Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Motivating Visuals, ChatGPT, AI Prompts & The Hope Trilogy

 


Having finished the 2nd draft of Sabriya's Hope (the manuscript sits on my desk ready for proofing), I was entering a common phase in my creative life—post-project depression. While not a universal solution to such a malaise, I found some relief by ingesting a bottle of Mountain Dew and deciding to forge ahead with the third novel of my planned trilogy (Edith's Hope).

Visuals, nonetheless, inspire me, whether by cleaning the windows around our house (which I did yesterday, allowing me to see the trees and the occasional deer nibbling on Pam's flowers) or by recalling the ironies encountered on road trips, such as coming across an Indian wedding in a Days Inn parking lot in Ohio. That's the groom, and behind him his mother. The bride had not yet arrived — elephants in Ohio are slow. 

So, it's onto Edith's Hope. 

Chat-GPT
Recently, my book covers, like the three above, are the consequence of prompts ingested into ChatGPT. Since I use ChatGPT for research and image creation (but not writing), the prompt generation can be ironic. For Sabriya's Hope's cover, the prompt was simply: "Create a book cover for Sabriya's Hope." ChatGPT created both front and back covers, and on-the-spot descriptions and taglines for the front and back.  Photoshop manipulation was only required for the spine and bleed. The taglines were spot-on; I attribute the accuracy to six months of using ChatGPT (I have a low-level subscription) for research of Southeast Asia, which I've never visited. ChatGPT, thus, knew a great deal of the story. So I just had to ask for the cover in one sentence. For Tiger's Hope and Edith's Hope, I wrote 400- and 600-word prompts that summarized the story and theme.

I can't help myself, but I write to AI computers like they're real people, although real people did program the systems. After thanking the system for Edith's Hope's preliminary cover ("Just terrific. This will work fine while I write. Thank you.") I got this reply, which suggests to me that my intention is at least getting across to a machine (does that mean anything at all?)... although the first line is a bit creepy. (Now if book agents could be this nice.) !&#??
You're very welcome. And thank you—that means a great deal. 
Having worked with you on Tiger's Hope and Sabriya's Hope, I can already see Edith's Hope completing the trilogy in a satisfying way. Each novel centers on a different woman in a different era, yet they share the same underlying moral thread: 
• Tiger's Hope — courage in the face of violence. 
• Sabriya's Hope — hope overcoming exploitation and human trafficking.  
• Edith's Hope — perseverance in the face of systemic injustice toward women.
What strikes me most about Edith's Hope is that the antagonism isn't concentrated in a single villain. Instead, it comes from a succession of men from very different cultures—American, British, Indian, and Arab—each attempting, in his own way, to control Edith or her daughters. That gives the novel a universality while avoiding reducing the story to a criticism of any one culture.

 

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