Tag: am querying

Well, *I* Think This Novel Is Getting Pretty Damn Good

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m in full swing editing and rewriting the first act of this novel as I prepare to get into the second act and things are going surprisingly well. Thinking about what I know about this novel in my mind, the big takeaway is it’s just not scary or twisted enough to be directly compared to, say, Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl” or Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl With Dragon Tattoo.”

But, even I, who have EXTREMELY HIGH expectations for any story, have to admit that this is shaping up to be, if nothing else, a really entertaining yarn. It’s the kind of story that will suck the reader in pretty fast just because they will want to see how I have a part-time sex-worker solve a murder mystery, if nothing else.

And, yet, I am so blasé and matter-of-fact about that element of the story, that I’d like to think it will be a unique twist to what people will compare it to — the “hooker with a heart of gold” and “sexxy, slutty assassin” tropes.

But there’s one thing I know — you just can’t win. If you take any risks, you are BOUND to somehow, someway offend a small, vocal minority of the audience who will be mad specifically because a smelly CIS white male dared to do anything other than stare at the ceiling and twiddle their thumbs.

So, I press forward.

I still need to work on a backup novel or two. But it’s tough. It’s really tough.

Modern Gender Politics & Pop Culture Are So Fucked Up

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

There is a small — but vocal — group of the reading audience that simply can not, will not, validate the idea that I, as a smelly CIS white male, would, at times, write from a female POV in this novel.


And it’s only going to get worse the moment they learn my heroine is a part-time stripper.

And, yet, fuck it, we’ll do it live.

I am so matter-of-fact about the sex worker side of things that I think, within the context of the novel, that it won’t be seen as too terribly gratuitous. It’s just there’s a lot –a LOT — I can do with the whole stripper side of things to make the story really interesting and enjoyable so, lulz, why not.

And Barry — which dealt with an equally surreal professional life — was a success. But that was a comedy, so, I suppose it’s not a one-to-one.

And I am well aware that someone might steal a creative march on me, given how long it’s taking me to write this damn thing. As such, I really need to start to work on some backup stories.

Squaring The Circle

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I had a bit of a conundrum on my hands today about how I was going to proceed with the development of the third draft of this novel. I finally figured out what to do — I’m going to start from the very beginning of the second act.

Maybe I’ll write a break out hit novel and it’ll be adapted by Hollywood.

I’m going to go through and read everything and fill in those scenes that I have to fill in. This way, I have some sense of where the act is beginning and don’t have to risk getting waded down in the first act. I won’t waste a month trying to make the first act “just right” before working on the second act.

Anyway, I’m pleased with the plan I’ve come up with. I have to not think too much about the convergence of AI and XR technology that may make all my hard work on this novel….quaint and moot.

I think I have a pretty good chance of at least being able to query this novel before America either turns into an autocracy or has a civil war / revolution.

If You Ain’t Got Haters, You Ain’t Poppin

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I usually make at least one person REALLY MAD randomly and by accident at least once a year. I’m overdue for someone to scream at me in a really personal way, as if they take personal offense to me being a listless daydreamer.

I assume whomever this person is, will be mad at me writing for years about a novel that I’m writing. That seems to be just the type of thing that some rando stranger who is paying attention to my life would get mad about.

And that doesn’t even begin to address what might happen if I magically somehow sell this novel I’m working on and I get even the barest amount of attention. There might be a LOT of people angry about my drunk ramblings. Or, maybe not.

Most of my drunk ramblings are center-Left in nature, so it’s probably going to be some drunk thing I did in Asia that ultimately destroys whatever success I might have because I wrote a novel that is as popular as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. (That’s a delusional dream at this point.)

And, yet, who knows.

Maybe, just maybe, it will all be a lulz and people will breeze past my colorful life in Asia.

I Have No Idea What I’m Doing With This Novel, Redux

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While things feel like they’re doing pretty well, I honestly have no idea what I’m doing with this novel. But I continue to press forward. I also continue to think about how I need to give my life some structure.

Maybe my novel will be adapted into a movie one day.

I’m very grateful for this peculiar situation I find myself in that affords me the ability to — essentially — be a professional aspiring novelist, even if I have to live in poverty to do it. Of course this particular situation won’t last forever and any number of things that could happen that will, if nothing else, dramatically change the context of what’s going on in my life.

And I continue to grow unnerved with political events that are totally out of my control. Way too many people believe that if only we can defeat Trump at the polls that magically that will be enough to end the threat of MAGA.

My heroine looks a lot like this woman in my mind.

The events of January 6th, tend to make me believe that Trump could very well demand a National Divorce, and as such, prompt a civil war even if we defeat him at the polls fair and square.

As all of these thoughts fill my mind, I also worry about the possibility that AI will make all my hard work…moot…just as I’m preparing to query in late 2024, early 2025. But there would be something poetic if, rather than querying my novel, I’m dodging bullets from MAGA fascists.

But, who knows. It could go a lot of different ways. And, as such, I need to buckle down and work hard. Or, at least, a lot harder than I am at the moment.

