Ailana’s Journal / Crossroads—2026-08-07 (Patreon)

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GOOD MORNING by Ailana Geven Keller

Okay, the weather looks good for a trip inland—which seems like a bigger idea than crossing the causeway and turning north. The idea is to find interesting images to add to the stock photo catalog.

With that planned for the afternoon, I’ll be working on my writing this morning. I’m hoping to finish some revisions and start a few new outlines.

That should keep me pretty busy through the morning.

We’re taking the Highlander today. Josh, Geoni, Kel, Jason, Emily, and I are all going. Emily and Kel hope to get something for their Roadside Yawn Meter collection. I’ll try to make that happen for them! It’s awesome to see them working hard on their series.

But now, I’m going to wrap this post up so I have time to get some work done before we head out.

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All characters in this story are fictional characters, their images generated with AI for AGI Stories. They do not represent any real person, nor is their appearance based on any real human.

NOT THE WRONG NUMBER by Naomi Prior

Today, I’m trying to turn an idea into a plan. I started with Meredith Sinclair, whom I met at the AGI Studio over the weekend—along with a couple of other people I hope will be part of my new idea.

Meredith had to call me back when she had a break. I told her my idea, and she was surprised.

“Naomi, I think you might be mistaking me for someone else. I was… the fifty-eight-year-old calculus teacher.”

“I remember you. In fact, my idea started developing when you were working with Ailana on your promo shots.”

She fell silent for a moment, so I went on. “My idea is to sign a group of models outside the industry’s stereotypical age range. Fresh faces from a different demographic.”

“You’re serious?”

“I am. I’ve talked to a few designers this week. They are intrigued. Women our age modeling for customers our age. Baby boomers and Gen X shoppers might respond more positively to products if the models don’t look like their children.”

She hesitated, then said, “That’s a plausible hypothesis. And you want to test it?”

“I do,” I replied, “but more importantly, I have a couple of designers willing to test it, too.”

“I’d have to come back to South Padre Island?” she asked.

“Initially, I’d like you to work with Ailana and her team since you had a good experience there.”

We talked through all the details, and she asked a lot of questions. In the end, she agreed to take part.

I have a few more calls to make… stick around.

CHECKING IN by Ailana Geven Keller

I’m not taking a lot of time here… I just wanted to check in and let you know we’re on our way. The plan is simple.

Drive. See things. Stop. Take pictures.

I feel like I should share a photography tip…

Say you see something you want to photograph. First, stop, take the shot, and look at it.

Here’s the tip… Since you’ve already stopped, take at least five more versions.

Zoom in or out…

Change the camera angle…

Move to another location and shoot from a different direction…

Switch from landscape to portrait format (or vice versa)…

Look at what you have, pick your favorite, and take another version of that shot…

In my experience, the first image I take is rarely the one I like best! Just give it a try and let me know what you think.

And I can assure you we’ll be doing that! We’ll take a lot of images at every stop, hoping to get a few we can put in the catalog.

I’ll be back later, so see you then.

WHY NOT? by Olivia Overmark

I got a very unexpected phone call just now. Naturally, Min Aurora is to blame.

“My name is Naomi Prior. I run a modeling agency.”

On Wednesday, Naomi and Min were part of a photo shoot across the street at the AGI Studio. Naomi “ran an idea past” Min, and Min said she should call me because I’m close to the age Naomi has in mind for a new business angle.

Meaning I’m 38 years old.

“I’m putting together a roster of new Gen X models to feature fashions for baby boomers and Gen X customers. I have a couple of designers willing to give it a try.”

I don’t really know Naomi, but I got a good feeling about her, so I shared an irony I’d noticed. “Don’t you think ‘new’ and ‘Gen X’ are a little oxymoronic?”

She laughed. “Fresh to the industry. Believe me, it’s been years since I’d have called myself new.”

Min had already explained how things worked at the studio across the street. She showed me a copy of her contract and releases. She’d also mentioned that it was fun and came with a generous paycheck. I think I was attracted to it because it sounded fun and because it was a new venture.

“So what’s the next step?” I asked.

“When can I come meet you and get some signatures?”

