RMHash

First I just wanna say that's super awesome of you to come all this way, thank you <3 I'm very new to blogging despite being older than the World Wide Web (seriously) and I appreciate any kind of prompt.

In terms of lore? I could go two ways with this - one way being species-centric and the other being the lore of the universe I'm slowly building around this story and its semi-counterpart STARFISH.

Species-wise, it was a lot of fun thinking about the Drass culture and how their environment influences the way they live. Their home planet is quite cold, so their clothes and food reflect the practical need to stay warm and protect themselves from the elements. I researched what people in Siberia and northern Russia ate, reading up on calorie-rich food like meat, bread, noodles and milk products. I read about Mongolian buuz - meat-filled steamed dumplings - and the diet of researchers in Antarctica. It makes sense that living in a cold climate requires lots of food, and a wealthy culture like the Drassian Empire would have some serious eats. Every culture has its tasty fried things and danger murder sticks.

I looked at SO MANY examples of Mongolian, Inuit and Siberian traditional clothing, reading about waterproof sealskin boots and wearing reindeer pelts with the fur side turned in. Then, once I thought I had a pretty good handle on outerwear I read up on styles from Korea and China, because like food a culture needs its own distinctive wearables. I've always loved looking at clothes from other cultures and I've built a Pinterest "lookbook" for TDPC. I mean, just LOOK at these colors, the fabrics, the luxury, the DRAMA:

Drass LOVE their clothes and jewelry, but the thing they care about most is their hair. Hair is a status thing for Drass - the longer it is, the higher you are socially. And it reflects another aspect of living in a cold climate: cold weather will suck all the moisture from hair, so someone with long hair spends most of their time inside where it's warm and to maintain long hair you need the time and resources to do it. Wealthier Drass can afford the oils and treatments to maintain long hair (like down to their knees long), so it became a visual cue for them to see who has more money.

The lore of the universe is still coming together - the books I'm writing for this "series" all take place in the same physical place, just at different times. I try to think of it like a historical fiction series, referencing real events from the past that you and I know, like the Voyager probes and the Challenger disaster. The older I get the more interest I have in history, and the more I learn about it the more I realize that the damn thing tends to repeat itself! So I take examples from history both ancient and recent, and I think about how I could translate something like, say, the Westward Expansion of the nineteenth century. and how that might look in space. I read a handful of books about ancient Chinese history - the An Lushan Rebellion was really interesting! - and definitely found inspiration in the Tang Dynasty.

I'm not trying to be historically accurate by any means, and I would expect an actual historian to rip me to shreds over this century's traditional footwear vs that era's specific view of socks with sandals, but getting neck-deep in all kinds of history that isn't so Western-centric is a GREAT source of inspiration and exposure to ideas from different times. I think it's worth hunting down books from outside the "major events" you were taught in school, especially those written by the people who lived it. I know it sounds like SO MUCH WORK just to write sci-fi romance, and you may be asking "Why do you do this to yourself, R M Hash? Why do you get SO DEEP into history and science and politics just to write books about banging aliens?" Well I'll tell you why!

Because I can. Because I studied literature and work as a technical administrator, so research is like 85% of my personality and 95% of my skill set. Because learning stuff distracts me from The Horrors and keeps me sharp in my old age. And because it's fun to leave my comfort zone and get into things like a toddler in a bag of Sharpies. And also because no one has really tried to stop me, so I figure why not? Why not write well-researched sci-fi romance and voluntarily drive myself insane with minutiae like the type of buttons some guy wore in the twelfth century because it came up in the year 2234? I have ADHD, I'm autistic, I have an internet connection and I have been formally trained in finding stuff on the internet - I'm gonna build myself a fun little miniverse and populate it with interesting, sexy people who sometimes have tails, claws or other exciting anatomy bits. In here, I am God.

Anyway... Dialogue!

Oh God, if you're still here then you are either reading the only thing you had saved to your phone when you got on the plane or you're REALLY interested. Thanks!

