I’ve been a StoriesOnline member since June 2013, but I didn’t start writing until April of this year. I’d wanted to write since I was a teenager, but a busy career kept pushing it aside. Now that I’m retired — nearly fifty years later — I’m finally getting the chance to "dip my quill into the ink".
For the past seven months, I’ve been writing stories with the help of AI and publishing them here. Yes, the AI is a shortcut, but it's also as a tool that helps me think differently and write more. Somewhere in that process, I’ve found a voice that feels like mine.
The stories vary. Some are funny, some are dark. I love absurdity, but I also write in a gothic vein. I’m especially interested in the intersection of religious language, thought, and prejudice with modern ideas about sexuality — how those old frameworks still shape desire, guilt, and transformation.
And truthfully, some of those early stories were awful. I didn't understand so many elements of writing. I just wanted to do it. So, it has taken time to find a rhythm — to learn what works and what doesn’t.
The story I’m about to post tomorrow — The Harrow Testament — is one I’ve been working on since early August. I originally wrote it for the SOL Halloween contest but later realized the rules excluded AI-assisted writing. Fair enough. I’m still proud of this one, and I’ll be posting it to the main stream rather than the contest.
I hope you’ll read it for what it is — a story. Not a debate about tools or technology, just something I’ve worked hard at to make it worth your time.
My best,
Eric