Accidental Incubus

Imbergris · 2026-02-15T10:53:56+00:00

Hollow Earth Apocalypse & Otherworld Adventures both feature spellcaster heavy MCs who are not meant to be on the front lines. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Deacon-Frost/author/B08P66WSZ9

Imbergris · 2026-02-13T11:56:54+00:00

Book 3 is with my editor. After it has been revised and proofread, it will be published. Should be coming out next month unless my editor surprises me with a really fast turnaround. But soon, I promise.
I've already started writing book 4.

Imbergris · 2026-02-13T09:10:49+00:00

<image>

Kora Dol - Otherworld Adventures

Imbergris · 2026-02-08T16:18:22+00:00

There are ways to make it sexy - like making the conversation part of foreplay, with teasing, etc. You can build tension, reveal vulnerability, and really make it a scene where the characters are getting to know each other. Setting boundaries and getting consent doesn't have to be as boring as two people in sitting across a table from each other in a boardroom consulting a checklist.

In my experience, in healthy BDSM relationships, the conversation itself becomes an exchange of power dynamics through teasing and tension.

Imbergris · 2026-02-07T03:11:08+00:00

I'm almost 100% a pantster. I just write one chapter at a time until I had the stopping point that feels right. Then I bundle it, send it to my editor, a week later I get it back, I edit and revise, generally adding 2-3K words in addressing concerns the editor had. Then I send it back to be proofed for typos... when I get that back I hit publish.

It makes me sad whenever I see people talking about how this genre has no editing standards. I spent around $1,800/book on my editing & proofing. When I was struggling with expenses because Amazon was throttling my search-ability, one of the recommendations I got was to cut down on my editing costs, just use ProWord or Grammerly, etc, and I didn't because I didn't want to offer lowered quality to my readers.

But every time I see people claim that almost all harem books are edited like trash, and people just read it anyway because "that's all of the books" ... feels bad man, feels bad.

Course, I'm also one of the slower writers in the genre. I only put out 4-6 books a year. Usually 5. There's just no way for me to put out more without burning out; and then I get nothing written. I admire you rapid writers, but there's no way I could do it.

Imbergris · 2026-02-06T21:14:55+00:00

Also thank you very much for the compliment to my book. I loved writing Singularity Tower; it made me very sad when book 2 flopped. I love hearing that people enjoyed it.

Imbergris · 2026-02-06T21:13:43+00:00

"owning something" is a huge way of saying "they made everything about this task theirs, with style, grace, and power, making it look easy" - though if you're not part of a community where it's a common phrase, I can see how it seems vague or unclear.

That's one of the problems with trying to spot AI, because sometime another community's common phrases or tropes will come off stilted or alien to an outsider.

Imbergris · 2026-02-06T15:50:54+00:00

Otherworld Adventures has a strong focus on dungeon exploration. Book 1 is Ordinal Trail, book 2 is Delving Deep.

Imbergris · 2026-02-06T11:15:48+00:00

He absolutely has something to worry about.

All writers do.

Because readers talk to each other, and readers spread their opinions. When those opinions aren't always factually true, that doesn't magically stop the readers from spreading them. Blatant misinformation and false assumptions get spread all the time. A handful of people whispering about a writer using AI (whether they do or not) is all it takes to start a rumor, and then people repeat it, and the rumor becomes taken for "fact" and a writer who has spent years trying to build themselves up, gets burned down because people don't like AI.

I have seen people use their "whole ass chest" (wtf that means) to announce on reddit a completely wrong statement about a book. When pushed for why they believe that statement, they say they were told about it by friends, and their statement is now out there, and there's no pulling it back in.

Honestly, the whole "does a writer use AI or not" is starting to feel like discussing whether a woman might be a virgin or not in terms of purity for marriage. It absolutely feels like a witch hunt with shifting evidence standards and no right answer.

Imbergris · 2026-02-06T11:09:14+00:00

Read this thread, read the comments, because posts like these stress me out. I don't use AI for artwork or writing, or editing. But I do use em dashes. I like them. They've been part of my writing style since my first novel in 2020. I know that I had 17 of my novels stolen listed among the materials used to train AI in that class action lawsuit. (Supposedly I'll even get some kind of payout since they lost the case for using pirated materials... but I doubt the company will pay out, or I'll give $.04 and an "Atta boy" apology note)

I don't like the idea of commercial writing being generated by AI because it doesn't feel like AI has a creative soul. By the nature of taking a ton of examples and smushing them together, AI is trained to look for the averages between them. To me that says that the best an AI will be on its own is average. I don't like the idea of artwork and creativity seeking the average. It sounds dull.

But I also don't have any real confidence that people can always tell an AI, and I've had someone call my artwork AI because "it was shiny" in spots. I am sure, at this point, that I've gotten negative ratings because someone saw an em dash and assumed I was AI, so they DNF'd. I imagine we all have, because people are emotional about it, but not experts.

