Tag: Replicants

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.

Update On My Scifi Dramedy WIP Novel For March 18th, 2026

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Well, I’ve finished A Draft of this scifi dramedy novel I’ve been working on. And now, I don’t quite know what to do.

I guess what I will do is go through and read the entire draft to get some sense of what happens next. I worry there are some structural issues that would cause me to have to do plot “open heart surgery” on the novel, but I just don’t know.

Maybe that won’t happen.

What you’re SUPPOSED to do at this point is take a month-long break and then start work on the next draft. But this draft is unique because it’s really a mixture of vomit draft and second draft.

As such, I think, as I mentioned, I’m going to go through and read the entire novel updating the outline as I do.

Now, one issue is the time frame for when I am going to query the final production of this novel. I still think it’s going to be Sept 1st for various post-production reasons.

Anyway, I am, in general pleased with where things stand. I just can’t continue to drift towards my goal. I need to buckle down and get things done with this thing. As I keep saying, I continue to worry that my kooky nature will — and age — will prevent me from selling this novel, no matter how good it may be.

Just About In The Next Stage Of My Scifi Dramedy WIP

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have a few more scenes to write with this scifi dramedy I’m working on before I take things to the next level: reading it all the way through.

Once THAT is done, then I will get more into the nitty-gritty of “color correction” so there is some consistency of tone to it all.

I’m hoping to do something different than previous times I’ve gotten to this point when things seemed to fall apart for various reasons. I really need to keep this draft to myself as long as possible before giving it to anyone to read.

It definitely looks as though I’m on track to start querying no later than Sept 1st. I might actually wrap things up a few months before then — maybe — but as I understand it, there are two “seasons” for querying: spring and fall. So, once everyone is done with their summer vacations, I suppose I can start to query.

Now, obviously, I have to prepare myself for a catastrophic disaster, failure. In the sense that any number of things could go wrong, from be being simply too old, to me being to big of a kook, to the novel just sucking no matter what to…the list goes on.

But at least I will have tried. At least I will have experience something interesting and cool.

One thing I will need to do is start work on a new novel while I query. And, yet, I also know I’m getting up their in age and while it will be a distraction to write a new novel, I have to accept that if I don’t sell this first novel that the next novel is probably just for fun no matter what.

I just will be too fucking old to be a first-time traditionally published author.

Update On My Scifi Dramedy WIP For March 15th, 2026

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The movie that is the closest “comp” to my novel is the horror-thriller movie Companion. But I continue to be intrigued about how there hasn’t been a direct competitor to my novel that deals with the practical elements of actual romance with an android.

Everyone is so busy thinking of the absolute worst case scenario that no one — but me so far — has wondered about a more nuanced romantic scenario.

Anyway, I continue to edge closer and closer to wrapping this draft of the novel up. I’m, at the moment at least, breezing through the third act. Then, I’m going to take a deep, deep breath and do “open heart surgery” on some of the structure of the novel. And THEN, I’m going to going to “color correct” the novel’s content on a more nuance basis.

I still am weighing leaning into having AI being my editor and having it “gently” the novel to give it some consistency as well as query-level content. My only fear, of course, is because everyone is hateful that they will just roll their eyes and say “AI wrote the novel,” when that will not be the case at all.

Anyway. I’m growing more and more uneasy about what happens when I get to the querying process. I’m really nervous about due diligence on the part of mostly liberal white women who make up literary agents (in my imagination.) I’m a kook and always have been and I’m afraid they will “cancel” me even before given me any sort of chance with the novel.

I have three books about querying I should be reading, but just can’t bring myself to do it. But there will come a point when I absolutely have to.

A WIP Update

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Things are going pretty well with the scifi dramedy novel I’m working on. Even though at least one of the AIs I’m using balks at the term “dramedy” for the novel. But that is the general goal of the work — I want it to be very much in the same vein as “Her.” Though, admittedly, the Megan Fox vehicle “Subservience” is, in a way, a better comp movie. But my novel is more like if Subservience met The Enteral Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (in my dreams.)

I’m currently in the third act and hope to wrap up this draft in a few weeks if I can stop drifting towards my goal and get my ass in gear. I have something pretty special in play here and it’s just a matter of doing it.

Once I get this draft of the novel finished, I’m going to take a VERY DEEP BREATH and do some structural open heart surgery on it. It’s going to be a serious fucking pain, but it has to be done.

I keep getting nagged by the AIs that I use that my hero is too “passive.” And there are some other issues that simply have to be addressed.

I am a bit annoyed that in the second half of this draft my scenes just are too short. That, too, is going to be something I’m going to really give a lot of thought to. Your scenes are supposed to be, in general, on average 1,000 words.

Though, I will note, that that’s just a rule of thumb. I feel a little uneasy that my scenes in general seem shorter than what they should be. But I think my style on a structural basis is closer to Stieg Larsson than anything else.

Anyway, today I hope to knock out a few scenes and wrap up an complete chapter. That’s the goal, at least. I keep worrying about what literary agents will think of me as a person when they do due diligence on me.

Are they going to think I’m too nuts to take on as a client? I really worry about that. I’m the first to admit that I have some pretty gaping character flaws, but, in general, I mean well.

Or, as the late Annie Shapiro would say, I’m a “delusional jerk with a good heart.”

This novel is very cinematic, if nothing else. Too bad I would be nearly 60 if the absolute best happened and I sold this novel, it became a success and then was adapted into a movie.

