Tag: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Pondering Mystery Thriller Novels to ‘Comp’ To My Book As Part of The Querying Process

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Because I don’t really even read any modern books in my genre, I think I’m going to turn to AI to find out what current books I should read that I can “comp” to a book that is a homage to Stieg Larsson’s stuff.

My novel is so…different…that I struggle to think that I will be able to find a novel that is clearly something I can “comp.” But I’m going to have to figure out something. That’s what they pay me the big bucks for.

I’m going to have to take this whole process a lot more seriously. Anything to do with querying means I can just daydream and be delusional anymore. I really, really, really don’t want to self publish. That’s just not my scene. I would have to be really fucking desperate — at least at this point — to self publish.

I would rather go down in a blaze of glory a monumental failure than limit myself by self-publishing. That’s just my vision at the moment. I have nothing against people who self publishing, but I just don’t wanna do that.

My heroine, in my mind, looks something like this woman above.
I started reading a novel that was clearly meant to be something along the lines of a homage to Stieg Larsson’s stuff but something about it left me cold. It seemed to hone in on what the author thought made Lisbeth Salander so popular — her vigilante streak.

To me, that’s just a part of her personality. She was far more complex than that. I hope to force myself to actually read that damn book simply so I won’t feel so self-conscious about not reading fiction. But only time will tell.

Pondering The Potential Reception Of This Novel By Literary Agents

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Now that I’ve just about locked down the first two chapters of the third draft of this novel, I find myself pondering What Next. I still have a few more months of writing to finish the third draft, but I definitely am beginning to think about the querying process.

My big concern is, of course, that because I’m doing this in a vacuum that the somewhat provocative premise of the novel will make literary agents — who I imagine as being mostly liberal white women — either laugh or get angry. I have no idea if the “sex worker who solves a murder mystery” will be cool with literary agents or not because of that.

But “Barry” was popular, so, lulz, it’s at least *possible* that my similar type story might have broad appeal. And, yet, sexwork is so loaded in the minds of most people while being a hired assassin is a lulz that it’s possible it will just be too loaded for anyone to take seriously.

Yet the point is that I want a heroine is really, really interesting. Someone unexpected who you will want to hang out with for the time it takes to read ~140,000 words. I believe I have come up with just the type of evocative story that people will really find worth their time.

I hope.

The holiday season is now here, so that is an added complication. My fear is that because of the holiday season and other “known unknowns” that I’ll really be pushing it to wrap this novel up no later than April 2024. Then I will have to save up the money to get a professional manuscript consultant to read over the third draft.

THEN I have to start to query just as the “Perfect Storm” of The Fourth Turning and the AI generated Petite Singularity happens in late 2024, early 2025. But, if nothing else, I definitely am happy with this story. There are probably going to be a lot — A LOT — of structural changes to the third act in the transition from second to third draft.

But I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

The Good, The Bad & The Paranoid

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It seems as though SOMEONE has noticed all my talk comparing the novel I’m working on to Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. This both excites me and alarms me. Here are the reasons why:

The Good
Maybe this means some Hollywood time is honestly interested in the logline of “sexworker solves a murder mystery,” even though that is not really what the story is about.

The Bad
Maybe this means someone the rights to Millennium series is aware of how much of an homage this novel is meant to be to that property and they’re not fucking happy.

The Paranoid
Maybe this means a screenwriter and / or producer plan to swoop in, steal my idea and laugh all the way to the bank at me for being such a loudmouth fool.

Now The Hard Part

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I love to write. Writing is like shedding skin for me. I do it a lot without even thinking about it. And, for years now, I’m been VERY delusional about what’s going on with my first novel. I’ve allowed myself this luxury because I knew it was the only way I would ever actually finish anythiing.

And, yet, now that it’s clear that I’ve finally figured out the beginning of the third draft of this novel and I’m going to — hopefully — wrap it up by, say, around April 1st, I have to put on my big boy pants

I have to start thinking about querying.

The reason why this scares the shit out of me is multifold. One is, well, I’m a drunk crank who doesn’t always follow the media narrative on social media. I retweet a lot — A LOT — of pictures of hot chicks. I get drunk and rant about the importance of heteronormative monoculture. And I have been known to say I fucking hate the Bechdel Test. AND, WHAT’s MORE, my novel could easily be reduced to the logline of smelly CIS white male spends 140,000 words to depict a “sex worker solving a murder mystery.”

