Hi! So the Writer's Commentary series is something I want to create for all of my fiction going forward, a sort of peek behind the scenes at what happens during the writing process. Ideas change a lot, and I like documenting this stuff as it happens, so I hope you enjoy reading it.
For this collection of ramblings, you will need to have read my monster romance erotica piece, Bargain with the Leshy. You can read it here on neocities or enjoy a free PDF download from itch.io depending on your preferences.
First of all, Bargain with the Leshy was written as a response to my frustrations with myself. I really struggle to write short things—a lot of the time, my ideas spiral out of control into novella-sized (or larger!) projects, which then makes my perfectionism and anxiety go into overdrive as I work to make every little detail impervious to the angry critics who have taken up residence in my imagination and ruthlessly heckle me.
To be clear, this isn't a good attitude to have. Always writing in fear of potential criticism means that I don't get much writing done unless I feel more confident than usual—overall I would rate my anxiety as a -2 out of 10, would not recommend.
Anyway…
I whined about my perfectionism on the Internet for a bit, then got mad at myself and brainstormed a list of monster romance erotica ideas. Bargain with the Leshy was No. 3 on that list, and in that brain-vomit of ideas around a leshy-focused erotica piece I wrote Aiden as an (adult) witch's apprentice. I changed that very early on because I wanted Aiden to be a bit older and more worldly.
Some world-building that I didn't get to include in the text itself was that witches in this world operate in a guild-like system. There are apprentices who live with their mentors from ages 14-19, and then journeymen witches who travel as they need to while working on their masterpiece
—and I mean masterpiece
in the most traditional sense of the word; it's a piece of work (in Aiden's case, an herbal of magical plants and their uses) that, upon completion, will be judged by a council of master-level witches to determine whether the journeyman witch is ready to enter the guild as a fully-fledged adult member.
Rowenna is already a master-level witch since she has her own cottage. I initially wrote her as a veterinarian-witch,
but that sounded far too modern (on completely illogical grounds) so I changed her descriptor to farm-witch.
She is very Pratchett-esque; I was really drawing from the Tiffany Aching series when I wrote her.
The world of Bargain with the Leshy was designed to be reminiscent of the 1940s. There's modern technology to some degree, and use of electricity is widespread in more affluent/urban areas, but there's no Internet or any handheld phones. However, it IS a fantasy world, so I felt justified in allowing women to have societal acceptance if they choose to live a life independent of a male relative or partner—likewise, it's also a queer-normative world. Although the Gregorian calendar is used, this world isn't Earth and WWII didn't happen.
Also, Aiden is very much autistic; botany is a special interest of his!
On a more technical note, my partner, M., helped me edit the sex scene between Marek and Aiden. That took several days owing to the difference in our sleep schedules (we live in the same time zone, but are long-distance) and did most of the work between 11pm and 2:30am over Discord.
I don't really have writing playlists, and I am VERY particular about the music I listen to while writing—if a song has lyrics, they cannot be in English or French because if I understand even fragments then my concentration will be broken. I ended up listening to Hörst du die Trommeln by Faun on repeat while writing the sex scene; it sounds vaguely Celtic, has a male singer with a nice voice, and the drumming was good. I have no idea what the lyrics mean.
I'm on the fence about whether or not I'll write a sequel to Bargain with the Leshy; Marek and Aiden are not in love and neither of them are the type to get their heart mixed up after a one-night-stand, so it's unlikely that they would be emotionally drawn back to each other. I do have some ideas, but as it stands those ideas don't make for a particularly happy story and I am definitely the type of writer who enjoys their HEAs. If a sequel does enter the works, then it will be a long time off—don't hold your breath, in other words.
Nonetheless, if you enjoyed Bargain with the Leshy enough to want to read through all of this worldbuilding, I hope you don't walk away unsatisfied. I definitely plan to return to this world and write more about its witches and monsters! If you have any thoughts or suggestions, feel more than free to use the comment box below; I would love to hear from you.