I have officially received the Jack London Award from the California Writers Club.
This isn’t a writing award like the Pulitzer Prize, it’s an award to recognize service given to the club, in particular, my 3 years as President of the Sacramento branch of the CWC.
Jack London Award
As President of the Sacramento branch, Bernard Wozny created the Sacramento Book Festival. This flagship program encourages inclusion in the community, attracts new members and promotes the California Writers Club. During his three-year term he also encouraged the branch to be active during the California Writers Week every October.
He built infrastructure such as web site improvements to provide information for the branch. Encouraging the board to work together for the benefit of the branch membership.
Above all, Bernard has always worked with the membership in mind. Everything he did was always for the members of the Sacramento Branch, his slogan was, “It is the members who make the club, I just help them along”. With this in mind he often spent many hours mentoring individuals to get their books in progress, ready for publishing.
That is me receiving the Award from Roger Lubeck Ph.D, statewide President of the California Writers Club.
Don’t forget, there are 21 branches with over 2300 members statewide.
Members always asked me how much I charge to help them. I always say, “I work for wine.” The odd bottle is always nice, but the real kick I get is the help I can give. I’m not rich but I’m happy.
If you have been listening (or reading) what I’m saying, then you will know that I have been searching for a translator to get my book ORP Orzel, into the Polish Market.
Time for my BIG announcement:
I now have a translator! In fact, I have 2 translators, so I can pick and choose. Please let me explain, because this was a real fun journey for me, and there is still a long way to go.
The history of ORP Orzeł is a complex war story, not so much blood and guts, but primarily about loss of nation, the morale of the crew, and as always with submarines, the art of deception.
In Polish culture, the Orzeł is effectively the equivalent to the American Alamo. Small but determined, fighting against huge and awful. Orzeł is more than David and Goliath, because it is David with all sorts of hangups.
Despite the stature of this story, there is little to honor it in formal literature. There is one book published in 1941 in London by Eryk Sopocko. He was a later crew member of the Orzeł but did not witness the main voyages.
ORP Orzel
You may think that finding a translator was easy, all I had to do was find one. Finding one is very easy, finding the right one is a lot more difficult.
There are many books that rose to the top after translation, The Alchemist, The Little Prince, The Vegetarian, and Tomb of Sand to name only a few. On some occasions, the translation was better than the original text. I suppose that depends on the skill of the translator.
OK, I’m obviously a touch ambitious here, but like I said, there needs to be more said to continue this story.
There is only one other book about the Orzeł, published in 1941 in London by Eryk Sopocko. He was a later crew member of the Orzeł but did not witness the main voyages.
I intend to use my novel to promote and reinforce the story of the Orzeł.
With the aim to translate my novel into Polish, I used 2 chapters from the book as samples, that I could use to gauge the caliber of the translator.
The first chapter was about the emotions and moral of the crew.
The second chapter was technical, about chasing a target vessel with the intent to sink it. If these 2 chapters could be translated appropriately and fit with the story, I could then assess the translator.
Bear in mind, I do not speak Polish, let alone read the language. I can order a beer and a sandwich, bid people good morning or goodnight. I have to rely upon native speakers who have read my English version. Only they can relate the quality of any translations back to me.
This is where the plot twists.
Translators are not cheap, they will cost in excess of $1,000, good ones, even more. I am under strict instructions not to break our bank, so I needed a plan B.
Yes, my wife is Polish, as well as many personal friends, but none of them are capable of translating a novel in any real sense.
This leads me onto plan C.
Like I said earlier, I have 2 translators. One is called Claude, the other is called Google.
Beta readers of my sample translations say that this is suitable for publishing. Hardly surprising since my English manuscript was professionally edited.
BUT! This is where the plot twist gets really interesting!
Language is an art. All creatures have language, even if it is only body language. Every word or phrase (or pose) can be interpreted in subtle ways.
I will not debate here which is better or worse, Claude.ai or Google translate. Both are excellent. What is happening, one provides an artistic narrative, while the other gives something more down to earth.
This is a real tough question. Which literary style is more suitable to the reading culture of Poland. And even worse, which style is more suitable to a given type of chapter.
Wait. This journey is not over.
Assume I have a novel translated into Polish.
That is just the start.
Do I have an online presence in Poland?
Can I print on demand or distribute in other ways there?
What about book signings?
Banks, ok, not a problem. But tax?
My head just exploded! You may have heard the splitty BANG!
This is like starting over from something new.
Maybe that will be hard. Maybe that will be easy with the experience I already have
Either way, I’m on my way!
