The Thaumaturge -- Ch. 1-13 Reflections/Q&A

THIS POST IS A REFLECTION/Q&A POST FOR MY SERIES THE THAUMATURGE. IT CONTAINS A FEW SIGNIFICANT SPOILERS ABOUT THE SERIES TO DATE; IT WILL NOT SPOIL OR DISCUSS BEYOND CHAPTER 13. IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE FIRST THIRTEEN CHAPTERS, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU GO BACK AND FINISH THE SERIES FIRST BEFORE READING THIS POST.

Well. We’re thirteen chapters in on the Thaumaturge, which is an extremely magical number of chapters, so I figured it was a good moment for a Q&A/thoughts. Like the last one, people should drop questions in if they have them; if this sort of reflection is boring to you, please skip it; the usual Monday erotica drop is on its way in a few days. :)

WHAT INSPIRED THIS SERIES?

This series started because of a few ideas that were rattling around in my brain:

First, I am a fan of monster-girl erotica, and also a big fan of TV shows like Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the like. I felt there was an opportunity for something that drew from both, that had a bit of a monster-of-the-week vibe to it. I also wanted something that felt a little angsty, as these shows often do, where you just wish the characters would all sit down and talk about their fucking feelings together to sort everything out...but of course they never do, because they are horny, dramatic college kids who don’t do sensible things like that.

The other thing I wanted to play with thematically in the series was what it would do to your confidence as a man if you could never quite be sure whether women genuinely liked and desired you, or if they just wanted to fuck you for your magical power. 

Oh, and finally: I wanted a series that had a lot of characters and relationships to cultivate, to offer many branching choices and options for the main character…so that I could get readers involved! Originally, I framed this as a choose-your-own-adventure style story, but that’s not really true (since I’m not planning on writing the ‘other branch’ of any of these forking pathways, although maybe I'll sprinkle in a 'bad end' here and there eventually). It’s more that you’re voting on the direction the story goes in.

Anyway, you can see the results: it’s got monster girls. It’s got a coven of young witches who are only slightly more mature than the protagonist and are making all kinds of mistakes and miscommunications of their own. It’s got werelions (werewolves felt a little too predictable) and vampires and faeries, although the polls have steered us away from the latter so far. 

And most importantly, it’s got a guy who’s clearly in over his head, who’s got a bunch of women chasing after him, and is having trouble understanding who likes and wants him for him, and who’s just after power. And, of course, he’s still learning about his own power and his relationship to it.

WHAT WORKED WELL?

Well, let’s start by talking about the polls. In general I think they’ve worked really well. It’s made the writing interesting. Sometimes they result in a choice that I think is overall less interesting (as an example: left to my own devices, I probably would’ve had Matt go to Lauren instead of to Diana or Viv to learn more after Chapter 3, since she explains things clearly; I might’ve used the Mirror to introduce another supernatural creature, or to show a ‘bad ending’ with Diana, vs. using it to show more about Elana) but I feel like I’ve managed to make them all work reasonably well.

Obviously, I wanted premature ejaculation to feature prominently, and I designed the magic “system” (...which is probably generous for Matt’s understanding of how it all works, right now...) with that in mind. I think it's been effective so far, although it probably needs to keep evolving in order to stay interesting. I think it works as a representation for how Matt is struggling with his own power and desire…and his desire to be desired.

I feel like overall the series is just…mostly delivering what I had hoped to deliver, if I’m honest. Good variety in characters, decent introduction of the magic system (obviously more to come, here). The types of sex scenes and the emotional, magical, and interpersonal stakes that I was hoping the series would include.

Oh, and: Elana turned out great. Big thanks to story sponsor Kurt Mueller for the character suggestion and letting me take it and run with it.

I’m excited to keep writing.

WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY?

The “suspense” of the first three chapters (where there’s very little magic and just a lot of weird vibes as he has encounters with random girls before going down the magical rabbithole, as it were) works, but I think it takes a little too long for the series to get to the magic/supernatural elements; I’d probably restructure that a bit if I was writing it again. 

The only other thing is that I’ll probably, moving forward, try to space out the timeline a little bit. If you were keeping track, you’ll have noticed that the events of the first thirteen chapters start on a Friday, and end on the following Tuesday night. That all took place over like four and a half days, which I think stretches credulity in terms of pacing.

It started that way because I did want it to have a bit of a slice-of-life feel, but I think going forward I’ll build in some time skips and the like. Otherwise, if I were Matt, I’d probably have a nervous breakdown (or die, really tired but sexually satisfied.)

I'm looking forward to digging in a little more on the witches and each of their motivations -- because of the poll choices we've split 'screen time' pretty evenly between all three of them, and all of them have a bit more to them than we've gotten to date, but there's plenty of time to let all of that unfold. :)

Oh, and I do think going forward, premature ejaculation will be slightly less in-focus – I think there's a little risk of the sex scenes beginning to feel a little same-y. It’ll still be there, though; it's obviously connected to the magic system.

But like I said, I’m pretty happy with how this one has gone.

GOT ANOTHER QUESTION?

Please don’t ask for specifics about what will happen next. Also, if you’re reading this after Chapters 14 and beyond have been published, please don’t drop in comments about those chapters; let’s keep this post spoiler-free past Chapter 13, so people who read it later can still read this reflection and comments without being spoiled.

Otherwise, drop any feedback or questions in the comments!

(I'll keep comments unlocked on this for the foreseeable future, so if you're finishing the series weeks/months after this post and have a question, still feel free to ask!)

AND ONE QUESTION FROM ME TO YOU:

Is there a type of monster (or, specifically, a type of monster-girl) that you think fits especially well with the tone of the series, and has yet to be introduced? If so, drop a comment here, and I’ll consider including them as the story moves forward. (No promises, obviously, but open to suggestions!)