Category: From The Editor

The Big Meh (For The Moment)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Things are going quite well with this scifi dramedy novel I’m working on. I’m zooming through the outline for the second draft I’ve written at quite a nice clip. Today, however, I have also been a little moody.

I’ve got a fair amount of writing done, but I should do a lot more before the day’s over and I’m not so sure I want to. I just want to stare out into space and daydream.

And, yet, I also know that this…unique moment in my life is probably going to wrap up pretty soon and I need to squeeze every moment of writing out of it.

Ideally, I will finish the second draft of the novel no later than…maybe the end of the year? Being “AI First” is really speeding the process up because I often will ask the AI insecure questions that in the past would have led me to go on a creative wild goose chase that would have tired me out and wasted a lot of time.

If I do finish this novel’s second draft by the end of the year, that would put me in a position to query it sometime in the spring. I just want this thing to be good enough to query.

That’s all I want.

America Really Is A House Divided At The Moment

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The case could be made that, in hindsight, it will look inevitable that the USA collapsed into chaos directly because of the actions of malignant ding-dong Trump.

But it hasn’t happened yet, so there’s that.

Having said that, just from eyeballing my Tik-Tok feed, it continues to be clear that the cultural and political forces tearing the nation apart show no signs of abating.

On one hand, we have Chappell Roan going into graphic detail about lesbian sex in her longs and on the other, we have grown men carrying around huge crosses at the Charlie Kirk funeral. What the fuck?

There just seems to be some pretty big structural problems within the USA that are just growing deeper and more complicated. I can’t help but think of the photos you see every once in a while of Iranian women in mini-skirts just months before the revolution changed everything.

I fear something like that will happen in the US, if in a more localized way. Like, if there was a big reaction on the part of Blues when Trump fucks with the 2026 Federal election, the Red parts of the country might have some sort of fucked-up counter revolution.

Ugh.

I have written AT GREAT FUCKING LENGTH since the advent of this blog about my personal fears about a civil war or revolution and, to date, nada. So, if anything, that should temper my fears some. I clearly can’t predict the future, so, lulz?

Augustus Trump

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Say what you will about malignant ding-dong Trump, there is definitely going to be a “before” and “after” America when it comes to him. There are, of course, still a few lingering issues that I can’t game out.

The one that is zooming towards us is what will Blues do when Trump does something like declare a state of emergency so he can fuck with Federal elections. While I have a hunch he’s probably going to leave state and local elections largely enough, he’s totally going to everything his power to ensure there are not free and fair Federal elections.

There is something of a spectrum on the matter, I guess.

On one end of the spectrum, Trump fucks with elections and…nothing happens. There are protests, but no general direct action. Nothing that really catches the attention of the regime. We just grow accustomed to the idea that our votes won’t correctly be tallied and that will be that.

We will become a zombie democracy like Hungary and then the real issue is how far will MAGA tyranny go. Will we become, eventually, something akin to Russia or not? Will ICE inevitable mission creep into an SS-like organization take place and the next thing you know nobodies like me are rounded up for telling Trump to fuck off on blogs like this, or not?

That’s one end of things.

One the OTHER end of things is something akin to a civil war / revolution on the part of Blues. I just don’t see Blues wanting to leave the Union in some sort of National Divorce. I do, however, see the potential for rolling, massive uprisings, probably lead by the political leadership of California.

That is kind of scary and I don’t want that because even though I consider myself a “survivor,” I sure don’t like the idea of having to dodge bombs and bullets. I suppose, if things get bad enough, I won’t feel safe where I live and I’ll have to head north or something.

I really, really don’t want to have to do that.

But it will be interesting to see how much sand the MAGA Right can kick into the eyes of Blues before there is some sort of reaction.

Things Continue To Go Well With This Scifi Dramedy

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m breezing through the first act of the second draft of this scifi dramedy I’ve been working on. It continues to breathe some. The detail of scenes get changed and moved around a little bit.

But, in general, things are moving at a nice little clip.

I continue to worry that my life is going to collapse and either I’ll have to pause writing or the context all of this effort will be so different as to make me not nearly as happy with it as I am now.

And I know I’m not getting any younger. Because of how post-production works, even if I sell this dang thing, I could be in my late 50s before it actually hits bookstores. And that doesn’t even begin to address how the fucking Singularity might happen between now and then, making all of this very, very moot.

Anyway.

The biggest problem I have now is I’m just moody. I often find myself wanting to write, but not really feeling it. But, then, to make up for it, I will have the spurts of writing where I get a lot of scenes done in one big burst of energy.

How Could We Have Possibly Known Our Democracy Was So Fragile

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Jesus Christ. We continue to careen towards full blow autocracy and because of the MAGA death cult it’s a lulz. I continue to note that what people are oblivious to is that MAGA is actually pretty popular, all things considered.

It’s by no means the majority, but at about 37%, it’s enough to have a strangle hold on our politics now, and for the foreseeable future.

I continue t hope that maybe, just maybe Blues will get tired of getting political dirt kicked in their face and might actually begin to fight back in some meaningful way. I used to think that if Trump really fucked with Federal elections that that might be enough to stir the passions of Blues.

But, now, I don’t know.

I just don’t know. It could be that we’ll finally lurch into tyranny in such a way that it will be too late for anyone — especially the Blues — to do anything about it. I say this because Trump and his goons are really fucking with freedom of speech right now and…nada.

Blues are in a huff, but there are no calls for a General Strike or any other sort of national direct action. So, this could be it. This could really be it.

I could wake up one day and get thrown into the back of a truck with a hood on and wake up in a camp because I called Trump a cocksucker on this blog.

