Why have some older posts disappeared while others suddenly have new illustrations? It turns out that maintaining a website that has existed since 1999 is very different today than it was twenty-five years ago. From changing copyright expectations to AI-powered search and the surprising discovery that images can become “musty,” here’s why the archive is getting a thorough spring clean.
Most stories don’t arrive fully formed. They begin as a name, a setting, or the faintest glimmer of an idea, then grow one decision at a time. But every so often, a story appears almost complete. Rainmaker was one of those rare exceptions. Here’s how it came to life—and why, years later, I finally gave it the cover I’d always imagined.
Two years ago, I wrote a post, “I Think AI Covers Have A Way To Go…”, that marvelled at the world’s first AI generated magazine cover, while at the same time suggesting that as “art,” it was lacking. Back then, faces and hands generated by AI were weird.
A year later, I wrote a follow-up post: “When I Said AI Art Wouldn’t Be On Book Covers Soon….,” that pointed out how badly I had underestimated the pace at which AI art generation would develop.
And here I am again, almost exactly a year later, shaking my head over the leaps and bound of AI image generation.
