Carrie Thorne | Updates

Unleash the Fury. And, a Roadmap.

Carrie Thorne — Thu, 7 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Hello!

The next in the Demon Hunter Series is FINALLY here!!! In all caps and many exclamation points. In progress since... um... 2022, I think... Fury is finally done (almost). Done enough to put up for preorder.

Vann's story has bobbed around in my head and drafts on my laptop for a long time, years, and you know me, I won't rush a story. Bad things happen... or boring things, anyway.

I was realizing that I used to have a new book for you out quarterly - ish. I wrote a book every quarter, while working full time. I have been thinking about posting about writing with long covid, and I had a draft to post, but dang, gotta say, I hate pity parties, so until I can say exactly the right things in exactly the right way... which I'm not that eloquent... yeah... we'll see.

You've been waiting four+ years for Vann's story (as have I). Four years! Dang. Instead of a book a quarter, the fraction is flipped. Long covid sucks.

I'm not quite ready to post a teaser, but I will soon... hopefully. And an email update for all you amazing subscribers... soon... I just wanted to unleash a quick update, and toss around some ideas and see what sticks. So, explore this little brain game with me, if you will:

With Fury up for preorder now, and Day Dreaming out next month, I'm debating where to take you next. Especially at this snail's pace. Although, there is no rushing a good romance ;).

I've been thinking of writing the next generation of demon hunters. I've been dabbling. So... maybe? If you all love Fury, and spread the word to the world how amazing the Demon Hunter Series is, maybe I'll prioritize. It will be amazing, by the way. Blayk and Noah will come back. Bennett's younger siblings will have epic stories of their own. Vampires, werewolves, and even some new demons and some adventures in the demon realm and the veil is ripping apart at the seams... big ideas, but it will take time.

The week I got covid - literally that week - I was nominated for an award for Six. Luckily, I wasn't at the conference, or I might have been Typhoid Mary... but at the time, I was working on a fantasy series. I had two books almost done. And I was even thinking of seeking traditional publishing to mix things up a bit.

I have a confession. Okay... wow... this update is turning out to be longer than I thought it would. Anyway. Confession. I can't read. I used to stay up until the wee hours of the 'morn reading. On a lazy weekend, I'd read an entire book and dread those moments of finishing a story I'd fallen head over heels for... then sometimes starting it again the next weekend for a re-read.

Now... authors are supposed to read. But I can't. It's like the words are scrambled and in a different language and my focus drifts... and... and... I miss reading so so so so much... :*(.

So, I read what I write / what I wrote. Because I know what's going to happen and I don't have to pay attention, and I float along with the story in my head.

Last night, I was totally crashed after an appointment. I was thinking back on that unfinished fantasy series, and opened it back up to help me fall asleep. And, dang, I missed that world. And a bunch of ideas blossomed. So, maybe I'll finish that next?

I've also been playing around with a regency series. We'll see. That one has a long way to go. My focus is shite, so I bounce around between ideas.

Maybe a fanfic?

Wow, I got lost again.

Roadmap. Here is a Thorny roadmap:

June 2026: Day Dreaming. The next Foothills has been done for... ahem... um... a few years, so if I can edit that up and make it pretty, I'll pop that one up for Foothills soon. Then... I have a small start on a book for Scott, but I am currently stuck. So the last Foothills may be some time out.
October 2026: Fury. Finally. Then maybe more demon hunters, but that will take a lot of time.
2027 and Beyond: The backlog of books I've been working on for years is dwindling, so it was nice to get two books out this year, but it'll probably be one a year - unless a miracle cure or miracle writing spring hits me! Honestly, I'd love to hear what you're interested in. Some standalones? More demon hunters? A thriller romcom series that I have been tossing around ideas for? Regency? Fantasy?

Stay tuned. I hope to keep you entertained with at least a book every year! That is my goal, because I need something to read, and I can only read my own books and works-in-progress so many times. Thus... sign up for the newsletter. Keep coming back here for updates. And I hope to keep us both entertained with romantic escapism for as long as I can keep it up :).

Authentically, without generative AI, always. Without releasing until I know it's good.

Today, right now, this very moment:

Preorder Fury.
Share on social media. BookTok and Insta and all that. Any of it. I'm not on any social media, so I appreciate you spreading the word so I can afford to keep doing this :).

