Hallo, my lovelies! Did you all have—or are you all having or looking forward to—a delightful holiday? I hope so! I know I did. For one thing, I had a fourteen foot tall Christmas tree! It was not only so tall that it touched the roof but it went all the way down to the ground, so that I had to buy extra light strands and there was no way to fit presents under it! Not even my lovely tree skirt would fit, and it was a nightmare to water.

I spent a quiet New Year’s Eve at home, like most Americans this year, and I toasted friends both present and absent with a glass of sparkling apple cider while watching the ball drop in Times Square three hours late (I’m in California).

So I have another blog for you, on one of my favorite subjects. AI! The great thing about AI is that when the generator hits on a character exactly, it can convey even subtle things about her or him. Like arrogance, eeriness, furtiveness, shyness, vacancy. Then you don’t have to do a million revisions and you can just enjoy pictures that bring your creation into sharp relevancy. See the picture of Faye below. The AI generator did the pic of her cupping the fire in one go, capturing Faye’s essence perfectly. In contrast, the picture of one of the Henderson brothers (but which one?) took a dozen tries, but finally came out fairly decent.

I’ve been reading my old books, by the way. I don’t know how long it has been since I read The Vampire Diaries: the Awakening, or the Secret Circle: the Initiation—long enough that I had forgotten all the dialog and many of the plot twists. I have to say, I enjoyed both books, if I do speak out as shouldn’t. I quite liked it when Elena said, “If it kills us both, I’ll have him (Stefan).” And I felt for Cassie, with her Not by word or look or deed (will I let Diana know I’m in love with Adam).

Anyway, it motivated me to picture some of the characters from Secret Circle. I was generally pleased at what I got.

For instance, here is a nice Cassie.

And another of Cassie.

And here is Adam.

And Faye, pictured with her element, fire.

Here she is with the match for her “concrete poem.”

And with her red fingernails:

And of course, here is Deborah, the Artemis of the group, who loves motorcycles.

And Suzan the Aphrodite, with a vacant blue gaze:

No set of character pics would be complete without Nick, looking dangerous and icy!

Or a wild Henderson brother (maybe Doug):

And Sean looking furtive:

And Diana, among her prisms, too!

Here is Laurel the Demeter of the group, and an expert on herbs:

And Melanie the Athena-like intellectual expert on computers and crystals:

And the way Melanie LOOKS although she doesn’t actually wear glasses!

Here is Kori looking innocent:

And Sally looking fierce:

Here is Portia, arrogant, of course:

And her brothers, Logan and Jordan:

Cassie’s mom, looking drawn and white:

And her grandmother, beaming:

Here is the crystal skull amid its rose petals:

And last but not least, here is Black John himself

And, naturally, after that, I had to do the characters from the Vampire Diaries. I think Tyler Smallwood and Matt came out particularly well. Here is Elena in her ice-blue Renaissance gown:

And with her apricot ribbon that someone picks up and keeps in his casket:

Here is Bonnie, looking psychic and quite young (too young!):

And Meredith, lounging:

And Matt the All American boy:

We can’t forget Tyler Smallwood, with his predatory, boozy big smile:

And Stefan! Here he is with his designer sunglasses (or allegedly designer—I can’t tell!):

And in the front seat of his sleek Porsche:

Oh, and then there is Damon, without whom no collection would be complete. Here he is pictured among crow feathers:

There are also a few pictures of some fairly minor characters from Lullaby.

There is Ceru, Brionwy’s beloved dwenna who died violently to save her.

Meshi (Messy), the deaf harem slave who is always neat as a pin:

And Roach:

And here is Narsis, Lady Sláine’s white serpent with the vestigial wings:

And Lady Sláine herself. I was trying to get a picture of him wrapped tightly around her hair as she wears him, but no matter what, the AI wouldn’t do it.

Plus, Lovey, the girl in an apparent coma with open eyes—what was done to her to make her this way?

A couple more of Nefer that were just too good to leave unpublished:

Aviva, the grief-stricken young mother:

And Otono, Brionwy’s current dwenna:

And turning to a riff on Strange Fate, here is a little video of me as I would look as the Wild Power, Mistress of Water:

And one as Mistress of Fire:

Just for fun, here is one still pic as a sort of mermaid:

And one as Mistress of the Moon:

And finally, one I photoshopped of my parents many years ago for their anniversary. It shows real, unenhanced versions of my mother and father on their wedding day. They eloped, because my mom’s family (Catholics) did not approve of my Protestant father, who was unwilling to convert or raise his children Catholic. After I was born everyone made up. Or at least that is the story I was told.

That reminds me of a poem by A. E. Houseman, which ends: “I tell the tale that I heard told. / Mithridates, he died old.” The entire selection from the poem is below the pic, if you’re interested.*

It’s a rather dark piece about a king who inured himself to poison by taking small amounts and then gradually increasing them until he was immune. Then when his enemies tried to poison him, it had no effect, and he died very old, which is not common for kings that people want to do away with. But it’s really about inuring yourself to the bitterness of Life by taking in small amounts of the horrible facts until you can stand the amount, and then upping the ante. I’ve never tried to see if it worked, though, as I like much better the idea of trying to stay positive and find the good in every moment, every hour, every day.

Still, it’s a compelling poem; dark, as I said, and good to quote.

Anyway.  Here is the pic of my parents. My dad looks like Matt (he was a tight end for Clemson) and my mom like a witch (a good witch). The picture is called The Road of Life:

Thank you, my beautiful lovelies, if you have read this far! Again, I hope you all had/are having/will have a wondrous winter holiday and I wish you all a wonderful—and peaceful—and kind—2025. Let’s drink a toast to auld lang syne (times long past) and all get along with one another, shall we? That would be very, very pleasant. And different. 

*From Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff

By A.E. Houseman

There was a king reigned in the East;

There, when kings will sit to feast,

They get their fill before they think

With poisoned meat and poisoned drink.

He gathered all that sprang to birth

From the many-venomed earth;

First a little, thence to more,

He sampled all her killing store;

And easy, smiling, seasoned sound,

Sate the king when healths went round.

They put arsenic in his meat

And stared aghast to watch him eat;

They poured strychnine in his cup

And shook to see him drink it up:

They shook, they stared as white’s their shirt:

Them it was their poisons hurt.

I tell the tale that I heard told.

Mithridates, he died old.

Oooh. Chilling. But you have to put a sort of pause or caesura in the last line: Mithridates . . .  he died old. I love it !

What did you think of it, my lovelies? What kind of poetry do you like? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll list some more of my favorites.

Again, if you’ve read this far, thank you so very much! Until the next blog!

With all my love and blessings,

Lisa

L.J. Smith