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PR Isfeld

NaNo, no—but still writing this month
NaNo, no—but still writing this month

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”

– Louis L’Amour

I’ve done NaNoWriMo at least fifteen times, maybe more—CAPTIVES was originally a NaNo project—and it feels weird not to be registered on the forums and faithfully reporting my daily word count on their site. I’m used to doing a writing push in November, and while that is still my plan, it won’t happen in connection with the NaNoWriMo organization.

Even though the only official prize for “winning” NaNoWriMo by finishing a 50, 000-word rough draft of a novel was some bragging rights and a website badge I always felt proud to be part of that bigger community. That changed a few months ago when the leaders of the nonprofit announced that the use of generative AI was completely okay with them, and accepted sponsorships by several such products. Furthermore, they called anyone who disagreed with them classist and ableist.

I’m not alone in having major issues with this, and right now, I’m not even aware of any events in my city. Certain tools, like Grammarly and other software that analyzes writing and makes suggestions, are already well-accepted as ways of brainstorming and polishing language. But generative AI, which can create whole works based on prompts, is something else. It’s one thing to take a trope or even a plot outline that you like and make it your own, but to me, the writer must put something of themselves into the work. I’m not interested in taking part in a prompt-writing competition, or in having my contributions to the organization’s forums, or even my manuscript itself, potentially used to train that kind of software. That’s not fair to any of us as writers, or creative people in general.

And then there are the allegations of grooming and predatory behaviour on their forums, which led the organization to shut them down. Although I’m glad they took these measures, I’m not clear on what they’re doing to get rid of the perpetrators and make things safe for young writers in particular.

Anyway, I hope the NaNoWriMo organization gets its policies sorted out and decides to treat all writers and creators with respect. In the meantime, I’ll be here, at my laptop, still writing.

Captives
A psychological mystery that explores the aftermath of a brutal abduction and the secrets that haunt the survivors.

Three years ago, Samantha Gilchrist and her friends Amanda, Kaylee and Maria forged an unbreakable bond when they survived a brutal kidnapping in Kandahar. Sam wrote a best-selling memoir about their ordeal and moved on to a great new career as a journalist and a happy relationship with Dave, a handsome intelligence officer she met in Afghanistan. Still, she can’t help wondering about the reasons behind their capture.

On their way to Maria’s remote Gatineau cottage to commemorate the anniversary of their escape and rescue, Sam and Kaylee hear news reports about a missing Afghan diplomat. Then, they think they see Ali, their former interpreter and the mastermind behind the hostage-taking, who was supposed to have died during their rescue. When Amanda’s lifeless body is found the next morning, the friends’ suspicions lead them down a dangerous path that uncovers dark secrets and hidden motives.

The narrative alternates between the present day and the version of events presented in Sam’s memoir, as she and her friends struggle with their grief over the loss of Amanda and lingering trauma and jealousy over their differing fortunes in the aftermath of the kidnapping. As tensions rise and secrets are revealed, Sam starts to question everything she thought she knew about her friends, her lover, and herself, not just in the past, but in the here and now. 

Full of suspense, complex characters, and unexpected twists, Captives will cause fans of mystery and psychological thrillers to make irresponsible decisions about their sleep. 

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