Month: March 2026

The ‘Shy Girl’ Controversy Has Me Paranoid About My Novel’s Fate Since I’m An ‘AI First’ Author

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As I’ve said before, I see AI a lot like how we might have viewed a spell checker back in the day. I’m a horrible, horrible speller and any success I’ve had as a journalist in the past — and there wasn’t much — came from heavy, heavy use of spell check.

And, yet, I totally get why it’s a Big Deal that the novel Shy Girl was a whopping 75% AI generated. That’s way too much.

And, honestly, I would like to think after the process of editing is done that there will be minimal “AI talk” in the novel I’m working on. And I have to admit that I’m really self-conscious whenever I use AI to “gently” edit my copy.

I worry that just by doing that, at all, that that will show up as “AI generated” if put into detection software. But I have done so much fucking hard work on this novel. I really have. And I try every which way but loose to ensure that the novel is in my voice as much as possible.

But everything is horrible and everyone is dumb, so I have to be very aware that even my minimal use of AI when it comes to writing my novel will be seen as “Oh, he generated AI slop.”

Ugh.

Double Ugh.

Anyway, I’m trying the best I can.

Beginning To Approach The Midpoint Of This Scifi Dramedy Novel (Again)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m in what I’m calling the “color correction” phase of this novel’s development. I’m trying to not rewrite anything — or as little as possible — but I keep failing. I’m supposed to just be editing when absolutely necessary to kind of get everything in shape, but I find myself just giving in to the temptation to rewrite entire scenes.

That proclivity, of course, is slowing me down.

The next stage of things will be a lot quicker — once I’m done with this version of the novel, I’m going to re-read it one last time before handing it over to Beta Readers. I just want to make sure I put things in my voice as much as possible, just in case any “AI speak” slips past me when I get AI to “gently edit” the text of what I’ve written.

As of right now, at least, I continue to be on track to query around Sept 1st. I still — still! — have three books about querying I need to read and yet to date refuse to do so. I’m skcart, as they say.

I’m scared that after all this work, I’ll stumble across a passage in the querying books that makes it clear that I can absolutely never successfully query this novel. Ugh. And, yet, I also know that I have to read the books.

I am probably going to start serious development work on a new novel once I wrap up this novel, so I have something to work on while I query.

I Fear Liberal White Women Will Think This Scifi Dramedy Novel Is A Little Too ‘Trashy’ For Their Tastes

This novel is not intended to be high art; rather, it is meant to be engaging, accessible, and enjoyable, even as it moves toward a somewhat melancholy conclusion. In that sense, I would compare its ending to that of the film Her, as the two share certain emotional and thematic resonances.

At its core, the story follows a sexbot sex worker and the unusual agreement she forms with her subscriber. I find the premise compelling and rich with narrative potential, though I am aware that its subject matter may give some pause—particularly within more traditional literary circles.

That said, quality ultimately matters more than categorization. If the novel succeeds on its own terms–if it is genuinely engaging and well-executed–then its more pulpy or unconventional elements may prove less of an obstacle than I sometimes imagine.

I have also found myself reflecting on the role of AI in my writing process. At times, I have used it for light editing—much in the way writers have historically relied on tools like spellcheck or grammar suggestions. Given the amount of effort I have invested in this work, I would find it frustrating if such use were misunderstood or dismissed outright. Still, I recognize that sensitivities around AI in creative work are real and evolving.

For what it is worth, I am careful to revise extensively in my own voice, ensuring that the final product reflects my intent and sensibility. While I am aware of broader conversations about AI-generated writing, I do not see those concerns applying in any substantial way to this project.

As for the novel’s more provocative elements, it is difficult to predict how they will be received. It could go either way. However, my instinct is that the story’s underlying strength—its emotional core and narrative drive—will ultimately carry more weight than any perceived “trashy” qualities, particularly with those whose opinions matter most in the publishing process.

I Have To Say, This Scifi Dramedy Is Shaping Up To Be Pretty Good

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As I plow through this latest draft of the novel and rewrite more and more scenes completely, the overall effect is pretty good. As I keep saying, I’m probably going to read this thing one last time after this just for some last-minute editing before I hand it over to beta readers.

Of course, finding beta readers willing to simply do what I need them to do — read the novel — may be so difficult that I just trust my gut and go straight into querying. One fear I have is my beta readers will, for various reasons, think the novel is too “spicy” and get turned off, even though in general the novel is actually pretty good.

Just today, I realized there were some ways to make the novel a little bit more deep. I don’t know if I’ll be able to add those elements, though. But it is something to think about.

But, in general, I hope to keep going onward and up ward. I really do hope to wrap this process up in time to query the novel by Sept. 1st. I am very, very weary of querying, since it will be my first time doing it.

Once I wrap this novel up and start querying, that is when I can start working on the next novel, even though I’m probably a little too old to creatively do anything but just stare out into space and feel bad about how much time I squandered thinking about a failed expat magazine in Seoul.

I’m Reasonably Pleased With The State of This Scifi Dramedy

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m cruising through this latest draft of the scifi dramedy I’ve been working on at a pretty nice little clip. It’s always possible that I may run into some part of the novel that is just too difficult to easily rework, but that has yet to happen.