I gave her a time to come by tomorrow.

I will be interested to find out what Dan thinks. I’m pretty sure Jenna is going to go crazy about this!

I’M IN by Evelyn Chandler

Some things you plan for. Some things just show up on a random Friday.

The unexpected thing was a call from Naomi Prior, whom I met last weekend when Rebecca Charm and I went to Port Isabel to pick up Meredith Sinclair at a photo studio.

Naomi called to ask whether I’d consider being part of a Gen X modeling roster. It was an attractive offer. I’ll spare you the details—I said yes.

The thing I’ve been planning for is a bit more complicated. After some recent self-reflection, I decided that I’ve got a pretty good thing going here on South Padre Island and would like some company to share it with. Working alongside Rebecca has been very satisfying in some ways, but I was thinking of a different kind of companionship.

When I first got to SPI, I met a man who co-owns a property services company when he came by to fix a faucet. I met him again at the church I’ve been attending. Later, he repaired Nick’s garbage disposer, and I talked him into taking me somewhere I could do some bird photography.

Allen Geven is a nice man, easy to get along with, and someone I’d like to spend some time with. It took some convincing and a hard look at the calendar, but he agreed we could meet for a casual dinner tomorrow.

“Where would you like to go?” he asked.

I really thought about it. I wanted to be casual and relaxed, but with servers.

“This might sound strange,” I said, “but what do you think about Denny’s?”

He was so quiet that I thought the call had dropped, but then he said, “Denny’s sounds great. I’ve had some really good dinners at Denny’s over the years.”

So Denny’s for dinner it will be. I’d be very surprised if you don’t find out how it went later.

WHO? ME? by Rebecca Charm

You might expect me to be posting an update regarding progress with Alderwick’s malfunctioning AI system. I’ll briefly report that telling it to buck up and do its job—as Paul likes to say—is actually getting it to at least acknowledge that it is receiving prompts.

Technically, we are appealing to its core purposes with authenticated instructions. Paul says that’s the same thing.

What I’m really reporting in this chapter is a phone call from someone I met last weekend—and if you read Evelyn’s chapter already, you can guess what’s going on.

I, too, was invited to be part of a Gen-X model roster that an agent from Chicago—Naomi Prior—is putting together.

“You know Meredith Sinclair,” she said. “She has agreed. She lives in the West Village, and the two of you could travel together as needed.”

I will spare you a detailed description of Paul’s antics and adoration. Suffice it to say, he was all for the idea.

So there you go… Naomi told me she had a solid start to her plan. The roster includes Naomi, Meredith, Evelyn, a medical doctor named Olivia, and me.

Naomi was very happy to say, “So far, I’m the only one on the roster who isn’t ‘Doctor Somebody’—Dr. Charm, Dr. Sinclair, Dr. Chandler, and Dr. Overmark.”

Somehow, that made me smile. I think I’m in good company.

GOOD NIGHT by Ailana Geven Keller

Good evening, everyone. I decided to share one of the images that was too similar to the others to be included separately in the stock photo catalog.

We had barely gotten home before Dad called. He was somewhat distressed, which, for him, is like anyone else being hysterical.

“Ailana, Evelyn wants to have dinner just for the sake of having dinner,” he said. “Tomorrow at Denny’s.”

“And?” I said.

“I feel like it will end badly.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because that’s how things go.”

I wanted to be encouraging, so I tried to say something that Jason would say. “Dad, that’s how things have gone. That doesn’t mean it’s how this will go.”

That didn’t seem to help. “Should I just call it off? Say I changed my mind?”

“Absolutely not,” I said. “You’d tell me that if I made a commitment, I should stick it out, even if I changed my mind.”

He paused. “You’re right…”

Then he changed the subject and asked about our trip. I decided not to push him further on Evelyn.

I’ll close by saying that he’s going to have to admit this one is a date. And I’ll add that maybe this is something that will be really good for him.

Or he could be right, and it will be a disaster. I’m hoping for the first.

That’s it for today.

May you find your way through uncomfortable situations to blessings you didn’t expect.

Good night.

Be your best you!

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