Tag: Emrata

Deep Breath

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Ok, I have to admit that there is an element of sex work in this scifi dramedy novel I’m working on. Figuring out exactly where to introduce it and put it has been the toughest structural part of working on this novel.

These days, I’m imagining my female romantic lead of this scifi dramedy looking like Rachel Sennott.

The key thing was that I initially introduced it too soon it — stripping — too soon and it kind of was a downer, specifically how I introduced it.

But gradually, with a lot of help from AI as my manuscript consultant, I finally figured out the best way to approach things. I’m punting the spicy stuff until the second half of the novel, specifically the “bad guys closing in” part of the novel — the second half of the second act.

I’ve pretty much nailed down the first half of the novel, but the second half continues to be very much in flux for various reasons.

Now, in the past when I had stripping as part of the plot of a novel — specifically the Stieg Larsson homage I worked on for years and years — I couldn’t even get an actual human literary consultant to look at it. The moment they realized what I was doing with the novel, they pretty much told me it was trash and why was I even doing it to begin with.

But this go round, I’m hoping that at least, should I figure out where to find the money, that I can get them to at least read the first few chapters. Maybe?

I have my doubts. Literary types just refuse to take me seriously because they think I’m a drunk kook. And I will admit that at times in the past I have resembled that remark. But I’ve sobered up a great deal. The kookiness, however, remains and I just can’t help who I am.

I’m Definitely Putting My Creative Stick Where The Puck Will Be

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The premise of this novel is zooming towards becoming a reality at a far faster clip than I might have otherwise imagined. So much so, that I have to prepare myself for a movie of some sort to come out — probably just about when I’m about to query in spring 2026 — that steals a creative march on me.

I say this because the idea for this novel is now, officially, in the zeitgeist. It’s like I predicted the conditions that this novel is based on so well that reality literally is catching up.

A lot of screenwriters are going to think the same thing at the same time — probably starting right about now — and the race will be on to write the first scifi dramedy based on all these androids that are now being built and produced.

But despite the risks, I’ve vowed to myself to keep working on this novel until someone comes out with a novel or screenplay that is so close to what I’ve come up with that I absolutely can no longer, in good faith, continue to work on it.

Though I will admit, I definitely feel some heat to actually get this novel done sooner rather than later. I definitely think spring 2026 is the sweetspot for trying to get this novel queried.

Emrata Is A Generational Beauty

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Holy shit is Emrata gorgeous. She proved it yet again at the recent Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

Emrata

She’s is just stunning. And one thing I like about her is when you look into her eyes she doesn’t seem like a moron. There’s actually something going on behind them.

Anyway, as it stands, the female romantic lead of the scifi dramedy I’m working on is kind of a mixture of Emrata and Emma Chamberlain. That kind of blunts the “eww that’s weird” element of my sort of fixating enough on Emrata to build a novel around her.

I hope.

Things continue to go well with the novel, though. Wish me luck.

Collapse & Rebirth

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Welp, the Emrata-inspired part of the novel is no more, or, at least, its context is going to be dramatically different. The whole novel collapsed once I started working on the “fun and games” part of the beta draft.

My hero was was, way, way, too passive. He did not move the plot forward in his actions and there came a point when I realized the whole plot was collapsing in on itself. I just did not believe in what I was writing anymore.

So. Back to the drawing board. I have started an entirely new outline. I’m really leaning into the astonishing creative writing abilities of Claude LLM to help me develop this new version, to the point that I’m seriously thinking of subscribing to it. I don’t know if I’m prepared to pay $20 a month for ANOTHER LLM, but it’s so good at what I need it to do, that I’m tempted

Very tempted.

I’m just barely making ends meet at this moment and I don’t know if I’m prepared to incur yet another monthly bill. I think if I can get off my ass and cancel some of the streaming services that I never, ever use that I can better afford Claude. But, I don’t know, I’m not QUITE there yet.

But I’m drifting in that direction.

I still really enjoy using Gemini 2.5 pro, it just glazes me too much and while it’s really good at conversational stuff, it is somewhat lacking in creative writing.

Anyway. I’ve been down in the dumps the last few days since this plot collapse took place because it’s like, “Fuck. Not again.”

I’m running out of time. And, yet, I do have AI to help me, so will hopefully speed the process up some.

Ugh. A New Worry About This Scifi Dramedy Novel I’m Working On

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I can be really insecure about my writing at times. And today is no difference. I am worried that me basing my novel, essentially, on how beautiful Emily Ratajkowski is will come across as…uhh….creepy?

Emrata

And, yet, it’s not fan fiction. I don’t use her literal name. Think of her as more of…a muse.

So, I think I just have to prepare myself for that possibly, while staying true to myself. I think it should be fine, but I guess I had to kind of get that particular fear out of my system.

The State Of This Scifi Dramedy Novel I’m Working On For October 5th, 2025

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m coming up on the 20th anniversary of a confounding, astonishing moment in my life. The brief period between July 06 and February 07 was simply the craziest, most interesting time in my life to date.