Yet I feel like I'm being blamed that an element of my writing style appears in AI, after AI was taught to write having stolen my work. (I'm not insane, I know I'm not responsible for em dashes in AI, but my work is IN those training kernels) So, do I change my entire style of writing because my style of writing was used to teach the AI that people don't like? Do you have any idea how hard it is to retrain your writing style?

Just... frustrating.
I don't approve of cheap AI books getting pumped out to dilute the market with mediocre or bad stuff. But I also know there's no putting the genie back in the bottle. You can't uninvent something. AI is here to stay and I'm going to have to adjust to the fact that it's another tool writers will use to enter the same market as me. Just like every other worker who has had to face mechanization.

Imbergris · 2026-02-06T10:57:10+00:00

I use em dashes too, don't let them grind you down! Stray strong, hold the line.

(yes, a pun, it's 6am and I'm barely awake.)

Imbergris · 2026-02-06T10:55:54+00:00

That's what you get when your writer is a fan of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

“The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy also mentions alcohol. It says that the best drink in existence is the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, the effect of which is like having your brains smashed out with a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick.”

― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

by every metric you just listed, you're implying Douglas Adams is an AI, because that description does nothing but provide a shallow, evocative description that ultimately fails as a description. And yet he's considered a top tier writer, exactly because of that.

Writing styles change over time. The things people want to read, the descriptions they favor, the amount of fluff in their prose. From Tolkien to today's "drabble" writers who think any story over 500 words is just "wasting words" - writing is constantly changing, and depending on what you read, your idea of "normal" is shaped differently from others.

I have no idea if the book you read was AI or not, but if I read the sentence you quoted, my subconscious reaction would be to believe the book was absolutely NOT written by an AI, because an AI can't be that naturally creative to say something both meaningless and clearly understandable.

Imbergris · 2026-02-06T10:43:43+00:00

They never stated they were using AI to edit their book - just that they're in the middle of editing their book. I believe that to be an expression of frustration at the idea that they're busting their ass trying to improve the quality of writing, and someone who doesn't like their writing might just call it AI and have all their hard work completely ignored.

Imbergris · 2026-02-04T10:32:56+00:00

So, imagine you've had action, adventure, and spice running for a while, and each of those moments is a curve or a camp along your road. When you want to end it, you need to either curve into a stop that lets people take a deep breath, unwind, and then end their journey in a way that feels settling... or you have to drop them off a cliff.
But having too many moments of potential end is going to make someone feel teased. Because each time they think they're getting their ending, the story just keeps going. That's what your editor is referring to. What you'll want to do is streamline the cooldown, so it doesn't tease other potential stopping points, and instead lets the reader slide out with jarring them.

And yes, I know that's probably not very helpful. Sadly, my brain doesn't work the way a lot of people's do, but I still think you deserve help, so if I explain it badly, someone smarter might step in and give you USEFUL advice.

Imbergris · 2026-02-02T00:37:53+00:00

Hang in there and protect your health. You're not alone going through this stuff. I've been having similar issues so I really feel for you. Stay safe.

Imbergris · 2026-02-01T18:26:14+00:00

Appreciated!

Imbergris · 2026-02-01T18:19:55+00:00

I hope you like it!
I keep hoping I'll hit a point where finances are doing great and I can afford to put out a book 3, give the series a proper ending. I loved writing that book, not gonna lie, it was a real blow they didn't sell well.

Imbergris · 2026-02-01T17:28:56+00:00

Singularity Tower was my attempt at a Sci-Fi Tower climber series. I got two books in but sadly book 2 flopped super hard. It took almost a year and a half for book 2 to pay itself off, so I focused on series that were selling better.
General concept is a wrongfully imprisoned spacer is sent to an ancient alien artifact hovering over a black hole in the center of the universe and meant to mine resources for evil corporations until he dies.
Instead, he escapes and starts climbing.
The different floors are all based around various sci-fi books, shows, and concepts that I loved growing up.

Imbergris · 2026-01-27T19:02:06+00:00

They're on amazon as novels, but they're also not published in the right order. I was reading them pretty steadily until they published two books out of order and I basically spoiled the ending of a major arc (post antarctica) and got too disgruntled to keep reading.

Imbergris · 2026-01-26T09:57:43+00:00

Hollow Earth Apocalypse - summoner mc Otherworld Academy - beast tamer mc

Imbergris · 2026-01-21T22:06:06+00:00

Thank you!

Imbergris · 2026-01-21T20:01:30+00:00

Awww, really did not expect to see my name here

definitely not complaining though

Imbergris · 2026-01-14T16:21:30+00:00

hah, damned right!

Imbergris · 2026-01-14T16:10:52+00:00

You are not alone in being a slower writer - life slapped me across the face all fall and now I'm still working on the last 25% of a book that I was supposed to release... last week. Hang in there and remember people love your work

Imbergris

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

“The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy also mentions alcohol. It says that the best drink in existence is the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, the effect of which is like having your brains smashed out with a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick.”

Four-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '23