Hello again! Welcome to April, where there will be no foolery. First, my thanks to everyone who continues to visit and support this cursed little corner of depraved darkness. The site hit a couple of nice milestones in March, including the highest number of unique visits and post reads. Our influence and reach are growing. Soon, our diabolical plans to supplant the establishment will come to fruition. Cue nefarious laughter and monologue.
I'm going to start with a self-check. I've decided that I will no longer use phrases such as, "This month's releases will be shorter." Invariably, this leads to things like the upcoming release of a big project. Cheerloathing. For those that care to read about why I like writing the stuff I do, I'll expound on those things in the release post. That will be out soon. See? No actual date to disappoint anyone with. I'm learning. So, first, let's talk about storytelling because that leads us to the cheerleaders. This post is going to be a long one.
You can skip ahead if you're not interested in my nonsensical rambling.
Storytelling
From the early days, stapling little paper books together, I've loved telling stories. I've moved past tales of my dog solving crimes in his kennel copter. Now, I do whatever this stuff is called. Character-driven erotic fiction, I suppose.
My goal, ultimately, with this site is to tell stories. They're the kinds of stories that I enjoy. They're populated by fictional people with goals, desires, and whacky kinks. They're stories that explore kinks in a way that I want to be positive, engaging, and a little silly. They are also a bit dark.
It means that I want to be able to offer stories in different mediums. That all begins with writing a good story and then translating that story into different formats. That could be video, audio, or graphic. All of that takes a lot of time but in the end, it's time well spent if I get to tell people the weird stories that are in my head and have those stories affect you in a positive way.
Since I opened the site, I have spent a great deal of time bettering myself as a writer. I've read more books, listened to more books, and devoured lectures on story, craft, engagement, characterization, and structure. All of those things are important to me in order to tell a better story, but also because I want to produce a quality experience for everyone that visits this place.
Based on the feedback I've received, it seems that most of you come here because you like to have an experience around a good story. That's characters that you can connect with, and scenarios that give that sexy thrill we all love. That is what I want to deliver. I want to give you stories that will be experiences. I want everyone who reads a Tori Hamlin tale to finish it and say, "That was absolutely worth my time and investment."
Part of why there has been a little longer time between releases is for that reason. I haven't perfected it and I don't know that I ever will. I do feel like it's improving. I will, however, make you the one promise that I will never break. If I read it and it doesn't thrill me, I won't ask anyone to pay for it. Providing solid value for someone's hard-earned money is the first guiding principle I have in writing any story. I do not want to write trash. There's way too much of that in the erotica landscape.
If you don't feel like you got that from one of my books, I want to know about it. I welcome it. Leave a comment and tell me where you think it failed. Send me an email. Leave it in the forum or on the review page. I will never tell you you're wrong for being critical about a piece.
I firmly believe that if we don't know where we're failing, we can't improve on it and make it work. I'm not out to please everyone. That's an impossible goal. But every piece of feedback is invaluable.
That brings me back to experiences. From here on, I would like to be able to offer books in multiple formats and even languages. The feedback from the March polls was a bit mixed as far as audiobooks go. Some are interested, others not, while still more would be interested if they had individual actors.
Personally, I'd love to be able to do a lot of things, but the site's budget doesn't allow for that quite yet. So, to begin with, I've started adding some of the more socially acceptable shorts to the Erotikinks YouTube channel using an AI reader. That's more for marketing purposes than anything else. I always release shorts for free on the site anyway, so I don't feel that using AI (if it's done well enough) to narrate shorts is an issue. I'm not asking anyone to pay for that.
When it comes to big releases, I'm going to trial a couple of options. I will be doing a human-read version of Altering Annika at some near-future date. I'm working on tapping Ellie Desyre as my female voice actor. We have a discussion going on but haven't nailed down specifics on getting the project done.
Besides finding the right actors/actresses, there's the standard of quality. I'm not going to release any slapped-together crap someone recorded on a phone mic. I like quality stuff. I've made investments in software and equipment for the future of the site and, while it's still in the early stages, you might notice that the production value of things like video promos has gotten better. Audio, when it happens, will be the same.
