack unless, of course, I can’t come up with something. Then I’ll punt!

Be sure to visit our co-hosts and other members to see what they have planned for this year! 

Happy 2026!

Featuring IWSG Author Rebecca M. Douglass

Please welcome Rebecca M. Douglass, our featured author! Douglass is a long-time member of our Facebook and Insecure Writer’s Support Group sites. She is a prolific writer who has published many novels as well as stories in collections and anthologies.  

She appreciates the IWSG for supporting her so many years and says many members have really helped her along the way.  Her author's website is Rebecca M. Douglass. 

Rebecca M. Douglass

Currently #38 Rebecca M.Douglass - The Ninja Librarian on Our IWSG Sign-in Page

Rebecca’s latest cozy mystery, published on August 25, 2025, is Edited Out, the third book in her Seffi Wardwell Mysteries. Seffi is a retired science teacher who moved to Maine for peace and quiet, but her curiosity drives her to investigate local deaths instead.

Edited Out (Seffi Wardwell #3)
Rebecca M Douglass - Goodreads

Who erased the writer?

Winter in Maine is long, dark, and cold, and California transplant Seffi Wardwell is combating the winter blues with a full calendar. Tending the plants at the local bed-and-breakfast, writing reports for the library, and keeping an eye on events in Smelt Point barely leaves time for pastry and gossip at Sweet Dreams, the local bakery and heart of the village.

When the participants at an artistic retreat held at the bed-and-breakfast grow combative, Seffi is there to smooth things over, stiffen the spine of the innkeeper, and keep things going. But when a writer turns up dead, Seffi’s called on to wield a different kind of expertise. Then someone lets slip there was poison in a coffee bought at Sweet Dreams, and it looks like Seffi’s favorite source of treats is in real trouble. Can her knowledge of plants save the inn—and the local bakery—before the killer strikes again and tears the heart out of Smelt Point?

Book #3 Seffi Wardwell Mysteries

Rebecca published the five-book, one-novella Pismawallops PTA Mysteries that feature amateur sleuth JJ MacGregor as she solves murders on fictional Pismawallops Island in Puget Sound. JJ is a PTA mom, and she seizes the initiative when mystery and murder roil her personal life and her community. Readers enjoy the tight plotting, well-defined characters, and humor which runs through her series.

 Book #5 Pismawallops PTA Mysteries

Rebecca has also published the entertaining Ninja Librarian Series set in middle-of-nowhere Skunk Corner. Skunk Corner has a library and a history of running librarians out of town, until Tom, the Ninja Librarian, arrives and shake things up. While the series was written for middle grade readers, readers of all ages enjoy it. 

Book #1 Ninja Librarian Series 

Notably, Rebecca’s short stories appear in two IWSG anthologies,  "A Stitch in Crime" in Tick Tock: A Stitch in Time and "A World of Trouble" in Voyagers: The Third Ghost.

 

Rebecca makes the most of life! She has lived in, worked in, and explored the American west, often returning to hike and backpack in her beloved Sierra Nevada mountains and the desert southwest. She has also enjoyed traveling in Maine. After raising her two sons and working as a librarian for seventeen years, she retired to focus on reading, writing, and travel. 

In September 2025 Rebecca explored Iceland in a campervan before returning home to edit her WIP Painted Over.  You can read about her adventures exploring Iceland with Petey Possum on her website.

Hiking the Desert Southwest

Gullfoss (Golden Waterfall)

One of the Spectacular Places Rebecca Visited in Iceland

© Rebecca M. Douglass

You can buy Rebecca's books in a variety of places listed on her author's website:

https://www.rebecca-douglass.com/p/like-what-you-see-here-enjoy-my-stories.html

If you have enjoyed any of Rebecca's books, we'd love to hear in the comments.

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Questions for Our Members:

You may know that I am one of the IWSG administrators.  One thing I think about a lot is how to make our Facebook site and IWSG website more valuable for members.  

I posted a similar article about Rebecca M. Douglass on our Facebook site earlier this week. Then I thought it would be good to post it here as well for two reasons.  First, because Rebecca is a longtime member whose books I have read and enjoyed, and second because I think it would be awesome to get to know our members better.  

What do you think of featuring members in this way?

What would you like to see on our sites?

I'd appreciate your feedback!

Till next time ~ Fundy Blue