Writing reverse harems allows me to portray Black women in a way we’re never seen and that’s unapologetically loved and fiercely protected.” Writing is my escapism from a violently misogynistic and racist world that renders Black women invisible. Along the way, she learned there was a name for what she was writing: “reverse harem romance.” Smauggy said: “I didn’t even know reverse harem was a thing by the time I had finished the first half of the series until other authors reached out to teach me about a genre I didn’t realize I was writing in!īut the sub-genre felt like a good fit, she said: “Eventually, I decided to stick with writing only reverse harems because I absolutely love writing about Black women being doted on by several men. Smauggy’s start with penning romance stories was part of a healing process. The story kind of spiraled into a reverse harem mafia romance from there.” Smauggy’s story also featured a woman trying to move on from an abusive relationship: “The story started off with a woman trying to escape an abusive relationship while trying to keep her career and personal life together, and she ends up reconnecting with her childhood sweethearts, who also happened to be brothers.

The story projected a lot of my own life experiences (will never make this mistake again! haha) until I realized there was a healing element to writing.” I found a reading app that I used often to distract myself and then I started writing on there. A few months prior, I had left an abusive relationship and was dating my now husband and had some challenges dealing with past trauma. I asked Smauggy how she got started with writing reverse harem stories, and she shared that her interest began as she emerged from an abusive relationship: “It actually wasn’t intentional.

I was fortunate to talk to reverse harem author Smauggy, who has written the popular Eternals series, about writing reverse harem romance.

Lola and the millionaires part two