Barbara Truelove
Bio
Barbara Truelove is an Australian author and game designer. She writes about werewolves and sometimes other things.
Books + Games
A list of current and upcoming projects by Barbara Truelove.
News
Find out all the latest news and updates here.
Bio
Barbara Truelove is an Australian author and game designer.She graduated from Griffith University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Screen Media Production, spent most of the pandemic bouncing between various countries waiting to be allowed back into Australia, and currently lives in rural New South Wales with a motley collection of rocks.She started writing when she was nine years old and believes it's probably too late to break the habit now.Barbara Truelove is represented by Allegra Martschenko at Ladderbird Literary Agency.
Books + Games
Of Monsters and Mainframes
Demeter is a spaceship. Dracula is the vampire that ruined her reputation. It isn't in Demeter's programming to seek revenge, but for Dracula, she can make an exception.Of Monsters and Mainframes will be published in 2025 with Jaysen Headley at Ezeekat Press/Bindery Books.
Blood Moon
Date Werewolves. Fight Vampires.Blood Moon is an epic 445,000 word interactive novel. Play as a werewolf as you defend your pack against vampires (and perhaps fall in love).Published April 2023.
Thicker Than
The vampires bite back in this bloody sequel to Blood Moon.Play as a fledgling vampire, navigating the twisty and treacherous world of undead high society. Scheme, seduce, and sashay your way to the vampiric throne... or to an early grave.Thicker Than is the second half of The City of Monsters Duology and will be published with Hosted Games.Tentative release: Q1 2026.
short visual novels
A couple of short visual novels, currently free to download.Featuring: cannibalistic fairies, cannibalistic mermaids, and superpowered farm kids from space (who unfortunately aren't cannibalistic).
Other projects
Barbara Truelove's debut novel Crying Wolf is currently out of print.
She's also currently working on a number of other stories, all at various stages of development.Stay tuned for updates on these, and other upcoming projects.
News
Of monsters and mainframes has a cover!
And it's beautiful.The journey to get to this cover was a wee bit scary. For a while, I really wasn't sure what this book was going to look like... but I couldn't have asked for a better result.The artist is Carl Cozier (@holymolyk on Instagram). It was that Instagram page that made me want to pick him as the artist we used on this project, so seriously check it out.I have been so ridiculously excited to share this for so long.I wrote Of Monsters and Mainframes back in 2022. It's about Demeter (a remarkably unlucky spaceship) and Dracula (needs no introduction). I had so much fun writing it and can't wait for more people to read it. It's very weird, very queer, and very much my vibe.
And it's beautiful.The journey to get to this cover was a wee bit scary. For a while, I really wasn't sure what this book was going to look like... but I couldn't have asked for a better result.The artist is Carl Cozier (@holymolyk on Instagram). It was that Instagram page that made me want to pick him as the artist we used on this project, so seriously check it out.I have been so ridiculously excited to share this for so long.I wrote Of Monsters and Mainframes back in 2022. It's about Demeter (a remarkably unlucky spaceship) and Dracula (needs no introduction). I had so much fun writing it and can't wait for more people to read it. It's very weird, very queer, and very much my vibe.
Posted: 20th September, 2024
A (somewhat delayed) announcement
Wait! Hold up! I forgot to post this here. My novel manuscript Of Monsters and Mainframes is going to be punished with Jaysen Headley at Bindery Books next year!
Posted: 26th April, 2024
New Year Update
2023 ended about a week ago.I'm not going to lie, I'm kinda sad to see it go. It was a fantastic year for me, full of a lot of weird and wonderful things. I've made new friends, learnt new things about myself, and I turned 30, which is a milestone I was privileged enough to achieve while standing on the Great Wall of China.2023 has also easily been my most productive year as a writer.What do I mean by this? Well...At the start of 2023:+Blood Moon had not been released.
+Thicker Than was just a 1k short demo.
+I did not have an itch.io page and hadn't finished any Ren'py games.
+My Ko-Fi page was just a tip jar.
+I did not have a website.
+I was still drafting my novel Of Monsters and Mainframes.
+I had never queried a literary agent.
+I distinctly remember climbing a tree and filming a regrettable YouTube video talking about how anxious I was about my writing? Yes. That was a thing.At the end of 2023:+Over 13,000 people have bought Blood Moon.
+Thicker Than is over 175k words.
+I have three Ren'py games on my itch.io page.
+I have commissions and membership options on my Ko-Fi page.
+I have a website!
+I finished several drafts of Of Monsters and Mainframes.
+I queried dozens of agents and even though I didn't sign with anyone, I learnt a huge amount and feel way better about doing it again in future.
+I continue to make regrettable videos, but on TikTok.Sometimes, when I'm writing and feeling a little overwhelmed, it can be easy to forget that progress I've made. This New Years Eve, I didn't go to a party, or see any fireworks, but I did take a moment to think back at how far I've come in 2023... and honestly? I'm really proud of myself. I don't think 2022 me would've believed she had it in her.But she did. She does. I do.And I'm excited to keep figuring out what else I am capable of as a writer in 2024.I hope 2023 was as great for you as it was for me. If not, I hope 2024 will be better.Happy belated New Year. 💙
Posted: 6th January, 2024
For old blog posts and other fun things, please visit my KoFi page.
Crying Wolf is out of print
My debut novel, Crying Wolf, is no longer available for purchase. I requested my publisher put it out of print and they kindly agreed.Crying Wolf is set in a fictional prison and stars twin brothers with South Asian and Middle Eastern heritage. There are strong themes of systematic oppression and injustice.Simply put, as a white author, this was not my story to tell.
My intention at the time was to write a book about siblings surviving a hostile environment (and the complicated family dynamics that can arise in those situations). I didn't think about how these themes could intersect with race. I wrote outside my lived experience, without a deep understanding of the issues being touched upon, or the harm that doing so could cause.This was ignorant. I should've known better, and I'm deeply sorry that I didn't.I'm grateful to my editor, publisher, and to the sensitivity readers for this book. I'm grateful to readers who purchased the book and to the people who have spoken to me about it since. This was my own decision, and I believe it was the best one. I hope you'll find that my newer projects reflect my continuing growth and thoughtfulness. Thank you for everything.-Barbara Truelove 💙
Posted: 30th October, 2024