If you would like an example of this (also early stages) you can listen to me narrate Lisa X Lopez's The Beauty of Broken Things on her YouTube channel. That was actually done using professional narration software, equipment, and a recording environment. While I'm not 100% happy with the narration--doing female voices is not my strong suit--the project turned out better than I ever expected. In fact, it got me an offer to narrate another author's project, which I may be taking up.
If you'd rather not spoil whatever mental image you have of me, skip it. If you want to listen to a ridiculously moving little story with a few hot sex scenes, go nuts. It was recently picked up as a star recommendation on the All the Filthy Details podcast, and Lisa got invited to do an interview with them. If you want to hear Lisa's sexy Latina accent say dirty words, it's worth a listen.
This leads into the first site poll. I've posted a few book promo videos the last few weeks. These are intended to serve as marketing pieces on visual platforms like YouTube and TikTok. They're also for experience. I use them to convey the tone that I want the story to have. With the Korrupting Kayla video, it was darkness, doom, and impending disaster. For The Second Place Sister, it's emotion, betrayal, and a big epic story. Edge is dark, mysterious, and dirty. Cheerloathing is in the same vein as The Second Place Sister. I'm posting all the promo videos, which are safe for work, below.
To deliver the kind of quality that I want the site and books to have, I'm doing a lot of learning. I have some middling background already in video editing, but I'm going way more in-depth now. I'm working with a software called Da Vinci Studio, which is the Hollywood standard for many big movies these days. Eventually, I want to get to the point where I will be able to reproduce some of these books in an anime-style format. So, further courses in design, directing, and animation are in the queue.
Hell, if I hit the lottery, I'd probably start my own studio and start cranking out full-length dirty movies with actual people. But, I dream. The more realistic goal is to be able to self-produce and have a small team of pros that can turn my dirty words into something awesome. That's a long way down the road, but as I said, this is all about experiences and telling stories in different mediums. That is the goal and I will learn what it takes to get there. Welcome to the beginning of the Tori Hamlin erotic empire.
Here are the promo videos and the question.
Korrupting Kayla: Book Two
The Second Place Sister
Edge
Cheerloathing
Now, the question. Do the promo videos add anything to the overall experience of the story for you as a reader? Polls are anonymous.
Do the videos provide you with immersion in the story?
0%Yes. They add to the experience.
0%No. They don't.
0%I'm indifferent.
Cheerleaders
I'm going to go more in-depth on Cheerloathing in the release post, but I do want to touch on the project here. It's about storytelling. I mentioned in the past two roadmaps that I had a little cheerleader story that I was going to do. Slutty cheerleader? Who doesn't like a slutty cheerleader story? Then it became not so little.
It's an odd thing that happens when you write characters. Some of them you connect with and you end up fleshing them out. That was the case with The Second Place Sister. The Hamlin twins (as if it weren't obvious) became kind of the flagship characters for everything else that came out of that book. This site, the pen name for the writing, and the future tone and style for all the other stories I've written came out of writing Tori and Stephanie.
Those two characters were something special for me. Kayla was another one, but as far as an attachment to characters, I have it in the moment for some but it goes away once a book is finished. Cheerloathing will be one of those different stories.
This book features the deepest cast of characters I've done since The Second Place Sister. In many ways, Cheerloathing is a spiritual successor to that first book. It's nearly a mirror for the tone of that book but delivered with the writing experience I did not have in 2015. Don't get me wrong. I loved Second Place Sister, but there are many parts that I read through today that make me cringe.
Word choices, descriptions, formatting, and the typos that I missed are just a few of those. Still, I leave them in (other than typos) because that was the book that it all started with and, for many of you, the one that kept you on this odd writing journey with me.
So, if you liked that book, you're going to absolutely love Cheerloathing.
Not only will it be very character-focused, but it contains many similar themes that made Second Place Sister a good story: Betrayal, sluttiness, and a slow-burn lead-up to an all-out spiral into filth and depravity. There will also be twins, unethical doctors, mystery, incest, and, of course, innocent teens being turned into sluts. It will clock in close to the length of that first book, making it the second-longest single release I've done.