Dialogue is one of those things that I work VERY hard on to get right - I'm dealing with having to switch back and forth between different people when they're talking and when half of the conversation is being held by an alien, I have to get weird with it. One of my cardinal rules with dialogue is 'you can only say HALF of what you want to' and part of that is to help cut how long my sentences are and a good way to keep the story going. This is particularly important with TDPC because Fang and Valen are constantly fighting the urge to confess their feelings, so they keep it all bottled up and instead say things like:

“It means,” Valen rubbed his thumb over her wrist, “that you could travel without me, that you could come and go as you want. You'd have your own private Wardens to guard you, and you wouldn't be confined to the mountain or even Anun – you could go back to Federation space and even live there if that's what you'd prefer.” It hurt to say that, but it was true. With a sheepish smile he added, “Might be nice to get away from me once in a while, right?”

Fang hesitated before she answered. “Um... I guess so...” Her odd expression, lips pressed together as if she wanted to say something but couldn't, made him wonder.

“I'm just trying to plan ahead in case...” Valen looked down at her hand under his, noting how Fang hadn't tried to pull away and not really understanding why. “There's still a chance my father won't cancel the deed, and if we're going to be stuck together I want you to have some kind of escape route. Even if you're still connected to me it'll be in name only. You'd still be a Drassian and have the same protections, but you'd be as close to free as you can get as long as the deed is still intact.” And you'd have the mercy of not being stuck with me day in and day out.

What he REALLY wants to say is "I want to make this easy for you so that when I can set you free, you decide you like being with me more than you like the idea of taking off on your own". He's struggling with his feelings for Fang, but he can't say what he feels because he promised to give Fang her freedom. He's worried that if he tells her he loves her, she'll feel guilty for leaving (because obviously no woman would want to stay with little old him, right?) or she'll be disgusted by him (because he's short and ugly). Not only that, but he's afraid of their 'fake' relationship being exposed because if it is, then his plans to build a mixed colony with Drass and humans will be tanked. So it's REALLY important that he keeps his mouth shut, but he still has to reassure her that everything will be okay so she doesn't resent him. By saying only half of what Valen wants to say, I maintain the tension of the scene and the hope that some day Valen will get his chance to say what he REALLY feels. This comes up OFTEN and even right up to the very last chapter, because I'm terrible and I like to prolong the suffering:

Fang pulled back. It took a moment for the shock to register in her eyes. When it did, her mouth fell partway open with a soft gasp. “You want me to leave?”

“No,” Valen shook his head. “No, I don't want you to leave, but I have to let you leave i-if that's what you choose. I don't have the right to keep you any more, but I won't stop you now that you're free. You can take anything you want, even the house – I'll leave if you want the house, I know you've always wanted your own home – but if you go you can always come back. You'll always have a place here, on Baishin or on Anun, in this house...” He took one of her small, soft, pale hands and held it to the center of his chest, the other he held in his own as he kept her gaze. “Between my hearts.”

(he's saying "between my hearts" because Drass have two hearts - more lore!)

It's fun to push right up to the line with dialogue and get closer and closer to what needs to be said, but it's MORE fun to think of fun and exciting ways to drag out the plot and cause problems. I hate when people do this in real life, but when I have control over who says what, it's way more enjoyable to write and challenge myself to be as difficult as possible. I like being a pain in the ass on paper, and I get endless joy from making people yell at me on the internet for refusing to make imaginary people kiss. Giving everyone on Wattpad the narrative equivalent of blue balls brings me the satisfaction I am refusing to give them!

If you made it this far, holy shit. You should be studied, maybe. Just a couple of years ago I was wondering if anyone would be interested in my peculiar style of rambling, and here we are. I have two completed books, with several more on the way (god I hope so, this is too much fun and I've never had a captive audience before!) I started writing STARFISH out of boredom and spite because I was working as a data entry specialist, and now I'm talking to strangers about the aliens I created specifically so I could daydream about boning them. Strangers on the internet, no less! As someone who actually REMEMBERS the nineties, that feels borderline illegal. But if hemorrhaging words about my thoughts on what it's like to Netflix & Chill with aliens into the aether is wrong, I don't think I want to be right.

I use Canva!