Thanks for hanging in there with me! Keeping this up keeps me going, makes me happy, and I cannot tell you how much I love hearing from you, via your reviews sharing how much you loved a book, sharing on social media, or shooting me a quick message.

See you on the next one!

- Carrie

]]>

On Feminism, the Patriarchy, and Gender Dynamics in the Romance Genre

Carrie Thorne — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

First Posted: March 31, 2026

Last Edited: March 31, 2026

Sounds fancy, eh? I’m not nearly as articulate as I would like to be – far from a journalist or any sort of nonfiction writer – but here we go.

Before MAGA. Before covid. Before my kids reached puberty. When the world felt comfortable, I started writing romance.

Why? The obvious answer: Why not.

Why else? Because I was comfortable at work, my kids were just old enough, and my fiction writer’s mind had been bursting at the seams.

I’ve wanted to write for as long as I can remember. Since I handwrote an illustrated retelling of The Princess Bride as a second grader. Since my seventh-grade teacher said my legal thriller sounded like the first chapter of a novel.

And why romance? Oh, and the point of the article, we’ll get there, I promise. You know I love preamble in my posts. Romance. Yes. Romance novels were my stress relievers, my happy place, and my escapism, so of course that’s what I wrote. Write. Still write.

My first few books followed the same formula as the romance novels I’d been reading at the time. Mainstream. Always under a feminist lens, however, as that’s who I’ve always been. I strived (strove?) to write women and men fairly, honestly, and to write healthy relationship dynamics.

However. Big however. The world began to feel nasty. Misogynist assholes preaching about female submission, and going viral for it. About tradwifery that has zero to do with tradition and everything to do with control. The male loneliness epidemic being blamed on women instead of on the odd social dynamics of our modern world.

Women thinking women shouldn’t be allowed to vote – how can a woman think so poorly of herself? She doesn’t know the struggle it took to get this far in women’s rights? Of the dangers a woman can live in, if she doesn’t have a voice?

I come from a long line of feminists – male and female, and am grateful for my upbringing.

As my children began their journeys toward adulthood, my view of the world evolved. I need to teach my son self-love, consent, and healthy gender dynamics. To help my daughter feel safe in exploring their gender identity and sexual orientation – while knowing there are monsters in the world who take sick pleasure in marginalizing already marginalized communities, and knowing damn well that this has never been a choice for my child, it is who they are.

I’ve had men close in my life who think very little of women. I’ve been in an emotionally abusive relationship – and didn’t realize what it was until years later, when I realized how badly my self-esteem still struggled. That takes toll. It brings a person down. Kicking and screaming, I refused to bend when he’d say that I’m not as smart as him, but it clawed into my psyche anyway. Constantly hearing that I’m a woman and thus emotional and less logical. That there is something weird about my genitalia, and I listened to sexist, disrespectful jokes.

Subsequently, I met an amazing man, thankfully! My cis het husband quotes James Baldwin and self-identifies as a feminist. I am extremely lucky.

Established as an author now. Mother of adolescent kids. Wife of a husband who respects me.

The old “it’s not that deep” argument. Not an innuendo, btw ;). But even a casual romance novel, however unserious, matters. Simple things even, like condom use, nonsmoking, and respectful conversations. These matter.

A scene in a few TV shows based on books – which shall not be named here but you can probably guess – and don’t get me wrong, these are fantastic authors and I know they meant well – wow, sorry, longwinded here… These stories include women being assaulted, from spanking to inflicting pain in the marriage bed – which wasn’t just because she was a virgin, it was far darker and less romantic than a wedding night, however well disguised. Some try to excuse these themes as historically accurate, despite being stories dabbling in or explicitly written as fantasy. Yeah, let’s normalize violence against women in our fantasy stories, but leave out multitudes of other facets of history. Steam is actively puffing out my ears, by the way.

I wrote a same sex romance, a male-male romance (Day Dreaming). In part, I wrote it because my child needed to see same-sex romances on the shelf of their mother’s published works - that's a story for another time, which I shared in the free newsletter. And, because I wrote three siblings in a series, two got their own romance stories (Finn and Zoe), and the third (Evan) was a gay character… but he didn’t get his own romance, because I’m not a gay man? Yes, he’s a character from my own imagination, but it felt messed up to not give him his own book.

