Tag: Zendaya

Feeling Pretty Good About The Latest Iteration Of The Outline For The First Novel In This 5 Thriller Series


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m feeling just about ready to start writing again on this first novel. The plot now has a nice symmetry to it and the ending both wraps up the story and gives a nice lead-in to the beginning of the next novel.

While I continue my pause in writing, I’m going to try to sketch out the plots of the other four novels as best I can. At the moment, most of the novels have a beginning and an end, but not much in the middle. The last two novels are the most thought out, but they also have way too much plot and i have to figure out a way to pare all that plot back some.

But I’m feeling a lot of hope because of how well the first novel’s plot is beginning to shape up. I have it in me to flesh out the other novels’ plots, I just have to be patient and believe in myself.

As I keep saying, the emotional core of these novels is one woman’s love for a young woman who grows up to be my personal interpolation of the Lisbeth Salander trope. You get to see, over the course of a series of novels, the major events that lead up to the motives of the young woman in the last two novels. I find the whole project very compelling.

At the moment, the woman at the heart of this project looks a lot like Olivia Munn in my imagination, while the young woman who grows up to be my personal hot take on the Lisbeth Salander trope looks a lot like Zendaya. But I’m really just daydreaming at this point. I’m a very visual person and if the learning curve for screenwriting wasn’t so difficult, I probably would have gone into screenwriting instead of novel writing.

Yet, of course, I’m not going to live forever. I really need to get something done. I can’t just keep daydreaming about finishing these five novels, I’m going to have to actually do it soon enough. Otherwise, I’ll just be a dude who died of a broken heart over a failed magazine for expats in Seoul.

And I simply refuse for that to be what people think of me, if I have it within my power to do so.

I really need to get back to work writing .And, yet, I also want to use this pause in my writing to psyche myself up and do some of the reading I’ve neglected to do over the course of this project’s existance.

At the moment, I have a lot of hope. But the clock is ticking.

Thriller Novel Series Development Silliness: Casting Maggie Q Or Olivia Munn As ‘The Heart’ Of This Series


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It is the height of foolishness and self-indulgence to cast characters in any hypothetical movie adaptation of a novel you’re working on — especially if you’re just an aspiring novelist like me and don’t have anything finished to show people.

But I need to let off some steam. Things are going really well at the moment with this first novel in what I hope is a 5 (3 + 2) series of books and, lulz, no one cares what I say anyway.

Anyway, the point is, as I’ve written before, the character who I see as the “heart” of this overall project could be played very well by Olivia Munn. She’s about the right age and looks pretty much exactly how I see the character in my imagination as I write her.

I have noticed another woman who could play the character, however. Maggie Q. She, too, is very close to what I imagine the character who is the “heart” of this series looking like.

Remember, these project has ballooned into a multi-generational saga. These two women wouldn’t be playing my equivalent of Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander, but rather someone who cares deeply for that character. Though, I will note there is ANOTHER character that Maggie Q probably would be better suited as in the series — a love interest for the hero of two of the books.

My interpretation of the Lisbeth Salander trope would be, in my dreams of a movie, portrayed by Zendaya.

‘Old Brown Thriller Shoe’


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

From the beginning of this project, Stieg Larsson’s “Girl Who Played With Fire” has been my textbook. My goal is anyone who has read Stieg Larsson’s three novels will read my work and instantly feel at home. It’s meant to be like putting on an old brown shoe.

Throw in a lot of influence from Mare of Easttown and away we go. I don’t want to challenge the reader with anything too fancy, I just want to spin a great fast-paced yarn. And, yet I also want a lot of character development. I’ve read parts of one novel that wants to do pretty much want I want to do and I found it lacking. It’s author seems to have come away from Larsson’s work with a dramatically different interpretation of what made those first three books so popular. It was way more about the vigilante thriller part of those first three novels rather than the part I liked — what a unique person Salander is.

To me, what makes Lisbeth Salander so interesting is she’s weird, yes, but the case could be made that she would have been a lot more normal but for her upbringing which was pretty fucked up. And I want to write something really fast paced — so fast you stay up all night on a weeknight to finish it — but I also want to present well developed characters that seem like real people.

