About A Man of Substance
It begins with the novel 1973.
A boy at the edge of silence, caught in the weight of harm and hunger, writing his way into survival. Each month, each chapter, each year unfurls. 1974, 1975, and onward. A life drawn tight, then slowly let go.
This is not memoir, although the breath of it comes from lived weather. It is not spectacle, and never the sexualising of minors. It is witness. It is restraint. It is a record of what it takes to live through.
Here, history threads with bruised poetry. A town, a body, a silence. Australia in the seventies, the world in the 80’s and beyond. Music on the turntable. Notes in the archive. A boy who will not vanish.
One year. Then the next. Until the story is no longer about escaping gravity, but about building substance.
What You’ll Find on A Man of Substance
🔓 FREE – The Witnesses
For those who want to glimpse the voice before stepping further in.
✍️ Ink & Bone tender, memoir-driven prose from R. J. Thornwell
🔑 PAID – The Companions
For those who choose to walk each year as it unfolds.
📖 Weekly Chapter the saga continues from 1974 onward, one month at a time
🦘 Aussie Board notes on slang, brands, music, and cultural references that appear in the text
📜 Research Look a glimpse into the 1970s: events, culture, headlines
💬 Community Access join the conversation and share your reflections
📚 Full Archive every chapter, every note, every year collected in one place
💬 Reader care clear content notes, resources, and thoughtful moderation.
❤️ FOUNDER – The Keepers
For those who want to hold the work in their hands, and keep the whole body of it close.
📱 Digital eReader Copy a free eBook edition of 1973 for your Kindle, Kobo, or device of choice
📕 Signed Edition a signed physical copy of 1973 or another collected year when published
🔞 Complete access to;
🏳️🌈The Pleasure Index
Unlock the queer flagship — kink, ritual, ache, and queer devotion, all tethered to Rowan’s literary filth.💰 The Pleasure Trove
Access the straight-leaning treasure chest of erotica, essays, and smut serials. Every gem, every ruin, every hoard.🤡 The Giggle Pit
Enter the whorehouse of dick jokes, Litcom parodies, and disgraceful laughter. Full chaos access, no dignity required.
🖋️ Name in the Archive recognition as a founding patron in the acknowledgements
✨Fan of it all? Get it all!
Founders get it CHEAPER!
Step into the Founder tier on ANY publication and unlock it all:
📚 All publications unlocked;
(The Pleasure Index + The Pleasure Trove + The Giggle Pit + A Man Of Substance)
✍️ A signed, personalised copy of a book of your choice, delivered.
📖 Two exclusive Plain Smut eBooks every year (the first, Guttermouth, arrives OCT)
💌 Private invites, early access, and ARC drops
If you’ve ever wanted everything at once, this is the way in.
👉 Select Founder and step deeper.
⚡ Important Notes for Founders Subscribers
Already subscribed monthly or annually to either The Pleasure Index, The Pleasure Trove, The Giggle Pit or A Man of Substance service? Upgrade anytime. Any unused time on your current plan will be credited so you will pay less.
If you subscribe as a Founder through one service, access to the other will be granted manually within 24 hours. If you do not receive access, email: rowan@thepleasureindex.com.
Exclusive Plain Smut eBooks release in October and April and remain Founder-only for 1 year from release.
You may choose one book, published under any of Rowan Thornwell’s pen names, to receive as a personalised signed copy with each founding subscription.
If you subscribed to everything separately you would pay $522 a year on monthly plans or $438 a year on annuals. Instead, the Founder Subscription gives you the whole vault with all four publications, the signed novel of your choice, two exclusive eBooks, and more for just $199. That is a saving of up to $323 every year.
All prices are quoted in $USD.
5% of your Founder Subscription will also go toward the The Pleasure Fund charitable initiatives.
Stay for the long arc
What begins with 1973 will span decades.
It is a journey toward ambition, empire, and, at last, love made manifest.
Who is R. J. Thornwell?
R. J. Thornwell writes in the language of witness. His work looks at boyhood, silence, and survival, not as spectacle but as truth. A veteran of uniform and order, he learned early how to hold his breath, though not how to forget. Writing became the place where memory could breathe again.
His novels begin with 1973, the first in a series that unfolds year by year, tracing the life of Christian Tambor from adolescence into manhood, and across the decades beyond. These stories are not memoir, although they carry echoes of lived weather. They do not sexualise minors. They are acts of restraint, dignity, and care, a record of what it takes to live through.
R. J. is one name among several.
Rowan Thornwell writes literary queer erotica.
Plain Smut tells unapologetically filthy stories.
Marlo Sin writes what scares and seduces.
R. J. Thornwell remembers the long ache of becoming.
Four names. One body of work.
Every month, 5% of all paid subscriptions supports global queer trauma recovery.
Want to help directly? [Donate here → ThePleasureFund]
Or stay filthy and stay subscribed, that helps too.
