Month: March 2021

My Experiences In Seoul, My Novel & ‘Write What You Know’


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The expat scene in Seoul — at least when I was there — was an overheated caldron of creativity. And there were a lot — and I mean A LOT — of freaky weirdos running around. Myself included.

So many larger-than-life characters were roaming around that I often would look at one of them and say to their face, “You’re like a character in a novel.” Little did I know that many moons later I would make them characters in MY novel.

But here I am.

I find myself leaning into what I remember of those freaky expats as I develop characters in the latest version of this novel. My memory of those people is so vivid that when I find myself struggling to think up some colorful aspect of this or that character I just say, “Well, do I remember any expats in Seoul that would fit that bill?”

I’ve come up with a pretty direct way of being able to use these characters as well. One of the unique things about being an expat in South Korea is you’re always one disaster away from being kicked out of the country for good.

Anyway. Things are moving really fast with my revised vision for this story where it’s split into two novels, one story. Right now, I need to do a lot of reading and distract myself in some way so I can figure out how to fill up the second half of the second act before the sun goes dark.

Georgia As Setup For America’s 2024 Catastrophe


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It’s growing clear that our choice in 2024 will be quite stark. The move to restrict voting rights in Georgia indicates that the setup is being established for Republicans to finally, finally get their macro wish — to make it so difficult to vote that people finally give up and let them run roughshod over our undead liberal democracy.

This is where you never can tell.

On one hand, it’s possible that now that the passions of the Trump Era are easing that voters will get sucker punched in 2024 and they will either lulz it and let Republicans rape our republic or they will grow enraged and, well..dun dun dun there’s a civil war.

This setup will grow even more obvious the moment Republicans take control of Congress again. It’s going to suck so bad. The one-two punch of severe voter restrictions and a Congress controlled by fascists pretty much means the end of our liberal democracy is here…unless there’s a civil war and solve our systemic problems that way.

And, don’t forget, either way — autocracy or civil war — there’s a good chance that the entire world order will be re-arranged. No matter how much fucking MAGA cocksuckers may want us to think otherwise — America is the indispensable nation and we’re the glue that keeps the world together. Take us out of the equation and…oh boy. I would estimate within a year of us “bringing the boys home” nearly half a billion people could be vaporized. Indian and Pakistan are always one misstep away from blowing each other to hell. Take the US out of world affairs and that particular disaster is almost a foregone conclusion.

As I keep saying, the issue is — enjoy this quiet before the storm. These two years before Congress flips may be the most quiet we get for the rest of the decade.

Building A Mystery


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

So, everything is going well with this allegorical scifi spy thriller about the Trump Era I’m working on, but for one thing — I continue to struggle with figuring out how my characters will reverse engineer the “mystery” which is the whole point of why you read this thing to begin with.

But, thankfully, to date, whenever I get a “blockage” like this, after a few days I mulling things, it breaks and an answer comes flooding into my mind. I definitely feel a bit of creative constipation right now, though. Yet, occasionally, I’ll have a glimpse of a solution to all of this and that gives me hope that as long I write something, anything down then I can clean it up later.

The specifics of this story have changed a great deal since I thought it up but the general story remains the same, even if I keep splitting it and fusing it back together again and again as I struggled to figure out how to best tell this story.

And, yet, I’m feeling pretty confident. There is still plenty opportunity for someone to steal a march on me in some way, but as I keep saying — make decisions on what you do know, not on what you don’t know.

The key thing, I think, about this novel is a lot of the problems I’m having I would have with any novel I worked on and, as such, that’s one of the reasons why I keep plugging along.

I’ve come up with a great story split into novels and all I have to do is put the work into it for it to be a success.

A Somewhat Bemusing Story About Myself & Dan Balz Of The Washington Post


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I fancy myself someone who can talk to anyone. I have a bit of Larry King in me in that respect. In 2016, the vice presidential debate was (somewhat) near my home so I went to Farmville to check it out.

A few things remain vivid in my mind of this event. One is, the State Police apparently thought I was a deranged lunatic because they kept getting extremely close to me as if to intemidate me away from the event. They stared at me a lot too –full on stink eye. It doesn’t really jibe with my self-perception to be seen as a some sort of threat to anyone, so them making it clear I wasn’t welcome did wonders for my self-esteem, let me tell you.

Another thing I remember was meeting Lou Dobbs and instantly realizing he was a massive dickhead. I met him for just a moment and shook his hand and I instantly knew he was extremely arrogant.

The last thing I remember is meeting one of my journalistic heroes, Dan Balz of The Washington Post. I spoke to him very briefly and joked that, “I’m the guy all the security is meant to prevent getting anywhere near the inside.”

Now, in my mind, the context was meant to be self-deprecating and tinged with hyperbole as if to say, “Imagine that!”

And, yet, the instant I said it, you could tell from his body language that he was startled. That, too, did wonders for my self-esteem. He took my joke literally and for the rest of the day I avoided him at all costs in fear he was going to sick the law on me.

