October 2026 – Writing Wings

For much of September, as in previous months, I’ve been concentrating on one writing project, so I have posted nothing significant here since the Insecure Writer’s Support Group post in September, Archetype.

However, Sunday’s gripe post, Frustration, summarises, in a rambling way, where I was at the beginning of this month. Perhaps getting that off my chest, to use a corny phrase, helped me feel more positive. Many thanks for your comments. Except more frustrations arrived today, starting with my Google Chrome browser.

On the home front, the bedsit-office is coming together more and more every day. Unfortunately, we had to let our carers go, as the expense was creating more problems for our limited budget.

Time remains the key actor in my writing. My health continues to demand drastic choices. Although I regret shelving my North Wales police procedural, Fates Maelstrom, I haven’t totally abandoned Sparkle Anwyl in my long-term dreams. In fact, my writing software, ProWritingAid, gave my original Snowdonia novel some interesting feedback. It suggested I should have persisted with it and gave me some valuable revision ideas.

Too late for now.

Unless I change direction again and abandon my current project.

Unlikely, as I’ve nearly finished revising my alternative history novel, Eagle Crossing. It’s been a chance to edit the second draft and create a detailed outline. I’ve just got the last three chapters to work on, plus a rewrite of the prologue. Set in 1000 AD, when Leif Erikson discovers Newfoundland, the Prologue explains why the Vikings stayed. But right now, the prologue is too long, and the major chapters set in 2020 should explain most of it. When I finish this revision, I would appreciate feedback before I move on to the next draft. Yes, I am feeling insecure.

However, I can’t abandon my Ukraine saga, Freedom Flights, which remains on hold, probably until there is a just peace, which brings an end to this horrendous war. Most days I try to keep up to date with the news from Ukraine.

Slava Ukraini

Heroiam slava!

Every month, IWSG announces a question that members can answer in their IWSG posts. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or a 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.

October 7 question – Many people are calling for writers who use AI to disclose it. Most who employ ghostwriters do not admit it – do you think authors who use ghostwriters should have to disclose that, too?

(Thanks Melissa Maygrove for the question!)

AI has concerned me for quite a while, though I never thought of it alongside ghostwriting. Then maybe there is an overlap if people are using either or both.

Sometimes I’m tempted to use a ghostwriter, or maybe just a writing partner. In fact, I used a writing partner many decades ago, but I let him down, and he finished our nonfiction political book on his own. I also considered a writing partner a few years ago, but he wanted both payment and credit for working on an existing draft novel. Maybe I was wrong about that in retrospect, as it was a reasonable agreement.

I have never used a ghostwriter, nor do I consider using one. I fully agree that authors should inform every reader about the involvement of a ghostwriter. That seems only fair.

As for the AI, I admit I use writing software that must have an AI element, not a ghost, but another editor other than myself. There was an interesting occasion the other day when a writer, a bogger friend, asked ChatGPT about his own website. It gave an incredibly detailed overview, demonstrating that AI had actually been reading and probably using his website to teach other AI models. Fortunately, the AI has scanned this site, but it doesn’t seem to find many interesting blogs from its perspective.

I’ve tried to answer the question in my rambling way. To summarize, yes, I think writers who use ghostwriters in the same way as they overuse AI, and vice versa, should admit it upfront to their readers, and that must mean to their publishers.

The awesome co-hosts for the October 7 posting of the IWSG are Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Liza at Middle Passages, JH Moncrieff, and Jemima Pett

Finally, don’t forget to visit other writers via the IWSG site for their invaluable insights on writing:

Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG, and our hashtag is #IWSG.

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!

What’s making me frustrated?

In chronological order, in yesterday’s timeline (October 3, 2026):
• DOGS.
• BEDBOUND.
• WIFE.
• WRITING.
• KEYBOARD.
• HOME.
Maybe somewhere down the line, I’ll add politics.

Let’s start with Saturday’s trigger. Our two male DOGS, both neutered, have been pissing in the bedroom and the corridor, mainly on anything they can lift their legs against. This creates an enormous amount of work for Juanita’s son, Jason, and his wife, Kaylee. This has been a problem ever since we moved in with them 3 months ago.

The next cause of my frustration is being BEDBOUND and unable to do anything around the house. When we were in our first house in the U.S., I was relatively mobile. However, when we moved, the situation confined me to a bed, and I then fractured my right femur. Having gone from an active life to being stuck in bed, I sometimes feel totally useless. What am I contributing to anything other than being a drain on resources and time, which might never have happened if I had remained in the UK, but that’s the ocean under the liner?

Maybe if we were still in the UK, I’d be able to help my WIFE more. She is not frustrating, but she gets frustrated with her situation, over her health, money, her computer, sometimes me, especially random answers like this one. I can do very little, if anything, to help, so that frustrates me. Frustration becomes a vicious circle.
In theory, I should have at least two or three things to distract me.

Being with my loving wife, gaming, and WRITING. Yes, on a good day, writing helps me feel better, especially when I accomplish something, such as finishing or revising another chapter. But with so many unfinished stories and novels, only one published book and one story in an anthology, I’m running out of time.

I thought I finished a novel in 2025, but that proved to be a non-starter. So far, I have had one good, encouraging piece of feedback… from my writing software. But that’s AI. Does it have a valid opinion? Then there’s the novel revision I gave up on a few months back, knowing it needed something like another murder. I need to revise the last few chapters of my alternative history, but I’m frightened where it’s leading. Is this another dead end? Am I wasting my limited time?

The Norwegian Viking ship Draken Harald Harfrage sailing off Greenland – http://www.drakenexpeditionamerica.com

Another writing problem is a messed-up KEYBOARD. It either misses characters completely or writes multiple versions of the intended letter. The only solution seems to be dictation, but then that makes a lot of errors and encourages me to ramble. Forget technical solutions. They haven’t resolved the problem.

Finally, we get to HOME, sweet home. The house we are living in with my wife’s son, his wife, and their daughter has worked out great, and they do everything to look after us. But my green card expired, and even after 10 years, the authorities have not provided me with any medical assistance. That contrasts with universal healthcare in the UK. My British assets have all gone. Now it is my brother who is selling possessions to cover my medical needs.

Almost every day I miss the UK, and there are moments where I hate being in the U.S.A. – but not most Americans. That comes down to politics, but then the cause of those problems has become global. Even the UK is feeling the fallout. Yet there are moments when my wife and I still feel our hearts are in North Wales.