D.T. Neal's Blog, page 2
June 3, 2025
Transhumanist
Working on the SF novel that's coming out in August, I've gradually come to realize that my humanism has slowly become transhumanism.
Not in the loud & loutish techbro way, but rather in a sense that humanity still has a lot of room to improve, and we desperately need to if we're to survive as a species.
Philosophically, mentally, emotionally, ideologically -- there is so much humankind needs to do if we're to survive this liminal era.
I'd been cognizant of the threat the GOP posed way back in my 20s, in the 1990s. Their conduct even then foretold where we are today. The Dems and their mawkish surrender to Capital from the Bill Clinton years onward is another part of the problem.
The world (and humanity) deserves so much better than we have going on right now. The old humanistic perceptions of our own awesomeness boil away in the face of the casual, systemic cruelty and evil we inflict on each other and the world at large.
Ergo, transhumanism. I want better for humanity. I want us to do and be better than we have been. I'm tired of the unrealistic "realists" using technology to shoot down alternatives to the status quo. They're part of the problem.
I'm sick of the sclerotic religiosity of conventional morality masquerading as "good" in a world that is so clearly not good (speaking primarily of America, here).
The fear, rage, ignorance, and hatred that's rampant in the status quo does us no favors if we're to have a future other than our extinction. Maybe we're doomed. But I try to be optimistic.
The reality for me is that I'm looking beyond humanity for some sense of our salvation, rather than believing in our innately human virtues being enough to save us. The status quo (a world ruled/owned by billionaires and corporations) is untenable.
We deserve better.
Not in the loud & loutish techbro way, but rather in a sense that humanity still has a lot of room to improve, and we desperately need to if we're to survive as a species.
Philosophically, mentally, emotionally, ideologically -- there is so much humankind needs to do if we're to survive this liminal era.
I'd been cognizant of the threat the GOP posed way back in my 20s, in the 1990s. Their conduct even then foretold where we are today. The Dems and their mawkish surrender to Capital from the Bill Clinton years onward is another part of the problem.
The world (and humanity) deserves so much better than we have going on right now. The old humanistic perceptions of our own awesomeness boil away in the face of the casual, systemic cruelty and evil we inflict on each other and the world at large.
Ergo, transhumanism. I want better for humanity. I want us to do and be better than we have been. I'm tired of the unrealistic "realists" using technology to shoot down alternatives to the status quo. They're part of the problem.
I'm sick of the sclerotic religiosity of conventional morality masquerading as "good" in a world that is so clearly not good (speaking primarily of America, here).
The fear, rage, ignorance, and hatred that's rampant in the status quo does us no favors if we're to have a future other than our extinction. Maybe we're doomed. But I try to be optimistic.
The reality for me is that I'm looking beyond humanity for some sense of our salvation, rather than believing in our innately human virtues being enough to save us. The status quo (a world ruled/owned by billionaires and corporations) is untenable.
We deserve better.
May 31, 2025
Happy Birthday, Book
Today I'm starting on the book I'd mentioned in earlier posts. This'll be a novel, around 80K words planned, with a traditional publisher in mind for it.
Just noting it, since I normally haven't posted on the first day of a WIP. Seems appropriate for this one, for whatever reason.
With the obligatory long turnaround with trad, it'll be interesting to document that journey, seeing how it goes. I'm sure lurkers on this blog are waiting with bated breath for updates on this. Hahah!
Anyway, off I go...
Just noting it, since I normally haven't posted on the first day of a WIP. Seems appropriate for this one, for whatever reason.
With the obligatory long turnaround with trad, it'll be interesting to document that journey, seeing how it goes. I'm sure lurkers on this blog are waiting with bated breath for updates on this. Hahah!
Anyway, off I go...
May 28, 2025
Sightseeing
Day after launch day for SIGHTSEER, the usual "off into the void" kind of vibe.
I don't have cultivated cheering sections for my work, so when it goes out, it's right into the attention-span abyss, with the hope that those few who read it will rate & review it. We'll see.
I've just finished my revisions for the next SF novel, the one I've already mentioned that comes out in August. This one might ruffle feathers (although it's likelier to fly off into the void like all the others). If I had to describe it briefly, it's a fusion of:
CHILDHOOD'S END (Clarke)
STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND (Heinlein)
THE DISPOSSESSED (Le Guin)
...among other things. But the feel of the above flows into this one. Hopefully people will enjoy it.
As far as new projects go, I'm waiting before I dive into Book 4 of The Shutterclique and Book 2 of The Plastic Fantastic. Those'll likely be underway (as in me writing them) in 2026.