Know what I discovered? It was weirdly relieving to write a story without gender inequality. Same sex romances are not without imbalance, struggles, and deserve attention and care in every way, so please to not mistake me for thinking a gay romance is any easier than a straight one. Not what I’m saying. But the gender thing. Stepping back from having a female perspective was an adventure.

Just, dang, it was eye-opening. To not have to ensure that my female character was entirely equal. In the demon hunter series, all of the hunters are inhumanly strong, and I got around that part of gender dynamics in a way that feels like cheating. I detest the girl-boss thing, where she’s a badass for the sake of being a badass and has no character arc or flaws or struggle. Or that she’s different from other girls and thus superior. I don’t want to lose her womanhood or sisterhood for the sake of making her equal. Obviously, there are no damsels in my books.

This is harder to describe than I thought. It’s like this. She must neither abandon her gender, nor sink too deeply into gender stereotypes.

There must always be consent without coercion. No red pill behavior. He loves her because of who she is, and vice versa, but both must have interesting character arcs, and they must arc as a couple in a healthy way. The primary conflict is exterior to the couple, not someone cheating, not a lie between them. Absolutely, the conflict must not cause a rift between them that should result in a breakup, yet they get back together anyway? Not in my books.

Ugh, I read a story by an author I really liked once, in which the main female thought he had cheated, although it was just a misunderstanding which he knew and we knew, but she didn’t know. Before she learned that it had only been a misunderstanding, she decided to be with him anyway, and sprinted into his arms and apologized for freaking out. Like the message was about trust, even though all evidence pointed to him violating her trust?

Another one. Historical. And written a few decades ago, but the point remains. I grew up with this shit. She lost a bunch of weight because of seasickness, and was his hostage on his pirate ship. Now skinny because she literally malnourished, and he was suddenly attracted. She submitted to him as his hostage, and suddenly things were great because he turned out to be good in bed. He was a monster to her in front of his crew, but tender in his quarters that he confined her to for her own safety. For her own good. And she loved him for it?

Kiss me you little idiot. I didn’t put that in quotes because I don’t remember exactly which book it was and if that’s an exact quote, but I read basically that line in a book about an experienced rake and a virgin. It might have been something about him opening her mouth with his thumb and saying something like that because she hadn’t figured out how to kiss him back.

And don’t get me started on the female main character who learns to love herself because of him. I mean, important, holy shite it’s important that she love herself. But when she dislikes her weight, her freckles, her homely appearance, her glasses, whatever it might be… and he’s a dashing rogue who sees the flower she is inside, and suddenly she loves herself? Finally she is confident, because of his approval????? She needs to love herself on her own terms.

Same goes for men, too, don’t get me wrong. A character cannot arc based on someone else’s validation alone. They must find their own value on their own terms, or the balance is lost.

And yeah, they need to think the world of each other. It’s so much worse when he thinks she’s homely and plain, but he falls in love with her anyway… except it’s not that pure. The story is twisted and uneven, because he knows he is beautiful and she is plain, but he’s such a good soul in bestowing his love upon her. Dang, what a lucky gal.

They can look however they look. Maybe she’s not beautiful, or maybe he’s not, but they see beauty in each other, physical or otherwise, and neither drones on about how the other is plain yet they love them anyway. Flaws, yes, please have many. Love them flaws and all, not in spite of the flaws.

Laugh with each other, enjoy each other’s flaws with each other. Empathize over mistakes. Giggle over each other’s farts. “Honey, I burned dinner… again.” “Aw, thanks for making dinner. By the way, I forgot today was garbage day.” “Let’s make a trip to the dump and get burgers on the way home.”

I know damn well how to write good women – and good men. Equal. Respectful. Us against the world, not against each other.

But, honestly, after writing a male-male romance, I realized how relaxing it was to write a story in which gender inequality wasn’t an issue. Relationship dynamics didn’t decrease. Heat and intensity didn’t change. Some things became more challenging. Navigating the world as a gay couple in the same patriarchal system I navigate as a cis het female – I am definitely not saying that’s an easier. The patriarchy shits on us all.

