Oooooo that's a hard one, because I almost always have 2 WIPs going at the same time 🫠

In The Dragon Prince's Consort, I'd have to say my favorite character is Valen. I relate to him on a personal level in that the poor kid was SUPER lonely until Fang came along, and because as a social outcast he is insecure about his ability to connect with people. That MIGHT be the autism talking...

I identify so much with his feelings of inadequacy, boy has some SERIOUS Imposter Syndrome. He's responsible for a whole colony AND a woman he loves but can't say anything about it to her, it's a lot on his shoulders and despite his education and upbringing he's not 100% confident in his abilities. Where Fang is concerned, he's both over the moon because he's in LOVE with her, but he won't tell her anything about his feelings because he's afraid it would ruin her life and because he just can't fathom being loved in return - who would love a dwarf who has NO chance of following his father as Dragon Emperor?

So yeah, Imposter Syndrome and profound feelings of inadequacy when it comes to interacting with people. All he needs is purple hair and he'd be my mirror image 😅

However, he is a SUPER sweet kid. He's always thinking about Fang and how to make her life easier, he loves her dearly not just as a friend with benefits but as his close friend. After years of thinking he'd die a bachelor all this new attention is a lot for him to handle. It's intoxicating and feels amazing, even if it is an act, and he's going to soak in it as long as he can.

I have another WIP that's still 90% in my head. It needs more time to ferment before I really start writing. My favorite guy in that one is a real complicated son of a bitch - PTSD, a long rap sheet, a dozen warrants, physical and mental issues, and a very strange obsession with plants. His foil is the main female character, and she's a mess too. CPTSD, no family, no connections or lifelines, she's in a bad spot to begin with and has trouble trusting people. So naturally I have to put her with the most untrustworthy-looking bastard in my little mental universe! They both have a deep, DEEP need for affection and to be wanted, but their various hangups are going to make that difficult 😁 I see them as a package deal because their issues compliment each other's.

I've been on a posting hiatus since May, but I'm coming back with a VENGEANCE this Thursday on Wattpad.

Mmm interesting.

I'll be referring to my OC Lienfang, from the book I am currently releasing serially on Wattpad: The Dragon Prince's Consort.

Fang grew up extremely poor. Her parents did their best, but when her mother got hurt working in construction the company decided to terminate her instead of pay out the worker's comp. Her father got sick and through some underhanded bureaucratic nonsense the Federation denied him insurance benefits, so he slowly wasted away and died. Eventually Fang's mother also passed, leaving Fang alone and burdened with her parents' debt, which she tried to work off for years with no success. She just fell deeper and deeper into the pit, occasionally homeless and eventually moving to the Drassian Empire to try to start over, where she gets into trouble with a certain extremely wealthy young fella whose older brother is a complete dick.

Now that she's with Valen, the titular Dragon Prince, she's loaded. Just SOME of her clothes are worth millions, which Valen made sure of in the event that he can release her from her contract - that way she'll have more than enough stuff she can pawn for cash with plenty left over.

Before, Fang would have just gone into a mall to look around and maybe get warm. She might have had a few coins in her pocket, but probably not enough to buy a pack of gum, let alone food that isn't compressed protein rations and vitamin tablets. Now that she's Valen's concubine, though, there's literally NOTHING she can't afford to buy at least a hundred of. In the novel (I really need to get used to calling my 'stories' novels) Valen takes her to the highest of the high-end shopping avenues and takes her first to a master robe-maker and proceeds to spend about six million on Fang's wardrobe. To start. Gowns, stockings, leggings, tunics, riding kit, boots, underwear - he blows through cash like there's no end to it and Fang's head spins when he makes a guess at how much it all cost.

After that he takes her to a dozen other shops to buy her jewelry, shoes, combs, pins, soaps, creams, cosmetics, anything and everything a prince's concubine is expected to have and then some. It's so much stuff that it has to get shipped back to the palace compound (which by the way is the interior of a friggin' mountain, because DRAGONS) and an army of servants have to unpack it and put it all away. Fang is overwhelmed by the estimated price, though she accepts that in order to pull off the scheme she's cooked up with Valen she'll have to act like she deserves all of it. At the same time, it's not so hard to grow accustomed to warm socks that don't have holes in them, gowns and robes that fit properly and aren't patched dozens of times, and shoes that aren't so thin she can step on a penny and tell you what year it was minted.

It's only when the newness wears off the clothes and jewels that Fang starts wising up to the idea that it's not so much the stuff she enjoys or the comforts they bring, it's Valen's attention and apparent enjoyment of giving her things she's never had before. Brand-new shoes that no one else has ever worn? They're hers now. Silk and satin gowns trimmed with fur and silver thread? Made custom to fit her and only her. Rouge and makeup in colors Drass don't wear? Specially ordered for Fang. Valen's beyond wealthy - his dad's the goddamn Dragon Emperor - he can afford to spend 10-15 million on his new "girlfriend".

I figure lots of people have a princess fantasy, or at least a sugar daddy kink. I don't judge.

The Dragon Prince's Consort updates THURSDAYS on Wattpad, and it as well as my finished novel STARFISH are available to read absolutely for FREE because why not.

HOWEVER, if you do happen to have a dollar to spare, I also have a Ko-fi. I don't expect to make money off of these but it sure would be nice if I could afford some toast or a piece of cheese. *GASP* or a grilled cheese sandwich?!

You can follow me on Instagram for updates and short-form junk like mini-rants on romance tropes I love or hate, update announcements, very short snippets, dorky memes and pictures of my cat Nell. She is EXTREMELY cute and I love her VERY much, even if she is a brat 78% of the time.

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 😋

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.