Plot Twist, Please

Mia Ballard’s “Shy Girl” AI Drama is MESSY..

• Susannah, Beth and Cass • Season 1 • Episode 29

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In this episode, we’re diving into the Mia Ballard “Shy Girl” AI drama that’s been all over the internet. From what actually happened to why people are so divided, we break down the controversy, the rise of AI-generated personas, and what this situation says about authenticity, influence, and where content creation is heading next.

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*Disclaimer* It has been confirmed since filming, by Freida McFadden that she DOES NOT use AI. But we have thought that in the past, and good for her, for writing the amount she does!! 

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SPEAKER_01

Welcome back to Plot Twist Please where we sit, flip, and spill the tea on books and booze. I'm Susanna. I'm Cass, and I'm Beth. In today's episode, we are gonna discuss Mia Ballard's Shy Girl and the AI chaos that is currently surrounding this book. Full disclosure, none of us have read this book, but not because we didn't want to, we're gonna get into that.

SPEAKER_03

Today's episode drink is Sangria. A white sangria from my wedding wine. Again. Because didn't we have sangria the last time?

SPEAKER_02

The last time we recorded this episode.

SPEAKER_03

No. We had sangria. Oh, that is good.

SPEAKER_01

That is good, yeah. Oh, that's good.

SPEAKER_02

I think it's the juice concentrate with the the lime slush.

SPEAKER_01

Should we disclose that this is the second time we're recording then? We could. Yeah, I had a little bit of an oopsie. We re-recorded on Sundays like we usually do. And then Thursday I messaged you guys. Wednesday, I think. Wednesday, I went to go edit the podcast and I accidentally deleted all of our audio files permanently. So we're starting over. And here we are find them again.

SPEAKER_03

So we did have sangria the first time we recorded too. It was a red sangria. It was also my wedding line. But this one's better. This one is actually way better.

SPEAKER_02

So before we jump into it, what are we all reading?

SPEAKER_01

I am currently reading, this doesn't count because I haven't started it yet, but on my Kindle, I have walked and loaded Love Me Stalk Me by Laura Bishop. But I'm currently actively reading Nora Roberts' Stars of Fortune. Against her will. Kind of. I mean I didn't have to pick this up right away, but I wanted to give it a try. It's a shorty, so why not?

SPEAKER_03

Is the writing the same as The Awakening?

SPEAKER_01

Kind of, but I'm enjoying it more. And it's not as confusing. What are you reading right now? Beth. The Awakening.

SPEAKER_00

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02

And I'm not like invested, but I'm also looking at it very clinically this time. You're dissecting it. And I'm judging my older self.

SPEAKER_03

I'm glad you're judging her.

SPEAKER_02

But like I said, when I first did read it, I did kind of think that there was something lacking in the story. And I can definitely see why people feel certain things about her writing. And then I have been also tackling Clan Lands. What about the book club book? Have you started that? No. I will probably devour that so fast. Yeah, you're done.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I'm 15% in. But I just started because I was trying to finish Game On by Novessa Allen. Yeah. The last book in her Into Darkness trilogy. But I was craving that thriller. So I'm doing both. But I'm currently reading Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera, which is our book club of the month pick number two.

SPEAKER_01

A lot of our book club readers are really enjoying it so far. I Devoured It. I don't think it'll take me that long to read. No, you'll like it.

SPEAKER_03

And you'll you know what? You'll love the FMC. Nice. Yeah. She's she gives sarcasm. She gives a little bit of jet vibes.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, but like not to the point where it's a good idea. Not as an eye. But it was really good. And uh you will definitely devour it. Uh greed. And all people in our book club are actually like, there's so many participants this time. Yeah. Which I'm so excited about.

SPEAKER_03

I think we need to do more thrillers. People love thrillers.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, because it's well, it they're more conversational. Like they're like, who done it? Yeah. Like we're all having our own theories. So now that we discussed what we were reading, we're gonna get into it. So Mia Ballard is an American poet and fiction writer, mostly known for horror and psychological fiction with themes of feminine rage and disturbing extreme storytelling, often pushing the boundaries emotionally and physically.

SPEAKER_03

I'm gonna give a brief synopsis of what the book is about, and this is basically what's on the back of the book. So lonely, broke, and depressed with a serious case of OCD, Gia finds herself at a crossroads when financial troubles lead her to Nathan, a mysterious and affluent man she encounters on a sugar dating website. Desperate for a solution, Gia is intrigued by Nathan's unconventional offer. In exchange for living as his devoted pet, all of her debts will be erased. But the longer Gia is in captivity, the more animalistic she becomes. Sounds so good. It does sound good. I'm like, by that alone, I'm like, I want to read this immediately.

SPEAKER_02

And it is classified as a horror, which makes it more exciting for me. Right? Because you're like, ooh. Yeah. But that's not why everyone's all up in arms about it. So it started self-published in 2025. Then it got picked up by a major publisher. However, readers, especially on Reddit and YouTube, noticed weird patterns in the writing like repetitive phrasing, odd logic gaps, and overly dramatic formulaic writing.

