Here we are, at the beginning of another year.
2022 was an interesting year for me, in a number of ways, not all of them good.
I’ve got a lot I want to talk about in this post, as a few things have changed. Let’s get started.
WHAT I GOT DONE IN 2022
I wrapped up the freebies trilogies, and finally wrote the Epilogue to Lust & Adventure.
I completed A Warm Place.
I completed Our Own Way.
I got three Raw novels out.
I finally started doing audiobooks!
I launched and almost finished the Monster Girl Inn Trilogy.
I took down my entire backlog and posted it to Smashwords and to this website as free downloads.
I wrote a short story that will be in a haremlit anthology called Damsels & Dragons. You can contribute to the Kickstarter here!
I managed to get at least some work done on my mysterious Horror Harem project.
And that’s it. In early 2022, I decided I needed to take a more relaxed stance on my expectations and prioritize my mental health. Obviously, not only did my productivity take a hit, but I didn’t really stick to it, as more than once I hit really bad, really hardcore burnout and misery. This is why I didn’t produce all that much this year. I’m hoping to correct this in 2023.
WHAT I HOPE TO GET DONE IN 2023
Finish Monster Girl Inn. I’m intending to finish up the third book soon, within the next week or two.
Finish Raw. This is sort of my big project for the year. I have 5 more novels to write in this series and I’m really aiming to get them done sooner rather than later.
Write a cougar harem trilogy. I’ll speak more about it later, but basically, I’m finally going all-in on a modern day, genuine cougar harem story. It’s going to be pure slice-of-life.
Get at least one horror harem novel written. I had a LOT of false starts on this one, but I feel pretty good about the current project.
I’ll be removing Like A Fine Wine in February. I’ll talk about it more below for the curious.
Get a lot more audiobooks out, although I don’t really have any control over this. It’s all in RGP’s hands, and so far they’re handling it very well.
I added an exhaustive bibliography that chronicles everything I have ever written. I’ll probably make a self-indulgent post talking about some of the titles I’ve never spoken of before that have been acknowledged by this bibliography.
I have released all of my backlog (save for Parasexual, but it is coming very soon) on my website as free, kindle-friendly files. You can download them all here! (Like A Fine Wine will be added after it comes down.)
I’m also hoping to get a bit more work done on my incest erotica and Dragon Age fan fiction, but obviously these are rather low priority at the moment.
You may have been looking for the rewrite of Our Own Way and the near-future sci-fi slice-of-life I mentioned in previous updates on the list, and if that is the case, don’t worry, they are not abandoned, they have just been pushed down the line. I will explain the reason for this below.
REFLECTIONS & REVELATIONS
A bit dramatic, but that’s what I do sometimes. I made references to the fact that I had been spending the final portion of 2022 reflecting on, well, just about everything. That, combined with a few other things, has caused me to reconsider my overall approach to my writing career. I’ll go over these changes and my reasonings behind them below.
Here was the biggest thing that I realized, and it sort of hit me like a truck: my haremlit offerings are severely depleted. Removing most of my backlog left my library anemic, and when I made the call to remove Parasexual & Like A Fine Wine, that was sort of a ‘holy shit’ moment. At present, I have 5 haremlit series on offer. While two of them are finished and series I still feel pretty good about, two of them aren’t yet finished, and one of those two unfinished series is a trilogy that did not do very well. The final series, while finished, also suffers from a triple threat of being A) novellas, B) poorly covered, and C) labeled as erotica. Our Own Way’s potential was mangled beyond hope of salvation without a full-fledged rewrite by my handling of it. But in my defense, it was just a little side project to help keep my sanity, I had no idea people would respond to it so strongly, nor that I would come up with so many extra ideas after the fact. Because of having such a depleted library, I realized, I need not just more titles, but more series, and quickly. This has led me to the decision of creating a few trilogies (like the upcoming cougar harem).
This leads into my next revelation: I really need to stop writing nine novel epics. It’s causing problems, and kind of on almost every front. Creatively, financially, from the reader’s side of things, just all around, problems. I’ve ultimately determined that series consisting of fewer, but longer, novels will ultimately be better for everyone. They’ll be better for me, because I can go through a series more quickly and effectively and stave off burnout, and they’ll be better for you as I feel like I’ll be able to deliver a better-told narrative. So instead of nine 60,000 word novels, I’ll be aiming for something closer to 5-6 80-90,000 word novels.
