What’s New at The Writing King: Week of October 18, 2026

Oct 23 · Book Marketing, Publishing

Kindle Unlimited Is Now Kindle+. AI Audiobooks Just Joined the Buffet

This week, I look at Kindle+, Amazon's new name for Kindle Unlimited: which audiobooks get in, how listening gets paid, and the rate to watch.

Oct 23 · Artificial Intelligence, Technology

Mo Gawdat Says the AI Dystopia Starts in 2027. Read the List, Skip the Dates

This week, I look at Mo Gawdat's 2027 AI dystopia: which of his warnings are already real, why his dates don't hold, and his hammer rule for AI law.

Oct 23 · Artificial Intelligence, Society

The Society of Authors Signed an Ethical AI Charter, Then Ran From It in Eight Days

This week, the Society of Authors launched an Ethical AI Charter, declared no AI use can ever be ethical, and quit its own charter eight days later.

Oct 23 · Writing, Writing Craft

When to Quit Writing a Book: I’ve Abandoned Dozens, and I’d Do It Again

This week, when to quit writing a book: the reasons worth acting on, four questions that separate a slump from a dead book, and why clients stop too.

Oct 23 · Artificial Intelligence, Society

China Is Using Bots to Fan the Data Center Backlash. The Backlash Is Still Real.

This week, China-linked bots pushing anti-data-center posts: what OpenAI and X found, why it barely worked, and why the local backlash is real anyway.

Oct 23 · Business, Publishing

Getty Images Filed for Bankruptcy. Can You Prove You Licensed Your Book’s Images?

This week, I look at the Getty Images bankruptcy and what it means for authors: who pays for a designer's unlicensed photo, and the receipts to keep.

Oct 23 · Writing, Writing Craft

Fluff Words: Cut Them From Your Prose, Keep Them in Your Dialogue

This week, I take on fluff words: the fillers, intensifiers and padded phrases to cut from prose, and the ones your characters should keep.

Oct 22 · Fiction, Writing

Your First Novel Is an Apprentice Piece: What Beta Readers and Editors Can’t Fix

This week, I agree with a traditionally published novelist that a first novel is practice, and lay out what beta readers and editors can and can't fix.

Oct 22 · Cybersecurity, Technology

When the Cloud Gets Bombed: What the AWS Data Center Strikes Teach About Backups

This week, I look at the drone strikes that destroyed an Amazon cloud region and what they teach every writer about keeping a backup somewhere else.

Oct 21 · Artificial Intelligence, Publishing

Human-Written Book Labels Are Gatekeeping With a Fee

This week, I look at the new human-written book certifications and explain why I think they're gatekeeping with a fee that readers will ignore.

Oct 21 · Business, Society

The Enshittification of Microsoft Office: Why I Switched to a Free Clone

This week, I explain why I canceled Microsoft Office for WordCraft, a free AI-built Word clone, and what a writer gives up and gains in the switch.

Oct 21 · Writing Craft

Writing Your Worst Moments in a Memoir: Show the Evidence, Skip the Verdict

This week, I explain why calling yourself names in a memoir backfires, and how one copied high school report taught me to write the scene instead of the verdict.

6.5/10Oct 24

Promising Young Woman (2020) Review

Richard Lowe reviews Promising Young Woman (2020) and rates it 6.5 out of 10 on the rewatch scale. The first act is good, the middle sags badly, and the final act and its setup took him completely by surprise.

8.5/10Oct 23

The Jackal (1997) Review

Richard Lowe reviews The Jackal (1997) and rates it 8.5 out of 10 on the rewatch scale. Bruce Willis plays a cold, charming chameleon of an assassin, the target is a real surprise, and critics got this one wrong.

7/10Oct 23

The Day of the Jackal (2024) Review

Richard Lowe reviews The Day of the Jackal (2024) and rates it 7 out of 10 on the rewatch scale. The first episode is excellent and the action is good, but the middle sags under the assassin's home life and the MI6 officer chasing him is hard to believe.

Oct 23 · Observances, Technology

Petrov Day: The Officer Who Didn’t Believe the Computer

On Petrov Day, September 26, Richard Lowe looks at the 1983 Soviet false alarm, the officer who called it a malfunction, and what his choice teaches anyone trusting AI.

Oct 21 · Observances, Writing

Global Encryption Day: The Padlock Every Writer Depends On

This week, on Global Encryption Day, I look at the padlock math behind every bank login and unpublished manuscript, and why ransomware turns that same lock against you.

Oct 18 · Observances, Writing

Winnie-the-Pooh’s 100th Birthday: A Century in the Hundred Acre Wood

On Winnie-the-Pooh's 100th birthday, October 14, Richard looks back at the bear he grew up with, from Milne's 1926 book to Disney and the public domain.