SPEAKER_03

That's a hard word. When I read it, I can pronounce it. When I go to actually pronounce it, now I know how you feel.

SPEAKER_02

Your brain's like, this is right. I know it. And your mouth's like, blah, blah, blah. So some people actually took the book and ran it through AI detectors, and it was coming back that 70 to 80% of it was AI generated. And that's when the people started to spiral.

SPEAKER_01

Didn't you say it was actually more percent? It was no, it was 78.3%. And there's like a long deep dive YouTube video by I think his name was Frankie. Okay. And he did like a very long YouTube video about it. Mia actually saw it. Let me just pull up my little notes here. So she saw that video and commented, hello Frankie, this is genuinely heartbreaking to write because I've been a fan of your channel for a long time, but I need to clarify a few things. I did not edit or format Shy Girl myself. At the time I didn't have the money for a professional editor or formatter. Those services are expensive, and I was working on a broken laptop, doing the best I could with what I had. Someone in my writing group offered to help and assured me she'd do a thorough job, so I trusted her. In the process, she also changed a lot of the wording and encouraged me to lean more poetic because that's my background. And I listened. I should have done one final careful pass before publishing, and that's on me. Dang right. But the formatting and editing issues being pointed out are not present in the traditionally published edition. Most importantly, I did not use AI to write this book. What I can say is that the version you're referencing was edited by someone else, and I only later realized she may have run parts of it through an AI tool during her editing process. When my first book, Sugar, was edited by someone different, I never received these AI allegations. The accusation started after I used the same person from my novella, which I've since pulled, and early versions of Shy Girl. I'm not able to watch the rest of the video from my mental health, but I need you to hear this directly. Being a black woman in the publishing space has been exhausting. I get attacked constantly when all I'm trying to do is write me.

SPEAKER_03

That's very upsetting. It is upsetting. Um, especially if it's that's actually the case.

SPEAKER_02

I just think it's weird that she changed wording. It wasn't just editing. She actually changed things in the book.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Allegedly.

SPEAKER_01

Allegedly. Allegedly. I think that's just a cop out, personally.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. So she has even hinted at legal action and said that the backlash basically has ruined her reputation.

SPEAKER_02

Well, and as we mentioned before, like this deep dive on YouTube is pretty much like what you said was what hours long. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And that they picked apart like the entire book, all of the writing, Reddit blew up, YouTube blew up, and then that put a lot of public pressure on the publisher.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. So we actually had a a listener comment about us covering this story. We had no idea what was actually going on. So when I heard about it, I was like, well, I'm gonna read the book because I want to go into it, like seeing if I can spot what everyone's pointing out. And I went to go download it and it said currently unavailable. And I was like, what? So then I obviously looked into it further and I was like, oh, it actually got pulled. That's interesting. And that's big. It was published in the UK first.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So if any of our UK listeners has a copy that they would like to send to us, yeah, we won't say no.

SPEAKER_03

Let me email us at hello at plot twistplease.com and then we'll send you a mailing address.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Because I wouldn't mind circling back if we could get a copy of this.

SPEAKER_03

I also really want to read it. It sounds good. Yeah. Does or even original copy, like her unedited, her self-published.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I would be interested to see the differences. And I think really when it comes to when it comes down to it, that's I think the only way that she might be able to recover this uh from this right now it would be to self-release the original copy of it.

SPEAKER_01

One that she didn't have edited in Park. Which I don't think she's gonna do. Channel's called Frankie Shelf. He posted this video two months ago. So this has been going on for a while and it most just recently got pulled. Surged. But it got 1.5 million views. And it's two hours and 40 minutes long. Just dissecting the book. Yeah. And the title, I'm pretty sure this book is AI Slop.

SPEAKER_00

Ooh.

SPEAKER_01

So I think he's the reason why her book got pulled.

SPEAKER_02

That's harsh. Million and a half people spent you said two hours and 40 minutes. Yeah. I don't know if they'd watch the full thing, but at least that many people. That's a long time. I could barely sit through a movie. I know. That's that long.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_02

I could.

SPEAKER_03

Avatar. We know that. Fire.

SPEAKER_02

But there's so much going on in Avatar that for two hours and 40 minutes, like but I mean, for two hours and 40 minutes to do a deep dive on one book.

SPEAKER_01

That would take a lot of work. Like, because I do YouTube videos and whatever. Yeah. That would take a lot of research, a lot of being able to talk for a long period of time, which I evidently cannot do because my throat's already messing up.

SPEAKER_02

You know, it probably was well, we know it was probably filmed a lot longer than that. That's the that's yeah, cleaned version.

SPEAKER_01

Like I film for about 50 minutes and I cut down my video to about 2425. So it's crazy. He probably filmed for like four hours, maybe five.

SPEAKER_03

I would even guess five. So why people care so much? Readers are feeling like cheated basically if a book is not written by a human. Fair. Yeah. Um writers are also worried that AI could replace or undercut actual authors.

SPEAKER_02

Think about the complaints that we've had, the pricing of books, to then find out that they had a computer write it for them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And then now publishers are kind of left with a huge trust problem when it comes to their authors and publishing their books. And AI detection isn't even reliable, which makes it even messier.

