Preliminary Note: I use the following lengths as a loose guideline for categorization, but other writers' definitions may differ.
< 4000 words = "short short"/"quickie"
4-10k words (~10-25 word processor pages / ~16-40 "manuscript" pages) = short story
10-40k words (~25-100 word processor pages / ~40-160 "manuscript" pages) = novella
40-80k (~100-200 word processor pages / ~160-320 "manuscript" pages) = novel
80k+ (~200+ word processor pages / ~320+ "manuscript" pages) = "doorstopper"
As Em, I write primarily in the short story/novella range, and categorize borderline cases by level of narrative complexity.
... What do you mean, "porn can't have narrative complexity"? :<
- Science Fiction -
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| SPACE PIRATES |
LENGTH: Twelve mostly chronological short stories. Some are more interconnected than others and there is an overarching plot (see below), but the series can more or less be read selectively or out of order.
PLOT: Mostly off-screened, though the bundles do divide very loosely into arcs (i.e. the first story of each bundle serves as a decent entry point).
- "Possess" includes some key but ultimately unexplained worldbuilding.
- Most of the actual backstory is stuffed into "Jeanne".
- "Degen" and "Adrestia" come as a pair, but are unessential to the overall plot. However, "Adrestia" does serve as a pivotal moment in the character arcs.
- "Olivia", "Breakthru", and "Now/Here" detail the primary (and final) plot arc.
HEAT LEVEL: Varies. "Jeanne" is the tamest; "Transact" (femdom) is kinky but sweet; "Degen" comes closest to hardcore; only the last four stories start getting overtly BDSM (more sensual than hardcore).
- "Langsyne" and "Cycle" are pretty much entirely funtimes, but the former leans more psychological than physical and the latter does sneak in some worldbuilding/plot context at the very end.
- "Contract", "Xsence", and "Possess" are more physical than "Adrestia", which also leans more to the psychological end of the spectrum.
- "Ascertain" and "Remember That Thou Art", both free to read "deleted scenes", are light on physicality but should give a pretty good idea of the flavor of BDSM involved.
NEOTANTS
SUBGENRE: Mecha (giant robots). In other words, the squishiest science fiction you'll ever sink your teeth into.
LENGTH: Serialized shorts.
PLOT: Nonexistent.
HEAT LEVEL: "Origins" is pretty tame. Otherwise pretty high.
- Incompatible [1, 2, 3, 4] (currently serializing [slowly]) is about a kinky FFM menage.
- Fantasy -
TYRANT'S QUEST
SUBGENRE: High fantasy complete with intricate politics and spells flinging around and stuff. Fortunately (unfortunately?!), however, I do not have a magic system fetish.
LENGTH: Five standalone chronological novellas. Each entry follows the same protagonist but is otherwise independent of the others.
PLOT: This is a relatively plot-heavy series (with emphasis on relatively), but the tone also varies drastically between entries, and as mentioned above, each individual entry is self-contained.
- Demon's Promise is essentially a dark literary coming-of-age story with heavy political conspiracies going on in the background. Oops.
HEAT LEVEL: Starts out relatively tame, but gets progressively kinkier/more hardcore before leveling off.
- Demon's Promise features gentle femdom with a literary bent.
THE WOLVES OF WORLD'S END
SUBGENRE: Secondary world low fantasy. (Subdued magic; ambiguously post-Industrial Age tech levels; not a paranormal version of our world.)
LENGTH: Four chronological novellas. Each can be read standalone, but the series does have a vague overall plot.
PLOT: More details forthcoming
HEAT LEVEL: More details forthcoming
