So this year got off to a rocky start, but on the plus side, I gained some new insight into what’s probably wrong with my brain and how I might be able to function better. Unfortunately, it involves the two things I’m scared to death of and have fought at every turn: Simply working a lot less and leaning into my interests as much as possible.

I won’t get into my complicated feelings on that, but after laying out my options for leaning into my interests a lot more while avoiding my biggest friction points and potentially making some income, I settled on a focus: Erotica. Again.

I’ve also been pretty restless about being a pariah in the writing world, though. I want to participate in writing contests, submit work to lit magazines, get a table at local author events, tell people I meet that I’m an author without being dodgy about what I write… And that’s not really an erotica writer’s fate. Besides, the stories of my heart usually aren’t erotica. They’re darkly erotic, yes, but they’re erotica like Dracula 1992 or Nosferatu 2024 is porn.

So I’ve come to a decision (that I can totally take back in the future because god knows I change directions like the wind): I’m going to create two pen names.

Pen Name #1: Taryn Moreau

For one, I’m changing Taryn Moreau a bit. Same kinks and voice, but she’ll be dealing only with the deeper stories of my heart, realized as well as I can manage. Taryn Moreau will be more gothic fiction and dark fantasy with dark erotic themes. Novellas and novels that focus more on dark entanglements and human dramas with a delicious layer of dark eroticism throughout.

I’ll emphasize character development, story, worldbuilding, and strong prose. The themes of noncon and forced breeding and all that will probably appear in most of what I publish under Taryn Moreau, but I might tone down the explicit language a little, and not detail sex scenes as much. Though it’ll still be plenty spicy.

I have plans to expand quite a few of the stories I’ve already published under Taryn Moreau into longer novellas, novels, or even series. And, of course, I have a ton of other story ideas I can’t wait to write. It’ll probably take a while, though.

Pen Name #2: T. M. Sable

T. M. Sable is the pen name that will inherit most of what I’ve already written. But I’ll lean even further into writing commercial erotica. Quick and dirty without as much of an emphasis on story, character development, or polished prose. The kinks of noncon and forced breeding will take a front seat, although I personally think erotica does need some story and character development to be super hot.

If you love my erotic shorts, T. M. Sable will deliver more short stories and short novellas in that vein. I’ll just be preserving more of my story and character development energy for Taryn Moreau so I can get Sable stories out faster.

The main point of his pen name will be to help me let go of my perfectionism and the pressure to write well. I absolutely intend to deliver quality erotica, but I won’t try to make it fulfill kink fantasy and my desire for a bigger story. I also won’t be combing over these things, like, ten to twenty times.

Other Things I’d Like to Do in 2026 (Right Now)

As far as my author career in concerned, I have two dream goals: Hit triple-digit income under T. M. Sable and finish a “real” (as in something I can actually edit) novel draft under Taryn Moreau. That’s it, really.

If I get medication and it actually helps me function, that would be wonderful, but I’m not holding my breath. If I can work almost like a normal person, that’ll change my plans, probably.

But also, the world feels especially precarious right now, like all of my writing goals could be rendered obsolete and laughably minuscule compared to what’s happening on the world stage. Maybe even making a living won’t matter soon. Or maybe the rising tension will fizzle out and flatten and we’ll all go on with our lives, worst-case-scenario avoided.

Either way, in the meantime, I’ll keep writing.