Independent Author Adventures

AI Art for Fall 2024

AI Art for Fall 2024

AI-generated image services are still entertaining enough to keep me off the streets and out of the karaoke bars. The greatest hits are still dominated by MidJourney, but Ideogram and others are rising up the charts. These are my adventures in AI art for Fall 2024. Want more AI art? See these previous posts for…

Stylized illustration of a girl wearing headphones and holding a phone in a futuristic setting, generated by MidJourney

AI Art for Spring 2024

As far as generative AI art services, I find that MidJourney (MJ) is still the leader for most things I want to do. Not all, mind you, because sometimes MJ whiffs it. As I’ve mentioned before, the services vary significantly across the platforms in terms of prompts. What works well in one may be a…

Galactic Pirates Collection: A Kickstarter Special

Galactic Pirates Collection: A Kickstarter Special

Announcing my first Kickstarter campaign — whee! I’m calling it the Galactic Pirates Collection, a Kickstarter special. It’s in pre-launch right now while I finalize all the parts that make it special. ❗ UPDATE 27 Feb 2024: CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED! ❗ The campaign will start a short run at the end of this month. If you…

Abstract illustration showing white on one half and blue stars on the other, with starships leaving the blue stars, generated by MidJourney

AI Art for Winter 2024

Several highly popular generative AI art services continue to roll out new versions. I primarily use MidJourney, but dabble in others, notably NightCafé. I’ve seen impressive results by others from DALL-E v. 3, but I haven’t played with it myself for over a year. The nuances of prompting — describing the image you want —…

Watercolor illustration of an open book, generated by MidJourney

How to Kickstarter a Project

Kickstarter is an online all-or-nothing crowdfunding platform that helps people find creative projects to support. Artists offer special benefits to people who pledge support for a creative project. If the project meets its funding goal, the artist gets the funds, and the backers get the rewards. If the project doesn’t make it, no one’s credit…

Illustration of a futuristic computer table, and the words "PLANS 2024"

Plans for 2024

Most years, but not all (looking at you, horrible COVID year!), it’s fun to look ahead. I come from a long line of folks who are rather bad at looking back, so that section will be brief. The more interesting sections — to me, at any rate — are plans for 2024.  2023 Plans vs….

Coloring Pages Just For Fun

Coloring Pages Just For Fun

Sometimes when I need a break so my brain can have time to think, but I can’t go for a walk, I get generative AI art services to make some coloring pages just for fun. As is always the way with A.I. anything, some attempts are more successful than others.  Fair warning: This is image-heavy…

Illustration of a woman wearing futuristic armor and a service dog seated next to her, generated by MidJourney.

Disabled Veterans, Service Dogs, and Spaceships

What do disabled veterans, service dogs, and spaceships have in common? When I was invited to participate in the first of several Pets in Space® anthologies, and later took over as editor, my favorite thing about them was the charity focus. Of course, I love science fiction romance, but the chance to help Hero Dogs…

Author Carol Van Natta standing in front of a shiny sculpture in the courtyard of the Museum of Modern Art in Sydney, Australia

Great Aussie Adventure Part 4

I recently visited the Land of Oz, otherwise known as Australia, and had a blast. I took so, so many shareable photos that I had to break this down into four posts. This the last post about my Great Aussie Adventure, Part 4. (Click the images to see larger versions.) Melbourne (Part 1) • Cairns…

Illustration of a logo with two black cats in silhouette with a crown above and stars below, generated by MidJourney

A.I. Art for Summer 2023

It seems like every day brings the announcement of another A.I. art service and/or another A.I. writing service. And owing to my recent Great Aussie Adventure and busy summer, I was already weeks behind in keeping up with these and MidJourney changes. So many things to catch up on! This is my exploration of and…

Carol's Great Aussie Adventure 2023 - Signing books in Melbourne

Great Aussie Adventure Part 3

I recently visited the Land of Oz, otherwise known as Australia. I took a gazillion photos on this trip of a lifetime, so I’m breaking them down into four parts. This is my Great Aussie Adventure, Part 3. (Click the images to see larger versions.) Melbourne (Part 1) • Cairns (Part 2) • Uluru (Part…