But to have that one thing being equal between partners. No gender inequity. Even kissing was different. Consent still obtained, and just as necessary. Couples checking in with each other, ensuring comfort and safety.

There is still a risk for abuse. All of that. I am so absolutely not even remotely saying that. It’s just this one little thing that was different. I think it’s the same reason why a lot of straight women enjoy gay romances, and I’m not talking about fetishizing, it’s that we get to step out of our own shoes for a minute, that one step outside of our personal lens on relationships, and not worry that there is a woman walking down a dark alley, alone, and there’s a man standing in the shadow and is he going to do that thing we fear (or maybe he's had a really bad day and just needs someone to smile at him, but we have no way of knowing which he is, and finding out can be deadly).

And I realized how unavoidable gender inequality is in male-female romances. How desperately I try to write free from it. To not allow the patriarchy to rule my stories.

Quick (not quick) important interjection. Again, I’m a cis het female with straight privilege. I understand that well. Thus, read my same sex romances because you’re enjoying my books and want to read a thoughtful romance, regardless of the sexual orientation of the characters. It felt genuinely messed up and the opposite of inclusive, to only write about straight characters.

And please, please oh please, there are amazing authors in the LGBTQ+ community writing amazing stories. A man writing a story about a woman should not carry as much weight and does not strike the same emotional resonance as a woman writing a story about a woman. A straight woman writing a story about a gay couple should not carry as much weight and does not strike the same emotional resonance as a gay man writing a story about a gay couple.

And please please, make this a safe, welcoming space for everyone. I'm not a woman writing for women, I am an author writing for readers, whoever they may be and I welcome everyone into this community.

Thank you.

I was over the moon when we finally had a black president. I will be over the moon when we have a gay president. But when will we have a female president? I’m married to a white cis het male and have a white cis het male son, and they are my equals, and I am theirs. It’s that seat at the table thing, not the replacement thing. What kind of paranoid jackasses truly believe we’re all conspiring to oust the white male. Honestly.

Misogyny is so deeply ingrained in our society, that I fear we won’t have a female president in my lifetime. When she is finally sworn in, how much hate will be directed at her? How much doubt in her every decision, because of assholes like that guy I used to date?

Or even less subtle men, like some I know and love, who honestly don’t realize that they are sexist, but… they are. It’s too deeply rooted in our society. Roots that are rotting, and it’s time to start fresh. Healthy soil. Love and care devoted to each bud equally.

As lucky as I am in my own marriage, we live in a patriarchal society where even many women turn on their own. Where would a patriarchy be, after all, if we all refused to submit?

People like me are tired of stories that “aren’t that deep.” Not that we don’t love a shallow story, but even the least serious of stories has an impact. Taking that extra sentence to put on a condom. To make sure everyone feels respected and comfortable in intimate moments. For characters to arc because they earned it, not because of someone else’s validation.

Consider me inspired. And motivated. And fiercely committed. I am thrilled to keep writing, and to dive deeper into each character and their relationship, whatever their identity, because each can and should be unique, flawed, multi-faceted, and experience growth.

Escapism is magic. Imagination is limitless. However, we cannot escape without seeing even a fantasy world through the lens of reality. Thus, it matters.

I write romance. Fiction. Escapism. Authentic stories. Love stories.

Stories that matter.

Yours truly,

Carrie Thorne

Feminist. Ally. Quirky human.

]]>

Authenticity - Where Carrie Stands on AI

Carrie Thorne — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

First Posted: January 21, 2026

Last Updated: March 31, 2026

First: Like the new look? Okay, it’s been a few… um… months, but if you hadn’t noticed, carriethorne.com has been redesigned. Mostly because I need something as pretty as it is user friendly. Love web design, but love writing more.

And… um… long covid sucks and my brain sucks and I cannot tell you… um… how many times I broke my website. Once I somehow set the entire back end to Spanish and not even tech support could figure out what I’d done. Twice I checked some box without realizing it, which told search engines not to index my website. Among many other… issues.

Okay. Now to the point of the post. With the influx of artificial intelligence in everything lately, I thought it was time to start posting again. Me. Carrie. Mine own words be true.

