Ask the Author: Badger Therese
Answered Questions (22)
Badger Therese
My usual process. Create the rules of the house, create the people to whom those rules will apply, create the house, break the rules, observe.
Creating the people is, for me, the most important part. One of the best things I ever read about fiction writing: You should be able to recognize your character if you bumped into them on the street. I'm not trying to create interesting people, I'm trying to create real people, and then focus on what they do in the house I find interesting. Real people are messy and unpredictable. They often surprise me. Athena from the Female, Recreational series, was a frequent surprise.
Creating the people is, for me, the most important part. One of the best things I ever read about fiction writing: You should be able to recognize your character if you bumped into them on the street. I'm not trying to create interesting people, I'm trying to create real people, and then focus on what they do in the house I find interesting. Real people are messy and unpredictable. They often surprise me. Athena from the Female, Recreational series, was a frequent surprise.
Badger Therese
I can recall two instances off the top of my head where Hannah traveled by airplane. The mode of transport depended on context. When Hannah was flown from Texas to California for a prestigious research program, she sat in first class, was served a good gin, and wasn't put in restraints until the jet was about to land. But when she was transported from Florida to California as a female commodity, she was shipped far less comfortably, chained by all four limbs to the floor of her small kennel.
Annabelle's treatment on her flight to Japan (next book, due out in a few months) was probably more like Hannah's first instance of travel.
Your second question, about sex and exercise in the stacks, is an interesting one that I haven't yet personally observed and thus can't answer fully. Maybe Annabelle will experience something like that, but given the trajectory of her charmed life, I find it highly unlikely she'd ever end up in a place like the stacks. Something terrible and unexpected would have to happen. But if it does, I will make sure to stay close by her and record everything in detail.
Annabelle's treatment on her flight to Japan (next book, due out in a few months) was probably more like Hannah's first instance of travel.
Your second question, about sex and exercise in the stacks, is an interesting one that I haven't yet personally observed and thus can't answer fully. Maybe Annabelle will experience something like that, but given the trajectory of her charmed life, I find it highly unlikely she'd ever end up in a place like the stacks. Something terrible and unexpected would have to happen. But if it does, I will make sure to stay close by her and record everything in detail.
Badger Therese
Thanks for the question! Yes, I'm about 20,000 words into the next installment, Breeding Camp. Might end up being two books, or more. It will feature some of the same characters from the Breeding Club books, and introduce others. Book 1 might be out in October or November.
Badger Therese
Thanks for the questions! Yes, "See Me Whore" is indeed that second book. I'll announce it here soon. I didn't know anyone cared. Production Contract 5 is halfway done, will be released by the other author hopefully in July.
Badger Therese
I started with the Debt Proxy, wrote part of the first book and forgot about it, decided to actually publish on Amazon first with Female, Recreational, but then revisited Debt Proxy and kept writing that one too.
Badger Therese
Thanks for the question & kind words, Dallas.
When writing current-event dystopia, the actual news will inevitably catch up with one, rendering the project increasingly moot. Also rendered moot: the cautionary value of what was intended as a cautionary tale.
How bad will things get? Never as bad as everyone expects . . . until they do. As I write this, Trump has ordered a government shutdown a full month before he takes office, and his administration appears poised to outlaw the polio vaccine. He's also making rumbling noises against Canada of the sort which sometimes continue per history into war (as predicted in 2024).
Otherwise, I'm staying busy here, collaborating on the next Winds of Gaia book with Lena White, and the next Production Contract Illustrated book with Kerel van Mierlo (both available for pre-order now and releasing in January) and working on 3 more solo projects, any or all of which may never see the light of day. But here they are, in likely order of publication;
1. What happens when an ambitious, bright girl is born to a slave?
2. What happens from a cultural, commercial, medical & law enforcement perspective when the human race can at last perceive individual neurons and synapses?
3. Breeding Camp 1
When writing current-event dystopia, the actual news will inevitably catch up with one, rendering the project increasingly moot. Also rendered moot: the cautionary value of what was intended as a cautionary tale.
How bad will things get? Never as bad as everyone expects . . . until they do. As I write this, Trump has ordered a government shutdown a full month before he takes office, and his administration appears poised to outlaw the polio vaccine. He's also making rumbling noises against Canada of the sort which sometimes continue per history into war (as predicted in 2024).