Don’t forget that Orzel is available as a paperback or an eBook available on Barns and Noble and Amazon Kindle, to name a couple. I am ready to launch book 2 of Girl Electric. No date has been set yet, as I still need a book cover. I’m working on that, so I should have a cover and release date ready for my next newsletter. Did I say September will be an interesting month?
One thing worth announcing is I have been interviewed by KAAD Radio, in Sonora. They claim to be the official MotherLoad Radio Station in the Gold Country of California. KAAD Radio does a lot of work to support local creativity. Their show Local Scribe, with Nick Hughs has given me the opportunity of an interview.
KAAD Radio
You can listen to the streamed podcast on the link below;
So please take the opportunity to tune in and listen to what I have to say. I hope to be on other podcasts in the near future. If you host podcasts or know anyone who does, please point me in their direction.
While you are here, you can check out my other blog posts here.
If you are interested in stories and how my next novel is progressing, I suggest you join my newsletter. I don’t spam, as my letters are pretty infrequent.
It is likely to cause a major stir amongst writers. If you are easily distressed, please keep your eyes closed while reading.
Anthropic Logo
U.S. District Judge, William Alsup of the Northern District of California ruled in Jube, 2025, for Bartz v. Anthropic that AI company Anthropic’s training of its Claude LLMs on authors’ works was “exceedingly transformative,” and therefore protected under the fair use doctrine as specified in Section 107 of the Copyright Act.
The case was brought by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson, who alleged that Anthropic used their copyrighted works without permission to train its AI systems.
Anthropic, which probably generates a billion dollars in annual revenue from its Claude AI service, downloaded over seven million (pirated?) books between 2021 and 2022 to build its training datasets. Notably, the lawsuit challenged only the inputs, or works used to train Claude, and did not allege that the outputs, or works produced by the LLM, reproduced the plaintiffs’ copyrighted works.
If you are interested in the legal speak, you can see it here.
Note that the issue of possible pirated books is still ongoing.
You may or may not be aware that there are huge legal struggles over the training of LLMs or Large Language Models, this is not limited to books, but also magazines and news articles. Even giants like Disney and Universal Studios are suing Midjourney on copyright infringement of images. In fact, anything that any AI machine needs to learn from is subject to copyright challenges.
In the past, there have been some AI companies that agreed licensing deals with content creators. This offers licensing agreements and some payment for use of material to train their LLMs. I do not have details here.
Alsup’s judgment has been hailed as a win for tech companies. This potentially sets a precedent for fair use of material to train LLMs.
However, many others have stated that this is not the end of the debate, it will certainly be appealed.
Joanna Bryson, a professor of AI ethics at the Hertie School in Berlin, says the ruling is “absolutely not” a blanket win for tech companies. “First of all, it’s not the Supreme Court. Secondly, it’s only one jurisdiction.
OK, fair enough, the story doesn’t stop here.
My Opinion…
…is probably not worth anything.
Humans read books, watch films, look at pictures, and basically experience the world. This is how we learn.
Machines must be spoon fed with this information and programmed how to parse it into understandable constructs that it can use.
I see absolutely no difference between the 2, hence fair use for both.
Maybe a machine will occasionally output a phrase, word for word from an author’s work. Oops, that is wrong.
What if a human quotes a phrase word for word from an author’s work? Oops, that is also wrong.
The simple answer is to filter out that response, either by human or machine.
I say it must be up to the human to filter any such direct quotes from any AI generated output. It is the same that humans are required to filter out any direct material from their own experience.
How often has this happened in the publishing world before the advent of AI?
How many songs have been written that sound the same as previous material.
Case in point: Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” Was accused of stealing the opening riff from Spirit’s “Taurus.” Other cases involved accusations of borrowing from Willie Dixon’s “You Need Love” for “Whole Lotta Love,” and Jake Holmes’ “Dazed and Confused.” While some cases were settled out of court, the “Stairway to Heaven” case went through multiple appeals before being dismissed by the Supreme Court.
I have met many writers who say their work was ripped off by some AI system. Not a single person has volunteered to show me any work that was compromised.
AI is not without its faults, and such legalities need to be ironed out in the courts.
OK, this has nothing to do with writing. Be warned, this is gardening stuff.
I must tell you that gardening, flowers, and all that nature connectivity is high on my list of likes. You can either find me in the library or the garden.
There is nothing like the touch of mother earth, digging in the garden. Feeling your fingers in the compost. February is the month for seedings and seedlings. Iwona and I have spent hours selecting what fruits, vegetables, herbs and salads to plant for the coming year.
