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Hey Sentars,

Updat-a-diddily-do. Sorry I just went full Flanders and I shouldn’t have seen that, but currently I’m not even caffeinated.

DD 301 is a wrap, I need to go back and probably work a little more on that final fight. Then I am adjusting Misha’s description when we first meet her. Yanai did some art and I like it enough that I’m changing the character a little, need to share that art with you here shortly too.

I’ve been rereading AO 6 and think I have all the plot threads in hand. Also I have to get Ard’s character back in my head to write him correctly. My wife insists that I become glib tongued when I write Ard. Really, it is because I spend all day trying to come up with this stuff that it’s just at the top of my mind for me to toss back out at the most inopportune times.

The video AMA is coming out this week, it shouldn’t be long, but we did a good number of questions. I’ll try and iterate on this idea. Thanks for the questions and I’ll try to do more of these.

Kickstarter is going slowly. I just got the pallet of books for the reorder of the first 3 books normal edition. Those are slowly being brought down to my basement and signed. The order of books 4-6 has probably another 1.5 months before I get them. Ordering in bulk is a very slow process and since I started this those businesses have even shifted a decent amount. US is getting more printing options, but it is all focused on what Romantasy wants, which is hardback, dust jackets with foiling and sprayed edges. The faux leather and foiling is still pretty much exclusive to chinese printers which have a 2-3 month printing queue and 6-8 week delivery time. The books I got last week were ordered in march.

I’ll do another round of DJ, matching the first 2, but when we do a next series I’ll probably pair the pretty parts to what’s more widely offered. Just another learning from this whole thing.

Other things are going smoothly, I calmed down on the talk of Webcomics because of all the bumps I’ve gone through. I have been letting them sort of just go this spring/summer but picked up the reins again last week to force them into some weekly cadences and get them moving a little smoother. Ultimately for me it is something I want, but I don’t always have the time to invest in managing it.

On the AMA questions I noticed a lot were asking for some directional sense from me on what I’m doing next and where I’m going. I’ll be a little honest that I’m, for whatever reason, less interested in writing sex scenes. Not entirely intentional, but perhaps the result of some intentional decisions I’ve veered away from them to make longer romances and focus on plots more.

I also have 3 series that are all well established into the harem and story. I am slowing down harem development to not hit the higher numbers that clearly cause people to lose interest. Plus if I want all the characters to be fully fleshed out, I need to keep them in rotation of focus. Like here in DD, I’ll admit there are more than a few characters that only get minimal page time. The cast at this point is huge.

So, wrestling with cast size is really what’s driving a lot of these decisions. Thus there’s not as much emotional development to then lead to a fulfilling sex scene. Because you have to have the emotion first to make it even worth it imo.

Anyway, I got off topic. Things are well, moving forward nicely in all counts. There is plenty of me waiting for the next step so I can actually DO something. But I have plenty of writing to do to fill the time.

Comments

Jamie R

Thanks for the update. Looking forward to that art of Misha! As for the Harem numbers, I've never had a concern, but have noticed the higher the number the less page time certain characters get. Most stories I've read find a balance between 4 and 7 harem members. Also works well for a D&D party, 4 harem, plus MC, the. Additionally 2 on support, one a home maker, the other usually a merchant or business oriented character to handle the family assets.

Michael Chaney

I agree, when there are too many harem members you get some that seem to not be around or get very little mention in some books. Like in DJ, I just finished the series a month ago, in the last chapter where he's talking about all his kids and his wife's. Which I like, letting us know what happens, I feel like some of his wives got very little or none at all ending.

Bob Bryan

Im fine with high harem numbers, as long as it makes sense. So far they have made sense with every series of yours that j have read. Just please dont extend it to the point of a normal anime protagonist love interest and its okay. Otherwise you get the opposite problem.

Hayden Leech

“I’ll do another round of DJ” Dragon? Woo!

ArbabSB

I have to disagree with the idea that the new slower pace of harem development and resultant smaller harem are inherently better. It feels less like a longer, more developed romance and more like spinning the wheels in place in cases such as Helen in DD and Circe in RD. The harem bloat in DJ was only really a problem when all those nymphs got added.

Mavrox

Highschool dxd comes to mind where he desperately wants to get powerful enough to form a harem but is oblivious to the fact that all the girls around him are in love with him.....

Bob Bryan

Exactly. Spoilers, it got there, it just felt like it took an intentionally extended amount of time. Thats more the problem. As long as it doesnt feel like bruce is intentionally extending things to long, past the point of it making sense, its okay. When it feels like its beinf dragged out, its annoying. Its what got me off of most normal light novels and into harem and other stories ironically.

Ocean

I agree with your point here. I have no issue with slowing down the pace in regards to building the harem. But in the case of DD etc, there are already so many potential love interests (Helen, Candice, Selene etc), that it feels like spinning in circles to make no progress, whilst still adding new girls like misha. I don't think it would be a bad thing to simply have the waiting relationships start, then spend future books fleshing them out more. Loving all the books though and looking forward to more Ard chaos.