SPEAKER_01

So the situation basically opened up a whole debate because it was making people ask questions like Should AI be allowed in writing at all? If so, how much is okay? Should authors have to disclose it? And right now the industry is absolutely scrambling to figure that out. It's caused a whole debacle, say at least. Chaos.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Well, bottom line is the book got popular, people suspected AI. Internet dug into it hard. Frankie Schiff.

SPEAKER_03

Well, and then, but then after everyone saw his video, then it got put on Reddit, and then other people were looking into it.

SPEAKER_01

And it's just like the last couple of weeks, there's been like a skyrocket of more YouTube videos discussing it too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Publisher panicked and pulled it, and the author says it wasn't her fault. And now, because like it's become one of the biggest AI and books controversies so far.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So let's get into the why people suspected the use of AI in this book.

SPEAKER_03

And I want to make it clear like this isn't the first book that's been accused of using AI in writing. Like Onyx Storm. Yeah. Ironflame and Onyx Storm, I think specifically.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Were also suspected of she was also suspected of using AI. Those books didn't get pulled.

SPEAKER_02

I think she was suspected for all three of them, but those ones especially. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

It's huge that a publisher at like one of the big is it one of the big five? Yeah. Pulled that book off the shelves. That's says it's that's a bull statement. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So much money.

SPEAKER_01

All right. The why. So readers notice the same types of sentences, and they weren't just reused occasionally, but repeated in very similar structure across scenes. AI writing, especially in earlier models, tends to fall back on the same emotional phrases. A human editor would usually catch this and like market to change it.

SPEAKER_02

There is another book that I can think of like that. The Awakening. I was gonna say Hailey Fam.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, that too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So emotional moments felt shallow or generic, is another reason why people suspected AI. Big scenes, fear, trauma, tension were described in very surface level ways. Lots of telling. I was terrified. Not much showing, like no sensory detail, unique reactions.

SPEAKER_03

And those are what typically pulls the reader in when they're reading is those types of details. So you actually feel it as the reader. Yeah, it's important.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. And reader said it felt more like a checklist of emotions, not a lived-in experience. Yeah. Which sucks. Yeah. So AI often summarizes emotions instead of deeply embodying them. Because it doesn't know. They don't get chills up their back. Robot robots don't have emotions.

SPEAKER_01

They literally have reactions. They have no experiences to pull from. No.

SPEAKER_03

So another reason was plot inconsistencies and logics. I just spit there. Did you see that? No, actually. Oh, good. I blinked. Imagine the camera caught it. Just fell at a minute. That'd be so far. I'd be so impressed. That would be very impressive. People pointed out things like characters knowing things that they shouldn't, events contradicting earlier scenes, timelines that didn't really fully line up. So a traditional editing process usually fixes this, which is why readers were sus.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, worked out of catching stuff. Yeah, sus. Another thing, dialogue did not sound natural, so it was described as like overly formal, oddly structured, not how people talk. And an example vibe, vibe, but not exact quotes because we couldn't get a copy of the book. But like, for example, I am feeling an overwhelming sense of fear right now. I have the feeling personified in my stomach.

SPEAKER_03

I want to distill the potency in my gut.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Instead of like feeling it out and just being like, I got chills up my back or something like that. It's just like I'm feeling this way, not like this is what happened. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. To make the reader feel what they're feeling.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Like usually you describe more of how your like body reactions. Yeah. Right? Like you are terrified, but it's like, okay, like I could like by like it feels hard to breathe. Like I'm kind of, you know what I mean? Like, yeah. Yeah, it feels hard to breathe. Like, yeah, chills up my back, like goosebumps across like my arms. Like, yeah. So if that's not enough, there's even more. Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So another reason is over-explaining everything. Readers know us the book explained obvious things and repeated information the reader already knew. And re-explaining plot points unnecessarily, which is annoying.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that is annoying.

SPEAKER_02

So this again is very common in AI generated uh text, which tries to be clear and bunnies, but ends up redundant.

SPEAKER_03

The final big piece that people noticed was that uncanny valley feeling. No single issue approves AI, but combined, readers said it felt slightly off, lacking a distinct author voice, and that vibe is what really set people off.

SPEAKER_02

Are you sweating? No, I'm actually okay. Is yours fleece-lined? I mean, yeah. I'm dying. Mine's not as thick as yours. Mine's heavy. Yeah, yours is really heavy. That's what I said. Look at this. Yeah, that's a lot. Mine's also like I think a little bit more lived in.

SPEAKER_01

See, I was smart. I was like, nah, I'm not doing this. But you guys maybe.

SPEAKER_03

No, you had spaghetti sauce on your sweater.

SPEAKER_01

Snack of cheese sauce, actually.

SPEAKER_03

I knew it was a sauce of some sort with noodles. I knew it.

SPEAKER_02

Cass also has her house at like freezing temperatures. 2019. But like during like the hottest, like I would go into her house from being outside. You flash freeze. I wouldn't even say that. Like I feel like like a water bottle just immediately, like there's like condensation. And it's like I'm almost like just like like detoxing the humidity. I love it. I love a cold house.

SPEAKER_01

And then I'm frozen. Not to mention like the very different temperature changes between your basement and then the main floor.

SPEAKER_02

You should our house because you have the three levels. There's a good five plus degrees difference between each level of the house. Already.

unknown

So annoying.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, guys. So even with all this, AI detectors are not reliable proof. Some human writing can look like this. A lot of people confuse bad writing for AI. And we also need to remember that AI is trained on how humans talk and also how they write, but it's not perfected. So even though it just might be an actual person, it doesn't mean it's AI. So it's not reliable all the time.

SPEAKER_02

Well, and like I was kind of saying about Nora and other authors, that they a lot of times like they have a formula. So I could see how if someone comes into it and say like they've they have a formula of how they write, or maybe they've even written themselves a formula of how they want the story to go, people kind of being like, hey, this seems like AI.

SPEAKER_01

We're gonna dive into some discussions.

SPEAKER_03

Let's debate, let's argue. My favorite thing. Okay. Are you an Aries? I commented on that. It's hilarious. I am a Scorpio and we also love to argue. So and then I said, I have a best friend who's an Aries, and her and I are insufferable together.

SPEAKER_02

You can be, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

When we when we argue. Yeah, it's perfect. I've witnessed it.

SPEAKER_02

Yep. Yeah. Okay. Susie and I have lived through the through the wars. I've argued with Cass so many times.

SPEAKER_03

Are readers detecting AI or just detecting bad writing?

SPEAKER_02

I honestly think it's detecting bad writing.

SPEAKER_03

For the most part?

SPEAKER_02

For the most part. Yeah. I how do I say this? I find it hard detecting AI in social media posts. Oh, me too. I fall for it every time. But like, and it's not even like so much pictures, it's like videos. They're so realistic.

SPEAKER_03

You know Caitlin? Yeah. I will literally be like, send it to her and be like, Caitlin, is this AI? Because she's really good at detecting it. And she's like, yes.

SPEAKER_02

And I was like, okay. So and like there's this funny, like, there's this this woman who posted in I'm in a bunch of Scottish groups, but this woman posted like just this week of her trip to Scotland. But two of the pictures in it are AI generated. Oh. And one of them is they've got these like Scottish themed pants, but the toes are weird.

SPEAKER_00

Oh no.

SPEAKER_02

Oh my gosh. And I'm like, but then you have like all the natural pictures of Scotland, and then the other one is a picture of a bag that has a thistle and I think like a Highland cow on it, but it's been AI generated. But I'm like, why would you share all these beautiful pictures of Scotland and then AI generated pajamas and AI generated people backpacks? I'm just like, but then people are like, oh, like they're like commenting on the pictures specifically, being like, I just love Scotland. I'm like, they're AI people. Like, what do you mean? Why is no one being like, why are you doing this? I think it's more difficult than you would think to recognize AI writing. Yeah. Than you'd think it is.

SPEAKER_03

I think I do think like certain things that you can think about.

SPEAKER_02

There are, yes. Um, and I'm not saying it's not sorry, um, not like doable. It's just that I wouldn't be surprised if at least 50% it's just bad writing.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I agree. Like, I think it's not just it's not all AI is not.

SPEAKER_03

Just because the book is bad and like written, like maybe people think AI would write, does not mean it's AI. Like some people just don't have emotion in their writing. Maybe they just don't have to lay emotion or writing, right? Yeah. Like it's a it's a skill. Like to be able to put on paper and make the reader feel exactly what you're trying to describe. That's a skill. Listen, we've already got enough hate from the Hailey family.

SPEAKER_02

But I just feel like so much of this can applies to her book. It does. Go watch that video if you want to hear our thoughts on that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, we did an episode on Haley Fans video, if you want to know how we thought about that.

SPEAKER_01

Are we overestimating how good people are at spotting AI?

SPEAKER_03

Yes. Yes. I think overestimating? I think they're well.

SPEAKER_01

Are we overestimating? I think as a general statement. I think people are overestimating. I don't think we think I was gonna say not we.

SPEAKER_02

We yeah, we as a whole, as a collective as a reading computer. Rather than we as a trio. Yeah, yeah. I don't think we are overestimating people. But I think you already admitted that we can't even figure out AI online.

SPEAKER_03

You have your own personal AI detector. I do, Caitlin. You do. You the you the M feature.

SPEAKER_01

I think everything's AI. I'll be messaging you guys about a book. I'm like, this is AI. I'm so bad. You're just so skeptical.

SPEAKER_03

I think I'm better than average at detecting AI. I would say, um, well, I read for the vibes, so I'm oblivious.

SPEAKER_01

I'm just so skeptical.

SPEAKER_03

Like I'd probably read Mia's book and be like, that was great. Do you guys like that?

SPEAKER_02

One of the one of the books that gave me AI vibes was Pounded in the Patch. Yep. And that was brutal.

SPEAKER_03

Brutal. I wish that one had the human touch. Oh, so she releached released like 17 books in a row.