I retweet a lot of pictures of hot chicks on Twitter.
None of those things endear me to the liberal women who often are literary agents. But I refuse to change anything. I’m going to accept the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, come what may.

I have a lot to consider going forward. I have to think about how I’m going to pay for a manuscript consultant to look over my copy. I have to buy AND READ a series of novels that I can “comp” my novel to, even though it’s a real struggle to consume anyone else’s content — and I’m a storytelling snob.

AND, all of this is happening the context of the rise of AI, the potential for a “Fourth Turning” in late 2024, early 2025 AND the very real possibility that my entire life could be thrown up in the air because of known unknowns.

I dig shit like this.
And, yet, the whole point of starting a novel in the first place was to get outside my comfort zone and to see how far I could get in the process before it became absolutely, 100% clear that I would have to — gulp — self-publish.

But I would only consider that after a good bit of fighting to get published traditionally. And I might even be so stubborn that I simply but the finished novel aside until I can get something ELSE published traditionally and use the leverage that gives me to get my first novel published.

I’m Very Pleased With This Novel At The Moment — But I’m Also Nervous

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have been in a very, very idyllic situation for an extended amount of time when it comes to writing a novel. And, finally, I feel as though I’ve locked in the beginning of the novel so things should move much, much faster now.

But.

The issue is that I fear Something is going to throw things up in the air. Something will happen that either causes the context of my efforts to write a novel dramatically or even significantly slow the writing down.

And, what’s more, the clock is ticking. I’m not going to live forever — I’m the exact age Stieg Larsson was when he died — AND the rise of AI and the potential Fourth Turning in late 2024, early 2025 is rather alarming.

There’s just nothing I can do. I just have to accept that I have to work harder and faster. I have to lean into my insecurities and fears to generate the creative energy necessary to get this novel done.

Things *MAY* Be About To Move Very, Very Fast With This Third Draft Of The Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

After way too long, I think that it is at last possible that I may — MAY — have figured out the basics of the beginning the third draft of the novel. If that is so, then things are on the cusp of going VERY FAST.

My heroine, in my mind, looks like a young Nicole Scherzinger.
The reason is, I have finally — finally — figured out the relationships between characters as the story opens. I also have realized some issues about how to really drive home that our heroine is a woman who inhabits two very, very different worlds.

I sometimes worry that I may have an “Annie Hall” problem in that the non-murder mystery elements of this story may become so good as to overpower the murder mystery parts. And, yet, I don’t *think* that will be a problem because I’m just screwing around with the first act and the rest of the novel remains the same — at least at this point.

But I’m getting kind of excited. I think I’m on track — barring any number of known unknowns — to wrap this third draft up no later than, maybe April 1st? Maybe? I hope that’s not being delusional.

Time will tell.

A Woman Of Two Worlds & The Men She Loves

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While it feels like I keep spinning my wheels with this third draft of the novel, something really intriguing is beginning to take shape. I *think* I may have come up with an interesting way to cause a lot of drama — my heroine has two men in her life.

I imagine my heroine looking like a younger version of Nicole Scherzinger.

Each one represents a different thing in her mind and heart. One represents the past, while the other represents the future. One represents the stripping part of her life, while the other represents the journalistic part of her life.

Or something. Something like that. It’s not a perfect fit, but just thinking in those terms is making my insight into the character a lot easier.

I’ve also of late been doing a lot of “outside the box” thinking about which POVs I use, which should come handy later on. I’m really giving people a sense of character when it comes to the unlikely “investigative team” by heroine ultimately assembles to solve the mystery she’s confronted with.

The key thing is I’m kind of in put-up-or-shut-up mode at the moment. I’m not getting any younger — Stieg Larsson dropped dead at my age — and I really, really need to push myself harder. I have to get into the second act as quickly as possible while still maintaining high quality copy.

And that doesn’t even begin to address how I want to dip into screenwriting now as well. But, lulz, I’m being delusional like always, I guess.

This Pop Novel That Is Meant To Be An Old Brown Shoe For Stieg Larsson Fans Is Getting Really, Really Good

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m a storytelling snob. So much so, that it’s now nearly impossible for me to consume anyone else’s story. But, at last, I believe I may — may — have at last stumble upon a beginning to my novel that actually pleases even me.