I hope you'll come back and enjoy the experience with me. The story of Diana, Carrie, and Sara is the one you will not want to pass up if you like The Second Place Sister.
Sisters
On that note, let's double back to the beginning of it all. At the end of April, I'll be releasing an Author's Edition of The Second Place Sister in a partnership deal with All These Roadworks. If you have previously purchased this title and want the updated edition, just drop me an email on release day--April 28th--and I'll send a copy over. This updated edition will be a clean sweep of all the remaining errors that were in the manuscript and will have an additional bonus story.
The bonus story will also be released as a free read on the site, so no one will miss out on it. Titled, The Redheaded Slut, this bonus story will tell Cindy's backstory, leading up to her time in the NewYou Clinic.
The current edition of this book will no longer be available after that date. Given the massive edits, bonus content, and just the massive size and popularity of that book, there will be a slight increase in price for that finished work.
What's coming in April?
Given my track record on getting things out when I say they'll be, I'll just give you an apology up front for any promises I break. While I would love to just be cranking out stories all day long for ErotiKInks, other real-life stuff gets in the way. Hopefully, the way things are trending, I'll be able to put more time into doing this. So, what's coming?
Cheerloathing will be the first release. Right now, I'm looking at early to mid-April for this one. The story itself is pretty much wrapped up. I'm doing a lot of edits that go back to the start of this post. Quality and storytelling. My goal with this book is for anyone that reads it to say, "That is why I read a Tori Hamlin book."
Expect a few shorts over the month, including another Kimmy adventure for Easter. Along with those, I am working on finishing my filthy sci-fantasy story The Waygate Wanderer. Call that one my quirky, WTF release. Hey, I need to have fun, too! This book is along the lines of something like Doppelganger. A bit far out and extremely dirty.
For those that enjoyed Bad Influence(r), there is another iFem project in the works, too. It will be a completely separate story that does not feature VixyViv in any major role. She may make a cameo appearance, similar to her mention in Playing with Toys and Vicky's Inheritance. This one follows iFem's Brand Renewal Specialists, who will help struggling companies to "modernize" their public image. Read into that what you will. Rest assured, it will be awful, degrading, humiliating, and there will likely be tears.
That's all the news that's fit to print! If you'd like to engage in additional polls, you can do so below. Again, all polls are anonymous. Thank you again for taking the time to read about things of which only I care about! You have my heartfelt thanks for your continued support, reading, and input. You are all the reason that my dreams are coming true, and for that, you have my eternal gratitude.
Polls
Kayla Two was the most purchased title on the site this month. I've gotten some feedback on it in the forums and reviews. It was a slight change in the formula and tone from the first book, though, so I'm curious to know if you considered it worth the wait. Book three will have a much shorter wait time. Likely in late spring or early summer.
If you purchased Kayla Two, how would you rate it?
0%5 Stars
0%4 Stars
0%3 Stars
0%2 Stars
This question is a content question. I like writing in a lot of sexy things. Whether they're small things or big gangbangs. When you're reading, what is the mix of story and sex that you find most enjoyable? Do you wish there were more focus on the sexy things that characters feel? Are the descriptions of the action stimulating and arousing?
How do you find the balance of character and kink in existing stories?
0%Good balance. Keep the formula.
0%Less slow burn and more sex faster.
0%Like the characterization but I wouldn't mind more sex.
0%Would like lengthier sex scenes and focus on physical detail
This question is geared toward developing pacing to provide what readers want. Personally, I love erotic stories for the story, the characters, and the kinky scenes. I don't necessarily read to get off, but rather to fuel the fantasies and kinks I have that excite me. I may be an odd one out on this front. What do you think?
What is the primary reason you read erotica?
For a sexy story & kinky scenarios. If I get off it's a plus
I read primarily to get off.
This question deals with translation. This site gets a lot of reads from countries outside the USA, and I want to make sure that it's serving that audience well. Since I do not speak all the languages that visit this site, translations may not be perfect. I'd be relying on things like Google Translate, which may not provide the best experience. What are your thoughts?
I would be more likely to purchase a book if it were in my native language.
Yes
No