It definitely seems as though we’re just one severe recession away from a massive disruption in not just the knowledge economy because of AI, but the broader economy as well. Throw in advancements in robotics and, lulz.
As such, it also seems possible that we may see MAGA evolve into something akin to an anti-technology neo-Luddite movement that demands strict regulation of AI and maybe human carveouts as well.
But our political system is so broken that, lulz, who knows what will happen. It could be that we won’t even be able to cobble together the political will to establish a UBI, even when only legacy plutocrats have enough money to eat.
I’m struggling to read a scifi novel. It’s just bad. As such, I find myself yet again thinking about writing some sort of scifi novel as a “second track” to the main mystery-thriller.
(L to R, foreground) DANIEL CRAIG as a stranger with no memory of his past and director/executive producer JON FAVREAU on the set of an event film for summer 2011 that crosses the classic Western with the alien-invasion movie in a blazingly original way: “Cowboys & Aliens”.
I have a really interesting scifi-Western story I’m tooling around in my mind. It’s one of my better ideas for two reasons — I can research how to write a Western really easily AND the already have this particular universe really well gamed out.
In fact, the only way I can think of to give this universe a plot is to make it a Western. I just find a standard Western plot that I like then tinker flesh it out in the context of the scifi concept I have thought through.
But, as always, what is probably going to happen is what always happens — I will make a lot of noise about a second creative track then I’ll just redouble my efforts on the main event.
I think we’re one (severe) recession — or less — away from Hollywood being reduced to two types of people plutocrats and programmers. And, given how fast LLMs are approaching the ability to wrote code — Hollywood may just be plutocrats who license their content to LLM companies.
It could all happen a lot sooner than any of us want to think about. It could be by the end of the decade that we just don’t really have a “human” Hollywood anymore, to the point that the far Left and the far Right will come together in some new anti-tech MAGA movement that demands legal carveouts for human workers in entertainment.
Or not. What do I know. But I, in general, the trends do seem to indicate that Something Big is going to happen with “human Hollywood” in the near, near future.
Tomorrow, the day after my birthday, is kind of my January 1st. I have vowed to myself that this will mark a new era in my life where not only do I lay of drinking so much, but I also really buckle down with the novel.
I’m watching House of Cards a decade after everyone else.
I have something of an idyllic situation on my hands when it comes to developing and writing a novel and it could change literally at any moment. Then I’m going to look back at this moment in my life and be smarting that I didn’t take more advantage of it when I had the opportunity.
And, yet, having said all that, I know, just know, that once I transition from the delusional la-la land of developing and writing a novel into the cold, hard reality of querying that I have to prepare myself for A LOT of disappointment. I’m already preparing myself to piviot to a few scifi concepts while I query.
The biggest problem I can sense about this novel is it’s just not dark enough. Not enough fucked up, twisted things happen. But, having said that, I have come up with more than one reason for people to keep reading during the really long first act — there’s intrigue and lots of sex — some of it kinky, if consensual.
My heroine has a sleeve tattoo similar to this one on Megan Fox, even though I thought of the idea before I saw this.
I like the idea of talking about kinkier sex in a mater-of-fact, consensual way, even though it’s easy for it to be all rather funny. But, I can’t help myself. That’s just my nature — to be kind of droll instead of dark, twisted and scary.
The thing about late 2024, early 2025, is *the conditions* are there for a massive clusterfuck. But, it could be, that we just muddle through like we usually do. That’s the outcome I want.
I worry about an Election of 1872-type situation in 2024.
If we managed to punt our problems down the road another four years, that would be great.
I’m worried. I’m really worried.
I’m worried for a number of reasons. One is President Biden’s age. Another is the instability caused by the bonkers “Free Palestine” people. Another is Trump’s age. The list goes on.
I keep thinking about what happened during the election of 1872 and what we would do if something similar happened today. It’s a formula for a “Not great, Bob” situation.