Next: I can lean more into the slice-of-life aspects of my work. From my perspective, my works fall onto a spectrum where one end reads SURVIVAL and the other reads SLICE-OF-LIFE. Obviously, Monster Girl Inn leans more towards slice-of-life, while A Warm Place and Raw lean more towards survival. The truth of the matter is that while I enjoy writing both, on the whole, I’m finding that I enjoy writing slice-of-life stuff more. Our Own Way was something of a revelation. I didn’t know people were so interested in something where the stakes were so low, comparatively speaking. I have a number of ideas that are more about slice-of-life stuff and relationship building, as opposed to fighting monsters and fleeing disaster. Though I still want to write about that stuff, too. So more of my content is going to be more Our Own Way and less Raw. Hell, I may even take a shot at writing a shorter, more slice-of-life trilogy or quadrilogy set in the Raw universe with new characters. Maybe. I liked that early-narrative feel book one had.
Final thing I realized: My pen name. I’ve been talking about launching a pen name for literal years now. A lot goes into the consideration of a pen name, at least for me. I don’t want to half-ass anything. The fact that I’ve been considering it for actual years is a testament to this. The thing is, this whole pen name thing has been kind of like a scale. One side of the scale is negatives, one is positive. For a long time, the positives outweighed the negatives. But as time has gone on, the negatives have begun to outweigh the positives. And this is now where I find myself. So, basically, I’ve decided that, and I want to clarify, when it comes to haremlit, it makes the most sense to just stick with Misty Vixen. If anyone is truly curious, I can go into detail, but the short of it is: it makes more sense to keep my works in one place, so long as those works are all haremlit. The reason I’m specifying this is because, in the future, I may want to write something that isn’t haremlit, but still let my haremlit readers know about it, and that would make sense to start a new name for. So, in short: I’ll be posting my horror harem to Misty Vixen.
Last thing I want to touch on: why did I decide to pull down Parasexual & Like A Fine Wine?
For Parasexual, I originally had intended to pull it down, but ultimately decided it was close enough to haremlit to work. But then, as time went on, I became less certain, even going so far as to pair it with a warning that it might not be for everyone. In the end, I realized that my initial conclusion that it should be pulled down was the right conclusion.
For Like A Fine Wine, it came as something of a surprise to me when I reread the first novel late last year that it wasn’t really a true haremlit novel. While it doesn’t actually break any of the rules, I realized that the relationships are too casual, and half the harem leaves at the end. Now, this would have been rectified with a sequel series, but as time has gone on, I’ve ultimately had to admit to myself that I do not want to write a sequel series and, overall, it would be a really bad idea to try it. For those of you who were looking forward to this, I apologize. I genuinely did intend to write it when I finished Like A Fine Wine, but as time has gone on, I’ve felt worse about the idea rather than better. So, again, I am sorry about that.
A LOOK AT MY LIBRARY’S FUTURE
Now comes my favorite part! The part where I get to explain how I feel about my works right now, and speculate about how I’ll feel about them in the future. If you’re looking for information on something from the past, the present, or the future that I have mentioned at some point before now, this is where you want to check.
THE OLD STUFF
PARANORMAL SHARED UNIVERSE: This includes PARANORMAL PASSIONS, PINK, ROOMMATES WITH BENEFITS, & PARASEXUAL. I’m still pretty confident that this one is dead, and I will write nothing in it again. The only spark of hope I have for those holding out is that I could possible envision myself writing something that’s basically Our Own Way, but with paranormal girls. If I do, I will have to determine if it makes more sense to create a new universe, or set it in this one. But I would say, for safety’s sake, consider this universe dead.
POST-APOCALYPTIC SHARED UNIVERSE: This includes SEX & SURVIVAL, THE PALE REDHEAD, A NEW WORLD, & HAVEN. I feel roughly the same about this one. However, I would say that the chances of my writing something set in this universe is significantly higher. I still like this universe, and in my quest to produce more series quickly, I may explore a trilogy set here. If I do, I’ll definitely ensure to involve cameos from Haven.
