At last, I can finally talk about this!
I’ve been wanting to write a mono romance novel for a while now. A few years, at least. What has stayed my hand? Well, if you want the blunt truth, it’s the fact that I’ve trained myself almost from the beginning to write with a harem mindset. Every time I honed in on an idea, my professional side always asked the exact same question: Why should I do this when I could just add two more girlfriends and make five times the money?
Thankfully, I’m no longer obsessing over my bank account. Mostly. I at last feel like I can take some risks, or work on something that’s more of a passion project.
Near the end of 2024, I found myself missing Raw and that primeval world. I had been toying with an idea of a scrawny healer and a brawny huntress getting together in that universe for a little bit, and one day the idea sort of began to coalesce in my head, as ideas do, and inspiration struck. I decided to actually plan it out. So I did. For three days the inspiration kept coming and I kept thinking to myself, “I know what happens next, I’ll keep planning.” And then, before I knew it, it was planned. I had everything. And the inspiration was still hanging around, so I figured, “I’ll start writing this in my spare time.” So I did. I got about a quarter of the way through the novel before the inspiration fell off and the depression piled on and I was unfortunately forced to set it aside as I dealt with other things.
I kept intending to return, but, well, things happened.
Then I got treated for ADHD, and that really helped me out in a lot of ways, and I thought “I’m going to get back to work and finish that novel!”. Well…things kept cropping up through March, April, May, AND June. It kept getting pushed back. But finally, at last, my responsibilities are back down to a reasonable level and I have the time to begin working on this again, and I can talk about it!
Firstly, this has no direct overlap with Raw. There will be no cameos or anything like that, it only takes place in the same universal sandbox. Sorry to disappoint if you were hoping otherwise.
In PRIMAL LOVE, the focus of the story is on two people. Nex and Ara. Both of them are, in their own ways, outcasts in their respective tribes. Nex is a magical healer, and no one quite trusts him or wants him around. He is also scrawny, due to the fact that he must have energy on him at all times in case of an emergency, as magic takes a great deal of energy, so he isn’t able to put nearly as much of his time towards the more physical aspects of ancient tribal life. Ara, on the other hand, is not simply massively tall and well-built, but she is the biggest and best warrior in her tribe. Something that has never quite sat well with most of the other hunters and warriors.
Each for their own reasons, the tribal leaders ask Nex and Ara to go together on a perilous journey to seek a lost relic from times past. As the unlikely pair begin journeying together, they find that they have more in common than they previously thought, and a passionate romance begins to bloom.
I’m really looking forward to this one. It just feels…good. All my projects feel good to varying degrees, but this one is higher up on that spectrum. It feels good to write, good to be with these characters, good to return to the world of Raw. Also, a small fun fact, I’ll be doing something I’ve almost never done before with this one: switch perspectives between the male and female protagonist. I hope I do a good job.
Since July is largely going to be dedicated to writing this novel, I’m very much hoping to have it out before the end of the month. However, June really threw me for a loop, and so I’m hedging my bets and saying it will be out sometime in August. We shall see what happens. At present, this is intended to be a stand-alone novel. However, if it is popular enough and the demand is high enough, or, hell, even if I get inspired enough, I could easily write a sequel, and more sequels after that.
And to delve a bit deeper into my motivations…well, it feels uncomfortable and somewhat arrogant to say it, but I have hopes that this one will get a lot of attention. Not necessarily for myself, (although clearly I would like to reap the rewards of that), but for Mono Romance as a subgenre. It’s still young, still growing, and still hasn’t quite broken through the current ceiling. Some of the bigger haremlit authors have written for the genre and done well, but I haven’t really seen what I would call a runaway success. (I really didn’t like typing that, because it sounds judgmental, and it really isn’t.) Also, it’s definitely possible I might be wrong. I feel like I would have heard about it if one novel or series had blown up, but I’m also not nearly as plugged in as I used to be.
So, time for some links.
PRIMAL LOVE is in Early Access here on my Patreon. The first chapter is 100% free to everyone, you don’t even have to be a subscriber. The following chapter will be available to everyone who subscribes as a paying subscriber. All the chapters after that will be limited to my 3$/month Tier and up. I’ll be intending to post two chapters per day, Monday through Friday, with the first two chapters up right now!
Now, with regards to my move into Mono Romance in general. I have already made a couple of moves into it.
DESPERATE LOVE - PART ONE and PART TWO are technically my first published attempt at this genre. Coauthored by Lara X. Lust and set in the same universe as DESPERATE TIMES, this is a planned trilogy of novellas. In the wake of a solar flare EMP apocalypse, Luke finds himself seeking shelter at an isolated cabin to try and survive the madness as winter sets in and society crumbles. When he arrives, however, he finds Signy already there. Badly sick and extremely paranoid, she only reluctantly works with him. As they survive together, they begin to fall in love. The final part will be coming in July and the complete trilogy, which will have two bonus shorts from Signy’s perspective, will be out in August.
THE WOMAN WITH GLOWING EYES is a short I wrote half of in January of this year and then finally came back to and finished last month. It’s about a combat cyborg and her technician, and their awkward attempt at sex and romance. For the moment, it’s exclusively for my 10$/month Tier patrons. However, due to its unique nature, I’m going to release it for free sometime around mid-July. Also, just so no one gets their hopes up, this is a one-shot.
And that’s that. Now, with regard to future Mono Romance titles…I have a few ideas I’d be willing to talk about.
The next project I’m going to tackle, provided Primal Love doesn’t need a sequel, which I’m not sure the odds of so I’m not committing to anything yet, will be set in the Haven universe. It will technically be a prequel, taking place right as the new mutations are being discovered. The story will focus on a human, a wandering adventurer doing a job in the wilderness, and a female goliath who lives out in the wilderness by herself and agrees to help him. I have to admit, I love size difference stories where the woman is a lot bigger than the man, and this is so going to be that.
I also have an idea in a more traditional fantasy setting about a rugged adventuress and a city-born botanist who end up going on a little adventure together and fall in love.
I’ve got something of an idea forming of a soldier and a scientist (this one being more traditional in that the soldier is a guy and the scientist is a girl) trying to complete objectives and survive during an alien invasion of Earth in the future.
Final thing I’ll say is…I’m working on a small secret project that I can’t talk about except to acknowledge its existence. It should be available sometime this year, but that’s all I can say.
And that’s it. I have more ideas, but they’re seeds of ideas right now and what I’ve already got will keep me busy for a while yet with my haremlit and all that that entails. Wish me luck! I hope you enjoy what’s on offer.