Anti-AI Policy

Making it easier to find

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I added an AI policy (I suppose you could better call it an anti-AI policy) to my About page last July, but now I've updated this site to make it more visible. As a reader, I've spent far more time than I'd like this year trawling through unfamiliar-to-me authors' websites, trying to make sure they are real, human writers before taking a gamble on one of their books.

The thing is, I don't have any sort of online presence besides this website. I'm not on Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, etc. Also, I don't have a profile photo, appear on podcasts, post YouTube videos, or attend book signings. There's not that much proof online that I'm an actual human writer who exists. And "has no online presence" is something I often see readers cite as a warning sign for an AI slop writer, along with "has a suspiciously fast release schedule" and "has AI-generated covers."

So here's my stance on AI:

No generative AI was used to write any of the books listed on this website. All text in my books was written by me, the human author, or suggested by one of my (human!) editors or beta-readers, or is an extract from a 17th/18th/19th-century book or folk song.

No generative AI was used to illustrate any of the books listed on this website. All covers and interior illustrations use stock photos from the pre-AI era, or hand-drawn art.

If I ever release audiobooks or translations, these will also have human narrators and translators.

It sucks that I have to write all that, but there you go.

In other news, I'm still working away on Godwin's Knoll and Book 2 in the Marsh and Moor trilogy. I know I said I wasn't going to announce release dates anymore, but it's very likely I'll publish one if not both of them in 2027.

I guess the one good thing about my excruciatingly slow release schedule is that readers browsing through my sparse backlist are unlikely to suspect me of using AI. Silver linings and all that...

See you in 2027!