Anyway. That was a long time ago.

Jessica Chastain & My Novel


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve entered a rough patch with the latest iteration of this novel because, well, I’m at something a lost as to how to fill the huge gaping whole in my outline in the second half of the second act.

But a few things are keeping me going. One is, the stuff that I have managed to figure out is really cool. Another is, there are elements of the novel in my mind I love so much that I’m willing to push forward until I solve the problems at hand. Among these is a character that pops up at the midpoint who is inspired by Jessica Chastain.

I really live her vibe as an actor and that vibe dovetails nicely with the OTHER woman I’m drawing inspiration from. So the character is something of a muddled mix of both women.

The main problem as of right now is the character is an FBI agent and I know jack crap about what an FBI agent might do in the situation I’ve put her in. But you can’t edit a blank page as they say, so I’m giving myself a pretty short deadline to fill my outline with something, anything that I can use to write a serious first draft with.

Each time I have one of these existential reboots of the novel, it gets significantly better. But each time I’m also reminded of how much reading I need to do to make this the best possible two novels, once story it can possibly be.

Some Idle Thoughts About Space Aliens


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m growing more and more sure in my belief that the universe is teaming with life, much of it intelligent and for some reason we just haven’t encountered it yet.

The reason why I believe this is earth has so much life — that started as soon as it could — that I find it difficult to believe that life didn’t pop up in the universe the moment it cooled down enough for it to happen.

This leads to the age old question — where is everybody?

There are a huge number of potential solutions. One solution is that we’re in some sort of Matrix situation and we’re all living in a vat and the universe we’re seeing isn’t the real one. Why this might be the case is best left to science fiction.

Another possible solution is there’s a very well established galactic order of some sort that that simply isn’t all that interested in us right now. They know about us, probably are monitoring closely but are waiting for us to meet some metric before introducing themselves.

This Novel Is Shaping Up To Be An Extremely Fast Read


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It’s times like these when I wince at how much time I’ve wasted on this novel that could have been avoided if I had a wife or a girlfriend. I’ve finally come up with a solution I’ve used before — splitting the story into two books with the first book being a cliffhanger — and now it’s beginning to sink in what a fast read I’ve come up with. This is a solution I suspect a wife or a girlfriend would have suggested years ago.

The first book uses the Hero as the protagonist and the second book uses the Heroine as the protagonist. This is something that wasn’t clear when it was just one big book.

The inspiration for this novel.

It was size that force my hand on splitting the story in two. I was all excited that I was at the midpoint of the novel when I looked at the scene count and realized the whole thing was just too long — 200 scenes. Even if you were charitable and said not every scene would be 1,000 words, that still probably would have gotten me to about 160,000 words which is just too long.

So, I decided to again split the story in two. Now, I’m going to be far closer to the “sweet spot” of 100,000 words and have some wiggle room to get to maybe 120,000 or 130,000 words so I can flesh out characters more.

I’m actually beginning to do the reading I need to do in order to flesh characters out, but it’s slow going. They say if you have time to write you have time to read and that’s what’s driving me to read more.

Anyway, I’m very pleased with the state of the two novels, one story right now. I keep struggling with how I could make this a trilogy, but the only way I can think of is to make one of the books a prequel that would explore the extremely well-thought-out backstory to this universe I’ve come up with. In fact, I could actually write two prequels, but that’s something I would only do if the first two novels in the series were a huge success and there was obviously some interest in seeing all this stuff only previously alluded to.

The Agony And The Ecstasy Of The Clusterfuck Of 2024


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m not saying I can predict the future, but it’s pretty easy to see that as the book The Fourth Turning suggests, something pretty fucking huge is going to happen “before 2025.” The thing about catastrophe is if you’re lucky, in the end ,there is some sort of redemption. It doesn’t make it “worth it,” because it’s a fucking avoidable tragedy, but it does at least force people to pick a direction, any direction.

As such, the impending 2024 global catastrophe at least will slice the Gordian Knot of a number of systemic issues that have been brewing for some time now. If we come out the other side and the “good guys” win, then huge swaths of problems that we currently see as immutable and intractable will be solve in a rather abrupt manner. If the “bad guys” of MAGA win, those same problems will be solved as well, albeit in the exact opposite manner.

I don’t think enough people realize how dangerous 2024 is going to be for the entire world. It will be a pivotal moment in human history given it’s difficult not to imagine WMD being used not just internationally, but domestically as well. There’s a real chance that America is going to bomb itself into oblivion in some sort of nuclear-tipped civil war.

But the specifics of such an event are extremely murky right now because I just don’t know who would be leading the two sides and what their strengths and weaknesses might be. All I know right now is the United States’ political system is unprepared for the passions of another presidential cycle and the whole thing is going to unravel either into a violent civil war or a decent into autocracy. There will be no middle ground. We, as a nation, will be forced to pick a fate and everyone is going to have to pick a side. The choice will be stark and terrifying when it happens. There’s a reason why, “May you live in interesting times” is a curse.