The female romatic lead of the scifi dramedy I’m working on looks like Emrata in my mind as I write things out.

With that in mind, I’m hoping that I can wrap up this scifi dramedy novel I’m working on and query it no later than the fall of 2026.

But. I was using Claude to help me with development recently and it said some shit that really gave me pause for thought. It made it clear it thought my protagonist was too passive. Also, it did not like that my “fun and games” portion of my story was a little too dark and tense, as if it was more the second half of the second act, not the first.

And THEN, later, it also proposed that I totally restructure the story altogether.

Once I gave it some pushback, however, it seriously backtracked from its criticism and kind of threw up its arms and said, “Whatever. Let’s get to work.”

But the experience has left me with lingering self-doubt and insecurity. And, yet, I’ve kind of gone too far down the path of doing things the way I have set up. It could take me months to reconfigure the novel to meet Claude’s demands.

So. I’m just going to wing it, keep going the way I am and hope that I can make my hero as proactive in the context of what I’ve already established. I’m also going to keep going and hope for the best.

Emrata, Call Your Agent. (Eventually. Maybe.)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

In a move that I *hope* Emily Ratajkowski won’t think is creepy, I’m using her as my muse and pretty much basing the female romantic lead of this novel on her. She’s long been a celebrity crush of my mine and as I was developing this novel, I realized I knew enough about her details of her life that I could scramble things around a little bit and use her as the basis of my female romantic lead.

Emrata

After a bit of spinning in place the last few days, things are again beginning to move forward at a nice little clip.

My dream is that this novel will evoke the same vibe as The Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind meets, say, Ex Machina with a dabble of Annie Hall. I hope. That’s the dream.

I still seem to be on course to wrapping this baby up by the end of the year. Maybe. It’s possible. Not probable. If I do, however, then I can use the first part of 2026 to sort of sort things out with beta readers and such.

As I’ve said before, if I was 25 years younger, I would be in LA right now, writing this thing as a screenplay. I love movies and as an adult, I’ve found that watching movies has inspired me more than any novels I’ve read.

I kind of hate that about myself. I used to read fiction like crazy when I was a kid, but something happened once I got older. And I know they say if you have time to write you have time to read.

It’s just…a real struggle.

But, if I was to compare the vibe of this novel, it would be with The Martian or Project Hail Mary. Those are two really influential novels for me.

Apparently, Emrata Thinks Men Are Dogs

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It took me a while, but I finally figured out why Emrata has taken a few pictures of herself with a her dog — she’s making a social comment about the men she’s dated.

I think. I hope.

A Bit Of A Chuckle

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

So. I finally — I think — have settled on, at last, a new novel idea. It deals with some pretty big themes in AI. One amusing things is one of the characters is inspired by Emily Ratajkowski.

Emrata

Now, this is amusing on a number of different levels because since I consider “Emrata,” as she calls herself, the best looking public woman in the world, and so there is a level of wish fulfillment going on. Even more amusing, Emrata is best buds with Lena Dunham, who I have a distinct distaste for.

Anyway, the point is, because I’m a dreamer, I find myself musing on the novel not only being sold (an iffy proposition) but maybe one day being successful enough that it might adapted into a movie. Just the idea that Emrata might “play herself” (in essence) in any movie adaptation of the novel definitely puts a spring in my step.

But I’m also very well aware that all of that is something of a phantasm — it’s just not going to happen (all things considered.)

And, yet, it’s always nice to have hope. And as such, I find this very unlikely possibility amusing enough that it helps keeps me going to actually finish the novel.

It’s take me some effort to figure out how exactly to use AI in development of the novel and I think I’ve figured it out — I’m just not going to use AI at all for the second draft of the novel.

This works well because I can zip through the first draft and then hunker down and write the second draft a lot more slowly to make sure it doesn’t seem, well, robotic like.

So, in a sense, I think this just means I’m an “AI first” writer, while still not, like having AI write the entire thing.

For now, Emrata doesn’t need to call her agent or anything, but…maybe? Down the road?

I Don’t Know What To Make Of Emrata

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

On a personal basis, I really want to like Emily Ratajkowski, or Emrata. I continue to believe she’s the best looking public woman in the world. In general, I’ve found her personality to be endearing and languid.

Emrata

And YET.

She has a tendency to be coy and say “who, me?” things.

She knows damn well that she’s a sex bomb and that that is why anyone pays any attention to her. And, from what I can tell, she is, in general, fairly smart. But then she turns around and makes Tik-Tok videos bemoaning that people won’t take her seriously because she shows cleavage.

Jesus Christ, woman, what else do you expect is going to happen?

But I will agree with her on one issue — women with bigger chests are not taken as seriously as their less buxom counterparts. It shouldn’t be so difficult for us, as a society, to allow a fuller-chested woman to both show some cleavage and to be taken seriously.

But, then, I’m an old man.

Anyway.