Tag: The Girl Who Played With Fire

An Issue Of Verisimilitude

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

If I ever needed a clear sign that, in general, no one takes me seriously, it’s my overall failure to get anyone from my past life with the press industry to answer my call for help about something. (I finally got one person, but that’s really not very many given how many people I reached out to.)

The issue is, I really want to make the situation I’ve come up with for my heroine — that she owns both a strip club (where she occasionally strips to relax) and an alternative weekly — as real as possible. Like, how would that REALLY work out, especially in mid-1990s Richmond, VA?

I’m WELL AWARE that because of human nature and the needs of marketing, that there is a real risk that this novel would be reduced down to two tropes being fused together — “hooker (or sex worker) with a heart of gold” and “sexy slutty assassin” solves a murder mystery.

I think about this even more given how many men my heroine beds in the first act for the purposes of the plot. All the sexxy time is not gratuitous and definitely serves the overall plot. And, in general, I don’t even really show the spicy stuff that much. I do show it some, but it’s hopefully not so much that people get turned off.

And, what’s more, I’ve cut back the sex in the second act. I don’t know, but I think that best practices for storytelling is you delay sexxy time as much as possible. But, lulz, I never do anything the right way.

But the story is getting much, much better in general. I’m really pleased. But I have to prepare for people to attack me for how much sexxy time there is in the novel. While I’m very sex-positive and don’t see my heroine’s sexual activity as “slutty” I’m afraid there will be some people who think I’m replicating Debby Does Dallas with how my heroine seems to have so much sex on the fly.

Ugh. Anyway. Wish me luck.

Still Dreading Querying My Novel & ‘Comping’ It

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m something of a long-term, strategic thinker so even though I’ve not finished my first novel, I find myself dwelling how hard it will be to query it. My biggest concern is of course, that any literary agent who does “due diligence” on me is going to be aghast at how often I’ve gotten drunk and ranted about things that don’t quite jib with the mainstream media narrative.

My dream is to write a novel a popular as Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.”

Another big concern of mine is how I’m going to “comp” this novel, given that I don’t actually read that much fiction! I just keep re-reading Stieg Larsson’s The Girl Who Played With Fire and when you comp a novel in your query letter, you’re SUPPOSED to comp — or compare — it to something a little bit more modern.

Ugh.

As such, I’ve forced myself to buy some novels that AI have told me are similar to Larsson’s work. I suppose I could read some of the more modern faux Larsson novels, but they’re so fucking bad. Though there is the most recent new one that has, in its own way, some of the same elements of my novel, so I might buy THAT one and use it as a comp to my novel.

I hope I’m not too bonkers to be a successful novelist.

Maybe.

Anyway, I’m feeling pretty good about where things stand. Now, I just hope the country I love so much doesn’t collapse into chaos because of “vibes.”

Things Are Getting Really Good With The Third Draft Of My First Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

This afternoon, I plan to plunge back into editing and rewriting (as necessary) the first three chapters of the third draft of my first novel. I also hope to do some reading and watching of some TV / movies. I’m really, really pleased with what I’ve managed to come up with for this third draft.

I dream to have a level of success equal to “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.”

The issue is, of course, that I need hurry the fuck up. I can’t just keep screwing around. Any number of things could happen in the next few days and weeks that totally throw everything up in the air or, at a minimum, dramatically change the context of this project.

But, for the time being, all systems are go.

I’ve given myself a few days of pause to recalibrate things and now I’m ready to go again. I hope to wrap up the first act of this novel ASAP and get into the second act.

There remains the issue of word count. At the moment, I have a first act that is equal to the first half of the second act — which, itself, is really long. So, it’s possible that, at least on a scene basis, that I’m going to have a really long first half and the second half will be a lot shorter — which, I hope, means it will read faster.

I continue to do all of this blind — I have no idea if I’m going it right or not. I may have a “reader” of sorts now — an older man who is at my dad’s nursing home — but I don’t know yet. Just having someone to read the novel as a second pair of eyes will be great.

But I have been disappointed so often that, lulz, I just don’t know.

Thing Continue To Be In Flux With The Third Draft Of This Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Yet again, I find myself stuck at the very beginning of this novel, spinning my wheels. I have to admit, however, that the story is getting much, much better. I continue to dabble in the use of AI to develop this novel, to mixed results.

The dream is real.
Too much of this novel is “spicy” in a way that causes all the AIs out there to lock up, so I’m forced to use it sparingly. Some of the results I get from using AI are pretty good. Sometimes, meh. Not great.

And something is going to happen in my personal life the next few days that may force me to kind of chill out until next week. It’s very frustrating, but given how great my life is otherwise for writing, I can complain only so much.

Some other good news is I *may* have an “accountability buddy” at the nursing home that my dad is at. This older guy is really interested in reading the novel and, as such, I might be able to use him as something of a backstop to prevent myself from changing everything at the drop of a hat when I grow frustrated.

