by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
I have one solid chapter at this point in the process and trying to build out from it. The more I think about this novel, the more it appears to be a hybrid of several different other works of pop literature and art. Among the other stories greatly influencing what I’m writing are The Martian, Dome, The Girl Who Played With Fire, Mission: Impossible — Fallout, Arrival, Contact and what little I know of the story-line of Annihilation.
In its own way, the story is also meant to be a critique of Trump’s America. It novel names names in a direct political fashion that might make it divisive. My fear is it would be viewed by those in the extreme Right as some sort of bizarre Leftist Turner Diaries. That’s not my goal at all. My goal is write a rip-roaring yarn that makes some pretty specific political points along the way. I want this to be a summer beach read that is so easy-breeze you can read it over the course of a long weekend and recommend to your spouse mid-way through.
But on a more basic level, if I can write a novel that is good enough for one (1!) person who I don’t know will read, enjoy and ask me when the next book is coming out, I will have succeeded. That’s because generally people think my writing sucks.
