Tag: writing

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Now, there are plenty of things that could go wrong. But, in general, I THINK I’m starting to get back into my normal groove creatively. I think I’m probably on track to start to query some sort of novel in about a year.

Some pretty big things have happened in the last few weeks that have punted my dreams down the road another year.

Despite that, in general, I’m pretty pleased with the new incarnation of the mystery-thriller. There were some basic structural flaws in the novel that I’ve fixed on a conceptual basis, which will take time to fix in a practical manner in the text of the novel.

But I think — THINK — there will now be a lot more tension in the novel that just didn’t exist before. I’m pretty sure that there will be, like, a point to the novel now that didn’t exist before.

The novel didn’t have much point before because it was just just set the stage for the rest of the series. But now, I think, I can engage readers to actually care about what happens to my heroine.

It definitely helps that I’ve turned her into a drunk and so her more salacious, outrageous behavior prudes will ascribe to that. That will help a lot, I think, in getting people to get past some, if not all, of the sex in the novel.

But I think very soon there’s going to come a point where I’m really going to hunker down and rework on a structural basis some of the novel that I’ve not really given much thought to yet.

We’ll see, I guess.

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I am going to sit down this week, maybe, and really game out the various novels I have rolling around in my mind. I have one really, really CRAZY scifi novel idea that I am going to at least write the synopsis of.

It’s the story of a man who discovers that earth is a construct being run by slug-like creatures on Venus, which is actually a lush, verdant place, not the hellscape that we believe.

The man also learns all these other crazy — CRAZY — things about earth and his place on it. It’s just nuts. Totally, completely nuts. But it is so interesting that it’s worth at least exploring as an actual novel.

I’ve been kind of obsessed with this story concept for the last few weeks for some strange reason.

I also have a scifi novel about an AI that wants to become human. And, of course I continue to have the old faithful mystery thriller I’ve been working on for some years now.

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I think I’m going to sit down and write out some summaries of some potential novels sometime soon. I really need to have something akin to a creative reboot. I have had some very, very strange times in my life the last few weeks and things finally seem to be settling down.

This makes me feel great.

I’m finally — finally — at just about the place where I can maybe throw myself back into the mystery-thriller I’ve been working on for years now. I finished it, but it just wasn’t as good as it could have been.

So, I may start from scratch — sorta — by rereading some of the many basic how-to books I have lying around. I really need to mull how I’m going to improve the six novels I have rolling around in my mind for this series.

It’s just time I stop being so la-de-da and aggressively daydreaming. I also have a few scifi novels rolling around in my mind — one of which is just very, very bonkers, but also might be a lot of fun to write.

We’ll see.

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I really, really, REALLY need to get back to work on my novel. I have a few ideas for one, but the mystery thriller idea is the one I love the most.

I just need to give the whole idea some thought. I have a really great scifi novel concept dealing with AI, but the mystery thriller is the one that I continue to be obsessed with.

But only time will tell, I suppose.

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have a really wild Robert A. Heinlein novel concept rolling around in my head. The idea is like this — earth has actually be a construct, a “game” of sorts that has been played by some very lazy slug-like creatures on Venus which is actually a verdant paradise.

Our hero is a random guy who doesn’t know what’s going on and he keeps, over and over, having problems with the hivemind of the the slug-like creatures. This goes on forever in a very Comedy of Job type of way.

Then our hero learns that the slug-like creatures have figured out a way to use the earth construct to get a universe all their own. But they screw up the process of the universe’s creation and instead of a huge universe, they get a little baby universe that only lasts for 1 billion years.

And for some reason — I’m still working this one out — our hero is “stuck in a box” for that 1 billion years. When he gets out the humans of earth — who aren’t even “real,” they learn that the man they thought was a “myth” — or hero — is very real indeed.

This is just the back-of-the-envelope idea for a novel that I’ve come up with in my hovel.