But….I don’t know.

I’m so desperate to finish this novel before I croak that I might be able to press forward of my own accord.

I Think About Women Readers A Lot As I Write This Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I do not purport to have any special insight into the female mind, but I do, at least, try to cater to that segment of the reading audience as I write this novel. I do this especially given the edgy, loaded nature of the novel.

I hope to write a novel that is as accessible as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

It’s not every day that your heroine is a part-time stripper.

Now, of course, if I was, say a transgender women writing this type of novel, then I probably be hailed as the second coming of Jesus Christ. But, alas, I’m just a smelly CIS white male — a middle aged one at that! — and, as such, slings and arrows and all that.

I have a vision for this novel and, as such, I’m prepared to take shit for what, of course, will be reduced down to “stripper solves a murder mystery.”

Ugh!

That’s not what’s going on! But no one is going to listen to me. Anything to do with sex and women — especially something out of the ordinary — is the thing that people will focus on. And that doesn’t even begin to address the issue of how Hollywood would market any adaptation of the novel should that miraculous thing somehow happen.

Anyway.

I’m really self conscious about how women readers might react to this novel to a fault. I have a few women “advisers” that help me when I feel a little bit nervous about this or that thing that I might broach in the novel while writing from a female POV.

But, like I said, I can only do so much. I’m a smelly CIS white middle aged male and a vocal minority of the reading audience will dismiss the novel the moment they see what I look like.

I Keep Fucking Forking This Novel As I Write The Third Draft

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Things are getting really, really good with this novel. I’m very pleased. But as I make my way yet again through the third draft’s first act, I keep subtly changing it so it forks.

This sucks.

But I’ve come up with a very interesting new take on the general story that I’ve been working on for years now. The thing about writing a novel is you sometimes find yourself asking yourself some pretty surreal questions. Like, for instance, if this or that sexual act is more “kinky.”

I have everything sorted out on that front — at least to my satisfaction — but I still have a little bit of concern that being so matter-of-fact about things is going to make people giggle.

This is an example of how different I am as a writer than Stieg Larsson. He was too often very dark and twisted whereas I have a far more sex-positive take on some of weird, freaky shit he broached.

That, by definition, makes for a very different type of story.

My biggest fear is, of course, that the novel just won’t be dark enough for its intended genre of mystery-thriller. But, I do keep forking it, so, who knows, by the time this third draft is in Beta, it might be a lot more dark.

I Really Need To Think About Women’s Reaction To My Heroine Being A Part-Time Stripper

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

A lot could go wrong with this novel. I definitely fear someone will steal a creative march on me, if for no other reason, I’m just taking too long. But there’s not much I can do about it. Rome wasn’t built in a day and it’s just taking me a lot longer than I thought to get as far as I have.

But what’s interesting to me is the very thing that makes this novel a bit…edgy…could also be what makes it a success. I am WELL AWARE that because of marketing and human nature that this very interesting situation I’ve come up with will probably be boiled down to, “stripper solves a murder mystery.”

Ugh. That’s not at all what’s going on, but, lulz, what can you do.

But I do think that my heroine is beginning to approach Lisbeth Salander levels of interesting. She could very well be something of an icon if I play my cards right. And the thing that I keep being reminded about is how the interplay between my heroine’s “normal” life of owning an alternative weekly and her “alternative life” of owning a strip club / stripping to relax is something I need to lean into if I’m going to introduce the idea in the first place.

That’s what people — especially women willing to humor me by reading the damn novel in the first place — are going to want to see the most of.

The daydream issue of how Hollywood might address this novel occasionally gives me pause for thought. The obvious way to market the movie is something along the line of the old Pam Anderson movie “Barbwire.”

Double ugh.

The point of the story is not the T&A element of the story, but that by heroine is a woman who has sexual agency and self confidence enough that she is able to be a stripper to relax without giving it much thought.

It’s everyone else — especially horny men — who are the problem.

Anyway, I continue to work my way through the first act of the third draft AGAIN. Hopefully, this time, I will still have momentum enough to make my way through the second and third acts when the time comes.

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.

I Continue To Use ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’ As My ‘Textbook’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While on a substantive basis, my novel is totally different from any of Stieg Larsson’s work other than a few “form follows function” quirks, I do continue to use the second novel in his Millennium series as my “textbook.” Whenever I have a question about structure and the like, I think back to my careful study of that novel and act accordingly.

It took me forever to figure out the structure of The Girl Who Played With Fire until I learned that it was actually the first half of a bigger novel. THEN things started to make sense.

I still hope to fall within the sweetspot of about 100,000 words for this novel. AND I have decided to to pretty much totally rework the first half of the second act so things are a lot more clear and focused.

That, at least, is the goal.

I really need to stop screwing around and get things done sooner rather than later.

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.