I don't have any formal art training, so I'm really just winging it as best I can until I have enough money to pay someone to make me a sick scifi-romance book cover. I tend to just throw some things together because I have no idea what I'm doing - but I can usually bang together a few graphics and get my point across:

Nothing fancy, just a fun font and some slightly altered images to make things look "spacey".

I did do a SUPER quick and dirty mockup a few years ago when I first started writing STARFISH, but I didn't have Canva so I had to use MS Paint:

Yep, that's Rubberduck Bubblebath. I love his voice and he has the look I was going for with Ardus, so I went with it. I obviously don't own the picture but I'm not saying that someone with actual artistic talent couldn't so a little something if they wanted to ;)

Sorry this took so long - it's festival season 😅

At this point, my ocs Valen and Fang share a room. It's actually an entire suite, because he's, you know, royalty.

For context, it's important to remember that the Drassian palace is actually a compound inside of a mountain. Because dragons. So, the actual design of the palace leans heavily on natural caverns and old lava tubes that have been cleared out and carved into more serviceable spaces like apartments, libraries, ballrooms and kitchens.

Valen's apartment is in a somewhat older wing of the palace, so his rooms are a little smaller. This is fine, because he and Fang don't take up as much room as the rest of the family. They don't need the extra room for kids, so they make do with a main chamber that serves as their living room/parlour and Valen's working space, the bedroom, and a bathroom that is essentially a hot spring cavern.

In my mind the hearth-room is very similar in design to the drawing room in an old European castle or mansion - there's a hearth big enough for a couple of people to stand in, bookshelves carved into the walls, and neat amenities like a cooling cabinet (refrigerator) and light fixtures. There are thick rugs and drapes to keep the chill under control, though the fire in the hearth and the hot spring in the bathroom keep the place reasonably warm. When I think about the furniture I think of a sturdier variety of Chinese wood furniture, with intricate carving and detailed embroidery. Valen keeps his educational certificates and things in frames attached to the walls, which is a subtle reminder to himself that he does have some things to be proud of.

The bedroom is the picture of luxury - a huge bed blanketed in silk comforters and quilts, soft lighting, more rugs and now it holds Fang's dressing-table as well as a chest of drawers for Valen's things. They both keep trays for jewelry and accessories, though Fang has a lot more as well as makeup, combs, perfumes and other ladies' things. Fang has a little bench to sit on and a huge mirror on the wall so she can do her makeup and hair, though Valen hired a maid to do that so really she can just watch as she's transformed from a reasonably attractive woman to basically a princess. Lots of red and gold in this room, along with the grey and white marble floor, walls and ceiling.

The marble continues into the bathroom, which like I described earlier is a hot spring cavern that's been carved and polished into a luxury bath with steam- and shower-stalls, adjustable lights, a giant basin that functions as the tub, and gold fixtures all around. The spring is heated by the lava tubes that run all over the mountain, so there's always hot water for bathing, showering, steaming or just soaking. Drass love their hot springs and they love to soak, and while a room like this isn't uncommon on Anun it's definitely something Fang sees as nothing short of miraculous.

And of course, since Valen is a Dragon Prince there is always a bevy of maids and cleaners who sneak in and tidy up, so no matter what kind of wild honeymoon nonsense Fang and Valen get up to, his desk is always clean and the sheets are always freshly laundered. There are stacks of fluffy towels in the bathroom, Fang's dressing table is always neat, and Valen's socks are always folded and put away. Valen likes to keep a few sandwiches in his hearth-room and some drinks handy, so even though the lifestyle is alien to Fang it's amazingly convenient and not difficult to get used to.

I hope this was detailed enough - I can't draw to save my life anymore, so I've had to make do with words.

TDPC is a science fiction romance story, so some of the terms I use are of my own creation and I will try to explain them so I don't lose anyone 😄

If The Dragon Prince's Consort was a color, it would actually be a palette of red, gold, and black. It's a story about wealth and power, after all, and red and gold are colors associated with wealth and power. Black is generally a good third color, and it looks great with red and gold. The combination makes me think of Imperial China and the ornate carvings and silk from the Han, Wei and Tang Dynasty. Also, the Drass people are a few shades of red or ochre themselves so I figured red would be a very dominant color. I generally come up with a color palette in the early stages of writing, and I think about the associations with those colors and work them into the story from the beginning. That also helps me "design" settings and outfits so that the whole story feels more cohesive instead of haphazardly thrown together, like my closet.