SCI-FI SHARED UNIVERSE: This includes HELLCATS, EXPLORATION, ALIEN HAREM, VALKYRIES, DESIRE, AMAZONIAN’S LOVE, LIKE A SEX TOY, BLIND DATE, & LIKE A FINE WINE. I think this universe is also probably dead. Although I have a few ideas that might make sense to set in it, it will ultimately come down to an in-the-moment decision whether or not to do something unique or revisit this universe. The more times goes on, the more I feel that the correct decision is to leave my old erotica days behind me.
FANTASY SHARED UNIVERSE: This includes WANDERLUST, LARGE & LOVELY, MY UNDEAD LOVER, ROYAL LUST, LUST & ADVENTURE, LAY OF THE LAND, SNAKESKIN, ADVENTUROUS & DEMONESS. This is the only one I’m confident that will have one more series, the DEMONESS reboot. I originally had a much larger, interconnected, and honestly epic storyline in mind for this universe, and as time has gone on, I’ve ultimately decided that Demoness will serve well as a vehicle for this storyline.
DEMONESS: I’m making a notation here. At the moment, I’m giving serious consideration to converting Demoness into haremlit. Now, I know some people will have an instant knee-jerk reaction to this, but hear me out. I began running into a problem around Demoness V, one that I knew would only get worse as time went on. John and Yelena’s relationship is really the greatest part of the series, but the thing was, I was running out of ways to make it interesting. A lot of the unique emotional difficulties that arose over the course of the first four novels made for some very interesting writing. But if the series had gone on, I would have run out of natural ideas. Adding in even just two other girls into the mix would solve this, and give me a lot more opportunities for interesting and unique interactions. It would also give me a chance to make an actual slow-burn harem, something a lot of people have asked me about and I’ve never really been able to deliver on. I’m still batting the idea around, and I’m open to hearing your thoughts, but I figured I owed fans of the series a heads up, as that would be a significant change.
A WARM PLACE: Technically not old, but it is finished. I’m happy with where it ended, consider it done. At most, I may set one or two of my incest eroticas in this universe.
THE CURRENT STUFF
MONSTER GIRL INN: This is getting wrapped up very soon and then that will be the end of it. In truth, I don’t really see much in the way of a future there, primarily because it feels like the story failed to really catch and hold both me and the readership.
RAW: So, I’ve got five novels left to go here. The story is pretty locked in, including the broad strokes of the novels. I’m hoping to have this wrapped up by June, but, uh…we’ll see how that turns out. As I mentioned above, a trilogy set in this universe with some more relationship/slice-of-life focus with new characters may not be out of the question. I’ve got an idea I’ve been toying with for awhile, but ultimately we’ll see.
OUR OWN WAY: I will rewrite this. I’ve got a LOT of ideas and want to make this like 5-6 long novels, expanding greatly on the characters and their plans and their attempt to set up a life for themselves. In truth, though, we probably won’t see this until 2024. I want to finish Raw, and then get at least a few trilogies under my belt. Once I feel comfortable, Our Own Way should be my next big project.
THE FUTURE STUFF
QUITE UNLADYLIKE: This is the short I wrote for the haremlit fantasy anthology. It has no connection to any other universe, though if you liked Monster Girl Inn or any of my old fantasy stuff, you’ll probably like it. I doubt I’m going to write anything else related to this. I wanted to write something that was encapsulated.
MODERN COUGAR/MILF HAREM: My next serious project after Raw. Basically, imagine Our Own Way vibes, but all older women. I’m feeling good about this one. I’m looking at this to be a trilogy of longer novels. I’m really hoping people like this one, as it’s something I’ve been talking about for years, and also people have been asking about for years.
UNTITLED SCI-FI SLICE-OF-LIFE: I mentioned this earlier. I’m still gonna do this. Still feel good about it. I like the characters, the setting, the general vibe of it. I’m also very curious to see how people react to it because it’s a bit different than a lot of stuff I’ve written.