SPEAKER_01

There's no way. Freddie McFadden too does that. I don't know how. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

But she does that. Okay, Dalton, my friend Dalton.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

He literally was like, that girl is using AI. She is busting out books left, right, and center.

SPEAKER_02

There's no way. Yeah. Well, and it just came to light who she is. Yeah. That's actually it's a pen name. She's not a legitimate, that's not her legitimate name. Yeah. And she's a some sort of neuro neuros.

SPEAKER_03

She's a doctor.

SPEAKER_02

She's smart.

SPEAKER_01

She does brain things. She is smart. She's very smart. She's unlike us. I've watched Gray's Anatomy. They don't have a lot of time. Where are you writing all these books?

SPEAKER_03

I do have a PhD from Mercy West. You do?

SPEAKER_01

Gray Sloan, me.

SPEAKER_03

Is that that is the one? Mercy West?

SPEAKER_01

Mercy West? No.

SPEAKER_03

What is the one in? I've watched Gray's Anatomy a long time ago.

SPEAKER_01

Gray Sloan Memorial Hospital.

SPEAKER_03

It was something before.

SPEAKER_01

I don't know. No. That's Mer Mercy West is maybe one of the rival hospitals. Anyway, we're getting off topic.

SPEAKER_03

I just need to figure it out.

SPEAKER_01

You can figure it out on your own. I think one of the things we brought up last time before the previous episode was deleted was how Mercy West was one. Like some I I noticed I noticed some authors. I thought someone used AI. So I went to go investigate on their Twitter page or X page, and they were strictly against AI. Like would go out of their way to make posts about how much they hate AI. And I was reading their book and I'm like, this is 100% AI.

SPEAKER_03

So you're bad, your picker's bad too.

SPEAKER_02

Maybe, or they're just liars. I think what she's saying is when you what is the the phrase the doth protests too much? That if you have to explicitly say that you don't do something, you probably do it.

SPEAKER_01

It's like people who go out of your way to do it. Yeah, people who go above and beyond to convince people that they're a good person are typically horrible people.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, if you yeah, you have to go out of your way to convince people that which I was actually kind of thinking when you were reading her comment on Frankie's video, because she went into such detail that is something that liars tend to do. Yeah. Is they over-explain.

SPEAKER_01

They over well, I'm an anxious person, so I do that too. Because I'm like, I don't want anyone to be mad at me. So she could be. I'm not gonna say I'm not saying she is, I'm not calling her a liar, but that is a trait. Um, and then also not giving details like what's the girl's name? If she really did you dirty and ruined your career, put out the name. Yeah, throw her under the bus. Yeah, yeah, but there's no name, or put out your original copy. But again, I don't think she has it. Like Indie publish the original without editing, yeah. So people can actually like see. Yeah, you know?

SPEAKER_02

Oh, remember back in the days when Stephanie Myers had Edward's version of Twilight? Yeah. And her actual writing got leaked and she got super upset. Oh, she was pissed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I think we talked about this in one of our first episodes.

SPEAKER_02

We did, but I'm just thinking about back in the day when you had to actually worry about, you know, people getting a hold of your work. Your work. Yeah. You're gonna leak it on the intro webs. Yep. Now we have to worry about the introwebs actually writing books.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I can't.

unknown

That's true.

SPEAKER_03

Hot take option. If readers think it's AI, does that matter more than whether it actually is? No. No. Agreed. It depends on what you're using it for. Like if you're trying to find a describing word that sounds like this, but you want something a little bit more different.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And you can't think of it off the hop, I see that as like a quick thesaurus or dictionary option. But that's different than actually using AI to physically write your book. Yeah. Finding a word is different than using paragraphs.

SPEAKER_02

Well, and the brain fart. The amount of times that I'm like trying to, I'm like, there's a word in my head and I can't find it. And it's if you were to, and I'm trying to like describe what this word is being used for. Yeah. Right. Yeah. I can see it being like, like, hey Siri, yeah. What's the word for?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Or even Google, like, you go to Google something and there's already like an AI overview. So it's kind of embedded into everything.

SPEAKER_02

I will I will say, yeah, I will say that Google in the last year has become so AI generated. Oh like very much so. And it gives you AI stuff first before anything.

SPEAKER_03

Did you see Facebook actually will give you a synopsis on the person's profile?

SPEAKER_02

Have you guys come into group chats and it says, do you want a synopsis of what's been taught like talked about?

SPEAKER_01

I have that on my phone with the our text chain. I love that.

SPEAKER_02

But it's also I can't. I I think it's great. Yeah, but it's also creepy. It's very creepy.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

It's like so you're gonna take read all of these messages and sum this up for me.

SPEAKER_01

Beth, I'm gonna ask you this question again. Okay. So you're a big fan of Nora Roberts. Hi. Hi. You talk about it a lot. So let's say that after years of loving Nora Roberts, it came to light that she actually used AI. And let's just keep it, let's pretend AI was a thing when she started writing.

SPEAKER_03

Let's pretend she's also not 75.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. But then she's like one of your favorite authors for this moment.

SPEAKER_03

You said it, not me.