David Middleton

When do you think dd301 will be on amazon?

Mick

I have gotten really picky on the harem books I'll spend credits on, I have found I enjoy the plot/story with an occasional sex scene more than constant every chapter. One of the reasons I enjoy Bruce's work is the great plot and story along with character development. If I want all sex with very little story I can read other authors, which gets repetitious and boring.

RestIsBest

With dd this is really easy just party swap more people more often plus it actually makes sense to not always bring the same party memeber into the duengeon if you have raids and need to get good with everyone.

Nick Drake

I think it’s pretty well established that the class want to be in the harem so that’s the upper limit we “expect” and I hope you still at least give us one sec scene per book I mean Chase Kilgore basic all does very few ( minimum 1) per book and his stories are amazing. I will express my personal opinion that I will be and am disappointed in the lack of sex to power. If Ken and Des both grant stats (mana and stamina +1) then they should be screwing Charolette and hell anyone and everyone else when want it and want to get stronger. I thought the stam or mana increase from Ken come from delirious pleasure so he could walk past folks and literally tap them on the shoulder and use it. No CD was ever discussed but I’m sure there is one…although if there is it’s seconds not minutes. At the end of the day it’s your story to tell but the fan base was build on 70/30 story to sex and it would be really disappointing for you to alter the feel of it before the series is done.

Nick Drake

Sure but sex has been a part of this series for the first 6 books dropping it down to none or have it occur 100% off screen would be a big difference and disappointing no?

MuteButtonHero

I'll go against the trend here and say that as the harem number get beyond where the MC could reasonable spend time with each of them I find it uncomfortable, particularly when looking at adding even more. These women, though they might not be jealous of his fidelity, would certainly be jealous of his time. If instead there were one-time or occasional partners that could make more sense. And would give additional opportunities to write adult scenes. Not every partner needs to be permanent or pregnant. I also dislike the idea that a love scene can't be written for people who are committed long time partners. This is not just an issue with these authors or HF but extends to romance in general and even beyond. It's like the only interesting love scene is the first one. Sentar has actually done better than most at writing 1scenes that are still hot from later in the relationship but OTOH any adult scenes are becoming rare so those offset. I have noticed that books with a lot of adult scenes seem to work best when the books are light hearted and humorous, and the scenes don't rely too heavily on trope and cliché.

RestIsBest

Also I might be the only guy in the world to say this, but I am totally fine with fades to black and implied intimacy.

RestIsBest

I agree with this to a point in some regards but like with DD it would feel kind of messed up to turn the class and others down especially because to be honest the way the harem queen does it actually is responsible he need the power and the poeple need the power as well in the world they live in. That said in ards oath the mage wife and her anchor i feel terrible for them and I think it would be rude to just add more as he doesnt need to add more like ken does so it seems rude to not limit and give more control of who joins or not to his girls. If they had a way for them to all be in soul guard, maybe I would feel different but I agree those girls just get left behind and that feels wrong. Maybe he can add his mage girls to soul guard and create shadow portals to his temples so they can come and go and it wouldn't feel so bad but him just leaving them behind feels bad.

Mick

I agree, none of us read for fade to black or none at all

Bob Bryan

Im find with it occasionally but I think your in the wrong genere if that is all you want.

Idaho

Maybe consider sex lighter / quicker / more often to handle greater numbers. Not everything needs to be a full chapter. Several of the class would likely be up for quickies.

RestIsBest

Not what I want just fine with it. Honestly the spicy scenes actually make it feel more real then the no one does anything trope.

Ark

I dont think a bunch of quickies will really flesh out the romance lol

Tian Krux

while I do occasionally don't mind fade to black I feel like it would take away from the enjoyment of the romance if you were to go the more slow burn route with your writing. honestly I would be happy with one adult scene per book (like Chase Kilgore) but a lot of the others who enjoy this genre prefer to have more per book. in regards to harem size management I do personally like the more smaller close knit harems more since you fell like the bond is stronger and the girls get more time. I'm not saying that large harems are bad or anything it can just get a bit hard to keep up sometimes.

Stephen Britton

Whats up with a Dragon’s Justice comic/anime/manga?

SpeedDemon266

I don't need like 10 sex scenes a book but I want at least a few. I love my spicy books

SpeedDemon266

Also wanted to add that I don't think you should slow things down in dd and it's fine if a lot of the girls in his class just start as maybe the occasional quickly and things develop from there. I'm fine with future series not having massive harems but I'd still like there to be at least a handful of unique and interesting girls with a few sex scenes a book. And if it isn't their first time having sex I think like a half chapter quickie is fine. When someone is in a relationship and they have ssx it's not always going to be an extended marathon.

Ross Carpenter

Lesser sex scenes are completely fine. On lesser writers I want them to fill in the mundane, but your writing is so dang good I would 100% read any Sentar book with no super-detailed sex scenes (the implied stuff would still be fine though.)