A lot of things we worry so much about now will be looked back upon as comical. It’s difficult to be offended at every little slight when you’ve lived through a civil war where 20-30 million people have died. And, alternately, if we turn into an autocracy, you’ll be so worried about avoiding ICE agent thugs that the notion of “cancel culture” will seem rather quaint.

If you want to be hopeful, you can say at least there’s the chance for a “renewed American Covenant” if there’s a civil war. That is, of course, is if there’s a clean ending. If it’s murky, then the United States will split into two nations that absolutely hate each other. Though, I have to note that it’s possible that the entire map of North America might be redrawn in the event of a Second American Civil War.

It’s difficult to imagine that Canada (and NATO) wouldn’t get drawn into a Second American Civil War if it actually happened.

The point is — you have about four years to prepare for a Second American Civil War and / or World War 3. Millions may die. The old order will end and something new will arise from the ashes. It’ll either be a New Dawn or a dystopian hellscape.

No fate but what we make, as they say.

Of ‘Cancel Culture’ & My Novel


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

In the latest version of this novel, cancel culture and its implications have grown pretty big. It’s a useful way to make the story both interesting and timely. But, and this is a big but — I have to be very careful how approach this subject.

It’s not like I can just throw “cancel culture” into the mix without realizing that there is a sizable portion of the audience who will agree that my hero SHOULD have been “canceled” for what I describe him doing and there’s no possible thing he could do to achieve the crux of any great story — redemption.

The only thing I can do is really think hard about how to approach the situation and to take it very seriously. In fact, I would go so far as to say in all honesty I shouldn’t even touch the subject of cancel culture given how fraught it is with people taking extreme positions one way or another.

But, for various reasons, I see addressing cancel culture head on as existential to the story and, as such, I’m going to touch that particular hot oven knowing full well what might happen to me.

The only consolation I might get from any of this is the “canceling” happens so late in the story that hopefully by that point I will have prepared the reader for it and also made them like my Hero enough not to throw the book across the room.

Of course, I’m old enough to know that should I sell this novel (which is highly unlikely) that it would be the cancel culture aspect of the story that everyone would talk about.

So, in a sense, I can’t win. But at least I know what I’m getting myself into by touching on the subject in the first place.

Weimar America’s Fourth Turning


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

We have to be honest with ourselves. America’s political system is rotting to the point that it’s undead. And once our politics isn’t undead but just, well, dead, then we’re in deep trouble.

The events of 2020 were so unique that what should have happened — Trump being re-elected — didn’t happen. But the systemic rot within our political system that allowed Trump’s rise is still very much there. Now, I’m reading a book called The Fourth Turning which, on the face of it, seems to jibe very well with my own predictions for America’s future.

The book says that “before 2025” there will be a major crisis on a par with WW2. I agree, and, yet, I’m growing ever-more leery of how certain the book is with its predictions. There’s no reveled truth and I don’t think there’s anything all that special about America’s “13th generation.” The whole thing smacks too much of New Age pseudoscience for people like Steve Bannon for my liking. There’s something just a little bit too on-the nose for what the book claims about the ebb and flow of history.

Seems like there’s a lot of reverse-engineering on the author’s part. They came up with an idea and changed it as necessary to sell books.

Anyway, having said all that, I have to give them credit — what they say about America’s fate ‘before 2025″ definitely really does jibe with my own predictions.

The thing about Trump as a serious political figure is what he simply was not capable of doing. All things being equal, he really should have strangled our liberal democracy in the months leading up to the 2020 election. In fact, that he didn’t do so is one of the more unexpected political events of the 21st Century. He had America spread eagle in front of him, ready for him to remake her in his own imagine…and he choked.

From a macro political standpoint, it’s nothing short of surreal.

So, if you combine the pandemic, Joe Biden being very moderate and Trump being a huge ding-dong, America was spared from tyranny for at least another four years.

And, yet, it’s only four years.

I just don’t see America lasting through the passions of another presidential cycle. The country is either going to implode into a vicious, bloody civil war or descend into a fascist managed democracy where people like me either get pushed out of windows for not shutting up or put in an ICE camp for the very same thing.

What’s more, under either option there’s probably going to be World War III because the United States is either going to be too busy destroying itself or our new autocrat will pull all our troops out of our bases across the globe.

Something very unexpected would have to happen to prevent such a fate. It’s not like we can punt our systemic political problems down the road forever. The Republican Party hates democracy, POC and women and it’s only a matter of time before they start to draw very heavily from the fascist playbook.

That will either cause a civil war or they’ll be successful in turning us into a managed democracy like they have in Russia. I honestly don’t have any ready answers for any of this.

The simple answer is to leave the country now if you have the opportunity and means. The more complicated answer is, well, YOLO. The moment the Republicans take over Congress in 2022, the fuse will be lit for The Fourth Turning to happen.