Hello Debut
A series of firsts–first blog post, first official author website, first erotica novella. Boxing Day 2023 comes with a slew of celebration when it comes to debuts! I’m Quinn Cray Chonk and I’m thrilled to be having a bunch of firsts to share with ya’ll readers and cyberspace dwellers.
I’m a young 30-something non-binary writer, and this is my initial foray into the professional erotica world. As an unabashed monster fucker/lover, fantasy was easily the romance niche I was most excited to dive into. I bring to my work what I’m most excited to see in the fiction I play, read, or hear: deep worldbuilding, cozy vibes, diverse bodies, spikes of action, developed queer characters, indulgent intimacy, and enthusiastic consent. Essentially a fanciful mature smorgasbord for any adult romantasy fan who enjoys added spice to their stories!
Working on The Wanton Witch & the Werewolf was a very enjoyable experience. My previous smut-crafting experience was entirely within fanfiction; getting to design original characters and stories with intimacy in mind was a fascinating new challenge to tackle. After completing the novella draft and then editing it, the real difficult work for me began–marketing.
I have an undergrad and graduate degree in writing fiction–but no official training in matters of business, economy, or the aforementioned marketing. Writing and editing are skills I’m comfortable with; seeking out the means of sharing that writing with the world relies on wholly less developed skills of mine. So I set out on my own to try and research what the present fantasy erotica scene is like; what present authors do to share their work; and how folks go about the extremely tricky dance of advertising 18+ fiction without stepping on the toes of various companies’ rules.
With a lot of concerted effort, I was at least able to put together this website, some bits of social media presence (despite my overall anxiety using them), and craft a decent looking e-book cover for the Amazon marketplace. As of yesterday–Christmas Day 2023–the first episodic novella in the Aetherial Afterglow series is live and available for purchase!
I hope to reach out to various erotica book review blogs to see if folks would mind giving my story a gander and leaving a review. Amazon’s Terms of Service for self-published authors can often be strict about things like reviews–but at the same time, such reviews are critical and essential for authors to be able to reach audiences who would enjoy their work. I’m hoping to do the best for my work while remaining faithful to the rulesets applied to me.
Outside of this erotica authorship journey, I’ve been enjoying the holiday season with family and friends. I live with my spouse and two cats in the northeast US. Sadly, no white X-mas this year. Instead, a very foggy one! I’ll be balancing holiday relaxing and supporting The Wanton Witch & the Werewolf in the run-up to New Year’s Eve where I’ll be hosting friends for a fun evening of catching-up and group commiseration/venting about the previous year.
With that, my first blog post is concluded. Thank you for reading and your support. Any reviews, shared links, or word-of-mouth recommendations are all appreciated.
Sincerely,
Your friendly queer erotica author,
Quinn (they/them)
