The Invisible Reef
Author Commentary
The Making of "Characters in Dialogue"
When you finish watching one of these "Characters in Dialogue" videos, you've experienced something more than a simple book trailer. My goal was to offer a truly innovative way for you to get a taste of the characters, their world, and their core conflicts before you even turn the first page. The result is this unique, slightly meta experience: the characters themselves discussing the very novel they inhabit.
The Process: A Dialogue Between Human and Machine
Bringing these conversations to life was a multi-stage process that sits at the heart of my creative philosophy.
It began with a conceptual prompt. I fed the entire manuscript of the novel into my chosen AI and gave it a specific task: to create an interesting podcast-style dialogue between two of the primary characters. The twist was in the prompt's nuance. I asked the AI to inject a subtle cognitive dissonance, a sense of meta-awareness that would allow the characters to grapple with the strangeness of discussing their own lives as a work of fiction. The resulting script, with its blend of plot exposition and existential curiosity, gives you a rich flavor of the book and the nature of the characters themselves.
But generating the script was just the first step. Bringing it to life required a custom-built technical pipeline where my skills as a technologist came to the forefront:
- First, I wrote a Python script to parse the AI-generated dialogue and split the statements into manageable numbered text clips suitable for TTS.
- Next, I wrote another python script to leverage the API of a cutting-edge, locally-run Text-to-Speech (TTS) model I installed on my system via docker in WSL called Zonos to synthesize unique, lifelike voices for each character and use these voices to output each numbered statement from step 1.
- Finally, all the numereed audio clips were meticulously assembled in sequence within DaVinci Resolve, a professional non-linear video editor. The animated audio level indicator you see was created in its integrated Fusion module—a complex tool for visual effects—to add visual interest to the audio experience.
This is where my decades of technical experience become essential in the manifestation of this unique artistic vision.
This is Augmented Craftsmanship
As I explain in my Artist's Statement, my journey with technology is not a casual dalliance; it is lifelong, deeply personal, and born from decades of dedicated adaptive effort. This project is a perfect example of what I call Augmented Craftsmanship. It’s a process that goes far beyond just using a single tool. It involves building a custom ecosystem, engaging in a deep and iterative dialogue with Large Language Models, and leveraging bleeding-edge tools to build custom pipelines for everything from research to, in this case, promotion.
To use my guiding metaphor: I am the composer; the AI is my orchestra.
The AI can play the notes, but it is the human composer who arranges the score, conducts the performance, and infuses the final piece with intent, emotion, and meaning. This fusion of my experience as a lifelong author with a master craftsman's command of next-generation tools is what allows me to build richer worlds and, I hope, create a superior reading experience for you.
This is not AI-generated slop. This is human-authored art, elevated. It is my sincere hope that by sharing this process, you gain a deeper appreciation for the story and the world it inhabits.
Transcript
[Aria] Right, so full disclosure to our listeners - we're having what you might call a meta-experience here. We exist within this story, but we're also stepping outside it to talk about the bigger ideas it explores.
[Maya] It's fascinating, really. The book uses us to examine this tension between two completely different ways of organizing power and society. There's what the author calls "The Pyramid" - these traditional, top-down hierarchies that have dominated for centuries.
[Aria] And then there's the "Invisible Reef" - this emergent, decentralized network that's growing beneath the surface. Mom, you've lived your whole life in Pyramid structures, haven't you?
[Maya] Absolutely. Corporate hierarchies, established institutions, clear chains of command. There's something seductive about that clarity - you know where you stand, what's expected, how to climb. But the author uses my character to show how exhausting that can be.
[Aria] What's interesting is that I represent something different in the story. I'm part of this generation that's naturally building these reef-like networks - collaborative, adaptive, resistant to traditional control structures.
[Maya] The metaphor is brilliant when you think about it. A pyramid is impressive, solid, but ultimately static. A reef is alive, constantly growing, adapting to its environment. But here's what's fascinating about our roles in this story - I'm not just a pyramid person, and you're not just a reef person.
[Aria] Exactly! The novel doesn't make it that simple. You're someone who succeeded in pyramid structures but is questioning them. And I'm someone who understands reef networks but also sees their limitations.
[Maya] The author puts us in this position where we're both products of our respective systems and critics of them. It's like we're living the transition between these two forms of civilization.
[Aria] And that's what makes this meta-conversation so weird, right? We're discussing how we're being used as symbols while also being real people - at least within the context of this story - dealing with actual family dynamics and personal struggles.
[Maya] The generational aspect is crucial. The book explores how these different approaches to power and organization create tension not just in society, but within families. Between parents and children who literally see the world differently.
[Aria] What do you think the author is trying to say about which system is better? The Pyramid or the Reef?
[Maya] I don't think it's that simple. The novel seems to suggest that both have strengths and weaknesses. Pyramids can be efficient and provide stability, but they're also brittle and can become oppressive. Reefs are adaptive and collaborative, but they can also be chaotic and lack direction.
[Aria] And maybe that's why the author chose to make us family members having this conversation. It's not about one system defeating the other - it's about finding ways for them to coexist and learn from each other.
[Maya] The "invisible" part of the reef is key too. It's not that this new form of organization is literally invisible - it's that traditional power structures can't see it or understand it because it operates by completely different rules.
[Aria] Right, and that creates this fascinating dynamic where established institutions keep trying to respond to reef-like challenges using pyramid-like solutions, which often just makes things worse.
[Maya] As characters in this story, we're living through that tension. I'm someone who achieved success in the old system but is starting to see its limitations. You're someone who intuitively understands the new system but has to navigate a world still largely controlled by the old one.
[Aria] And our relationship becomes a microcosm of this larger civilizational shift. The personal is political, as they say.
[Maya] What's remarkable is how the author uses our individual struggles - my burnout, your search for meaning, our communication challenges - to illuminate these broader themes about how societies organize themselves.
[Aria] It makes you wonder about the readers, doesn't it? Are they seeing themselves in these dynamics? Are they living through their own version of this pyramid-to-reef transition?
[Maya] That's the beauty of good fiction, I suppose. Even though we're fictional characters, the themes we're exploring are very real for people navigating these changes in their own lives and communities.
[Aria] So for our listeners who are also characters in this story, or readers experiencing it from the outside - what do you think the takeaway is?
[Maya] Maybe that these transitions are messy and personal. They're not just abstract societal changes - they play out in our relationships, our career choices, how we raise our children.
[Aria] And that understanding both systems - pyramid and reef - might be more valuable than choosing sides. The future probably needs elements of both.
[Maya] Well, this has been... surreal. Thanks for joining us for this first episode of The Meta Reef Podcast, where we discuss the story we're living while we're living it.
[Aria] Next time, we'll dive deeper into how these themes play out in specific relationships and situations. Until then, keep questioning which system you're operating in - and whether it's serving you.
[Maya] And remember - sometimes the most powerful changes happen invisibly, one connection at a time.