As you know, I’m one of those crazy guys, and I decided to tear away and plant Dandelions. WTF? Have I gone gaga? Perhaps I’m already there, but for good reason. Dandelions are incredible plants. Originating in Eurasia, brought to the Americas by European colonists, this plant now covers all temperate zones worldwide.
Taxacum officinale, is a simple perennial, belonging to the Asteraceae family, related to Daisys, chamomile, lettuce and even artichokes. The word dandelion comes from the French “dent de lion” meaning lion’s tooth because of the jagged shape of the leaves.
In China, it is called “Pu Gong Ying” or earth nail because it has a long tap root.
That root is almost indestructible. If the plant is uprooted, even small sections of root can reintroduce the plant. Roots can survive almost indefinitely, like those of potatoes and other root crops.
I despair that it is called the common dandelion. It is one of the strongest plants on this planet. Ask anyone who loves a manicured lawn, why this is a love/hate relationship.
Dandelions have Herbaceous, medicinal, artistic, and even spiritual properties.
There is a spiritual cycle associated with this plant. Let’s start with its reproduction. It is both sexual and asexual. Science calls it apomixis. I guess it can either take it or leave it?
I can harp on about this at great length, but I want to focus on more practical issues. You see, Dandelions are important to local pollinating insects, this includes but is not limited to Bees. Every time you mow the lawn, and get rid of those yellow, Dandelions, you are denying pollinators. You may even be preventing them from life.
Every American HOA (Home Owners Association) and lawn enthusiast will stomp on this pretty flower. I am suggesting an alternative to allow it to thrive.
Grab your Dandelion and nurture it in a secluded pot. That way, you can enjoy the plant and its flowers. The Birds and the Bees will dance around your garden with delight. Select any number of Dandelions as follows.
Use a simple spade or other tool to loosen their root allowing you to extract the plant and root.
You can leave yellow flowers but remove the white seed flowers.
Clear any grass or other related roots/growths from the Dandelions. Place the Dandelion root however short/long into a pot of soil. Water it gently and leave it to grow. Don’t worry if you wreck the root or damage the plant in any way, it’s pretty much indestructible. Make sure you have enough plant and root to hold, you can even put a few together in a single pot. Since they are in a pot, they will be easy to control, for instance snip off the white seed flowers as they appear, hence stopping their spread into other garden areas.
Show them off to your friends and they’ll think you’re as crazy as I am.
I will let out know what happens to my Dandelions. Yeah, this isn’t hot news like if trump is doing right with the world. I’m just trying to do right with my garden.
Yes, getting ahead of myself here, book 2 isn’t in print yet. Currently book 2 is is revision and editing, hopefully it will be in print soon.
Book covers are in progress.
As for book 3, at long last I have the inspiration!
It has been obvious all along, staring me in my face, knocking at my door. Pounding in my head. Shouting at me, saying, “Listen to me!”
I have been thinking about book 3 of Girl Electric for a long time now. I kept asking myself, how can I continue this series? The answer has suddenly came to me.
May I ask you to think back to your childhood. Did you have free realm in your life? Were you able to choose your destiny? Did you see yourself having a destiny? Were you petulant or demanding in any way? Or were you subservient to your parent’s will?
I was brought up to have none and all of the above.
Perhaps that is the dichotomy of life. Perhaps we all have none and all of the above. Dual vision can enhance your perspective.
Whatever it is, I have to get working on this…
Remember, there’s no place like home! Except on the other side of the fence?
I decided to read Frankenstein, by Mary Shelly, (should I say the full title?) Frankenstein; or the modern Prometheus. There are many reasons I chose to read this, primarily because I know the original story was radically different than the old Hollywood movies. Also, because Mary Shelly created an everlasting meme from her story. Everything from monsters to genetically modified crops.
While I was reading this, I found my progress to be very slow. I’m not a speed reader at the best of times, but this was becoming ridiculous. As I reflected on the words, I began to realize why I was so slow. The vocabulary used, and the construction of the phrases were more akin to the Victorian era, and not the twenty-first century.
The secret to reading works like this is to not race through the words. As a reader you need to forgive yourself for slow reading and in your mind apply yourself like a formal English gentleman. It may take longer, but it’s a lot more fun.
Casting my mind back to other classic writings, I thought of Shakespear. His writings were theatrical and more poetic. Whilst reading Shakespear in school, it had to be read slow, if only to enjoy the rhythm and his unique descriptives. Reading it slowly enhanced his words.