A Complete Reboot

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Now that I’m in the second act of the third draft of this novel, I realize that I have to totally rework both the second and third acts. Pretty much, I have to throw everything up in the air.

This is obviously going to slow me down, but I know the general story of this novel so well that I think I can still — maybe –hit my deadline of roughly the April — June timeframe.

I hope.

But this week I’m going to switch gears and focus a lot more on development than writing so that by the end of the week I — should — be ready to write again. I also hope to give me life a lot more structure so I can work on some secondary stories, reading and watching.

I really, really, need to stop being so fixated on producing media and start to think about consuming other people’s content — especially if I ever hope to figure out what novels to “comp” my novel to when I query (hopefully) in late 2024, early 2025.

About To Sprint Forward (Soon)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m just about to sprint forward with the “Fun & Games” part of this novel. I’ve been doing a lot of constructive daydreaming the last few days in an effort to figure out how to game the rest of the story out. It’s been really, really tough.

But I do think if I just let this process play out that I should get to writing full time again pretty soon. I was kind of sweating it there for a moment until I realized what the problem was. There really wasn’t so much a problem as I needed to go into aggressive daydreaming mode so once I left it, I could throw myself back into writing again.

As all of this is going on, of course, I realize I need to do a lot more reading and watching of TV — and develop other projects. I don’t want to be left holding the back if someone — God forbid — should somehow steal a march on me story wise and I have to fall back to some other project from scratch.

I don’t know when everything is going to sort itself out, but it should be pretty soon. That’s the plan, at least.

Well, When It Comes To This Novel I’m Assuming Nothing TOO Bad Will Happen In Late 2024, Early 2025 In America

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

So. If all goes according to plan, I’m going to start to query my novel in some capacity in late 2024, and MAYBE as late as early 2025. As such, I’m working on the assumption that the country will be stable enough for that to be a viable option.

So, I may write a lot about The End Times for the USA, but in a practical sense, I’m totally ignoring that possibility. I am doing this because, as I keep saying, all my “hysterical doom shit” is simply me trying to make my abstract fears concrete.

I just don’t know if The Fourth Turning is really going to happen. In fact, I generally don’t think it will. I do think that Trump is probably — at this point at least — win the 2024 election and 2025 could be mass chaos. And, yet, if enough smug Twitter liberals leave the country on their second passport…meh. Maybe that will mean people will be more interesting in read a novel that is part of a six novel project that is pretty much just one long screed against extremism (using subtext.)

Or not. Who knows. All I know is I’m pressing forward with this novel, even though there is definitely a part of me that is….concerned…about the next 18 months and beyond.

Revamping The ‘Fun & Games’ Portion of The Novel For The Third Draft

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It has occurred to me that I have changed so much of the first act of the novel that I have to change the rest of the novel to accommodate those changes. As such, I am trying to give each of the investigators in the story that have a POV a “beat” that they cover.

This really helps clear things up a great deal and keeps the novel focused on a structural basis. But doing so means I pretty much have to start the Fun & Games portion of the novel (the first half of the second act) from scratch. I have some general ideas from the Second Draft, but the Third Draft is going to be, in some respects, radically different just because of all the changes I’ve made in the first act.

But, in general, I’m really pleased with what I’ve come up with in the transition from Second to Third Draft. Yet I do think I’m going to kind of chill out for a day or so to think about the exact nature of the Fun & Games part of the novel. I need to make this story a lot more clear, focused and engaging if I have any chance of pitching it to a literary agent.

At least I see the problems that exist, instead of making a fool out of myself when I try to query.

Soon, I’ll Leave My Creative ‘Vacuum’ & Find Out If My Gut Instincts Are Right

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Since I first started writing a novel, I’ve pretty much been doing it all in a creative vacuum. All I’ve had is my gut and a well-used copy of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl Who Played With Fire as my guide.

The gold standard.

Living in a delusional state as I did this has helped me a great deal. But soon I’m going to find out what people with careers and money –specifically literary agents — think of all my writing. I really need to pay a manuscript consultant to read the novel once I have a final third draft done –but I’m very, very poor.

As such, I may just say screw it and submit that I have and see what happens. The story is getting a lot better and it will be interesting to see what severe existential mistakes I made because I haven’t had a wife or a girlfriend to be my Reader on this project.

But I have to summon up some courage. I have to accept that it will really be like winning the writing lottery to actually sell this novel, even if I otherwise stick the landing. That’s why I continue to dwell on back up stories to use should it become clear that this novel just isn’t going to sell anytime soon. A lot of selling a novel comes from luck and hitting the zeitgeist just right.

It would also definitely help if I was, I dunno, an undocumented transgender woman. But, I’m just me, a smelly CIS white male who can be something of a kook at times.

I really need to start using my time in a more structured way. I really need to accept that things might get a little bit…bumpy…once I actually start to query. And I really want to query my first novel as early as fall 2024. Hopefully the country won’t be descending into chaos just as I finally reach the point where I can query.