by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I’m not getting any younger. I really need to focus on just the first novel in this projected six novel project. And, yet, I can’t help myself. I find myself mulling the arc of these six novels that depict events that occur over a generation of time.
The core of the story is one woman’s love for a dead woman’s baby. The first three novels we see the ebb and flow of that relationship. The second three novels is that baby as an adult and her struggle to revenge the brutal murder of her mother. So, in a sense, the first three novels are very much like Mare of Easttown, while the second trilogy is a lot more Stieg Larsson influenced.
I just hate how much of a late bloomer I am on this front. I have to worry about not only dropping dead of a very middle aged man type heart attack before I finish any of these novels, I also have to worry about something akin to a Fourth Turning happening in the United States in the general 2024 – 2025 timeframe.
One key issue you have to remember is the origin of this whole project to begin with — my white hot rage towards the Trumplandia experiment. That was what ultimately caused me to have not only something to say, but the energy to say it. It wasn’t until dingus Trump wasn’t able to steal the 2020 election that I decided to pivot to telling the backstory of what was meant to be an allegory for Trumplandia.
Jesus, I can’t believe it’s been two years since I made that decision. Jesus Christ, do I need to set some deadlines! I’ll be 60 years old and still struggling to finish the first novel, the way things are going. And, I think, the looming prospect of turning 50 without having published a novel is really beginning to weigh on my mind.
I think, however, that my writing and storytelling abilities have improved significantly since I started this process. I just think I need to start taking all of this more seriously. I just can’t keep drifting towards my goal. I need to formalize things, or something.