Then my English literary teacher introduced us to Geoffrey Chaucer. “Open your books to page one.” We were told. Are you kidding me? I couldn’t even read it, never mind understanding it. “Please sir, can I do a double class in mathematics instead?” I asked because I had to get out of there.
“Shut up Wozny! Sit in the front row and behave yourself.”
Chaucer turned out to be some of the greatest writings I ever encountered. Our teacher instructed us with a simple trick; read it in an old English accent. The closest I can describe is Somerset or Cornwall accents, similar to pirate slang. The entire class took off, and we competed amongst ourselves to read aloud.
So, what is the point of all this? I’ve led you through part of my literary appreciation for what reason?
Reading is a remarkable thing; in a sense, it is not natural for us. Modern humans are about 300,000 years old, while we’ve only had writing for about 5,000 years. Yet look at how the written words guide you along, suggesting to you how fast or slow to read it. I have read some passages (Stephen King) which made me jump out of my seat. Other comical books can cause me embarrassment while I burst into uncontrollable laughter.
If you are a writer, bear these thoughts in mind. The art of reading is the direct result of the art of writing. I cannot begin to advise how to construct such lively text, I have enough challenges of my own.
They say that writers should share their personal experiences with their readers. They say it adds depth and makes you look real, well here it goes.
When I lived in England, I frequently gave blood. I did this because hospitals are always in need, and I could rest assured that I indirectly saved lives. I was not paid for my efforts, but the National Health Service (NHS) did provide all you can eat ice cream and cookies.
At each session a pint of blood was extracted. The body replaces that pint very quickly from bone marrow reserves. However, it takes time for the reserves to recover, so donating blood could only be done every month or two.
When I came to California, one of the first things I did was stop at a hospital and ask if I could donate blood. They asked, “Are you from England?” I had to answer affirmative, whereupon they refused my blood. The reason being CJD, or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, also known as mad cow disease. This incurable Illness was killing British cattle, and if you ate infected beef, you would also succumb.
I did get some free ice cream though!
More recently this American restriction was lowered, and by chance I came upon an offer where I could donate plasma. This time it wasn’t for ice cream; I would get paid for my bodily life fluids. Plasma is the fluid that carries the red blood cells, it is made up of 90% water and the rest is protein and minerals. They extract the blood, separate the red cells and platelets with a centrifuge. They keep the plasma and return the red stuff back into your arm in a saline solution. This is done in stages, extracting and returning and the whole process takes about an hour.
The downside is you have a piece of plumbing stuck in your arm which is connected to a big device which seems to be a cross between a washing machine and a drinks dispenser.
The upside is plasma can be donated (or sold) twice a week. Which also means I get paid twice a week.
I thought this was super cool!
Pretty soon, my arms began to look like that of a drug addict. To coin a phrase, I began to feel drained. The processing that preceded each session was repetitive, and tedious, a bit like checking into hospital. The dollar signs that previously lit up my eyes were fading. I realized I need my plasma more than I need their money. In future, I will stay true to my principles of giving to those in need.
The moral of this story?
Good things don’t always last.
If they don’t then they probably weren’t good things to begin with.
We planned for it in advance, but all good road trips follow a life of their own.
A trip to witness the 2024 Eclipse in North America. Checking several months ahead, flights to anyplace in areas of totality were stupidly expensive, hotels more so. Someone is making money, but it’s not me.
The decision was made to go to Niagara Falls, flying into Toronto, the weather would probably be good, and it’s a great place to visit. For some reason (probably economical) we flew Sunday night, April 7, arrived Monday morning, April 8, and hoped to race to the area of full totality.
What could possibly go wrong?
The weather for a start. Clouds and heavy rain were forecast, and maybe even snow. I almost stayed at home.
Car rental was second. Although booked and paid for, when we got there, the rental office was operated like a Muppet Show with Kermit in charge. I wasn’t laughing at the delays, but our tight schedule eventually held up.
As we drove from Toronto into the area of totality, it wasn’t raining, but the sky was heavy with clouds. I was resigned to disappointment as traffic became heavy. Our hotel was in Hamilton Ontario, on the way to Niagara. The slow progress persuaded us to have a pit-stop at the hotel.
Pit-stop turned into the prime stop, because the sky broke, the clouds cleared, and the sun came out (Yippy!). Instead of glorious Niagara Falls, we opted for the hotel parking lot. We donned our eclipse glasses, cameras, and other parts of spiritual wellbeing to observe the eclipse.