SPEAKER_01

If you found out sending it before you can.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01

If you found out she used AI in your favorite book, would you view it differently than you did before? It depends on what book. Your favorite one. Your favorite one.

SPEAKER_02

If it was my favorite, yeah, I'd be a secret lover.

SPEAKER_03

Oh you still wouldn't be upset.

SPEAKER_01

I think she's just biased to Nora.

SPEAKER_02

But it's it's a favorite. If it was like, if it was her in general, like one of the other books that isn't like a favorite that I've read over and over again.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I think one I I've said this before, I don't necessarily think that she's writing her Lace books. I think she has a ghostwriter. Maybe it's AI. Who knows? She could be dead. We don't know. True. But yeah, if it was a favorite book and I found out afterwards and I already loved it, that it was AI, I just wouldn't tell people how much I love it. Fair. That's fair. And that isn't even just Nora. I think that would be like any book that I've like really loved. I would just like I'd go from like, oh my gosh, guys, you need to read this book. I love this book. And just to be like, I just love this book.

SPEAKER_00

I can't.

SPEAKER_01

I feel like for me, I'd I'd like let's say one dark window was AI written. I feel like I'd view it differently. Like I'd feel almost disappointment in the fact that this author that I came to love so much didn't actually write her own book.

SPEAKER_03

And the story that you loved too.

SPEAKER_01

Wasn't even written by a human.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I'd feel I think I'd have some thoughts about it.

SPEAKER_02

I think it'd be even like more devastating if it was an author that you've had like a few books. You know what I mean? Like they released the first one, you loved that one, then you know another one comes out and you're like, oh, like I love this author, I love their writing, and you find out that they didn't even write any of them. I think I'd be so upset. So upset.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02

You kind of cheated.

SPEAKER_03

All right. You want to debate again? Maybe how much AI is too much AI. So spell check and grammar tools. Yay or nay? I obviously think yes. To use it for you.

SPEAKER_01

Don't copy and paste it into Chat GPT. That's the one thing. If there's AI tools within the thing you're using, like a word or pages, then yeah, that's fine.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Because I feel like those software has AI tools in it. Because like if you spell a word wrong, there's spell check. Yeah. And that's AI.

SPEAKER_03

Or if you're looking for, like I said before, if you're looking for a word that's a better description for what you're trying to come across, you have come across. I think that's acceptable.

SPEAKER_01

What about AI assisted editing? I don't think you I don't think you could. No.

SPEAKER_03

No.

SPEAKER_01

And there's editors for that.

SPEAKER_02

People's job. That's an actual job. Yeah. But I also think like we've talked about the there is an art to writing, and AI just cannot get that. No. Yeah. And we've talked about how like Arthur authors, Arthur, authors are able to give you those emotions under the words. It's the author's voice, right? Yeah, but but you mean like that if you were to read something at face value, you wouldn't get those feelings, but they're able to write it in a way that you're like, this is how I feel. This is, you know, like the emotions that this author is able to pull out, or the way I feel about a certain character. I don't think AI gets that. No.

SPEAKER_03

No, not at all.

SPEAKER_01

There was this author who was on Instagram stories or Facebook, something like that. And she said, My favorite writing stage is working out a new draft in a notebook, mulling over plot problems, developing voices, using my brain. And then the typing up and editing brings its own satisfactions, like putting together a jigsaw puzzles, again, using my brain. I don't understand why you would get AI to do any of this for you. It's also why I write. Also, every book, every volume you see here has a soul, the soul of a person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. And that's from The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zaffron. And then she did FAI in all caps. Nice. A writer should enjoy all aspects of the writing process, especially because it's such a creative field.

SPEAKER_02

And you hear of like a lot of writers kind of going into like a frenzy of writing, like also like they're inspired, or something happens, or something just clicks in their brain, and it's just like they are just consumed by the story. And I think as a reader, you feel that in a different way, but you feel that and when you're being sucked into a story. And yeah, when you get a book that is such surface level and you don't get really sucked into that, like it's kind of sad.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Like, you know what I mean? When you come out of a book and you are in mourning? Yeah, because you've also lost this world that you've were so into. Yeah. Like you just felt yourself like so deeply entwined in this story. And then all of a sudden that ends, and you're just kind of like, What is what is reality? What is life? I want no part in it. Yeah, yeah. You kind of mourn for the life that you were living. Yeah. And yeah, but I just don't think AI gets that.

SPEAKER_03

No. No. So obviously AI generated paragraphs, no, and a fully AI written book. Red flag.

SPEAKER_01

Put it in the trash. Did the publisher overreact by pulling the book? Um yes and no. I think they were trying to protect their brand and also trying to save face. Like they made this mistake by publishing a book that they couldn't catch was AI written. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I do think it's a very, very big deal that the publisher did this. Yeah. Because that's a lot of money.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, they obviously did their due diligence and researched it after the allegations came out. So I was thinking about this.

SPEAKER_02

If you have seen the movie Elf, how the ending of the story is missed, and the guy who runs that publishing company is losing his mind because he's like, that is such a huge loss of revenue for that company. Yeah. Like just imagine how much like they would have paid her. There would have been upfront costs, or would have been, you know what I mean? Like, but on the flip side, yeah, you have taken on a previously self-published author.