No promises that I'll post regularly, but, ya know. This felt like a pertinent and timely post. It's hard to trust what's AI and what's not right now. I hate that I have to look for typos and quirky writing to know something is genuine.

A former colleague of mine – not as a writer, but we both write – recently described how he uses AI as a tool in his writing. That his work is his own, but if he gets stuck, like if he can’t figure out how to describe a train station, he asks AI to describe a train station. No offense to that colleague, should he ever stumble upon this, as we all have our methods. I’m just using this as an example of how my writing differs.

Say this was me. If I’m in the flow and don’t want to stop, I’ll make a little 999describe train station here999 note, to remind myself to come back later.

When I am ready to return to that point, I wander my imagination into a train station:

Nah, not the little stopover in my hometown. Rome. That’s it. Not the shopping part… okay, we need the rows of trains and unrushed urgency like Rome, the drizzle like my hometown, and maybe fill in the rest with details from images I’ve seen, other books, movies, and maybe even run an internet search for train stations to learn more about them and see more examples.
Add a backed-up toilet from constipated travelers. Definitely need a coffee stand. How about a situation like when my mother and I nearly got separated at the Paris Metro helping a woman get her massive stroller onto the train.
Then the sounds. Grinding gears. Squealing brakes. Not the huff and puff, but modern trains with quiet engines. Sunlight reflecting off the aerodynamic windows. Red paint. Dusty from a journey through the desert.

You get the idea. I don’t give a flying you-know-what how AI describes a train station. I want to experience the train station in the world the author created.

And, the other thing. The stuck part. Writer’s block is a thing, and holy shite it sucks. But that’s kind of a fun part, too. Walk away from the story. Sleep on it. Crank up some music and lift some weights and... wait, what if the characters went on a road trip and bonded over a flat tire on a winding forest road.

Apparently, some writers say they use generative AI because otherwise they couldn't write. !!! (Yes. That sentence was only exclamation points). I will never be a professional football player, to my great sadness. Nor a sculptor.

Long covid trashed my brain, but I can still write. If it gets to the point where I am unable to write? There are a lot of things I can't do thanks to long covid. I can't freaking go to my kids' swim meets. Can't go to Christmas dinner, and when I try for an hour, I spend the next week or even weeks in a sticky fog and everything feels horrible. Can't hike. Can't so many things. I could write an entire novel on what I can't do, and how I maintain my quality of life. But if I couldn't write, and had something else write for me based on my prompts? Even if I could train the AI on only my own past writing, it's still messed up. It's still AI slop. It's still not the amazing product of human creativity. It would be recycled regurgitated slop.

Am I saying I’m doomed to be a relic of the past and don’t use AI at all? I’d rather not use it at all. I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate… and hate some more, how unethically large language models have been trained. Even little old me had many books ripped. However, when it came to the few lawsuits that even a little teensy bit ruled against AI companies, I was not compensated because I had not yet registered with the copyright office.

The environmental impact? Not a fan - to put it mildly.

And I hate hate hate how AI slop is crushing human creativity. Not just art, but thinking skills. Maybe it’s because my brain is a little broken, or because I have teenagers, but shortcuts can be short-sighted and short-circuit our brain and reduce the quality and authenticity of our short lives.

Editing. There is no replacement for a human editor. I am trying out AI editing tools, and so far it’s helpful. Nothing that would replace a human, but a tool that has helped. It’s flawed, for sure. But, it has reduced some typos and confusing spots.

NOT generative AI.

H-E-Double-Toothpicks N-O.

I’ve been trying out an AI analysis tool that will tell me things like the point of view character isn’t clear, or that I spent way too long describing that suitcase. Jury’s still out on how much AI editing I'll be using. It is still no substitute for humans, just a tool.

It can be hilarious. In Fury (out soon), Vann and Eryn have a running joke about work interrupting their dates. It only actually happens twice. Both times are relevant to the story, and they don’t yet know how closely their jobs are entwined. But they joke about it on other dates. The AI told me I really shouldn’t have work interrupt every date. A bit literal. It couldn’t tell that they were joking. And it can be not hilarious, and actually had some sexist feedback.

