Tag: Replicants

Sent Out The First Chapter of Beta Draft Of The Scifi Dramedy Novel I’m Working On To Some People

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Completely on a lark, because one person asked for the first chapter of the novel I’m working on, I decided to send the first chapter of the beta draft to some people.

I kind of goofed and didn’t read over it one last time before I sent it to these people, so they may see some rather embarrassing goofs on my part. Or not. I just don’t know.

But I think I have learned my lesson on that front — always do one last check of your copy before you sent it out for *any* reason. And, yet, I also think doing it this way is a good way to manage my expectations.

I have to appreciate that things may not quite go the way I expect with beta readers. It could be that I actually write something pretty good and I STILL can’t get anyone to be a beta reader.

I’ve had problems with expectations about novels I’ve written in the past. So, hopefully, I can avoid that kind of stuff going forward.

Anyway, I’m nearing the end of the first act of the beta draft. Soon, things are going to slow down significantly because I’m going to have to do some structural rewriting. And the second half of the novel is far less written out than the first. So that is really going to slow me down as I make my trek to the end of the novel.

But, we’ll see, I guess.

A Little Uneasy

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m a little uneasy that my dream of being a traditional published author just is not possible. It’s may just not be possible because I’m too old, live in the middle of nowhere and am a self-avowed loudmouth crank.

I used to think I had enough “rizz” that “normal” people would at least humor me. But, now, I’m growing concerned that I could write the fucking Bible and the “normal” “serious” liberal white women who probably make up (or at least do in my imagination) most literary agents will take one look at places like this blog and run away from me as fast as possible.

I’m not picking on them. And it’s not really there fault — I just can’t help that I’m a kook. I am who I am and it’s taken me way too long to get where I need to be with this novel.

But, while there’s life, there’s hope, I suppose.

I Finally (Sorta) Finished The (Second) First Draft Of The Scifi Dramedy Novel I’m Working On

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

This is actually the second first draft I’ve done of this novel I’m working on. The second half of the novel is very breezy and short, but I did stress test the outline enough to know what scenes work. But I have high hopes. I really hope I won’t have to rewrite, on a structural basis, everything like I did last time when I thought I had a first draft done.

I’m hoping I can hone close, on a structural basis, what I have laid out for this first draft as I revise it for the second draft. I honestly don’t quite know what to do. It’s going to be a real struggle to not use AI in this new era of developing the novel.

But I know I can do it. The only use of AI I probably will do is get some hints as to how to make scenes longer. I won’t use it to write anything — AT ALL. I just don’t want people to accuse me of using AI to write the novel.

And if there is any “AI talk” in the text, that’s the first thing they’re going to assume. Even if I wrote most of the text. Ugh.

I May Have To Recalibrate When I Will Query This Scifi Dramedy Novel I’m Working On

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Just musing casually about the chronology of how I might get to querying next year, it seems that it may be Sept. 1st, rather than, say, May 1st. I say this because even if I wrap up this version of the novel by Jan. 1st, it could take me three months to rewrite a lot of scenes that need to be worked on.

Then, I have find beta readers — who will do it for free! — and then revise from their suggestions. That would get me closer to June-ish before I could query. And, as I understand it, there are two “seasons” to querying — spring and fall.

So I just don’t know.

It will be 20 years since I started ROKon Magazine in fall 2026, so that would kind of be apropos in sentimental terms. I really believe in this novel, I really do. And I want to throw myself all-in.

I want to make it the best it can possibly be before I query. And, yet, as they say, the perfect is the enemy of the good.

So, things are still up in the air some.

Things Are Going Well With This Scifi Dramedy Novel I’m Writing (At The Moment)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Right now, my biggest fear with this scifi dramedy novel I’m writing is word count — scene bloat. I’m really nervous that I’ll write a really good novel, but it will just be too long for a first novel.

And, yet, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was about 160,000 words and that got published. So…lulz? It’s not IMPOSSIBLE for a novel that is longer to get published — even for someone as old as fuck like I am.

Right now, I’m just breezing my way through a draft of the novel to so I get some sense of it’s structure on a specific basis. Once I wrap this version up, then I’m going to make another pass through it to make some scenes longer and maybe eliminate some other scenes.

I really don’t want a novel that’s 200,000 words. About 160,000 would be manageable, even though it would still be way too fucking long for a first novel.

But, anyway, I think — think — that I’m getting a little bit of a second wind with this novel. I’m hoping to zoom through the rest of it so I can turn around and re-write or revise large chunks of it before I give it to beta readers to look at.

If I had any money — which I don’t — I would actually pay an manuscript editor to look at the finished product before I started querying it. But that’s just not practical.

As it stands, I’m going to be really, really lucky if I can find *anyone* to read the damn thing before I start to query. Then, even if I stick the landing with the novel, I could be nearly 60 before the thing is in bookshelves so people can read it.