UNTITLED POST-APOCALYPTIC SURVIVAL TRILOGY: A while ago, I mentioned somewhere possibly doing a simple, shorter series set in A Warm Place, that focused on a small group of people just trying to fix up a house and make a life for themselves. That was the seed of this idea. It’s an original universe, and focuses on a guy and a few women he runs into trying to fix up a shelter in the middle of nowhere with monsters and dangerous people around. This is probably what I’ll be writing after the cougar harem, as it’s the next in my trilogies ideas.
HORROR HAREM: Whew boy. It’s been up and down, side to side, thither and fucking yon with this one. I’ve had half a dozen false starts. But now, finally, I do feel like I’ve decided what I’m going to be writing first. I’ll be working on this one in the background where I can find time, since it’s going to be a gamble. I will speak more on this when I have news, but what I can say now is: It looks like I’ll be going with a Sci-Fi Survival/Horror. It’s going to have a video-gamey type feel (not LitRPG). Think sort of Doom 3 and Dead Space vibes.
OTHER STUFF
INCEST EROTICA: So I’d really like to make some headway on this. Get SOMETHING off the ground beyond just Kyra’s Game. I’m still going to take a shot at making Kyra’s Game a trilogy of shorts, and I’ve got a ton of ideas beyond that. Basically, I’m just going to be writing shorts for awhile. I’ve got a mom-son idea set in the A Warm Place universe, another mom-son idea set in my shared Fantasy Universe, a brother-sister story I wrote a few years back and never really did anything with, a mom-son series I wrote on the down-low under another name to test the waters and now want to re-release and finish. I know at some point I want to go big with one, huge incest harem series. Like, the production level of the other stuff, with full-on covers and full-length novels, stuff like that. Imagine basically Our Own Way type story/setting, but with incest. Really, it’s just a matter of finding/making time for this to happen.
FAN FICTION: The Dragon Age fan fic, THE MATCHMAKER OF SKYHOLD, has been talking to me recently. Enough that I did take it out, dust it off, and write a few more chapters near the end of the year. If I make much more progress, I’ll have to put it back up on the site. Otherwise, I don’t have any other fan fiction in mind.
LARA X. LUST: For the sake of clarity, and in case anyone was wondering otherwise, I had a heavy hand in writing the first three Desperate Times novels. However, I have had zero involvement in any other projects, including the fourth Desperate Times. It’s all Lara now, and I doubt that’s going to change.
CRYSTAL CANDY STUFF: Wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t cover this. Obviously A Warm Place was already covered. Maidens & Mayhem and Planet of the Bugs are both dead and they’ll stay dead. Refuge…I still want to do something with this, but I’m a lot less sure now how exactly it will manifest. Enough time has passed that at this point there’s significant overlap between this and another story idea, and I may just combine the two. But in either scenario, it’s still a long way off.
OTHER: I’ve got some farther out, more ambitious ideas up my sleeve. I’ve got a sci-fi/horror/adventure epic planned that’s been brewing for a long time now and I’m sure will brew for a long time yet. It won’t be like other series in that it will go on for quite awhile. I’ve got a sort of sci-fi/espionage blended with horror (and obviously harem) idea that’s also fairly ambitious and I think would be REALLY kickass to write and to read, but it’s also over the horizon. I’ve definitely got some more gritty survival stuff. But I don’t want to get too ahead of myself there. I’ve got more than enough to carry me through 2024 with what I’ve spoken of just in this post alone. Beyond that? Probably got enough stuff to carry me through to 2030.
FINAL THING: The last thing I want to talk about is that I’ve noticed a rise in Romance For Men, (there’s even a SubReddit for it now), and honestly I’d call a lot of what I write men’s romance. I gotta admit, the idea of writing a romance between one guy and one woman, or maybe one guy and two women, is really appealing. I’m currently considering putting together a new pen name (which was why I was so specific above) to experiment with Men’s Romance, as, although it won’t break any of the rules of haremlit, I can’t really call it haremlit (not enough ladies), and thus wouldn’t feel safe releasing it as Misty Vixen. Though I would publicly acknowledge that I wrote it. I dunno, let me know what you think of this idea.
I think that’s it. I hope everyone has a good 2023. I know for myself personally, my new year’s resolution is to find a way to balance my work against my mental health more successfully.
Good luck out there.