I Stand With Jimmy Kimmel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

We live in fundamentally dumb times. I finally saw what Jimmy Kimmel actually said…and…? Nothing he said was offensive enough to get him taken off TV, which leads me to believe it was just His Time to be removed from the airwaves at the hand of the fucking autocrat.

What’s worse is, MAGA is really, really hysterical over the relatively anodyne comments that Kimmel made. You would think he pulled out a gun and threatened the audience or something.

Anyway, it’s all just very sad.

And it’s only going to get much, much worse. My only hope is I somehow manage to sell a novel and can get the fuck out of this sinking ship of a country before I get rounded up by ICE and shot to death in a ditch in some camp.

Because you know that’s where this is headed — kooky people are next. They’re going to murder all the Trans people then come after kooks like me. MAGA will lie and say we need to be in a camp “for our own good” or some such.

I am generally a survivor, though. So, I hope, somehow, I can I can extricate my self from this horrible situation before it’s too late.

Trans Rights Is Such A Political Clusterfuck

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Two things can be true at the same time. The “woke cancel culture mob” HAS been a little bit too touchy about certain elements of the Trans movement — especially the whole “protect trans kids” AND Trump is demagoguing the whole thing because the base demands it.

The MAGA base has a surreal fixation on Trans people to an absurd degree. Some of this comes, I think, from how they know the whole thing (especially the nearly-non existant “Trans kids”) is kind of the political clit of the woke Left.

Now, some context.

Just in the last few days it’s hit home that I have a vested interest in assuring Trans peoples some level of dignity — the moment MAGA rounds up Trans people and puts them in camps, guess who’s next: ME. And people like me.

So, as a member of the kook community, I really am growing nervous about my fate as it is grow more and more clear how dire things are growing for Trans people. I just don’t see how this doesn’t end with Trans people in camps. Maybe it will be the Trans issue that causes the inevitable mission creep for ICE.

Cause, you know that’s going to happen. Form follows function and soon enough ICE is going to become an American SS. They will start to round up any one considered either “an enemy of the state” or unworthy of life.

Now there is something else to consider. As it stands, the USA is in something of a political luminal space. We’re an “anocracy” to be exact. There is going to come a point when we go full-blown autocracy and then, well, all bets are off. The USA in 2025 is not Germany in 1933.

We’re far more diverse, decentralized and have a far stronger traditional of being a liberal democracy.

So, if we go full autocracy, there is going to — finally — be some sort of reaction on the part of Blues. And that’s when things will get messy. Very messy.

And, tragically, many, many people may die for no damn reason other than MAGA bigots are paranoid about the browning of America and a small sliver of the population that is Trans.

Ugh.

The Real Dangerous Element Of The Jimmy Kimmel Imbroglio

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

“You do it to yourself,” the old Radiohead lyric goes and that’s what’s going on with the United States. While, yes, the FCC did pressure Disney into getting rid of Jimmy Kimmel for the time being, it happened in conjunction with something far more insidious.

It was really the ABC affiliates balking continuing to air Kimmel that did him in, over and above the clear threat from the FCC.

As such, it is clear that the United States continues to be a house divided. The two sides continue to rush away from each other at an alarming rate. There is literally a solid 37% of the electorate or so that really, honestly wants my worst nightmare to happen.

They want a white Christian autocratic state and they’ve wanted it since Trump ran in 2016. So, lulz? It definitely seems as though we’re going to slide into autocratic rule for no other reason than Blues simply can not, will not get their act together.

I mean, if we had a proper opposition, there would be calls for a general strike. Or Blues would make life hell for Republicans in Congress to the best of their ability.

But, no. This is it. We’re on cruise control and we’re just going to drift into an autocratic state without even so much as a whimper.

Things Remain Politically Hot

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It’s an example of how we’re living in a “sick, sad world” that one of America’s most cherished ideals — that we’re a free country with freedom of speech — is being consumed by a the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk.

Charlie Kirk

And, yet, it’s not like this happened out of nowhere. The conditions have long been there — at least since the end of the second Obama administration, so, lulz?

The key thing to remember is this is just the beginning of a very dark time in our nation’s history. It’s only going to get worse. A lot worse.

The question for me now is what the endgame is. How bad do things have to get before there is any meaningful reaction against it all by Blues? As it stands, the crazed death-cult surrounding the MAGA martyr Charlie Kirk seems hell bent on consuming any and everything in its path.

At the moment, it seems like we’re going to wake up in a few years and the United States will have gone full Russia. We’re well on our way to that path, at least.

I just don’t know. What happened to Charlie Kirk was a tragedy, but maybe if we just cooled it a little bit we will still have a nation where we have democratic politics instead of tyranny.

Being An ‘AI First’ Writer Is Really Speeding The Novel Along

As I keep saying, I’m doing everything in my power not to let AI do the actual narrative writing — especially now that I’m deep into the second draft. That part has to come from me. But I am leaning on AI for development work and fleshing out scene summaries, and it’s been surprisingly helpful.

Sometimes it shows me angles I hadn’t considered, and more than once I’ve had a genuine “ah-ha!” moment thanks to its perspective. Still, the writing itself — the sentences, the voice, the rhythm — that’s all mine. If this draft falls flat, that’s on me. If it sings, that’s because of my own ability, not because a machine wrote it for me.

That said, the process is moving quickly. I’m burning through the outline faster than I expected, and maybe — just maybe — this second draft will come together sooner rather than later. Or maybe not. I’m giving myself some slack, because querying is still probably a year out. But I also feel the clock ticking. I need to wrap this up. I’m not getting any younger.