Notes about my work, projects, training, and life.
Turning a website into a published book is not just copy, paste, and export.
The manuscript has to be pulled from the right source, structured for print and Kindle, checked against the original, formatted correctly, packaged, and verified before it ever reaches KDP.
I used AI to help drive that entire production workflow.
This is how I did it.
Slow day at the jail, which usually means one thing: project time.
Today I’m using the downtime to work through the publishing details and remaining kinks in my new book.
There are still a few things I want cleaned up before I call it ready, but I’m getting close.
Hopefully I can get everything where it needs to be and have something worth announcing tomorrow.
ChatGPT gets a lot more useful when it can work with the machine where the actual files, repositories, and tools live.
I set up Remote Desktop Commander so ChatGPT can securely inspect files, run commands, and work against my real development environment instead of relying on pasted snippets.
This is how I connected it and what I learned along the way.
https://jimlunsford.com/chatgpt-remote-desktop-commander-setup/
Starting strong gets attention.
Finishing clean builds trust.
Do not let the last few minutes, the last task, or the last decision become the place where your standard slips.
Close the loop. Put things back in order. Handle what is still yours to handle.
Finish with the same discipline you started with.
I scheduled some comp time and took the day off from the jail today.
Good call.
I woke up with absolutely zero energy, and it never really improved. Garmin has also been nagging me about low HRV for more than a week. I have no idea if that has anything to do with it, but today was definitely not a day for pushing.
So I didn’t.
Back at the jail tomorrow, then again Sunday.
One thing about me:
When something bothers me long enough, I usually end up building something.
A better workflow. A website. A piece of software. A framework. A system.
I do not like sitting with problems forever.
My brain eventually gets to the same question:
What are we going to do about it?
Spent most of the morning working on the release of my next book.
Then I traded the laptop for the road and got my run in.
Now I’m at the Brown County Music Center working security for the 40 Fingers concert.
Books, miles, and live music.
Not a bad way to spend a day.
Service means more when it is chosen freely.
Helping people should come from strength, not guilt, obligation, or the belief that you owe everyone access to you because you survived something.
You can give back without giving yourself away.
Recovery should leave you capable of serving others by choice, not trapped in service as another form of dependency.
https://jimlunsford.com/recovery-standard-service-is-a-choice/
I do not let AI jump straight into rewriting my work.
First, I make it review.
I want it to identify what is working, what is weak, what does not sound like me, and what actually needs to change before it touches a sentence.
That extra step matters.
Review creates understanding.
Rewriting should come after that.
https://jimlunsford.com/why-i-make-ai-review-before-it-rewrites/
Stabilization matters.
But stabilization is not the finish line.
Getting someone out of immediate danger, creating structure, and helping them stand again is necessary. The problem starts when that temporary support becomes permanent dependence.
Recovery should keep moving toward ownership, capability, and self-trust.
The goal is not to remain stabilized.
The goal is to become strong enough to live.
