I’ve been tinkering with A.I again. Just for fun, you understand, I’m not planning on allowing it to take over my life or anything. It’s just that after having successfully created a near spot on image of Joe Wilkie with Google Gemini I fancied having another go at creating Lady Stark-Raven as the last attempt made her look like a bizarre hybrid between one of the female gladiators and Pete Burns.

I wasn’t at all happy with it but I was determined to give it one more try and I do believe I’ve been far more accurate in her description this time.

When I began to write Ah Boy! – Joe’s first adventure, I wanted to create a human monster in Lady Stark-Raven. My rationale being that the scariest and most believable monsters in literary and cinematic history have always been human in their origins. Hannibal Lecter, Frankenstein’s creation, Count Dracula, Professor Moriarty, Mr Hyde, Darth Vader, The T-1000 and so on. There are a great many more when you think about it.

And so, with that in mind I set about creating my monster.

There was a subtle difference, however, with my monster in that while Lady Stark-Raven is indeed monstrous in her beliefs and ideals, she is in fact usually on the side of good rather than evil. She’s more Hulk than she is Thanos.

My initial plan for her never really changed. I’ve always depicted her of being tall for a woman, heavily built in a muscular way, short haired, permanently angry and violent of temper, and rather fond of waving shotguns and riding crops around whenever the chance arises. Some people have compared her to Miss Trunchbull in Roald Dahls’ Matilda but I disagree. Yes, there are some similarities between Miss Trunchbull and Lady Stark-Raven but there are huge differences too and the main one being that Her Ladyship, now and then, shows a bit of heart. Yes, she’s a towering ogre of a woman, but from time to time there appears a small chink in her armour, reminding us that she is actually human.

And, as I mentioned earlier, she is generally on the side of good. Also, lets not forget her love of horses, dogs, literature and gardening. And she has a soft spot for Marguerite in an almost maternal way, as she sees something of herself in that young Ukrainian woman.

Anyway, without further ado, here she is in the flesh.

I give you…

Lady Stark-Raven of Blessham Hall.

Damn but that A.I is accurate. That’s pretty much how I’ve always seen her in my mind’s eye. Maybe a little bulkier perhaps but I don’t want to mess around with it too much. Maybe this is a slightly younger version of Her Ladyship.

One thing is for certain though, you can see why Joe lives in mortal fear of the woman.

Whose image should I try to create next?