An Author in the Age of AI

I dreamt of publishing my stories for years.

Back in 2000, I tried the traditional route. I bought the big book of agents and publishers, wrote careful handwritten letters, and sent my work out into the world with hope folded inside each envelope. The feedback I received was that my stories were “too naïve.” At the time, that word felt like a closed door.

The world I was writing then wasn’t so different from The Glen. It was gentler than fashion allowed. The characters were a cat and a cow living in a city, trying to make sense of ordinary days with kindness and humour. I was told it didn’t fit the market. So I carried the dream quietly for a long time.

More than twenty six years later, everything looks different.

Modern technology, including AI, has allowed me to build what I once thought required a publishing house, a marketing department, and a city address. From a small island, I have been able to write, illustrate, publish, and share my work directly with readers worldwide. I’ve grown a global audience, sold books and memorabilia, and built a self-sustaining creative start-up centred entirely around a world I believe in.

The tools changed. The heart of the work did not.

What was once called naïve now has a home. The gentleness, the animal characters, the quiet humour, the emotional warmth. Those things didn’t disappear. They waited. Technology didn’t invent my voice. It finally gave it a way to travel.

I think about that often when people worry that AI will erase artists. My experience has been the opposite. Used thoughtfully, it has amplified the parts of me that were already there. It has enabled a single human creator to build a studio, a publishing arm, and a global community from scratch.

I am still the one writing the stories. I am still the one shaping the characters. I am still the one deciding what belongs in The Glen. The difference is that I no longer need permission to share it.

And that freedom is something I don’t take lightly.

Every book I publish is a promise to my readers that a real person made this with care. Every illustration, every line of text, every video is part of an ongoing conversation between me and the people who choose to spend time in this world. AI is a tool in that process, but the relationship is human.

The dream I had in 2000 didn’t fail. It was simply waiting for the right moment to grow.

And I’m grateful I lived long enough to see it.

— Victoria Beata

Author & Illustrator of Tales of The Glen