Otherwise, I'm staying busy here, collaborating on the next Winds of Gaia book with Lena White, and the next Production Contract Illustrated book with Kerel van Mierlo (both available for pre-order now and releasing in January) and working on 3 more solo projects, any or all of which may never see the light of day. But here they are, in likely order of publication;
1. What happens when an ambitious, bright girl is born to a slave?
2. What happens from a cultural, commercial, medical & law enforcement perspective when the human race can at last perceive individual neurons and synapses?
3. Breeding Camp 1
Badger Therese
Yes, have done Kindle only from the start (2017), no hard copy books done or in the works, and no other pseudonyms have been deployed.
Badger Therese
I keep my GoodReads page open all the time and am always grateful for questions, but rarely post here otherwise. Or anywhere. My books keep me really busy. I never had a blog that I can recall; this is the closest thing to it. The next thing up will be the fourth & final episode of the first voyage of the Cruise du Kinque collaboration I've been doing with the incomparable Lana White. It's based on our previous works, which we've been accused of milking for the new series. But yeah, the ship has a hucow deck. So, milking. Anyway, the fourth book's due out June 8 (shameless plug, which is also another joke). And then we start on cruise 2, first book of that series out July 20 (tentatively, but Lena is amazing, she Does Not Miss deadlines). At any given moment, I am juggling (being tormented by) 5-10 more stories I want to write. On deck are at least one Breeding sequel, which I'll call Breeding Camp, and then further down the road a book about what it's like to be a female born into slavery in the Female, Recreational universe. And another collaboration, with an artist to illustrate Production Contract, the first of probably four books just about ready to go. The next in the Hanging Man world is going to be later, if ever. I'm not sure that's the kind of book people want from me.
In closing, thank you, Dallas, for the questions, for joining the tiny cadre of people who have read me, and for your kind reviews. Too much sex in Female, Recreational? Guilty as charged. One day, being totally serious here, I might tone it down and release a YA version of the series. Any YA editors out there reading this who want to offer advice?
In closing, thank you, Dallas, for the questions, for joining the tiny cadre of people who have read me, and for your kind reviews. Too much sex in Female, Recreational? Guilty as charged. One day, being totally serious here, I might tone it down and release a YA version of the series. Any YA editors out there reading this who want to offer advice?
Badger Therese
Email me at badger.therese@gmail.com
Badger Therese
Thanks for asking, Lena, three are nearing completion, maybe out by early next year. Even January, maybe:
1. A second book from the Fucktopia universe, but not really a sequel. Romantic historic interplanetary mystery might be the genre. Not much sex. In fact, SFW.
2. A federal program to save the US population from dangerous decline. There will be sex, obviously. Maybe even enough to get you fired.
3. King Louis XIV didn't like non-Catholics. He'd send them to the galleys. Women too.
Proofreading help always welcomed.
1. A second book from the Fucktopia universe, but not really a sequel. Romantic historic interplanetary mystery might be the genre. Not much sex. In fact, SFW.
2. A federal program to save the US population from dangerous decline. There will be sex, obviously. Maybe even enough to get you fired.
3. King Louis XIV didn't like non-Catholics. He'd send them to the galleys. Women too.
Proofreading help always welcomed.
Badger Therese
Three in the works, thanks for asking. Goal is to have them all out by end of year. I am unable to write one book at a time, not sure why, so almost always have two going, sometimes three. Here's what's coming:
1. A second book from the Fucktopia universe, but not really a sequel. Romantic historic interplanetary mystery might be the genre. Not much sex. In fact, safer for work than any other Badger book, unless something happens at the end I haven't anticipated.
2. The US population is in dangerous decline. Sex is the answer, of course. Remember the Presidential Physical Fitness Program? Yes, there will be sex.
3. Get caught being something other than Catholic in 18th century France and they'd make you a galley slave. History says it happened only to men. Turns out it happened to women too. At least, it will in my book.
The second and third books will attempt to explore sexual themes new to the Badger shelf, but I'll just leave it at that for now.
1. A second book from the Fucktopia universe, but not really a sequel. Romantic historic interplanetary mystery might be the genre. Not much sex. In fact, safer for work than any other Badger book, unless something happens at the end I haven't anticipated.
2. The US population is in dangerous decline. Sex is the answer, of course. Remember the Presidential Physical Fitness Program? Yes, there will be sex.
