iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 6h

I don’t use AI to write or edit. Telling a story is one of the most human things you can do; letting a computer do it for you completely misses the point. If you're a writer who eschews AI, you deserve an editor who respects your story’s humanity. 📚 #editing #romance #romantasy #PNR #fantasy #scifi

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 6h

Q: What’s the hardest part of building a model of a snake? A: building it to scale 🐍 😀

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Jennifer Wright @jenashleywright.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

If you or anyone you know wanted the Beast to stay a beast, now is the time to tell me.

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Smooth Dunk @smoothdunk2.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

when ai leaves u behind

7 panel comic.

Panel 1:
A Red Guy with AI across his chest looks like he’s about to run away. A Yellow Guy stands next to him. Red Guy says “I’m the future, buddy. You comin’?”
Yellow Guy replies “Nah”

Panel 2:
Red Guy is almost out of the panel. He leans in and says “Enjoy getting left behind, pal”
Yellow Guy replies “ok”

Panel 3:
Yellow Guy stands alone.

Panel 4:
Close up on Yellow Guy, there is a quiet “huff-huff-huff” noise coming from behind him

Panel 5:
Yellow Guy turns to look behind him

Panel 6:
Close up on Yellow Guy’s face as if from the point of view of an attacker.
Yellow Guy yells “Jesus Christ”

Panel 7:
AI Red Guy is now chasing the Yellow Guy.
Red Guy: “Use me”
Yellow Guy “No”
Red Guy “USE ME”

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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Do you promise I’ll get left behind? Promise??

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Laika L. Gagarin @laikalgagarin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

any technology that cannot stand on its own merits and has to be forced down our throats as being the future is anything but that.

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Chuck Wendig @chuckwendig.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

“GOTTA LEARN AI OR BE LEFT BEHIND.” Good. Fuck off! Leave me behind! Enjoy your artbarf rapture, your janky Temu future. I’ll be back here looking at real birds and writing weird, also real, books.

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Oh, I feel that. It’s why I started requesting to see the entire manuscript before I give a quote. But I do enjoy copyediting if the MS is truly ready for it. I think my sweet spot lately is a medium copyedit with leeway to do a little bit of line edit–level work as needed.

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

And of course right after I decide this, I get an inquiry about proofreading. For half my listed rate. 🙃 Yet another reason not to offer it anymore: I can’t work for peanuts.

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I think I’ve decided that I don’t want to offer proofreading as a service anymore. I hardly ever get proofreading requests. I don’t enjoy it as much as copyediting. And let’s face it, many authors think they need a proofread when what they really need is a copyedit. #amediting

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This is an unbelievably ridiculous waste of effort. They need to stop trying to ruin books.

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

My kid seems to like it in a kind of self-flagellating way. Like he knows it’s probably going to be awful but he enjoys the experience of hating it? And when they make a new flavor he does like it’s a weird sort of victory? IDK, his ways are mysterious and inscrutable, I’m just happy to play along.

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Louisa @louisathelast.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I always ask if people think hearing a digital piano programmed to play a concerto is the same as hearing my dad — who’s been playing for 79 years and still practices hours a day — do it. And funnily enough no one has ever agreed that it is.

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

My oldest kid is obsessed with that video. For his 18th birthday I got him an obscene variety of oreos and on his bday card I wrote “You are a babbling fool, and we have built a temple to madness.” He still requests that I pick up any weird new oreo flavors I come across so we can critique them.

A shopping cart loaded with an obscene variety of oreos

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

No, I think that’s definitely pronounced ware-ee 🧐

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Thank you! It's funny because it's true 🫠

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

“It’s not the stroke of your fingers, it’s the warm grace of your hips,” he said, eyes sharp and sultry, delving into her soul. “It’s the deep wonder of your kiss and the subtle spice in your smile. And honestly? It’s just being here with you.”

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Funny how they never seem to come for murder mysteries this way. 🧐

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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 30/09/2026

Ah I see the JCO coin flip has landed on "no" today

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Not many of us have the patience for this #notallmen bullshit right now, dude.

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

do men understand the extent to which women are ready to burn it all down right now

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

For me, it’s a good developmental editor who understands my genre deeply and can tell me when I’m on track and call me out when I’m including too much meandering plot clutter. It’s so hard to see in my own work because I’m too close to it and everything seems important.

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Is anyone I know on here planning to go to World Fantasy Con?

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Ooh yes, that’s a good way of explaining it, and it works for books and images too. An AI-generated book isn’t a story, it’s story-shaped content. An AI generated image isn’t art, it’s a visual product. Because the vital process of creation is missing, and without that it’s hollow and meaningless.

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Hagai Palevsky (he/him) @dialhforhagai.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Wile E. Coyote, despaired, takes a bucket of paint and a brush and paints a beautiful two-bedroom house on a mountainside. He paints a beautiful coyote wife in the window, and two adorable coyote kids running around in the yard. He tries to enter this new coyote life, but it is inaccessible to him

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I feel that SO HARD about Spindle Cove. With the right director, leaning into both the humor and the spice, it could be MAGICAL.

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

They fundamentally do not understand why people like things

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Jared Pechaček @vandroidhelsing.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Tune Messiah

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I couldn’t care less about hockey. It’s the ✨yearning✨🥺😍

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

See also: Barbie Movie wildly popular, Mattel thinks “ah, more movies about toys”

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I feel like it’s hard to pin down when it’s done skillfully because it’s so immersive, but it’s glaringly obvious when it’s not.

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Smut and Sensibility @smutandsensibility.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

If only we could make everyone see this point of view... But we will be out here, fighting the good fight, until then. Thanks for being here with us 💜 #booksky #authorsky #romancelandia #romancebooks #equality #feminism #goals

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Wow. The scammery is so blatant, you don't even have to speak fluent Scam to understand it.

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

JFC. And Amazon's over here just limiting the number of titles an author can create per week like that's going to fix everything. I just imagine them dusting their hands off like "There! All fixed!" and walking away from an enormous pile of obvious slop with flies buzzing all over it.

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Sex scenes are so hard to write well. There is so much finesse involved in choosing just the right combination and description of actions: not enough & readers can't picture what's happening, but too much = boring and mechanical. It helps to lean on the sensations those actions evoke. #amediting

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

My goal is to make your book better, and I take that job very seriously. Also, if you get your edits back from me and I tell you I think a sex scene needs to be "fleshed out 😏," that pun is 100% intended. #amediting

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Lorelai Tarlow, Author @lorelaitarlow.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I spoke with romance author Alyssa Jarrett about her latest release, Love Like No One's Watching, ending a series, representation in romance, and much more.

lorelaitarlow.substack.com

Author Alyssa Pulls Out All the Stops In Series Finale

Love Like No One’s Watching caps her Glam Fam series

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

My husband and kids are obsessed with the audiobooks. I like them ok, Jeff Hays is phenomenal, but the info pop-ups and lootbox descriptions are a little much for me. I think I might like it better as a TV series if that ever takes off.

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Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab @bpal.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Well dang, should’ve just memed it in the first place

An illustration by Gustave Dore for Dante’s Divine Comedy that shows two silhouetted figures standing on a tall summit gazing up at a great celestial conflagration of souls in heaven. Text reads “We already had free art for people who are broke or bad at designing things. It’s called the PUBLIC DOMAIN”

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

If that’s the Pendragon Cycle, that was my precise take when I read the books in the 90s, and the reason I stopped after book 2 or 3.

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