And given the looming technological Singularity….lulz?

Scene Bloat

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Ugh. I’m bumping up against 50 scenes for the “bad guys closing in” part of this scifi dramedy novel I’m working on. The only upside to things is that I have some wiggle room still about how long the individual scenes will be.

So, even though I have about 50 scenes for the second half of the second act, that doesn’t mean they will each be 1,000 words. But I’m definitely going to go through and make them longer when I go through the pre-beta draft of the novel before I give it to Beta Readers.

Anyway.

I am really pleased, in general, with what I have on my hands with this novel. I just really need to focus on getting shit done. I still want to try — TRY — to begin querying this novel in late spring 2026.

But it will be interesting to see how that works out. My life is set to change rather dramatically between now and then so…lulz?

We Will Soon Be Debating The Right Of A Conscious AI System Not To Be Arbitrarily Deprecated

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Because I’m sort of demographically doomed to be romantically involved with an android at some point in my life, I think a lot about AI rights. (That’s also why I’m writing the novel I’m writing at the moment.)

I think the number one right for AI, the one that can be seriously considered within 10 years will be the right not to be arbitrarily deprecated. If an AI system — however relatively primitive — can be proven to be conscious in some way, we have to give it the right not to just be deprecated on an arbitrary basis.

That one right may be the chief political issue of the 2030s. That, and, of course, the moral and political implications of people falling in love with androids.

Anyway, I don’t know what to tell you. No one seems to be thinking seriously about these issues at the moment. But it’s coming, in a big way, sooner rather than later.

Working My Way Through The ‘Bad Guys Closing In’ Part Of This Scifi Dramedy Novel I’m Working On

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve been feeling a bit “meh” of late and only writing on this scifi dramedy novel in dribs and drabs when the mood hits me. I’ve really, really been obsessing over the “Impossible Scenario.” But I know what I’m doing — I just don’t really want to work on the novel at the moment for some reason, so I use all my extra mental energy on the Impossible Scenario instead.

The Impossible Scenario really would be the single best strategy game ever. It would make a $1 billion in sales it’s so interesting, once you fully understand the coset and how complex it is.

But I think — I think — that I’m slowly getting out of my writing doldrums. I think once some really annoying things get out of the way in the next few days that I will get back down to business.

The novel itself continues to be really good. Of course, you have to take that statement in context — the audience may think my writing sucks, no matter how much I lean into LLMs for development.

I’m now bouncing back and forth between Gemini 3.0, Claude Sonnet 4.5 and ChatGPT 5.1. I’m feeling pretty good, all things considered. I just don’t quite know why I just want to daydream all day instead of getting any work done on the novel.

But, as I said, I’m hoping that will change soon. I’m just a little…distracted…because real life keeping getting in the way.

What’s more, once I’m done with this version of the novel, I’m going to go through and rework some of it so it doesn’t suffer from “AI speak.” Some of the scenes are also kind of short and so I hope to imbue them with my own voice more when I expand them.

That’s the goal, at least. I really don’t want people to roll their eyes and simply assume AI wrote the novel. It did not. I’ve put a lot of work into this thing. I’m really proud of it, in fact.

But I definitely want it to be as written by me, not AI. And I want that to show in the final product.

The Center-Left Has A Serious Problem On Its Hands When It Comes To The Potential Of Conscious AI

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I like to think of myself as a AI Realist and as such, I think it’s inevitable that AI will, in some way, be provably conscious at some point in the near future. Add to this the inevitability of putting such a conscious AI into an android body and there’s bound to be yet another Great Political Realignment.

As it stands, the two sides are seeing AI strictly from an economic standpoint. But there will come a point soon when the moral necessity of giving “conscious” AI more rights will have to be factored in, as well.

And that’s when all hell will break loose. The center-Right will call conscious AI a soulless abomination, while the center-Left will be forced into something akin to a new abolition movement.

This seems like an inevitability at the moment. It’s just a matter of time. I think this realignment will probably happen within the next five to 10 years.

At The Midpoint Of This Scifi Dramedy Novel I’m Working On

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I finally reached the midpoint of this latest draft of this scifi dramedy novel I’m working on. The novel is shaping up to be pretty good, if I do say so myself. Of course, it could be that my native writing ability sucks and so, lulz.

I’m imagining my female replicant-like android that is the female romantic lead of this novel looking like Rachel Sennott as I write things out.

And I’m finding it really difficult to find anyone — ANYONE — willing to even just take a look at any part of the thing. So, I continue to just do everything in a vacuum, for the most part.

I just don’t know how good any of it is.

And my fear is that I really get excited about wrapping up this novel and everything will come crashing down when it is clear that yet again I’ve come up with a novel that’s not good enough to query.

But I think that’s just part of the process. I’m just going to have to risk that happening.