I have finished the cover art for my erotic gamelit harem fantasy adventure, “The Road to Aquibonya.” It was initially conceived as a fantasy about a slavegirl who could give any owner who fucked her immortal youth by returning him to age 26. (That's roughly the point at which your brain stops developing, generally considered the attainment of full physical maturity. Mental maturity is a different matter – demonstrably, many never attain it.)
I eventually decided it would be more interesting and fun to have an entire race of slavegirls who could bestow this benefit on their owners. A single slavegirl who can do this is just a MacGuffun. A whole race of slavegirls who can do this are a commodity! I play with this idea a bit and also introduce a potential penalty clause for owning such girls into the story. You can read it to find out what it is. Let's just say it keeps our male protagonist busy.
The male protagonist is another bit of characterization where I play off a favorite character. In this case, it's the typical Roger Zelazny protagonist – very capable, very powerful, sometimes an actual god, but male but also very human and very much a worldly-wise smartass. He was a refreshing change from the usual windbags you got in fantasy stories back in the day.
The real challenge with writing a Zelazny style protagonist is capturing the combination of power and smartassitude without creating a Marty Stu. I'm not saying Zelazny's protagonists are Marty Stus, Zelazny had a way of making them relatable without nerfing them, but for us mere mortal writers, it's difficult. I gave it a shot, with some surprises about the character as the story develops.
I guess you'll have to read it to discover those surprises. I plan to have it out early this week, mid-week at the latest. Meanwhile, it's full charge on finishing “Conquest of Incel World” and marketing “The Visitor from Incel World.”
In the meantime, here's Rebecca Couch giving a Master her full attention.
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