But who knows. It could be that I’ve really worried a great deal for no reason. Yet if Trump wins in 2024, all bets are off. Just the idea of Trump attempting to deport 20 million people sends shivers down my spine and keeps me awake at night.
And, yet, here we are, with Trump preparing to do that very thing the moment he can. I don’t know what to tell you.
Well, things are going really well with this novel but for one thing — the first half (the first act and the first half of the second act) is going to be way too fucking long (at least in scene count.)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was too long for a first novel, too.
But I have a viable explanation for why this is and it all leads up to a really good pay off. And, it’s at least possible that I could split the thing into two if the story is just too long. It might require an editor to figure out how exactly I would do that, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that that could be done.
There are PLENTY of VALID reasons for tech people to be angry with the output of Google’s Gemini. But, sometimes, they think up the most asinine things just to prove a point — they want the right to be hateful for no damn reason.
Why is it so important to tech people to have the ability to say the n-word to save the world or to be able to generate an endless amount of Nazi propaganda? It’s very, very annoying.
And, what’s more, it will all be moot when AI is so commoditized and personalized that if you want your chatbot to say the n-word to save the world, it will. You may not be able to share all your hateful vitriol, but, lulz, you’ll at least get to be a hateful asshole to yourself.
Watching “House of Cards” about a decade after everyone else has really opened my eyes to how piss-poor the villains of my novel are. I know what’s happening — my writing and storytelling ability is really getting a lot better so some things I didn’t really think about at first are coming to the forefront of my mind.
House of Cards
The villains of Stieg Larsson’s novels are horrific, while mine are just…there. There’s nothing really scary or notable about them. This is all happening so late in the process, of course, that I have only a limited amount of time to improve their characterization.
But I’ve at least realized it now, rather than when I try to pitch the novel.
I really need to dig deep — fast — and think up ways to make my various villains memorable and hateful. This is going to be really difficult because my usual way — which is to drift towards my goal and daydream until I come up with a solution — just isn’t going to cut it.
If I use that method, it could be next year before I nail down everything and I just don’t have time. Around July 22 – 23 is my deadline and that’s what I have to work with. If I don’t get where I need to be by that point, I’m really afraid that the window of opportunity I have to sell this novel will close and we’ll all be consuming AI generated entertainment, or the fucking Fourth Turning will happen — you name it.
One thing that ding-dong Trump has been strangely quiet about is the rise of AI. It definitely seems as though if MAGA freaks out about all their high paying blue collar jobs going poof because of AI and androids that the movement may drift into something akin to an anti-technology neo-luddite movement.
AI has problems, sometimes.
There are signs that AI is about to take over the world in the sense that we’re one severe — and maybe not so severe — recession away from millions of jobs being disrupted an eliminated because of some combination of AI and robot technology.
It’s all potentially very dystopian and could happen really, really fast. In fact, the only thing that might slow things down is just regular old inertia. It just takes time for major changes to happen, no matter how quickly they COULD happen.
But I do think we’re one severe recession away from millions of jobs being replaced with some combination of AI and robotics. That is the fundimental nature of capitalism — to screw people over.
I try to do what is right, I really do. And when it comes to developing and writing a novel, there are all the unexpected landmines floating around that you have to avoid.
Lisbeth Salander is the type of name that is so great I wish I could think of something as strong.
One is the subject of names.
In general, I feel pretty safe with all of my character names. And YET it is inevitable that somehow, someway along the process there might be a hitch. There is one character — a huge character in the project six book series, in fact — who has a surname that MIGHT be a problem.
But I’m really, really being paranoid, all things considered.
And I’m not attached to that specific name. If I have to, I have a few backup names I’m willing to switch to. I’m very pragmatic about such things, I just want to be a published author and if it requires a significant rethinking of some element of the six novel project to become one, so be it.
In general, things are going pretty well with this first novel. I’m rather pleased. I just have to press forward. I can’t keep just driving towards my goal. I have to give my life focus and structure if I’m going to wrap this thing up by no later than around July 22th.
You must be logged in to post a comment.