Tag: novel

Mass Media In The Looming Age Of AI Agents

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The modern Web makes no sense in the context of AI Agents beginning to roll out in 2025 and beyond. I say this because it seems as though everything in media will revolve around AI Agents.

To the point that it makes no sense for there even to be Websites at all. Rather than, say, a New York Times website, there would be an AI Agent that talked to the AI Agents of individual users.

Or something like that. Something whereby the entirety of media is re-imagined in some way, the whole paradigm will be totally reworked with AI Agents at their center.

So, just as the Web and apps changed mass media, so, too, will AI Agents. It may take a few years, but I just don’t see the point of the Web or apps if everyone has an AI Agent built-in natively to your smartphone.

It will be interesting to see how, exactly, this will work out and how long it will take for the transformation to develop. But it’s coming — in a big way.

I Really Do Miss Seoul A Great Deal, Sometimes

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The crux of the issue whenever I think about Seoul is it’s obviously my youth, not Seoul itself that I miss. And I’ve Romanized my time in Seoul to such an absurd degree that I know if I ever return it will be a huge let down.

Hell, it was a huge let down the last time I was there.

But a part of me wants to return just to touch base with the place before I drop dead. Though, obviously, if, say, the DPRK collapses and there’s a sudden surge in demand for English teachers there….who knows, I might somehow, magically, find myself there?

And, yet, I have to accept some basic things — even if I suddenly become “famous” and “successful” enough to go back to South Korea some sort of conquering hero — that is not going to change how fucking old I am. I’m just a very, very different person than I was in late 2006 – early 2008.

If you want to read about what the fuck happened, here it is:

Somehow.docx (1)Download

I Have So Much Work To Do On My Writing

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve finally — FINALLY — gotten around to the point where I feel up to working on all these novels I’ve paused. It’s going to be a struggle, but I hope to get something, anything done by the end of the year so I can begin the querying process.

It doesn’t help that 1) I’m old 2) my life could be totally upended as a by product of the MAGA Revolution.

I suppose some of you reading this will cheer that second part, but if you do — fuck you, you piece of shit. 🙂

But all I can do is just write and develop as fast as I can, I suppose. It definitely seems as though this rather…unique…situation I’ve found myself in the last few years is going to come to a rather abrupt end because of fucking MAGA cocksuckers.

Sigh.

Back To Writing

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

So. I’ve moped around long enough. Time to throw myself back into writing. I continue to have a certain level of unease about what is going to happen once Trump crashes into the presidency again, but, lulz, there’s not much I can do about it.

I’m just going to have to accept that his policies might, in some way, directly change my life in a rather dramatic fashion! And no one will give a shit. And I’m just going to have to suffer.

Lulz?

But at least I’m not staring out into space for hours at end like I was for much of the latter half of 2024. I’ve finally begun to roust myself out of my stupor to the point that I’m ready to rock again when it comes to writing.

I hope to do some structural rewrites of the novel I’ve completed by significantly increasing the stakes with an eye towards what the novel’s world might be later on in the series.

Meanwhile, I am also going to work on some scifi novels I have rolling around in my mind. I may — MAY — have found an “editor” — or at least “reader” — to help me out with my writing, which might really help things going forward.

But that is very much up in the air.

I do, however, believe that not-so-gradually, I should — should — start to ramp up my production of copy in the coming days. I hope to get back into my old routine of writing a lot during the course of the day.

I just hope I don’t get so wrapped up with getting published as soon as possible that Bad Things happen…again.

My Scifi Novel Continues To Move At A Nice Clip

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I am just about the wrap up the first act of the scifi novel I’ve been toying with some of late. It’s just a vomit draft. The scenes are really short as of right now, but the point is to just get something, anything down so I can move on.

It’s at least possible, I suppose, that I might get a first rough draft completed by around my birthday in February. A lot could go wrong, of course, between now and then but it’s at least nice to dream that that might be possible.

I have all these other stories rolling around in my mind that I am interested in writing. One of them is really great and I really want to turn some attention to it, but I have a flow going with the main scifi novel so I don’t want to disrupt that.

So, I’m going to keep at it with this main scifi novel. And that, of course, doesn’t even address the six novel thriller project I have on the backburner that I want to do something with at some point.

But, we’ll see, I guess.

My New Scifi Novel Is Moving Pretty Quick

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve decided to “just write” with this new novel, outside of some bare minimum outlining. I am just burnt out from the other way I did a novel and want to just enjoy writing for the sake of it again.

This scifi novel revisits some pretty important themes for me in my writing.

But the key issue is speed. I really hope to wrap up a “vomit,” bare bones first draft pretty quick then sit down and actually, with the second draft, spend some time fleshing out the novel to the point that it is, well, actually a novel.