3. Get caught being something other than Catholic in 18th century France and they'd make you a galley slave. History says it happened only to men. Turns out it happened to women too. At least, it will in my book.
The second and third books will attempt to explore sexual themes new to the Badger shelf, but I'll just leave it at that for now.
Badger Therese
Monkey 47, and when grapefruit juice is available, Hannah's also happy with Nolet
Badger Therese
Your timing is good, Mr. Jackson. The Debt Proxy 6: Synergy, is complete except for a few weeks of final proofreading and the cover. Target publication date window is the first week of June.
Badger Therese
Yes, always open to new ideas from others, and have incorporated a few into my work. But even my most dedicated contributors, e.g. "S.", get far less in than they want, so expect to be disappointed. Message me any ideas, and your email address as well, dyslexia is a plus!
Badger Therese
Thank you, Robert, your words are treasured.
Yes, two new books in the works: The fourth installment of the Debt Proxy series, and "2024" (working title), which anticipates the events and conditions in store for America after Donald Trump is re-elected president in two years (Spoiler alert: It's going to be a real treat, for all of us).
Both books stand at this moment at about 35,000 words, with some unknown amount of words which must still be written, at the rate of something like 500 to 1,000 words per day. At the current pace, look for one/both by mid to late summer. Or earlier. Or later. Or never.
P.S. Proofreaders always welcome, contact me here if of interest.
Yes, two new books in the works: The fourth installment of the Debt Proxy series, and "2024" (working title), which anticipates the events and conditions in store for America after Donald Trump is re-elected president in two years (Spoiler alert: It's going to be a real treat, for all of us).
Both books stand at this moment at about 35,000 words, with some unknown amount of words which must still be written, at the rate of something like 500 to 1,000 words per day. At the current pace, look for one/both by mid to late summer. Or earlier. Or later. Or never.
P.S. Proofreaders always welcome, contact me here if of interest.
Badger Therese
Thanks for asking! Two more books are nearing completion, perhaps each around a month or so from publication, one sci-fi, the other a third installment in the Debt Proxy series, this time from a male perspective and taking place only at Mirabilis.
Badger Therese
As of this moment, Female, Recreational 5: Summer Supplement, is being published on Amazon. And hopefully all your questions will be answered.
Badger Therese
Thank you, Lew. Inquiries like this make the solitary life of novel writing a little less lonely.
Hannah has not, unfortunately, found happiness in Paris. The situation is complicated, as they always are. The book is at this moment 92,000 words long, with maybe another 50,000 words to go, maybe more or less, being composed at something like 500-1,000 words per day. The challenge is that one does not write books like these. One observes, and records, and what happens happens.
Athena is a constant (and sometimes pleasant) surprise. Hannah as well.
Complicating things further, a second book is in the works, being authored simultaneously for reasons that cannot be explained. It's a one-off, not quite in the Hannah genre, but a story that demands to be told.
Maybe before end of year for both?
Hannah has not, unfortunately, found happiness in Paris. The situation is complicated, as they always are. The book is at this moment 92,000 words long, with maybe another 50,000 words to go, maybe more or less, being composed at something like 500-1,000 words per day. The challenge is that one does not write books like these. One observes, and records, and what happens happens.
Athena is a constant (and sometimes pleasant) surprise. Hannah as well.
Complicating things further, a second book is in the works, being authored simultaneously for reasons that cannot be explained. It's a one-off, not quite in the Hannah genre, but a story that demands to be told.
Maybe before end of year for both?
Badger Therese
There are traces of femdom in some of the Badger Therese books, but nothing I know of in that collection or any other with that as a theme. It is an idea, though . . .
Badger Therese
First, apologies for letting this question sit. These and others got lost among a set of generic Goodreads questions. Just noticed them today, very gratifying that there's a little interest in the worlds and the stories.
Anyway -- Debt Proxy II could be done late this year or early in 2021. Knowing there's interest helps, of course. There are so many stories to tell.
I'll do better looking for questions here in future.
Anyway -- Debt Proxy II could be done late this year or early in 2021. Knowing there's interest helps, of course. There are so many stories to tell.
I'll do better looking for questions here in future.
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In one of my series it resulted in me throwing away my outline and watchin ...more
Aug 05, 2025 03:30PM · flag
Here's what William Faulkner had to say about his approach, which is similar to ours I think:
"It begins with a character, usually, and once ...more
Aug 05, 2025 09:06PM · flag