The weirdest thing people would eat in TDPC would probably be cheese and butter made from the milk of a hairy, cow-like species I called yangru. They're like oxen or yaks, hardy animals that can pull heavy carts and survive in the cold, hard conditions of Anun's snowy mountain ranges. I know in most of the world cow, sheep and goat milk aren't that strange, but I was thinking of how in Mongolia people drink mare's milk and make products from it, and how Western palates might find that odd. I'm a pretty adventurous eater so my definition of "weird" is a little different - the only stuff I won't eat are octopus/squid, live insects/worms, or cauliflower.

The BEST thing to eat, in my opinion, would be the rich, hearty meals of meat, bread, cheese and root vegetables. Anun is cold, so the Drass eat a lot of fat- and calorie-rich foods to stay warm. They run pretty hot anyway, about 105°F on average, and keeping their bodies at optimal temperature would require lots and lots of food. I looked at foods eaten in cold places like Russia, Siberia and the extreme north of Canada and modeled Drass food off of that - dumplings stuffed with meat and vegetables, soft cheeses with herbs, roasted and grilled meats, thick noodles like soba, and sweet or savory pastries stuffed with meat, cheese or fruit. I want readers to get to the end of a description of food and realize they're MASSIVELY hungry 😋

This post is concerned with my book The Dragon Prince's Consort which is currently ongoing over on Wattpad. I publish new chapters every Thursday and it is currently free to read (though I would appreciate it if you considered donating to my Ko-fi)

Since the book is dual POV, I have two characters:

Fang (short for Lienfang) is a human woman who relocated herself to Anun after struggling to make it in the Federation, which is the territory recognized as "human" space. In the city of Kitsara she would be perceived as an oddity, as she's one of maybe a handful of humans who live there. The Drass locals would see her as tiny and pale compared to them, but her long hair would make them think she was high-status. It tends to work in her favor, meaning she would be treated a little nicer and with more respect than someone of any species with, say, shoulder-length hair. She takes advantage of the assumption about her long hair when talking to Drass, being polite but also just a little bit haughty because that's what they would expect from someone of her "status". One of the Drass Lady Consorts observes this in the story and remarks on it, saying Fang "has steel in her". With her newfound celebrity status a Drass could simply refer to her as "the new Lady" and everyone would know exactly who they're talking about - no human has ever been a Dragon Prince's concubine before and it's kind of a HUGE deal. In spite of her species, though, the public comes to see her as a sort of Princess Diana - after a major crisis she comes through to support the Drass and it solidifies her status as a Lady Consort.

Fang would perceive herself as scrappy, smart and charming - she would have to be, living always on the edge of poverty, and being able to sweet-talk her way out of trouble or into a job is how she survived until she met Valen. She knows she's smart even without a full education - she can't read Drass but she is literate in a couple of human languages and is pretty good at math - and uses that cleverness to think of ways to convince Valen's family and the rest of the Empire that she's really in love with Valen, using her knowledge of Drass and human behavior to adjust her actions for the most convincing effect. She'd be a con-artist if she believed in that sort of thing, and in a way she does become one with Valen's cooperation.

To the Drassian Empire, Valen is the Fourth Prince, the Little Drassian, the Royal Runt. He's only six feet tall, making him the subject of some ridicule from the public and a LOT of harassment from his oldest brother Tias. Though he's been an eligible bachelor of several years, no Drass woman wants to be caught dead with him because he still looks like a much younger boy - it would look bad considering most Drass women are seven feet or more. Everyone knows who the "Little Prince" is, even if he does spend most of his time hiding in the mountain palace compound avoiding the public and his brother. His oldest brother despises him, calling him an "embarrassment" and never missing an opportunity to insult or torment him. Their father, the Dragon Emperor, has enough of his plate and doesn't have time to deal with this, and has been mostly aloof and distant from Valen in favor of training Tias for his role as the next Dragon Emperor. Most Drass feel pretty sorry for him, and even Fang feels for him in spite of his immense wealth and privileges.

