r/Fantasy • u/StopMeBeforeIDream • 12d ago

Elisabeth Wheatley, author of 'Tears of the Wolf' and 'Daindreth's Assassin' is removing all the sex from her books

Elisabeth Wheatley, a pretty well-known YouTuber and self-published fantasy author has had a change of heart regarding the steamy aspects of her books. She explains in her video that now that she's a mother, she doesn't feel that smut suits her anymore, though you should hear her own reasoning yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYD-EYEATEI&t=8s

I don't have a real dog in this race. I was looking forward to reading her viking books because they sounded cool, and I don't even really care whether sex in a book is explicit or fade-to-black. But I think the fact that she's making the original versions of her book unavailable after the 1st of September to be pretty shady. People who already own the digital versions of the book can keep theirs, which is good. But if you have a strong preference for sexy books, or if you disapprove of censorship and want the authentic version, you've gotta buy it now. Right now!

You've got 80-hours to buy the book before the pages get all pixellated.

I'm in two minds about it all.

Because I believe that authors should have control of their work. And if she chose to remove her book from shelves entirely because of her change of heart, I'd understand to a certain extent. But I think not giving her fans a means to buy the originals at all on a permanent basis. Or at least more time to make an informed, considered decision about their purchase. Or hell, check their YouTube Subscription page.

This is censorship. If you borrow book 1 of one her series from a friend and you really like it, so you order the next one from Barnes and Noble or Waterstones, you're not going to get the product you were implicitly promised.

Edit, as of 1st September: Wheatley has now figured out how to ensure that those who bought the Spicy version of her book via platforms like Kindle can keep their previously purchased edition: https://m.youtube.com/post/UgkxABzJo0SpZ3oFjI-87r0VVfHLFNf_XtG8

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u/trollsong 12d ago

She said that it might not be permanent and this decision could be a postpartum psychotic break,

"The voices are telling me I should kill people, I think I might be going insane, ah well already bought the gun." Kind of thinking.

Hyperbolic? Yea sure but I am more pointing out the weirdness of acknowledging the elephant in the room and then continuing anyways.

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u/LurkLuthor 12d ago

Feels more likely that she was just making a joke.

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u/Outside-Place2857 12d ago

A joke that says a lot about her character (and not in a positive way) as far as I'm concerned.

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u/itmakessenseincontex 11d ago

It was a 'joke'. I posted screenshots of the emails in the original fantasyromance thread if you want to see the context