Overall, I’m pretty pleased with what I have.

I am, as I have said, a little worried that it’s a little too “spicy” on a consistant basis. But, given what the novel is about — a sexbot — I think, I suppose, that you can give me a little bit of wiggle room on that matter.

But I do worry that the average reader will be put off by how much sex there is in this novel. And, yet, I just don’t know. I really don’t know. It could be one of those things where people will be completely blase about the amount of sex in the novel and will be a lot more worried about my use of AI to develop it and to “gently” edit it.

That would be, as they say, rather ironic.

Anyway, one issue that I’ve had, that of the novel being a little too “episodic” has largely been fixed, at least in the “fun and games” part of the novel. That’s where I am at the moment, rewriting the fun-and-games part of the novel.

Claude LLM is a really good writing partner. Though I still use Gemini LLM as well, just maybe not as much. Both are really good tools for development.

I Worry My Scifi Dramedy Is A Little Too ‘Spicy’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I once had Claude LLM tell me I was being “lazy” to lean into spicy content in a scene. So, with that in mind, even though I’m breezing through a lot of the “fun and games” part of the novel, it’s coming at the cost of there being a lot — A LOT — of spicy content.

And, yet, the novel is ostensibly about a conscious sexbot, so it’s not like the average reader wouldn’t go into the novel not knowing that there will be a lot of sex the novel.

I just worry that I *am* being…lazy.

And, yet, the content itself is pretty good — at least in my opinion. So, as such, I think I need to just swallow my pride, get over myself and just let there be a lot of spicy content in the novel.

It Seems Even Getting AI To ‘Gently’ Edit My Novel May Be A Problem

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

My latest plan is this: I’m going to go through and color correct my novel then make another pass where I really go out of my way to eliminate any sense of “AI speak” from the text.

I may even get to the point where I totally rewrite scenes simply to make them sound more human, if need be.

I thought I had it all figured out. I was going to tell AI to “gently” edit my copy and that would replace the need for a human editor. But now, alas, every time I read that gently edited copy “AI speak” seems to have creeped into the an unacceptable degree.

I still have some slack in the planned chronology of events leading up to me actually querying this novel, so I think I can actually sit down and rewrite scenes as necessary once I get to that point.

But I’m feeling hyper aware of AI’s influence on my work ever since the situation with the Shy Girl novel came to the fore. Anyway, wish me luck, I guess.

The SAVE Act Is America’s Enabling Acts

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Well, it looks like those motherfucking Republicans are going to cheat and use the reconciliation process to pass the SAVE Act. This is an example of why everything is horrible these days.

It’s also an example of why I really want to leave the country and never look back. I may be too fucking old to have much fun, but I can at least live in a country that values democracy and liberal order ideals.

But, alas, for the time being, I’m fucking stuck in the USA which seems to be circling the fascist drain.

So, there probably won’t be a free and fair election this year. A lot of people are going to be pissed when they can’t vote. It will be a fork in the road — either there’s something like a General Strike and something changes or…we just shrug and Trump continues to consolidate power.

I think Trump is going to consolidate power without nary a peep out of anyone but the usual suspects. And that will be that. The USA will become a “managed democracy” like they have in Russia, Turkey and Hungary.

Good luck.

Things Are Going Well With This Scifi Dramedy Except For The Possibility That I Can’t Sell It Because I Am An ‘AI First’ Author (Ugh)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Let me be clear — AGAIN: I have written this novel. But I will also admit that I have used it a lot in its development and editing. So, I can see how AI writing programs might go off should it ever get fed into one.

But I did a lot of work, I swear!

I just see AI as a writing tool, like a typewriter. Or maybe a spell check.

And, yet, I totally get why there is a huge taboo about AI writing if you try to traditionally publish a novel. If there isn’t the taboo, then assholes will use AI to write a novel based just on an idea.

They won’t actually do any work.

It just…I worry that all my hard work will be overlooked just because of the way I use AI. And, yet, who knows. As I’ve mentioned before, all I have is my gut on this one.

And my gut tells me I should be in the clear, ultimately.

All I Have Is My Gut

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

So. I’m making my way through the novel I’ve written and because of the “Shy Girl” controversy I am being given pause for thought. I have used AI a lot with this novel, but not to actually write it beyond it being “gently” edited using the technology.

My gut tells me that I should be in the clear.

The issue with “Shy Girl” was that, like, 75% of the novel was generated by AI. So, I hope — HOPE — that I’ll be in the clear if I just get AI to edit my novel. And the only reason why I’m getting it to edit my novel in the first place is I’m broke as hell and could never afford a human editor.

But, who knows.

It could be I’m totally wrong and even the way I’m using AI is taboo and I’m fucked. If that’s the case, I have a back up novel that I will piviot to that I will be a lot, A LOT, more careful about using AI.

And, yet, I’m not prepared to give up on this specific novel I’m working right now. I’m going to wrap it up and start working on a new novel whenever I get into the beta reading process.

I’m still on track to query this novel around Sept 1st. But I guess I’m trying to managed my expectations.