Near term, I'm going to do the first draft of a book that's been nagging me, one that really wants to be written, so I'm obliging it, at least for the first draft.
It'll be one of several books that're intended for traditional publishing, so I'll begin the whole rigamarole of querying, trying to find an agent, etc. I haven't done that dance since the early '00s, so I'll have to crack my knuckles and get that all rolling again.
If all goes according to plan, I'll bend up a hybrid writer -- some work in trad, some indie, with those lanes being discrete and genre-distinct.
I don't expect or even anticipate any crossover between genres, so any that occurs will be a happy coincidence. For me, for now, what matters is getting some work out there that can hope to find audience. Audience is everything.
I don't have cultivated cheering sections for my work, so when it goes out, it's right into the attention-span abyss, with the hope that those few who read it will rate & review it. We'll see.
I've just finished my revisions for the next SF novel, the one I've already mentioned that comes out in August. This one might ruffle feathers (although it's likelier to fly off into the void like all the others). If I had to describe it briefly, it's a fusion of:
CHILDHOOD'S END (Clarke)
STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND (Heinlein)
THE DISPOSSESSED (Le Guin)
...among other things. But the feel of the above flows into this one. Hopefully people will enjoy it.
As far as new projects go, I'm waiting before I dive into Book 4 of The Shutterclique and Book 2 of The Plastic Fantastic. Those'll likely be underway (as in me writing them) in 2026.
Near term, I'm going to do the first draft of a book that's been nagging me, one that really wants to be written, so I'm obliging it, at least for the first draft.
It'll be one of several books that're intended for traditional publishing, so I'll begin the whole rigamarole of querying, trying to find an agent, etc. I haven't done that dance since the early '00s, so I'll have to crack my knuckles and get that all rolling again.
If all goes according to plan, I'll bend up a hybrid writer -- some work in trad, some indie, with those lanes being discrete and genre-distinct.
I don't expect or even anticipate any crossover between genres, so any that occurs will be a happy coincidence. For me, for now, what matters is getting some work out there that can hope to find audience. Audience is everything.
May 26, 2025
Musical Musings
That post I did yesterday about Spacehog got me thinking about any number of 90s bands I loved back then, still love, will always love, who never really got their due (in my estimation).
For me, they always punched well above their weight class and yet in the fractionating pop cultural landscape/wasteland, just didn't click with all the normies out there (or even many of the audiophiles).
Some of these bands are still out there touring, some never stopped, some are still turning out rock-solid albums.
Of course, reading between the lines, you can see why I might have an affinity for excellent-yet-underappreciated art. They resonate with me.
Here are some of them, with a representative tune, in case you haven't listened to them before. If you're lurking this blog, you've likely seen them before; I'm loyal in my fandom:
Harvey Danger | Cream & Bastards Rise
Bettie Serveert | Balentine
Catherine Wheel | I Want to Touch You
Swervedriver | My Zephyr Sequel
Screaming Trees | Bed of Roses
Suede | Animal Nitrate
Stabbing Westward | Shame
The Toadies | Possum Kingdom
Mudhoney | Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More
Teenage Fanclub | Everything Flows
Love Battery | Half Past You
The Vines | The Winning Days
Spacehog (already covered them)
Obviously, my love of electric guitar looms large in these various clips. All of these bands hold a special place with me, both representative of my 20-something self and still resonating in my 50s (and, if I'm lucky, beyond).
For me, they always punched well above their weight class and yet in the fractionating pop cultural landscape/wasteland, just didn't click with all the normies out there (or even many of the audiophiles).
Some of these bands are still out there touring, some never stopped, some are still turning out rock-solid albums.
Of course, reading between the lines, you can see why I might have an affinity for excellent-yet-underappreciated art. They resonate with me.
Here are some of them, with a representative tune, in case you haven't listened to them before. If you're lurking this blog, you've likely seen them before; I'm loyal in my fandom:
Harvey Danger | Cream & Bastards Rise
Bettie Serveert | Balentine
Catherine Wheel | I Want to Touch You
Swervedriver | My Zephyr Sequel
Screaming Trees | Bed of Roses
Suede | Animal Nitrate
Stabbing Westward | Shame
The Toadies | Possum Kingdom
Mudhoney | Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More
Teenage Fanclub | Everything Flows
Love Battery | Half Past You
The Vines | The Winning Days
Spacehog (already covered them)
Obviously, my love of electric guitar looms large in these various clips. All of these bands hold a special place with me, both representative of my 20-something self and still resonating in my 50s (and, if I'm lucky, beyond).
