In late May 2025, fantasy romance authors K.C. Crowne, Rania Faris, and Lena McDonald found themselves at the centre of a growing controversy after readers discovered what appeared to be AI-generated prompts in their newly released novels. The excerpts, which quickly spread across Reddit, Goodreads, and Bluesky, included revision notes and editorial-style cues that strongly suggested the use of tools like ChatGPT during the writing process.
What made this incident stand out wasn't just the presence of AI, now a common behind-the-scenes tool for many writers, but the fact that unedited AI-generated prompts were allegedly left in the finished, published books. For readers expecting polished, immersive fantasy, stumbling across placeholder text or mid-draft instructions felt jarring and even deceptive.