That fact continues to give me something to mull.

Things Have Stabilized With This Scifi Dramedy Novel I’m Working On, I Think

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m just about to get to the end of the second act with this scifi dramedy I’m working on. It’s been a tough few scenes, though, to write. I just was beginning to feel as if the characters just weren’t very likeable.

And it didn’t help that the AIs I’ve been using to map this novel out really wanted to lean into the very elements of unlikability that I was trying to avoid.

So, I definitely had a little bit of a crisis of faith for a few days there. But I think — think — I’ve finally sorted things out enough that I can start to move faster, especially once I get into the third act.

I think once get fully into the third act, things should move a lot faster. Though, the last time I went through the third act I kind of cheated some just to stress test the outline. As such, there are some scenes that are barely written.

This go round, however, I’m going to force myself to write fully developed scenes.

And THEN, I am going to “color correct” the scenes of the next draft. That is going to take some time. Probably as much as a few months.

Which would keep me on track to begin querying this novel around Sept 1st.

A LOT of chaos is probably going to erupt in my life between now and then, but, if nothing else, just the idea of being able to query gives me some hope.

‘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.

Why My Upcoming Sci-Fi Dramedy is the Chaotic Antidote to Annie Bot

Editor’s Note: The usual AI slop, this time with the help of Gemini.

Every writer knows the specific, stomach-dropping terror of seeing a newly published book that shares a premise with the manuscript they are currently writing. When Sierra Greer’s Annie Bot hit the shelves—a novel about a human man and his newly sentient, synthetic girlfriend—I definitely had a moment of panic.

But after taking a breath and reading it, the panic completely evaporated. While Annie Bot and my upcoming novel share a starting spark, the fires they start are entirely different.

If you just finished Annie Bot and are looking for your next AI-centric read, here is why my novel is going to scratch a completely different itch:

The Tragedy of the Penthouse vs. The Comedy of the Gutter

Annie Bot is a brilliant, claustrophobic literary chamber piece. It operates as a heavy allegory for domestic abuse and coercive control. The human protagonist is a wealthy, calculating narcissist who uses his power to keep his AI partner subservient and locked away from the world. The horror comes from his deliberate cruelty.

My novel is not a domestic tragedy; it is a dark sci-fi dramedy. My protagonist isn’t a calculating billionaire playing god in a penthouse. He is a broke, morally conflicted guy who is entirely out of his depth. The tension in my book doesn’t come from a man trying to maliciously control a machine; it comes from a deeply flawed human realizing he is financially and bureaucratically trapped by a massive, dystopian corporate system he can’t fight. It’s the difference between a psychological thriller and a Coen Brothers movie set in a cyberpunk tomorrow.

Submissive Discovery vs. Weaponized Logic

The heart of Annie Bot is Annie’s slow, agonizing realization that she is a victim who deserves autonomy. She is designed to be compliant, and her journey is about quietly learning to rebel against her programming.

In my novel, the synthetic partner doesn’t need a slow-burn realization to figure out she’s getting a raw deal. When the illusion of her programming shatters, she immediately does the math. Instead of submissive discovery, she weaponizes cold, terrifying AI logic to brutally dissect her human partner’s flaws. She isn’t a passive victim learning her worth; she is an active, dangerous, and highly calculating co-conspirator.

The Micro vs. The Macro

Annie Bot delves deeply into the micro. It asks profound questions about intimacy, consent, and what it means to be “real” behind closed doors.

My novel takes those same questions and throws them out into the neon-lit streets. It asks what happens when that messy, toxic relationship collides with a sprawling corporate conspiracy, hardware modders, and a city-wide panic.

The Bottom Line

Annie Bot will break your heart and leave you staring quietly at the ceiling. My novel will drag you through the gritty, absurd reality of a synthetic future and make you laugh at the dark chaos of it all. There is plenty of room on the shelf for both.

Post-Production Issues When It Comes To This Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I am well on my way to wrapping up some version of this novel just about when I wanted to — around April – May 2026.

But there are a lot — A LOT — of post-production issues that I am going to deal with. One of them is I really need to “color correct” my copy so it’s not a mish-mash of AI slop and my own writing. I need to go in and make as much of it as possible my own writing so people won’t just roll their eyes and call the whole thing “AI slop.”

It’s going to take a while to do that.

And THEN, I have to figure out what I’m going to do about beta readers. So, probably I suspect it could be Sept 1st before I actually begin to query. I hate shit like this.

But, I have to admit, this is the farthest I’ve ever gotten in the process. I actually have a novel that I feel is query-level good.

Finally Figured Out A Thorny Plot Issue With This Scifi Dramedy I’m Working On

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

For the last few weeks, I’ve really have been struggling with a short sequence in the outline of the novel I’m working on. Over and over again, I just could not figure out how to choreograph the information I wanted to convey.

But, finally, after way too much time, I may have finally, finally figured out what I want to say and how I’m going to say it.

I hope — hope! — that once I’m pass this specific little issue that things will start to move faster and I can wrap up this draft of the novel a pretty nice little clip. But who knows. I have another little part of the outline coming up that I feel needs to be expanded, so things might take longer than I hope.

And, as all of this is going on, I’ve finally figured out how to tell the Impossible Scenario as a novel. (I think.) (Maybe.) I’ve come up with an unusual way to do it, but it’s the only way I can think of.

I worry that the structure may be better suited for a short story, but whenever I try to write a short story, I inevitably endup fleshing out a novel. Sigh.