May 25, 2025
Spacehoggin'
Wrapping up revisions for my SF dystopian/utopian novel that's coming out in August.
If you've been lurking my blog awhile, you know how I often have bands who spiritually and musically resonate with the books I'm writing? I half-jokingly refer to them as the "house bands" for the WIPs.
Spacehog is definitely the "house band" for this novel. Their rocking, woefully underappreciated neo-glam is perfectly in tune with the novel, particularly the following tracks (in no particular order):
In The Meantime
Jupiter's Moon
I Want to Live
Cruel to be Kind
Lucy's Shoe
Ship Wrecked
Earthquake
The Last Dictator
Only a Few
Never Coming Down (Part 2)
Zeroes
Try to Remember
Captain Freeman
And It Is
Goodbye Violet Race
This is America
Mungo City
The Hogyssey
If you want a musical feel for this upcoming novel, work your way through these songs, and you'll get a sense of the vibe.
If you've been lurking my blog awhile, you know how I often have bands who spiritually and musically resonate with the books I'm writing? I half-jokingly refer to them as the "house bands" for the WIPs.
Spacehog is definitely the "house band" for this novel. Their rocking, woefully underappreciated neo-glam is perfectly in tune with the novel, particularly the following tracks (in no particular order):
In The Meantime
Jupiter's Moon
I Want to Live
Cruel to be Kind
Lucy's Shoe
Ship Wrecked
Earthquake
The Last Dictator
Only a Few
Never Coming Down (Part 2)
Zeroes
Try to Remember
Captain Freeman
And It Is
Goodbye Violet Race
This is America
Mungo City
The Hogyssey
If you want a musical feel for this upcoming novel, work your way through these songs, and you'll get a sense of the vibe.
May 23, 2025
Who Said Word Pimpin' Ain't Easy?
This article makes my already-boiling blood churn all the more...
https://futurism.com/fantasy-novel-ai-prompt-copy-style
I love that one of the word pimps got caught pimpin' and people reacted, but what the hell? Even though this subgenre doesn't impact me directly, the idea of it galls me.
And that one of the others mentioned in the story has apparently written 171 novels in seven years? That's like 24 books out a year.
I write quickly, but NFW can I churn out that many books a year. Four is about the limit for me, and that's pushing it. Disgraceful.
There'll likely be more word pimps out there, too, as the technology continues to develop. For those of us who're actual human writers, it's just offensive.
And the way these word pimps are shitting on indie/self-published with their AI-generated drek, it's even worse for those of us actually trying to make it as writers (itself a monumental lift).
https://futurism.com/fantasy-novel-ai-prompt-copy-style
I love that one of the word pimps got caught pimpin' and people reacted, but what the hell? Even though this subgenre doesn't impact me directly, the idea of it galls me.
And that one of the others mentioned in the story has apparently written 171 novels in seven years? That's like 24 books out a year.
I write quickly, but NFW can I churn out that many books a year. Four is about the limit for me, and that's pushing it. Disgraceful.
There'll likely be more word pimps out there, too, as the technology continues to develop. For those of us who're actual human writers, it's just offensive.
And the way these word pimps are shitting on indie/self-published with their AI-generated drek, it's even worse for those of us actually trying to make it as writers (itself a monumental lift).
May 22, 2025
It's Almost Time
SIGHTSEER launches May 27, as you've heard me mention enough times. The NetGalley reviews have been largely favorable, although I have no illusions about the Void looming after launch. It's a fun book, and people who enjoy cyberpunk should have a good time reading it.
It's funny because my attention is mostly in my Tom Robbins-esque SF novel coming out in August. I mention that because a beta reader had drawn comparisons with Tom Robbins with this novel, which amuses me.
There's a flavor of absurdist SF satire in this book that I hope readers enjoy. It might offend some sensibilities, but there's a lightheartedness to the work that confronts big issues in a comedic and satirical way.
As I've mentioned before, this book went through many rounds of revision, owing to the slow-motion collapse of our republic and institutions -- it's hard to envision a future when you're in a burning building. What was "that wouldn't happen!" years ago is like "Holy shit, that happened!" today.
That said, the August book may fire people up. Or, it'll just go off into the Void like the rest of my work and be disregarded. We'll see.
In the meantime, SIGHTSEER!
It's funny because my attention is mostly in my Tom Robbins-esque SF novel coming out in August. I mention that because a beta reader had drawn comparisons with Tom Robbins with this novel, which amuses me.