SPEAKER_01

Who's had AI allegations before, mind you?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, who's had allegations, who's used an editor that is just part of a group. Where were your editors? What were you doing? Why did you just accept it at face value?

SPEAKER_01

Money, probably. They saw it was blowing up if that was the case.

SPEAKER_02

But even so, like you're putting so much money into this person and their story and publishing that under your brand. Yeah. You were not looking after yourself. No, no, as a publisher.

SPEAKER_01

Same thing with Hailey Fam's book, though, was absolute garbage.

SPEAKER_02

No, but I but I do feel like the publisher shot themselves in the foot without realizing that I think I think they they mismarketed that. Yeah. Um I'd be wondering who within that company was like, hey guys, we're not, does it nope? And then who was like, nope, this is what we're gonna do.

SPEAKER_03

And then it's just like I don't even think that would be a YA novel. What's below YA?

SPEAKER_02

Why YA?

SPEAKER_03

Young, young adult?

SPEAKER_01

Uh children, probably.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it would just be children's.

SPEAKER_03

Like, because young adult, if you look it up, is actually class classified as ages 18 to between the ages of 18 and like 30 something.

SPEAKER_01

Pre-teen? Teen. No, teen is uh I was gonna say, I think I thought it was teen.

SPEAKER_02

Just yeah, I think there's children's teen, YA, new YA, adult.

SPEAKER_03

So Sarah J. Mass, her book being classified as YA is actually appropriate. Wow. Because if you look it up, young adult ages, if you want to verify, I'm pretty sure it's between 18 to 22, with the upper range of like 30. Are you looking it up? No. I was looking up to something else.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, because uh I was looking to see if there was like an official, like if it was children's teens. I think it is.

SPEAKER_03

I think it is because we had a com like a comment on one of her on the Hailey fam video, she was very, very upset about us saying that her book should have been targeted towards YA. YA.

SPEAKER_02

So YA is 12 to 17. Oh. While new adults, NA is 18 to 25. Oh, okay. So they've changed it. While YA focuses on high school and the teenage angst, NA bridges the gap to adult fiction, covering sexual discovery and early career changes. Okay. Challenges.

SPEAKER_03

Her books were targeted as YA, but then they've since been obviously moved, moved to NA. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So poor 12-year-old kids. I know, right?

SPEAKER_02

Now it does say like so for YA, it's for protagonists aged 14 to 18. That's being marketed to readers, they're 12 to 17. So I mean Farah was 19.

SPEAKER_01

Tamlin was 500.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so is Reese. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

All these Faye guys. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I think it was more like the sex. Oh, wham, bam, thank you. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Within that was the issue.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah. So it kind of said like YA is PG13 and N A is rated R.

SPEAKER_01

Nice. So we agreed that like the publisher is just trying to save face for their mistake. Yeah. Are we entering an era where authors have to prove that they didn't use AI?

SPEAKER_03

I don't know if they'd have to prove that they didn't use the AI, but I think they should disclose that they, if they did, that they did use AI.

SPEAKER_01

A hundred percent.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And I I think they're starting to feel like they have to. Yeah. Like the email that we got.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. A lot of more authors are speaking out about for their hate for AI, probably just to make it clear to their readers that they're not in support of it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And then Beth's gonna pull up an email that we got from one of our readers who sent us her book, and she said she finished her email with AI disclaimer from the author.

SPEAKER_02

I'm vehemently. Vehement. It just sounds wrong. Vehemently. Vehemently? Yeah. Go on.

SPEAKER_03

Anyways, that word.

SPEAKER_02

Is that is it the H? Oh my.

SPEAKER_01

Just move on from the word.

SPEAKER_02

Maybe I don't know. Um I've read this last time. I didn't have this problem.

SPEAKER_03

Maybe you did. We'll never know. It's been deleted. Anyways.

SPEAKER_02

AI disclaimer from the author. I am vehemently against the use of AI. Absolutely no AI tools were used to create this book, including cover art. I believe that art should come from one's soul and not a computer.

SPEAKER_01

Because there's a lot of people that have been using AI cover art for their books, too.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Not good.

SPEAKER_02

Lame.

SPEAKER_03

Do we think that this could hurt new or indie authors more?

SPEAKER_01

I think there'd be more skepticism. Yeah, scrutiny, that's the word. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Like look at Haley Pham, for example. It's her first published novel. She is getting dragged through it for I think obvious reasons. I feel bad for her. I feel bad, but like if it's a bad book, like if people don't like it, you open yourself as an author, you open yourself up for criticism. And if people don't like your book, and it's a wide amount of people that don't like your book, it's for a reason.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I think if you're a new author, you're gonna, because of the rampant use of AI, you're gonna get more skepticism. Yeah. You're gonna get people that say you use AI no matter what, even if you don't. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Especially if you use M-dashes. The M-dash. So unfortunate. M-dash. So sad.