It turned out that Niagara suffered under cloud cover and did not see the eclipse.
I managed to take some pictures of the eclipse in our parking lot. The following are raw photos, without post processing, other than cropping to size. I only had basic equipment.
The first is when totality is about to begin, it’s commonly known as the diamond ring. A small portion of the sun is still visible at the edge of the moon. Blasting a flash of light just like a diamond on a ring.
The second is during totality. The corona or solar atmosphere is clearly visible. Notice that there are some red spots on the edge, these were solar flares shooting sideways out from the sun. This is one of the things professional observers are on the lookout for. Understanding these helps to know what our star is doing and how it behaves.
The next picture is from NASA, if you zoom in close, your will see some similar red spots on the edge.
OK, mine aren’t perfectly in focus, but they’re pretty good for the equipment I had.
It was pretty awe inspiring to see a black hole blocking out the sun. All around us on the horizon it was like a sunset – it was dark like evening, and the birds were shouting “bedtime!”.
The eclipse only lasted a few minutes, and we were able to see the shadow of darkness move away to the northeast.
Some interesting facts:
We are lucky to have eclipses at all. Most planets have moons that do not create an eclipse, they are usually much too small to block out the sun.
There are 2 types of eclipse: total eclipse and annular eclipse. The moon moves in an ellipse so is sometimes closer, and sometimes further from the Earth. This means it doesn’t quite match the perceived size of the sun.
In an annular eclipse, the moon appears smaller allowing a thick boarder of sun around the moon.
2024 was a rare occasion when the Sun and Moon match almost perfectly.
About 700 million years ago, the moon was slightly closer, meaning all eclipses were total, longer, and darker.
The moon is slowly getting more distant from the Earth, meaning in about half a million years (give or take) the moon will appear smaller than the Sun and all eclipses will be annular.
March is Women’s History Month, and that is two of my favorite subjects. Women and history. The story this month is worthy of any fictional plot, it is full of love, devotion, endurance, and living outside of your defined boundaries.
This is the true story of Emily Warren Roebling, whom I like to call, the Mother of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Born Emily Warren in 1843, on September 23, she married Washington Roebling in 1865. Emily was well educated and interested in applied sciences. Washington was an engineer, working for his father’s company. Their mutual love of the sciences probably spurred their love for each other.
Washington was the son of John Roebling, a German born and very ingenious bridge designer. He was the architect of the Brooklyn Bridge, an advanced construction for its day. This bridge has rightfully taken its place as a National Historic Landmark.
After their marriage, Emily and Washington went to Germany to study caissons for the construction of bridge foundations. A caisson is basically a concrete tower sunk in place to enable workers to lay concrete at the bottom of a river.
Pneumatic, or compressed-air caissons, prevent water seepage, and allow for dryer working conditions. Since it acts as a diving bell, workers must slowly decompress before exiting. On their return from Germany, Washington’s father, John Roebling died from tetanus, contracted through a work injury. This left the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge in serious doubt. The project was left to Washington, as he was recognized as the only person capable of completing the task.
One day while exiting a caisson, Washington suffered a decompression accident, causing the ‘Bends’. This is where soluble gasses decompress and expand inside the body, damaging tissues, organs, and nerves. This often proves fatal, but Washington was left severely crippled and bed ridden, leaving him unable to continue managing the project.
Once again construction of the Brooklyn Bridge was in doubt, but Emily stepped in to manage the project to its completion. She was the only one who fully understood the design, construction techniques, strength of materials, the intricate interweaving of supporting cables, catenary curves.
Washington would observe progress through a telescope from his bed in Brooklyn Heights, both he and Emily liaised closely on design issues. As well as design and project management, Emily had to contend with financiers, politicians, and rival engineers. As she managed so efficiently and promoted the project so rigorously, many began to believe that it was Emily who was the chief designer.
Emily oversaw the successful completion of the bridge. On the opening day, she rode in the leading carriage across the bridge. I quote from the opening speech by the Mayor Abram Stevens Hewitt;
“An everlasting monument to the sacrificing devotion of a woman, and of her capacity for that higher education from which she has been too long disbarred.”
The moral of this story? History is not just a story; it is a lesson to be learned. Women are attractive, but they are a lot more than just a bit of crumpet.
Thank you for following me this far. As always play nicely with everyone else. That’s all folks! Bernard Wozny Self-Published author. Keep reading… Keep Writing… Keep sailing on… And behave? President of the California Writers’ Club – Sacramento Branch. Check out our website (www.cwcsacramentowriters.org)