There's a flavor of absurdist SF satire in this book that I hope readers enjoy. It might offend some sensibilities, but there's a lightheartedness to the work that confronts big issues in a comedic and satirical way.
As I've mentioned before, this book went through many rounds of revision, owing to the slow-motion collapse of our republic and institutions -- it's hard to envision a future when you're in a burning building. What was "that wouldn't happen!" years ago is like "Holy shit, that happened!" today.
That said, the August book may fire people up. Or, it'll just go off into the Void like the rest of my work and be disregarded. We'll see.
In the meantime, SIGHTSEER!
May 18, 2025
Words Count
As I already mentioned earlier, I'm finalizing revisions to the SF novel that's coming out in August. It's got the longest tail of anything I've yet written, from concept to drafting to finalizing.
It's a relatively long novel (~118K words), which I think is okay for a SF novel. But I'm perhaps a little gun shy about long novels after how few people read THE CURSED EARTH (~136K words).
Since that one, I've willfully tried to keep most of my novels between 60-80K words, in deference to people's attention spans.
However, this SF novel was originally drafted by me several years ago, as I've said often enough, so it's reflecting that period of time (2011-2022) when I wrote big novels more often than not.
While I'm revising it, trimming here and there, this one is still going to be a big book. It has to be one book; it can't credibly be broken into multiple volumes. It needs to be one big book.
Anyway, it's amusing me as I sweat through my revisions, ever-mindful of the word count.
SIGHTSEER is coming out May 27, as you know. It's being appreciated on NetGalley, which is good (even some of the less ebullient reviews acknowledge that it'd make a great movie, so there's that!). My hope is more of the advance readers provide enough good reviews that I can market effectively around that and generate interest. We'll see how it goes.
My summer of Science Fiction keeps on cruising. Once I wrap up the revisions for the August novel, I'm diving into the trad novel that's itching to be written. I mapped out the characters and setting for it. This one'll have the long trad journey as I hope to entice an agent with a dazzling query letter and it finds a home with a trad publisher. We'll see how it goes. It's been so long since I mucked about with trad. First things first, and that is the writing of the first draft, which is likely to commence in a week or two.
This Trad Book will require tons of revision; I know that already (while also keeping to the <80K word count). It's going to have to be a lean, mean, reader-enchanting machine. I feel up to the task. Whether the trad world is up to it is another matter. However, that's the proper home for it.
Oh, and I may have already mentioned that I have three other books destined for Trad, if I can establish a beachhead with this one. As ever, hope goes well before the cart and the horses.
It's a relatively long novel (~118K words), which I think is okay for a SF novel. But I'm perhaps a little gun shy about long novels after how few people read THE CURSED EARTH (~136K words).
Since that one, I've willfully tried to keep most of my novels between 60-80K words, in deference to people's attention spans.
However, this SF novel was originally drafted by me several years ago, as I've said often enough, so it's reflecting that period of time (2011-2022) when I wrote big novels more often than not.
While I'm revising it, trimming here and there, this one is still going to be a big book. It has to be one book; it can't credibly be broken into multiple volumes. It needs to be one big book.
Anyway, it's amusing me as I sweat through my revisions, ever-mindful of the word count.
SIGHTSEER is coming out May 27, as you know. It's being appreciated on NetGalley, which is good (even some of the less ebullient reviews acknowledge that it'd make a great movie, so there's that!). My hope is more of the advance readers provide enough good reviews that I can market effectively around that and generate interest. We'll see how it goes.
My summer of Science Fiction keeps on cruising. Once I wrap up the revisions for the August novel, I'm diving into the trad novel that's itching to be written. I mapped out the characters and setting for it. This one'll have the long trad journey as I hope to entice an agent with a dazzling query letter and it finds a home with a trad publisher. We'll see how it goes. It's been so long since I mucked about with trad. First things first, and that is the writing of the first draft, which is likely to commence in a week or two.
This Trad Book will require tons of revision; I know that already (while also keeping to the <80K word count). It's going to have to be a lean, mean, reader-enchanting machine. I feel up to the task. Whether the trad world is up to it is another matter. However, that's the proper home for it.
Oh, and I may have already mentioned that I have three other books destined for Trad, if I can establish a beachhead with this one. As ever, hope goes well before the cart and the horses.
May 17, 2025
More Soundtracking
Wrapping up final edits for the SF novel coming out in August. As ever, I have my working music. A perennial favorite of mine is Catherine Wheel, so they turn up for me in my mental soundtrack:
I Want to Touch You
I always loved their cavernous guitar sound back in the day, when they were deep into the Shoegaze...