The novel deals with AI, the Singularity and small town life. I’m really searching my mind for various post-Singularity technologies to use. But it’s difficult — I’m not nearly as smart as some scifi writers or in tune with what is possible.

But that is, to some extent, besides the point of the novel. The point is to write a really personal novel that helps me explain some of my kooky behavior in the last year or so. Yet we’ll see, of course.

Man, 2024 Was A Shitty Year For Me Personally — And 2025 Isn’t Looking Great, Either

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

So, it’s almost 2025 and the more I think about what happened to me in 2024, the shittery the year becomes. Several years ago, I had hopes of going back to South Korea around July 2024 — the 20th anniversary of me going to Asia the first time.

Wow, did that NOT work out

Anyway. At least I’m slowly getting back into my usual OCD self when it comes to writing. It’s been a very slow slog, though. Months of just staring out into creative space, feeling sad for myself and not using this unique and precious moment in my life to get as much writing done as possible.

A lot of this came from realizing that I’m just not going to miraculously right my life by selling a novel and making it big that way. Or, put another way, even if that DID happen, I’m still going to be old.

I’m still going to be too old to have grandchildren, under the most ideal of circumstances. Even if I magically became a success, I would be way too fucking old to date some smoking hot 24 year old without people raising their eyebrows at such a social indiscretion.

Those cold, hard, facts, have been rolling around my mind for months now. It’s been a real struggle to reach acceptance on that front. And, honestly, I can’t tell you that I have even yet.

But at least I’m going forward with my writing in some respect. That’s about all I can be grateful for at the moment.

I look towards 2025 and realize because of various Trump policies, my life could be totally upended. This is where I say if you support Trump — fuck you, you fucking cocksucker. (Unless I’m related to you, then you get a pass.)

Anyway. Now that THAT is out of the way — I suspect some pretty fucking wild things are going to happen in 2025 that might totally shake up my life in ways that I can’t truly imagine at the moment.

The Scifi Novel I’m Working On Started As Something Like a Tech ‘Shiva Baby’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

So. I really went through a lot through much of 2024. It probably was one of the worst years I’ve had in 15 years. But, somehow, somehow, I managed to survive.

There came a point when I was totally locked up when it came to writing fiction. I just did not, could not, focus my mind in such a way that I could possibly produce anything of note.

That has gradually changed in the last little bit. It all started to change when I came up with about five short story ideas. Of course, being the ambitious person that I am, I soon realized that, fuck it, why not turn them into novels.

The main one I’m working on at the moment started off as something of a tech Shiva Baby in the sense it was focused around the events of one moment in time. Rather than a Shiva, this story was set around a long Thanksgiving weekend at some point in the “near future.”

And yet, with the aid of several chatbots, I’ve started to figure out ways to flesh this particular scifi story so it now stretches from Thanksgiving to early January.

I’ve tried to make the stakes of the story as high as possible and I’m really taking a different approach with this novel. Rather than getting bogged down with making the first draft a “perfect” as possible, I’m just generally outlining it then just writing.

I’m hoping that if I can produce a pretty good “vomit draft” that will speed up the process of actually getting this baby to the point where I can pitch it to a literary agent.

Writing For The Sheer Joy Of It

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have two novel ideas I’m working on now that I’m doing in a really casual way just for the sheer fun of it. I was really organized and methodical with the other novel I worked on (and am still writing in a way) and I just want to write just to write with these two.

It’s too easy to grow overwhelmed and burnt out when you really fixate on making things absolute just right with the development of a novel. I should know, it kept happening to me with the other novel — to the point that I need to just kind of chill out out on rewriting it for the time being.

But the two novels — one a zombie novel, the other a scifi novel, are really good and I’m trying — *trying* — to speed the process up by using AI to work on development. If I could have two solid novels done in about a year, that would be great.

I just realized I have a THIRD novel that I’ve gamed out even more than these two novels. It’s also really good, but I don’t know, I forgot about it because it wasn’t as easy to get into writing for some reason.

Struggling With A Scifi Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have a really great scifi novel — actually two — yet I’m struggling as to how to flesh it out. Or, in fact, both of them. They started off as short stories but I realized that both their premises were good enough to be novels if I was just creative enough.

Given that I’m trying to be as marketable as possible, the novels are both going to feature short chapters, and single male POVs. That’s the goal, at least. That is the type of stuff I’ve realized helps sells novels — that’s what the audience wants, so that’s what the audience gets.

I’m not all that pleased about the situation, but I supposed I can’t change it. It sure would help if I could use more than one POV that was third person intimate, but people kept complaining about getting confused in my first novel about changing POVs.

It’s all very annoying.

But I’m giving the whole thing as much deep thought as possible. I hope to finish an outline pretty soon. Maybe outlines for both of the novels.