Tag: AnnieBot

July 6th: No More Navel Gazing

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Today, I’m determined to be productive in some way. I’ve been daydreaming for way, way too long. I’m going to start to move towards querying and I’m going to read / watch TV some and I’m going to, most of all, write, write, write.

All of this come in the context of me knowing my life is probably going to change a pretty dramatic fashion one way or another pretty soon. Elements of Trump’s fucking “Big Beautiful Bill” are directly targeted at me, it seems.

So, as such, I’m going to buckle down and actually get some work done, especially when it comes to querying. My dream is, of course, that I successfully query this novel, it’s a success and I can fucking leave America forever or at least until MAGA is no more (which is essentially forever.)

But that’s very much daydreaming. Even if I got an agent and sold this novel, it would be like winning the lottery just to get that far. But I need some reason, any reason, to find some motivation to do something constructive and productive.

I can’t just daydream for the rest of my life. There is going to come a time when this rather idyllic situation I find myself in will end and I’m going to look back and realize I didn’t use my time as wisely as I should have.

I continue to worry about being “canceled” should I ever have any success. I’m not perfect and I’ve done my fair share of things that might be interpreted poorly under the right circumstances. But as I keep saying, I’d rather love and lose because of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune than not do anything.

I Have No More Excuses — I Have To Read The ‘Comp’ Novel To My Novel, ‘Annie Bot’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have finally come to the end of the road when it comes to my unwillingness to read the comp novel to my novel, Annie Bot. I just have no more excuses. If I’m going to query my novel properly, I need to have read Annie Bot.

Now, my novel is very, very different from Annie Bot in some basic ways. It is, as I understand it now, something of a feminist screed against what my novel embraces in a somewhat humorous manner.

But the basic premise of my novel is close enough to Annie Bot that I feel I absolutely, totally, have to read it if I want to query properly. So, lulz, in the next few days, I’m going to force myself to do just that.

I don’t have any more excuses. I’ve actually got a reasonably finished novel on hand, so I can’t use the excuse that reading Annie Bot might discourage me from finishing.

Wish me luck.

I Really Need To Get Over Myself & Read The ‘Comp’ Novel To My Novel, ‘Annie Bot’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Oh boy. I just don’t want to do this. I don’t want to read Annie Bot because I’m afraid it will be so much better than my novel that I’ll get discouraged. But I have it to read, waiting for me.

So, very soon, I’m going to force myself to read it.

All of this is part of the “scary” part of post-production. I also need to psych myself up for writing query letters, etc, even though I know, I KNOW that my novel is “too spicy.”

But it’s not lurid. It’s just spicy.

My novel, from what I can tell, is very, very different from Annie Bot in most ways other than the general premise. My novel is told not from the POV of the sexbot, but from the “owner.”

While Annie Bot is apparently something of a feminist screed, my novel is meant to be a fun scifi dramedy that is self-aware enough to now how innately silly some of what going on with in it is.

But, lulz. As I keep saying, this novel is more of a test run for the real novel that will probably actually get sold. The next novel I’m working on. The one that isn’t expected to be nearly as spicy.

I’m Pleased With The State Of The Scifi Dramedy I’m Writing

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Things are going at a nice little clip with this scifi dramedy I’m writing. I’m hoping that I can write at least three scenes a day. If I did that, that would help a lot to ensure that I can wrap this novel up in time to query around Sept 1st.

I still have not done basic things like read books on querying or read Annie Bot, my novel’s comp novel. But, lulz.

One thing I’m a little nervous about is that despite my best efforts to edit out as much “AI speak” as possible, that somehow, if this novel was put into a AI detection software that it would say that I had used AI to actually write the novel.

While I admit that I’m an “AI First” novelist, I see my use of AI as more like modern, advanced spell checking than an excuse to not actually write the damn novel. I have done so much work!

But everything and everyone is horrible and I’m sure I’ll be fucked one way or another.

Feeling Insecure About My Novel’s ‘Comp,’ Annie Bot

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The core difference between my novel and Annie Bot is mine is told from the POV of the “owner” of the android. Similar premises, in a sense, but told from the exact opposite POV.

Now, I decided to tell my novel this way because, well, lulz, the woke cancel culture mob demands that men only write from a male POV and as such, lulz, I have to write it the way I am.

Of course, given GenZ’s general “no sex please” sentiment that is ANOTHER issue that I have to worry about. My novel has a lot of spicy content in it for various and obvious reasons.

But I worry that 1) Annie Bot is better written than my novel and 2) the woke cancel culture mob will poo-poo my attempt to write a dramedy about a man’s relationship to an android he subscribes to.