And cliched, oh my gosh, the cliches. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t shy away from cliches, because sometimes they’re fun. I totally overuse the amnesia trope – ha ha, I literally have a cognitive disorder with memory problems. Think I foreshadowed that into my life… ha ha ha…haha… ha… ha… *sad face.

Anyway, sorry. I’m having fun. But, you know, when AI takes over and decides to destroy all humans who insulted it, I want the AI to know that I am a nice person, and I'm even working on a book where AI is the only thing keeping someone alive – stay tuned, that one’s still in early development.

Confession: I used AI on an image once. I think it was generative AI, but I'm honestly not sure. Actually, yeah, creepy how it has inserted itself into our lives without asking for consent. *Pardon me, not it, but tech companies. How tech companies force it down our throats and tell us to take our medicine whether we need/want it or not, without even telling us what the medicine is or appropriate indications or adverse effects. And they thought if it was cherry flavored it wouldn't make us gag. Bah.

Anyway. My confession. It was out of vanity. It’s my bio picture. My husband took the picture in Italy, and it’s one of the best pictures ever taken of me. But my brother-in-law was standing behind me. My photo editing skills were not up to the task of removing him. So I hit a “remove” button and… magic! I do feel a little guilty, but isn’t it a good picture of me? :). Hmmm... it felt weird to composite a bio picture, but maybe I'll composite the old fashioned way, like I do for cover photos, and put myself on one of my other pictures... hmmm. I'll think on that one.

Oh, and, ha, edit: I didn't use AI to make myself prettier, that's just me ;P, but I did add a very normal, non-AI filter to warm the colors, like many portraits do, but that made my teeth look yellow where they didn't look yellow before the filter, so I reactively made them less yellow.

By the way, great trip, the four of us. Rome and Venice. My brother-in-law is awesome, but he'd rather not be in my bio picture, and we're on the same page with that. BTW, a camera literally broke upon taking a picture of my mother once. Her sister still teases her over it.

Authenticity. Focus, Carrie, focus.

So. That was a lot of rambling. What's the deal? Where do I stand?

Generative AI: NO!!!
Edit: I was considering AI editing tools. Most spelling and grammar checkers are AI based anymore, so that's pretty unavoidable, and, sadly, sometimes worse than it was. I was testing out an AI analysis tool for flow and consistency and such, but... Think I'm out. For now at least. The analysis was not even close to a real human, and after trying it a few times, it's all stuff that I already know, I just need to challenge myself to pay more attention on my own. And the environmental and ethical impact wrought me with guilt every dang time. So, at the time of editing this, again, I have to say, nope. No AI in my workflow, except for the unavoidable spelling and grammar checker because even basic writing software has migrated to that.

Generative AI gives me the ick, and I know I'm not alone. When I watch a movie or play a game - or read a book - I want the raw, quirky, nuanced, emotional, silly... everything human about art. Humans connect. We interact. We're weird.

Consider this your promise and guarantee. Carrie Thorne does not use generative AI in her writing or cover design. Nor in her blog posting… but that’s probably obvious, as this is written pretty much flow of thought. Like Ulysses. Or… not. I edit my writing, but I don’t waste time editing my blogging. Too much effort, and, ha ha, I am demonstrating my commitment to authenticity… ;). And, honestly, brain fog hath smothered me at the moment, and I don't see a save draft button on this new website...

Thus, my dearest readers. Colleagues, friends. All y’all. If you are looking for an authentic, genuine, honest author, you found her!

Stick around. I write a lot slower than I used to, but I’m here for as long as this brain will allow. THIS brain. My brain. I’m grateful to be here. Thrilled to have kept this piece of me.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by. For reading. For loving. For being your amazing self.

See you on the next one!

~ Carrie

Edit:

I stumbled upon some fantastic videos of artists on the topic of AI that I wanted to share with you.

A brilliant keynote speech by author Brandon Sanderson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb3uK-_QkOo.
An insightful interview with actor Neil Newbon on acting as a craft, including a segment in which he describes AI in acting and video games. Many of you probably also know him best as Astarion of Baldur's Gate 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN3pRLrYPBM.

Why these two? There are many, many more artists (and non-artists) of every medium weighing in, these just happen to be videos that the algorithm pushed into my feed, like, right after I submitted this post. A pair of artists I respect, who get to the heart of the issue.

]]>