How we make our books
Pen names, people and machines: an honest note on how Reading Lamp Press works.
We would rather you heard this from us.
Pen names
Lucien Marrec, Percy Applegarth and R. M. Calder are pen names. We use a separate name for each kind of book so that readers always know what they are picking up: a 1930s mystery, a 1968 comedy, or a quiet contemporary novel.
People and AI
Our novels are created with the help of AI writing tools, and our cover illustrations are made with AI image tools. The people behind the press decide what each book is about, who is in it and how it ends. We plan every story chapter by chapter, review and revise every page, check historical and factual details, and throw away a great deal more than we keep. The tools help us draft and edit faster; the choices, the taste and the responsibility for every book remain ours.
We say so openly. Each book is marked as AI-assisted where the stores ask us to disclose it, including on Amazon.
What we care about
- Stories worth your evening. Every book has a real puzzle, a real setting and characters we have tried to make you care about.
- Getting things right. We research the places and periods we write about, and the articles in our Journal cite their sources.
- Honesty with readers. No fake reviews, no invented readers, no pretending. If you like a book, telling a friend is the nicest thing you can do for us. If you don’t, we would genuinely like to know why.
If you have questions about any of this, we are happy to answer them. See Contact.