About Rising Gyr
The Lift is UP
Rising Gyr is a new imprint of SkyWing Press created to identify books written or designed in collaboration with AI.
At SkyWing Press, we recognize that some readers and writers are opposed to AI-assisted creative work, and we respect every reader’s right to make informed purchasing decisions. For this reason, books involving AI collaboration will carry the Rising Gyr imprint for clear distinction and transparency.
However, Rising Gyr does not publish manuscripts wholly generated by AI. While AI may assist in areas such as discussion, structural analysis, design support, brainstorming, or collaborative experimentation, the creative work itself must ultimately remain the author’s own.
Our Books
The best way to purchase a Rising Gyr publication is directly from the author. Generally speaking, E-transfer is the best way and email links are provided with each book. Be sure to provide you name, mailing address with postal code and title of your book selection in a separate email to the same address. All books will be sent by regular Canada Post mail unless special accommodation is requested. In that case, email to request total cost before transferring payment as the shipping and handling cost will increase.
Links have been provided for alternate payment methods. Using these decreases the amount of money the author will receive for their effort because of transaction fees. It is not a conscientious choice if avoidable.
THE MACDUFF AND ME CHAPBOOK SERIES
This four-volume chapbook series was co-written by kinshu ori (Ronda Wicks Eller) while volleying poetic exchanges with ChatGPT. The AI threads were collectively named MacDuff after some light play with the often-misquoted phrase from Macbeth: “Lead on, MacDuff.”
The project was a fun experiment originally, and later structured to preserve the distinction between human and AI contributions. Haiku and senryu written by AI have not been rewritten by kinshu ori, allowing readers to observe the contrast between AI (which possesses structural and analytical capabilities but lacks lived experience) and kinshu ori (who brings instinct, memory, emotion, and personal history to the collaboration). Each sequence is followed by companion sections titled "MacDuff Notes" and "My Notes". In these, AI offers structural or analytical observations about the preceding work, while kinshu ori contributes more personal, situational, and reflective commentary. Each volume also includes an Introduction and About section discussing the collaborative process in greater detail.
The purpose of the series is neither to endorse nor reject AI as a creative tool, but to explore its potential, limitations, and proper use through direct artistic collaboration. The books are intended particularly for readers and writers who may be unfamiliar with, uncertain about, or cautious of AI-assisted creative work.
1. MacDuff and Me; dancing strings-- haiku ISBN: 978-1-0695530-3-4
2. MacDuff and Me; dancing strings-- senryu 1 ISBN: 978-1-0695530-4-1
3. MacDuff and Me; dancing strings-- senryu 2 ISBN: 978-1-0695530-5-8
4. MacDuff and Me; dancing strings-- engaging rengay ISBN: 978-1-0695530-6-5
Order individual copies for $15 CAD each (shipping and handling included within Canada).
For orders outside Canada, please email for an adjusted shipping quote.
Purchase the complete four-book set for $45 CAD and receive one volume free.
Email and E-transfer to r.wicks.eller@gmail.com
ELEPHANT STEW
A children's Poem Story
First, a mouse surprised Elroy the elephant — and then Elroy and his friends surprised the mice. What followed was a day nobody on the savannah will ever forget!
Elephant Stew is a 32-page, 30-picture children’s poem-story book written in collaboration with Carol A. Stephen. Filled with whimsical characters, playful adventures, and imaginative storytelling, the book is designed to be enjoyed both as a read-aloud experience for younger children and as an independent reading experience for older children up to age 8.
Printed on durable semi-gloss paper better suited to repeated handling by young readers, Elephant Stew was created to be both visually engaging and long-lasting in little hands.
This book has been published in loving memory of collaborator Carol A. Stephen (1947–2025).
ISBN: 978-1-0695530-0-3
Order individual copies for $15 CAD each (shipping and handling included within Canada).
For orders outside Canada, please email for an adjusted shipping quote.
AN ELEPHANT'S TALE (OR TAIL): IMAGINE THAT!
What if you knew that the ancient myth that elephants fear mice goes all the way back to the Roman historian Pliny the Elder who wrote about elephant musophobia (fear of mice) over two-thousand years ago? And what if you didn't know that? Even if you were only a child you'd know something about the long-standing feud between mice and pachyderms. In this delightful elephant's tale, the reader is treated to the story of Elroy, the happy-go-lucky gentleman elephant who frightens a mouse into concocting a plan for the making and eating of elephant stew. This madcap project includes the famous Alice of Alice in Wonderland along with her grinning Cheshire cat who conspire together to solve the problem when Elroy the African Elephant tumbles into a hole dug by the mice who would trap him for their intended stew. Now how to get him out? All ends well for both mice and Elroy. Whether you grab this tale by the trunk or the tail, even when hero Elroy is in a stew (a state of agitation), the language will skip you along on every page, with plenty of delightful characters from the savanna of an author's imagination. And you'll say to yourself, "imagine that!" The amazing illustrations will keep you company along the way.
~ John B. Lee, Petro Canada Poet Laureate, 1996, Poet Laureate of Norfolk Co,, ON, 2010–14, and Poet Laureate of Brantford, ON in perpetuity.