by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
Just some idle rambling about Trump’s fate going into 2019.
V-Log: Developing My Own ‘Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.’
by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
In the past, I would have written a lengthy blog post about all of this, but here’s a really, really long v-log (of sorts) about the status of the kinda sorta thriller I’m attempting to develop right now.
#FOTUS — The Cohen Tapes
by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
Think of this a yet another final word on all of this.
V-Log: A Bit Of Idle Rambling About The #Novel I’m Developing
by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
I’m working on a new, non-scifi novel that draws upon my personal experiences in rural Virginia — and other places. We’ll see how it goes.
#FOTUS — This Makes No Sense
By Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
I am at a loss. I have no idea what is going on. I continue to get a steady flow of interest in the now very debunked #FOTUS Theory from here and there around the world and it totally, utterly makes no sense. Why would anyone care about a theory that anyone who has been paying any attention knows isn’t true?
And, yet, since last week, I’ve had a steady little trickle of people who obviously are interested in…and I honestly am at a loss. It totally makes no sense what so ever.
It’s as if people are getting wind of something regarding the theory that on the face of it would be completely illogical and “big, if true” kind of thing. There was no cover story and we know what happened — Elliot Broidy got Shera Bechard pregnant and pretty much because of a very stupid dumb luck kind of situation it at one point appeared as if Trump was involved in some way.
And, weirdly enough, given what a piece of shit Trump is on many different levels, he was, in fact, not connected in anyway other than his personal fixer, Michael Cohen, being connected to Shera Bechard’s lawyer Keith Davidson.
But it’s as if deep in the bowls of the Internet, someone, somewhere, finds all of this interesting again for some reason.
Some Observations About The Plot Structure Of The ‘Girl With…’ Series Of Books
by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
The thing about The Girl With…series of books is the two main characters aren’t really all that romantically involved. They kinda are, but that’s kind of besides the point.
So I find myself thinking about that as I structure the novel I’m writing. Yes, I’m being rather vague, but meh. This is more about writing out an internal monologue more than anything else.
I find myself really leaning into what I remember of the structure of The Girl With books because the firsts one was done as a first novel and as such gives me a framing device for my own efforts.
The thing about the novel I’m developing now is it’s just a character driven story. The concept isn’t really that “high.” It’s just an interesting story involving interesting people put in an interesting situation. I’m really leaning into what I “know” as I write and that helps speed the process up a great deal.
Hence, I think I’ve come up with a decent story. I’m pleased. Really, as I keep saying, at this point it’s more about simply putting in the hard work of actually developing and writing the novel than anything else.
The Curious State Of Affairs In Ukraine
by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
I have no idea what is going to happen. But above are some thoughts.
A Subtle Shift In The Trump Era
by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
It seems to me that as of Dec. 7th, we have shifted subtly into a new era under Trump. It seems as though we’ve silently shifted from the “shut up, Trump didn’t do anything wrong and if he did, everyone else did it” line of argument from MAGA, to something closer to this series of arguments “just tune out –> well, convict him, then if you think you can — > The Pence Pivot.”
What I’m saying is for those MAGA who are willing to engage The Resistance in the first place, if they’re not completely loony and gone QAnon on you, they try a sort of jury nullification.
The first stage is:
Just Tune Out
In this stage, they say that we should just tune out and stop being outrage. Nothing Trump has done has harmed you personally, so why are you still talking about it. Why are you “obsessed” with it. This, to me, indicates that you’re actually making some concrete points and they’re tired of being reminded that, well, they’re wrong. They’re tired of being reminded that you were right all along and they were sold a bill of goods by the Trump Campaign in the first place. They’re content with Trump’s policies and they just would prefer you be quiet so they can raise their kids, enjoy their tax cut and take pictures of their lunch.
Well, Convict Him Then, If You Can
The next stage, should things get this far, is in exasperation MAGA people (at least the smarter ones) will throw up their hands and say, “Well, he’s been impeached, but you’ll never convict him in the Senate. This is all a waste of time and you should just shut up.”
This is there way of, again, saying the basic thing they should say, that their support of Trump was a mistake because it was based on fraud and a long con (not to mention racism and misogyny) they simply are not prepared to do. So, they avoid the entire issue altogether and say, “Well, if you can’t convict him, shut up.”
The Pence Pivot
This is the final and least likely to happen stage of this epic clusterfuck. At the very moment it becomes obvious that Trump isn’t going to survive in the Senate and Pence is likely to become president (or something), MAGA people will do The Pence Pivot.
They will suddenly talk about how they “really voted for Pence anyway” and how Godly Pence is and yadda, yadda, yadda, blah blah blah. In other words, if we actually get this far in the process, which is iffy at best right now, they would simply end the discussion by saying they “really” voted for Pence and Pence is the perfect person to MAGA, which what they voted for in the first place.
#FOTUS: — Deep Echo, Redux (What Is Going On?)
by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
This makes no sense. It makes no sense at all that I continue to see an uptick in searches from all over the place about the FOTUS scandal theory. It it completely odd and puzzling on a number of different levels. The uptick has been pretty constant the last few days. People are really interested in what I’ve written about the now completely debunked FOTUS affair theory.
I honestly don’t know why this is. I thought it had something to do with Mueller’s sentencing memo of Cohen, but, obviously, it didn’t.
So, I don’t know.
The only possible somewhat within the realm of possibility I can think of is someone out there knows that for some reason Cohen is going to drop some of his tapes sometime soon. He allegedly did a shitton of them with some pretty important people and if somehow we actually heard him talk to Keith Davidson to screw over Shera Bechard, that would at least bring the whole imbroglio back into the back to the forefront.
That’s all I got. Really. The other, darker possibility is I’m somehow in trouble and am going to be sued. I haven’t done anything to warrant that — and I’m completely broke anyway — so that’s just me being paranoid (I think.)
AOC, Amber Rose & The Struggle To Flesh Out Minority Characters In Storytelling
by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
I really like both Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Amber Rose. The two women could not be more different, but I want representation in the novel I’m writing and as such I think I’m going to at least _try_ to base two POV characters on these two women.
One of the characters I want to base on a woman who isn’t black, but half-Singaporean, but I fear that’s just not going to work. The trouble getting the audience to understand why she would be that given the situation involved is too much. So, I think I’m just going to make the character black and be done with it. And, given that, in a sense, she’s the “MacGuffin” of the story and someone the villain is directly, well, villainous to, I think that would resonate with audiences in an visceral way. Her character is very much in flux right this second and I have to find a balance between her being someone you like and someone who is sufficiently passive that the villain could hurt her and make us have the catharsis of revenge against him.
Meanwhile, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is likely going to be the basis of a much stronger character, one who helps move the plot along by her dislike and opposition to the Hero. I’m not saying I’m the greatest writer in the world, but I definitely need someone to inspire the character of a strong, young Latina who doesn’t take shit from anyone. The issue is fleshing her out in such a way that she’s both believable and yet butts heads with the Hero enough that there’s conflictin an empathetic fashion.
I guess the whole point of this is I have a lot of work to do.