As a result of all of this, Valen has a pretty low opinion of himself. He's shy, staying away from most people, though he's exceptionally polite to the palace staff and his father's defense forces, the Wardens. He does this because he's sure most people think he's a worthless little shrimp, so being polite might take some of the sting out of having to deal with him. It doesn't help that when he was a teenager he challenged his brother and lost, which gave Tias the right to cut his hair. So on top of his height, he also looks like a lower-status male. When Fang enters the picture, he's in awe that she'd even tolerate him, let alone sleep with him and say kind things to him - his usual reaction to Fang's affections is "Wait, me? You want to kiss/touch/sit with/have sex with ME??" It's baffling that ANY woman, even a human, would want anything to do with him at all and he's suspicious of it at first, but he's so touch-starved and hungry for affection that he can't help himself.

Ooo boy, that would be one Valen Drassian - kid has some issues - mommy, daddy, sibling, MAJOR self-esteem problems. For one, his big brother Tias is an ASSHOLE and a half and his father, while being physically present is otherwise miles away dealing with Emperor Stuff. It's a complicated relationship with his whole family. Personally I'd recommend an NDRI, a looooong vacation and a punching bag that looks like his brother.

Unfortunately there's not much to be done about his height problem - since he's not human I doubt HGH would do him any good. Lady Fang doesn't seem to mind, but she's only 5'6 and Valen's a little over 6'. His and brothers, for reference, are about seven and a half feet tall if you include the horns.

It's been a HELL of a year for me, in a myriad of ways. Last year I started publishing my first book Starfish over on Wattpad, and it's been a massive success by my account. I thought I'd get a few reads, maybe even 100, so imagine my surprise when it hit 20k. I'm at something of a loss about it, as I didn't expect it to make much of a splash (haha). I'm really proud of it, though, and I'm still getting new readers and comments all the time and I'm tickled pink over it.

Also last year I was working (from home) until November, when I was laid off via a pre-recorded Zoom meeting which ended about five minutes before they cut my access and remotely shut down my computer. After that it was a long, terrible five-month slog trying to find a job - any job - while the world was screaming RECESSION and WAR and all that jazz. I started a new job back in April, though, at a place I never thought I'd work in my WILDEST dreams in an industry I know NOTHING about, but so far it's been pretty freaking fantastic! I'm surrounded by people who do stuff I can barely understand because they're all STEM people, but every single person I have met seems genuinely kind, patient, understanding and over the moon about my BA in English. Apparently STEM folks need someone with communication skills, who knew?

My characters are, in a word, SUFFERING. They're reaching the point in the story where they're realizing separately that they're falling for each other, and it's problematic because the MMC has made a promise to the FMC, but if he can't keep that promise he's worried that she'll hate him. FMC is concerned about her feelings because this was supposed to be a ploy, they're supposed to be pretending to be in a relationship to convince their respective people to work together. All that trust they're building with each other is turning into some steamy bedroom escapades and that's not helping. Well, it is, but not in the way that they mean it to.

That story, The Dragon Prince's Consort, is also currently going on Wattpad and I update it every Thursday following the publishing schedule of the previous book. I'm working on a series of books (and short stories and maybe some novellas) that take place in a stand-alone universe I've devised with its own history and a handful of weirdly wonderful alien species. I've been playing with some names for the series and I'm leaning towards "The Lonely Stars" - I'm trying to evoke the feeling of lying on your back in the middle of a field and looking up at the sky, contemplating the distance between you and each star and the next. Since the majority of my stories are sci-fi romance, I thought it had a star-crossed-lovers bent to it.

I hope I did this right, I have a terrible habit of rambling and giving way too much detail so I tried to keep this brief but interesting. I'm still cautious about giving away too much story information and very guarded about personal information for... reasons, but so far Wattpad and Tumblr have both made me realize that I'm NOT that weird - in fact I'm pretty tame, I'll have to fix that 😈

Thank you, this was fun!