Black Metallic
I Confess
Crank
Flower to Hide
Judy Staring at the Sun
They're my operating "house band" for the August SF novel. There's just that otherworldly vibe to their music that works well for me while revising it.
Hopefully readers will enjoy the book. While it's one I've worked on for around eight years, the timing couldn't be more right for it in 2025.
I Want to Touch You
I always loved their cavernous guitar sound back in the day, when they were deep into the Shoegaze...
Black Metallic
I Confess
Crank
Flower to Hide
Judy Staring at the Sun
They're my operating "house band" for the August SF novel. There's just that otherworldly vibe to their music that works well for me while revising it.
Hopefully readers will enjoy the book. While it's one I've worked on for around eight years, the timing couldn't be more right for it in 2025.
May 12, 2025
Ideation
While wrapping up pre-launch marketing for SIGHTSEER, which is available for preorder, is also currently on NetGalley, incidentally, and comes out May 27...
SIGHTSEER
...and finalizing the SF book of mine (again, under the Dean Vale pen name) coming out in August, I had another SF idea pop into my head the other day that I must write.
Of course, for anyone following/lurking on this blog, you know I'm not going to say much about it, but I will spill a little. It was an idea I had a few years ago, but shelved because I was neck-deep in so many other projects, and it just jumped back into my mental spotlight.
So, it's not like it's truly a brand-new idea; rather, it's one that refuses to be ignored or delayed. Sometimes story ideas do that. They can be very insistent.
What is interesting to me about this one is that I will seek a trad venue for it, if possible. I have a handful of trad-friendly book ideas I've kept on the side over the years. This one is a must for trad. Not that I couldn't sling it out there via indie as I have so much of my output.
It's just that this one lends itself to trad. It's the right channel for it. Ergo, I'll write it up, dust off my querying skills (it's been years) and will try to pitch it to the thousand or so agents out there who might consider it.
I'm willing to do this because the book idea's so high-concept it really has to have a trad debut, even if it means the obligatory several-year delay trad puts in things. What'll be galling for me is it'll be a "debut novel" for someone who's been slinging books out there steadily since 2011. I'm just willing to put up with that because it should be able to reach a wider audience, which you know I'm forever complaining about the lack thereof for my work to date.
For now, I'm doing research, mapping out characters, all of that front-end work necessary to storytelling.
That's all I'm saying about it for now. It's a novel, it'll be by Dean Vale, and it's Science Fiction. If I do it right, it should be fun, funny, and suspenseful!
Beyond that, mum's the word! I'm just pleased my brain still conjures up stories like that, and I'm at a point in my writing life where I can crank on the stories I need to, when I need to.
SIGHTSEER
...and finalizing the SF book of mine (again, under the Dean Vale pen name) coming out in August, I had another SF idea pop into my head the other day that I must write.
Of course, for anyone following/lurking on this blog, you know I'm not going to say much about it, but I will spill a little. It was an idea I had a few years ago, but shelved because I was neck-deep in so many other projects, and it just jumped back into my mental spotlight.
So, it's not like it's truly a brand-new idea; rather, it's one that refuses to be ignored or delayed. Sometimes story ideas do that. They can be very insistent.
What is interesting to me about this one is that I will seek a trad venue for it, if possible. I have a handful of trad-friendly book ideas I've kept on the side over the years. This one is a must for trad. Not that I couldn't sling it out there via indie as I have so much of my output.
It's just that this one lends itself to trad. It's the right channel for it. Ergo, I'll write it up, dust off my querying skills (it's been years) and will try to pitch it to the thousand or so agents out there who might consider it.
I'm willing to do this because the book idea's so high-concept it really has to have a trad debut, even if it means the obligatory several-year delay trad puts in things. What'll be galling for me is it'll be a "debut novel" for someone who's been slinging books out there steadily since 2011. I'm just willing to put up with that because it should be able to reach a wider audience, which you know I'm forever complaining about the lack thereof for my work to date.
For now, I'm doing research, mapping out characters, all of that front-end work necessary to storytelling.
That's all I'm saying about it for now. It's a novel, it'll be by Dean Vale, and it's Science Fiction. If I do it right, it should be fun, funny, and suspenseful!
Beyond that, mum's the word! I'm just pleased my brain still conjures up stories like that, and I'm at a point in my writing life where I can crank on the stories I need to, when I need to.
