The Backlot is Heating Up
Old Hollywood, Psychological Erotica and OnlyFans Stardom
The velvet curtains are about to part.
When I began writing The Contract Player, I always knew the story would simmer before it truly burned. Old Hollywood thrives on tension, on glances that linger just a little too long, on quiet power exchanges in dressing rooms and dimly lit corridors. For the first chapters I wanted that slow build… the sense that something is waiting just beneath the surface.
The next chapters step closer to the fire.
Desire begins to stop behaving. Control begins to slip. A few characters who believed they understood the rules of the studio system are about to discover they were never really in charge of the script.
If you’ve been reading along, the coming instalments are where the heat finally arrives. You can also get the complete first book directly from me below.
Writers have always loved a good pen name. There is something mischievous about them, a chance to walk through a slightly different door and let another voice speak. I, Rowan Thornwell, absolutely love having pen names.
So today I’m introducing a new one of mine.
Harlan
Harlan writes in a darker room than Rowan does. The stories lean toward psychological tension, obsession, and the quiet places where people realise they may not be entirely safe with themselves.
His first serial is called Chase.
At first glance, it begins like an ordinary domestic life. A husband. A family. A weekly routine that seems harmless enough. But routines can be dangerous things. The rhythm becomes addictive. The secrecy becomes part of the air someone breathes. Over time that private ritual begins to shift into something colder, something more calculated.
The story follows a man named Chase as he slowly discovers that control, secrecy, and desire can twist into something far darker than he ever intended.
Or perhaps something he has always wanted.
It’s a psychological erotic thriller that unfolds piece by piece. The early chapters are about the rhythm of the life he thinks he’s living. Later chapters begin to ask a more unsettling question.
What happens when the mask slips… and the person underneath enjoys it?
If that sort of slow descent into obsession appeals to you, you can subscribe and start reading Chase now.
I also want to thank the readers who have already become paying subscribers to this new publication. Starting something new always feels a little like opening a door into the unknown, and seeing your names appear there has been incredibly encouraging.
As this new platform launches properly over the coming weeks, readers who were paying subscribers to my now closed Substack publications will be receiving equivalent access to content at rowanthornwell.net so that your support carries forward with you.
Before I go, one more question.
Have you read Harley Dean yet?
A new chapter of Harley Dean will release every month. But you can read it all now by getting the eBook.
Rowan Thornwell
A surprising number of readers have quietly told me it may be their favourite story I’ve written. If you enjoy the emotional tension and character intimacy in that world, there’s a good chance you’ll feel right at home with both The Contract Player and Chase.
More very soon.
The backlot lights are warming up.
And somewhere else, in a quieter house on a Wednesday night, Chase is beginning to realise that some habits are impossible to stop.
🖤 Step inside at rowanthornwell.net