Now, remember, I’m not nearly as dark as my hero Stieg Larsson. And it can be a real struggle for me to play it straight — I like to plop in some humor every now and again. I just can’t help myself.

Anyway. It is at least possible that things will zoom along at a pretty fast clip now. I’ve had to grit my teeth and break or bend some of the dumb arbitrary rules I’ve been using to write this novel simply so I can actually finish something, anything.

I am embarrassed by how long it’s taken me to get to this point. I now hope to finish the third draft in the February – March timeframe. Then I will have to figure out how to pay a manuscript consultant to help me take the thing to the next level.

The case could be made that my heroine looks kind of like Pom Klementieff.

What’s more all of this will be happening in the context of the United States careening towards autocracy or civil war / revolution starting in late 2024, early 2025 — just as I plan on querying the novel!

But I have hope. I hope that if I can sell this first novel, I will somehow be given the opportunity to not only write the other five planned novels, but also a few scifi novels I want to write. And maybe, if I’m EXTREMELY LUCKY, a few screenplays too.

But I’m old and they shoot writers, don’t they?

It’s Clear Now Why It’s Taken So Long To Get To This Point With The Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Today is has been a good day for the novel. The beginning is a lot stronger than it has been since I started this third draft. It is becoming more and more clear that this novel is very, very ambitious relative to my actual storytelling ability. There was just too much going on at first.

But now I’ve fixed that problem by staggering major developments in the story to the point that things slowly come to a boil at the end of the first act. I’m very pleased. I’ve also realized that I can’t just keep using my ad hoc, arbitrary rules derived from attempting to reverse engineer Stieg Larsson. I have to be willing to do what serves the purposes of telling a good story.

So, things are going pretty well. The story still has some pretty risky elements to it, given that I’m a smelly CIS white male who some people within the “woke cancel culture mob” believe doesn’t have the right to tell any story, much less a story about a “sex worker who solves a mystery.”

But, you know, lulz, slings and arrows and all that.

I hope to methodically write a few thousand words during the course of the day. I can’t keep spinning my wheels forever. Once I establish the first few chapters, things should move really, really, fast.

Day 4: Dark & Spicy

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Editor: You have to forgive me, I’m in something of a bad mood.

While I am trying to follow in pop literary footsteps of Stieg Larsson, he had a tendency to write far, far darker than I am inclined to do. And, yet, there is something to be said for being…provocative…in the name of keeping the audience interested and stimulated.

But anytime you start getting into going dark (and spicy) you bump up against the woke cancel culture mob’s rage over denying your female characters “agency.” My response to this is, ok, I get it, and yet, it’s that very lack of agency that keeps people reading because your natural inclination is when something bad happens — especially to a woman — that you feel for them and want to know what happens next.

I suppose only transgender women can write from a female point of view as a (born) male, so, lulz, just by writing ANYTHING from a female point of view as a man is enough to enraged the woke cancel culture mob. As such, I know my vision for this story and that’s what I’m going to, come what may.

I say all of this because the second chapter is going to get dark and spicy. Our heroine goes on a bender because she fears she’s failed in her objective for the first part of the story and, as such, she engages in some self-destructive behavior. She is “saved” by the male romantic lead, so, I suppose she doesn’t have “agency” and I should just give up and stare at the ceiling with the lights off until I decide to become transgender. (Wink.)

Needless to say — fuck that.

I have a really good story on my hands and to tell the story I want to tell, I’m going to have to bend the “your heroine absolutely must always have agency” law that the woke cancel culture mob seems to believe writers have to follow when they’re not plastering their works with “trigger warnings.”

Anyway, I have written the scene summaries for all of the scenes in Chapter 2 that I haven’t written out yet. So, all I have to do now is get wasted, fire up Spotify and get to writing. Writing dark spicy scenes are a real challenge for me because I hate conflict and I’m not thrilled with the idea of putting my characters through hell, but that’s what you have to do tell a great story. Put your characters up a tree then throw rocks at them.

So, that’s what I’m going to do.

I’m either going to write these dark and spicy scenes tonight or sometime early tomorrow morning. I’ve come up with a really interesting series of events that I feel will both engage readers and be provocative enough that they might actually want to finish the Goddamn novel instead of ghosting me when I give the finished second draft to them for the Beta Reader process.