SPEAKER_02

There's such a stigma to it now. I know. It's so sad. I like a good M-dash. I know. I literally use it all. What am I supposed to do? There's a dump dun dump setting.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Instead of an M-dash? It's a whole new like thought process.

SPEAKER_02

I have to like re-grammar my like my whole thinking because I'm not allowed to use that anymore. But in case someone thinks I'm a robot.

SPEAKER_01

I wonder if they're like changing the English syllabus in high school to now not use M-dashes. I guess like we would think dot dot dot.

SPEAKER_02

I still use it for so long, and then someone like someone like went on to a conversation and be like, that's this is how you know something's AI written because of like the M-dashes. Am I a robot?

SPEAKER_01

Oh my gosh, are you? Am I AI? Maybe I am. I don't know. She mispronounces everything, so I don't think I would do that.

SPEAKER_02

I feel like I am the embodiment of human error.

SPEAKER_03

Who said it? Not me.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

I was gonna say, I feel like of all of us, I'm probably the most laxadaisical of how a book is written.

SPEAKER_03

I read for vibes over here.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, we did hate on Nora pretty hard. She deserved it. I don't think she was a terrible book. I don't think she did. Okay, so question to leave you guys with. If a story makes you feel something, doesn't matter who or what wrote it, let us know in the comments. Yeah. That brings us to Lines Be Loved Two. Mine is from Finale by Carval. No, wait, mine is Finale by Stephanie Garber. The last book in the Carval series. There we go. He got there. Tella let her lips pass over his again. He was a liar and a fate, but when she pressed his mouth her mouth to his, it felt better than anything else had that day. Her pain shattered as he kissed her back. Everything was a tangle of tongues and tears and blood and heartbreak as Jax continued to take her sorrow. He drank it in with every needy movement of his cold lips against hers. His hands stayed locked with Tella's, but they snaked behind her back, holding her tighter and caging her in as they both tumbled onto the floor. This was nothing like their flawless first kiss during the faded ball. This kiss was urgent and wild and raw and corrupt, full of all the terrible emotions flowing between them, a torrent of sorrow and pain. They were on the rough carpet and all over each other. Her teeth sank into his lips, biting sharp enough to draw blood. Ugh. He kissed her harder, possessively, nipping her jaw.

SPEAKER_03

No, it's just the blood, my throat.

SPEAKER_01

He kissed her harder, possessively, nipping her jaw, then her neck, as his lips and teeth trailed down to her collar uh collarbone.

SPEAKER_03

We're almost done, Susie.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, and then in a flash, he wrapped his cool hand around her shaking one and dragged the dagger lower, creating a line of pink skin as he moved it to the center of his chest. I don't know if you're my true love, Donatella. All I know is that I want you to be.

SPEAKER_03

That's Jack's, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yep. Can't wait to read about him.

SPEAKER_03

Excited about that one.

SPEAKER_01

Actually, that's a whole other page. That was like 200 pages later. I thought it was a continuation. I got two in one, baby.

SPEAKER_02

Enjoy. Enjoy a welcome. Read the book. Well, mine I don't think is as as exhilarating as yours is.

SPEAKER_03

What's yours from?

SPEAKER_02

Corrupt. Devil's Night Book One, Penelope Douglas. Okay. My girl. I couldn't believe I ever let him touch me. Last year I'd given in to the years of pressure of being pushed together for dances, parties, and pictures, and I stopped fighting the constant assumptions that we were together and finally just let it happen. Trevor gave me stability. He wanted me, and I was too stupid to believe I deserved better. But most of all, he was a distraction from Michael. I thought he would make me move on and forget it didn't take long for me to realize that Trevor gave me nothing. And one night, Michael had showed me that I wasn't weak, that I was beautiful, wanted, and strong. And even though that night was short-lived, I knew what I felt for Trevor didn't even compare to everything that Michael was for me. Trevor only claimed me as a prize. He didn't see me.

SPEAKER_03

You know what, Trevor? Kick rocks. Boo, stupid Trevor. Okay, mine is from Game On, Into Darkness series, by my girl, Novessa Allen. Page 38. You are so egotistical, she said, spinning away to set the rule down and scoop her design from the floor. I like to think I have the appropriate level of self-confidence. Sir, you are a blonde man. Calm down. I frowned. What's that supposed to mean? She scooted back toward me, repositioning the transfer paper. I can't explain why that's a burn. It'll ruin it.

SPEAKER_00

So good.

SPEAKER_01

I wish Nate was blonde so I could be like, you're a blonde man, sir. Calm down. I don't know. Cause like I died. Does the ginger count? No, I like the gingers too much.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I wish that line couldn't could go towards the gingers though, because that's a good line.

SPEAKER_03

Isn't that funny? You are a blonde man. Calm down.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, that's all we have for you guys today. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. You can find us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at Block Twist Please Pod, or also anywhere you can get your podcast. So make sure you're following or subscribed so you never miss an episode. If you love this one, hype us up a little. Leave us a comment, drop a rating or review, and tell us what you would like us to read next.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you so much for joining us on this episode.

SPEAKER_02

And as always, keep your glass, your bookshelf, and your TBR full. Cheers. Cheers.