And, yet, I really like what I’ve come up with. It is, all things considered, pretty good. It’s quite an entertaining yarn, if I do say so myself.

Turbulence Ahead

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m beginning to believe that the long dreaded turbulence I’ve expected for my personal life is going to happen soon. It could totally throw the context of me working on this novel out of whack.

And, yet, I’ve been grateful for how long I’ve had the idyllic situation.

At this point, I just want to finish a novel that I’m proud of. Any thing else that might happen will be icing on the cake, as it were.

I still haven’t read Annie Bot. I still haven’t read any of the books I have on querying. I just can’t bring myself to do such things just yet.

I think once I actually finish the novel — no matter how trashy it might ultimately be — that is when I will really start to take querying more seriously. Right now, it’s still something of an abstract.

I Really Need To Get Over Myself & Read My Novel’s ‘Comp’ Book, Annie Bot

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I need to just do it and start reading Annie Bot. It’s a “comp” book to my scifi dramedy and, as such, it would really help the querying process to read it.

And yet, I’m really struggling to read it. To even look at it at all.

I guess the key reason this is because I’m not thrilled to be confronted with how badly my writing sucks in comparison.

So, the question is: am I ever going to read it?

Well, I own a copy to read. So, that’s a start.

And I do keep looking at the book. It’s just, I would rather keep working on my own novel instead of reading someone else’s novel about a similar premise.

But I really need to do it. I really do.

Update On My WIP For March 12th, 2026

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I continue to cruise through the third act of the latest draft of this scifi dramedy WIP. One issue I’m facing is the scenes of late just aren’t long enough. I’m struggling to get them to be two pages, which is annoying.

My “comp” novel.

I plan on fixing that issue when I do “color correction” as part of the next draft of the novel. It won’t really be a full new draft, but rather just a lot editing because my ability to get anyone to beta read this thing is up to debate.

I continue to not read the comp novel for my novel, “Annie Bot.” I know I should, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Just the idea that there is a novel — especially what appears to be a feminist screed — that is so similar to my novel rattles my cage.

I have read a few pages and I already am being too hard on myself for my lousy writing. And, yet, I have to — have to — get over myself and read that novel so I can properly refer to it in my query letter.

I am also beginning to have a growing sense of unease about the querying process. This is, in a sense, the farthest I’ve ever gotten when it comes to this process of traditional publishing because I know if I actually put the work in this novel is query-level good.

There continue to be some structural problems with the novel that I’m going to have to do open heart surgery on the document to fix. That’s going to be a real pain in the ass because I’m ready to take things to the next level — seeing if I can get someone to be a beta reader.

But I’m so flat broke and generally don’t know anyone willing to be a firm but fair beta reader that, lulz, I’m going to have to lean on AI to be my “manuscript consultant” for as long as possible.

Already, AI has pointed out that my hero is way too passive. That’s one of the structural issues I’m going to have to fix.

‘Focus’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I really need to get over myself and read the comp book for my novel, Annie Bot. I’ve flipped through it a little bit and I’m already rattled that it’s a much better written novel than mine.

And, yet, I think that my novel is still written well enough that people will enjoy it. And I do have a really strong backup novel concept that I can explore if something goes wrong with this novel.

My main concern right now is I worry that as I enter the third act of this novel that my characters just aren’t likeable enough. I’m worried that I have to characters who don’t like each other forced to be together and, as such, no one will actually want to finish the fucking novel.

So, as such, I keep daydreaming about this backup novel I have that is much more like Project Hail Mary — a positive protagonist that does something cool and extraordinary.

Now that I have one comp book, I’m worried this is just the beginning of a flood of novels that essentially tell the same story as my novel, just in a different way. But I have to focus. I have to keep going until something really dramatic happens and I have to stop this novel and work on a different one.

If all else fails, I still have my thriller trilogy to work on, but that one would require a lot more work and I simply don’t have forever. I’m not getting any younger.

One thing I wish I could do is focus on more than on project at a time. That would really help things. But, alas, that just isn’t very applicable.

‘Annie Bot’ Is A Swift Kick In The Ass When It Comes To My Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

From first glance, it definitely seems as though “Annie Bot” is better written than anything I’ve producing. And just from the first few pages, I can see why it’s considered something of a feminist diatribe about sexbots.

And it definitely explores the identical concepts that I explore.

But I struggle to poo-poo my novel outright simply because someone, somewhere came up with a vaguely similar basic premise.

Yet, I will tell you that I’m probably going to study Annie Bot closely as I move forward with my novel to get a sense of how I can make my novel really stand out as being different and unique relative to it.