One thing I find interesting is how using The Girl Who Played With Fire as my “textbook” has caused me to make some decisions that I keep hearing people contradict in books and in conversations. I think what I’m really noticing is there is no reveled truth as to how to write a novel. Everyone writes a novel differently and the point is you tell a story in a coherent, cogent manner that keeps people turning pages — how exactly you do that is very much up in the air.

My interpretation of Lisbeth Salander looks like this.

You’re the master of your own fate when you write a novel. There are plenty of rules of thumb to tell your story in a better, easier to understand manner, but in the end, lulz, do whatever the fuck you want. In the end, the only thing that matters is when a gatekeeper reads your work they like it and understand it enough to be willing to buy it.

That’s it.

In the end, that’s the only hard, fast rule of writing a novel. Everything else is a lulz, in real terms.

As such, these five novels owe almost all their structure from what I’ve been able to discern from The Girl Who Played With Fire, mixed with what makes the most sense to me from all the “how to write a novel” how-to books I’ve read over the last three years.

It just can be annoying sometimes how absolute people — or books — can be about how wrong this or that thing that Larsson did, or didn’t do is. But I’m quite please with what I’ve managed to come up with.

Let’s rock.

If My Publishing Dream Comes True, Zendaya May Become An Action Hero


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

A basic rule of thumb is you’re just not supposed to worry about who might play this or that character in the movie adaptation of your novel or novels. But absolutely no one listens to me or cares, and I feel like some having some fun. So, here goes. It’s eerie how well the actress Zendaya matches the young woman who is central to this five novel series.

Zendaya

I’m really delusional, but I’m not so delusional at the moment to actually think there is a real chance that I will not only sell these five novels, then them being popular enough to become movies then have Zendaya specifically fulfill my vision on the screen.

But it is nice to daydream.

Really, the only reason I even mention this is how one-to-one Zendaya is to what the character looks like in my mind. But I have a huge amount of work ahead of me so lulz.

Looking Forward To Seeing James Bond In ‘No Time To Die’ To Get Some Inspiration


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m notorious for walking out of movies before they’re over. I usually do this because, as someone writing four novels, I know bad storytelling when I see it and I get fed up. I’m hoping I will make it all the way through the next James Bond movie, which as best I can tell from early reviews is pretty good.

What I find interesting is how conflicted the British seem about the character of James Bond, with the hot takes flying fast and furious. One person called him a “rapist,” while another called for him to be killed off altogether. Americans, meanwhile, I stoked to see a new James Bond movie.

I have to say — Daniel Craig is my favorite James Bond to date. It’s too band he’s leaving the franchise. I think he’s leaving because the character of Bond and his own character are probably so dramatically different that it’s difficult for him to personify the character much longer. Craig seems, at least to me, to have a very Jason Momoa personality. He’s a pretty laid back, normal guy who women love and men respect.

Another reason why I’m really looking forward to seeing No Time To Die is inspiration. I’ve developed my own personal take on the ever-elusive concept of the “female James Bond” (mixed with a lot of Lisbeth Salander influenced elements) and I want to study what makes James Bond so popular. I’d also like to see what makes him so appealing to mass audiences.

The world is ready for a female James Bond, I think, and I’d also like to think I’m the guy to introduce her. The major difference between my heroine and Lisbeth Salander is I don’t intend for her to be some sort of vilante avenging angel. She’s much closer to James Bond in her goals and motivations.

My personal attempt at a “female James Bond’ looks like Zendaya in my mind’s eye.

But I do understand why it’s so difficult to create a “female James Bond.” He’s supposed to represent what it means to be a modern male at any particular moment and, as such, that doesn’t really translate very well to a female character.

My heroine — that I’m writing four novels to give a pretty huge “becoming” backstory to — is meant to be really appealing to both men and women and be so unique and interesting that people will want to see her in book (and movie?) after book.

That’s really the dream at this moment, however. Just a dream. I also am well on my way to having a second creative “track” of (fashion) photographer soon enough and it will be interesting to see the dynamic between the two tracks.

Every moment of your life is precious. We live just a brief moment. Use all your talents while you exist.

Zendaya & A Rebooting Of The ‘Alien’ Franchise


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As it stands, almost all the major Hollywood franchises are either bloated or dead in the water from being stripped mined. We’re reaching a moment when a reboot for any of the major scifi franchises could happen and enough people would be young enough that it wouldn’t be seen as the sacrilege that it actually was.

This brings us to the Alien franchise.

What I would do is, be ambitious. I would completely reboot the franchise from the beginning, giving all the principles a three picture deal. That would be one way to assure consistency of tone. The actress I feel would be perfect to play the new Ripley would be Zendaya. She’s tall like Sigourney Weaver and it would take the franchise into the modern world to have a POC like Zendaya playing the heroine.

I would grab a good horror director and be on my way. The new Alien and Aliens would be simply modern reinterpretations of the originals, while the third movie would be what we were promised at the very end of Aliens — it would be set on earth.

The point of all of this is it seems to me that Hollywood is so wrapped up in trying to stop 9/11 via superhero movies that they are growing more and more disconnected from their audiences and what they want. People don’t want “woke” movies and they’re growing tired of superhero movies.

It’s time Hollywood went back to basics and told good stories with mass appeal.

It’s Surreal How Much My #WIP’s #MC Looks Like #Zendaya In My Imagination



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

First, let me stress I fucking hate it when aspiring novelists preen about this or that actor would be perfect for the movie adaptation of the “work in progress.” Oh, Jesus. Just shut up and write.

But, I will note, in passing that the heroine the novel I’m working on IS Zendaya in my imagination. It’s not a perfect one-to-one for a very specific reason, but it’s spooky that I would independent of being any sort of Zendaya fan come up with a character that resembles her so much.

This is a novel, not a screenplay, so lulz. And I’m just an anonymous middle-aged man in the rural part of a flyover state so the probability of selling this novel is about the same as me winning the lottery.

And, yet, it is fun to occasionally daydream about such things. It’s all very much mental masturbation, of course, but no one reads this blog an I’m just talking to myself at this point.

Zendaya & My Continuing Struggle With My Heroine’s Relationship With Her Appearance



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The future is brown. At least in the United States. So, from the very beginning of the process of developing this novel, I knew my heroine was going to be brown. After about two years of development, all I can say is: my heroine looks like Zendaya.

It’s eerie how what I imagine my heroine looking like matches Zendaya. I originally thought she was too short, but when I looked up her height, I realized she was exactly right.

Again, no one reads this blog, so I’m just talking to myself.

Anyway, another thing I struggle with is how to make my heroine physically attractive without people simply dismissing the entire story as an extended sex fantasy on my part. That’s a real issue at this point. All I can say is this is NOT a sex fantasy. It’s just I thought it would be more interesting if my heroine was demonstrably attractive and part of the story was her conflicted relationship to her beauty.

But I also struggle to do everything in my power to flip the script on the “sexy slutty assassin” trope. I really try to flesh the character — and her motivations — out. I just feel it’s dumb to not give the audience what it wants. Why NOT have a hot heroine? As long as I not only flip the script but also flesh the character out as much as possible, well, lulz?

All I can say is I definitely now see it as something of a challenge to prove my heroine isn’t constructed so I can have sex with her in my imagination. I see her as more of a willful child at this point, regardless. While she is hot, she’s also flawed and damaged.

She’s definitely not a Lisbeth Salander clone, however. My heroine is very more accessible and, like, uh…fun? But she’s got issues and those issues cause a lot of problems for everyone around her, which, of course, makes for a great plot.

But I dunno. I’ve obsessed over this particular issue for two years. I’m going to go to great pains to make it clear my heroine is not a sexxy slutty assassin. Though, I mean, come on, people. Get over yourself. People read novels to escape. Your job as a writer is to take their hand and give them interesting characters who do interesting things. If you get so wrapped up in your fucking agenda that the story grinds to a halt, then, well, you have Booksmart.

I want this to be a fun read. Something you pick up and end up reading in about three days. That was what I loved about Stieg Larsson’s stuff and if I can do the same with my novel(s), then it will be a dream come true.

I Owe Zendaya An Apology About Her Ability To Portray My Novel’s Heroine In Any Movie Adaptation

Shelton Bumgarner

Sorry about that, babe.