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Chuck Tingle
Tingle at the 2024 WonderCon
Pen name	Dr. Chuck Tingle
Language	English
Nationality	American
Genre	Erotica satire horror fiction
Years active	2014–present
Website
www.chucktingle.com

Chuck Tingle is a pseudonymous author, primarily of niche gay erotica. His stories mainly take the form of monster erotica, featuring romantic and sexual encounters with dinosaurs, imaginary creatures, anthropomorphized inanimate objects, and even abstract concepts. He self-publishes his works through Amazon: primarily as ebooks, but also as paperbacks and audiobooks.

In 2016, his short story Space Raptor Butt Invasion was a finalist for the Hugo Awards as the result of a coordinated campaign which he disavowed. In the following year's awards, he was a finalist for the Best Fan Writer award.

Personal life

Little has been confirmed about Tingle's identity, beyond the fact that "Chuck Tingle" is a pseudonym. A photo presented as a portrait of Tingle was found on a stock photo web site. When appearing in person, Tingle maintains his anonymity by wearing sunglasses over a pink sack on his head, which has "love is real" written on it in black marker.

Tingle presents himself as a bisexual taekwondo grandmaster who was born in Home of Truth, Utah (a ghost town established in 1933 as a religious commune and abandoned in 1977), acquired a PhD in holistic massage at DeVry University (which does not offer such a degree), and now lives in Billings, Montana. His Facebook account and website state that he is autistic and has a son named Jon.

In 2016, a person identifying himself as Jon stated in a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session that he edits his father's work for publication and cares for him. Jon made a number of claims that have remained unconfirmed or been denied by Tingle himself, including that Tingle is a savant and that the anthropomorphism found in many of Tingle's works reflects "identity issues that he has been working through his whole life".

Tingle displays distinct verbal tics, such as consistently referring to Jon as "son name of Jon" and calling his fans "buckaroos" or "ladybucks".

Career

Tingle began self-publishing erotic fiction through Amazon's ebook service in 2014, with the titles My Billionaire Triceratops Craves Gay Ass, Pounded by President Bigfoot, and Taken by the Gay Unicorn Biker. His work includes erotic encounters with personifications of inanimate objects, such as I'm Gay for My Living Billionaire Jet Plane and Creamed in the Butt by My Handsome Living Corn. Other titles feature abstract concepts as sexual partners or involve metatextual references, such as Angry Man Pounded by the Fear of His Latent Gayness over a Dinosaur Transitioning into a Unicorn, Slammed in the Butt by My Hugo Award Nomination, and Pounded in the Butt by My Book "Pounded in the Butt by My Book 'Pounded in the Butt by My Book "Pounded in the Butt by My Own Butt"'" (referring to a series of previous publications). Tingle often incorporates current news stories or public figures into his titles, using sound-alike or look-alike names, such as Domald Tromp's Ass is Haunted by the Handsome Ghost of His Incriminating Tax Returns and Billionaire Elons Mugg Takes the Handsome Planet Mars in his Butt.

Tingle refers to his stories as "Tinglers". Although they typically feature apparently cisgender male couples, stories also feature bisexual, lesbian, and trans characters. He stresses the consensuality of the encounters, and the stories end happily with "an optimistic, philosophical moral about love and togetherness".

Tingle says he uses Photoshop software to create his own book covers, which usually feature a photo of a muscular, bare-chested man juxtaposed with an image of the entity whose sexual escapades are featured in the story.

In 2019, Tingle was one of the special guests featured on a benefit livestream for the British transgender youth support charity Mermaids hosted by YouTuber Hbomberguy. A few days later, Tingle published a book entitled Pounded in the Butt By the Handsome Sentient Manifestation of My Twitch Stream.

Hugo Award nominations

In 2016, Tingle's Space Raptor Butt Invasion was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story. This stemmed from a voting campaign by the alt-right "Rabid Puppies," a faction of the Sad Puppies campaign that opposed diversity and "political correctness" in the Hugo Awards. However, Tingle disavowed the campaign, saying via his Twitter account that it was the work of "devils" and that Zoë Quinn would accept the award on his behalf if he were to win. Space Raptor Butt Invasion did not win the award, and he subsequently published Pounded in the Butt by My Hugo Award Loss. In 2017, he was a finalist for a second Hugo Award, this time for Best Fan Writer. He again did not win, and later published Pounded in the Butt by My Second Hugo Award Nomination.

Mainstream publications

In July 2022, Tor Books signed Tingle to a two-book deal under its Nightfire horror imprint. The first book, Camp Damascus, was published in July 2023. Camp Damascus reached number 32 on the USA Today bestseller list on July 26, 2023. Camp Damascus explores themes of religious extremism, conversion camp, and neurodivergency. In a review for PRIDE, Derry Paver wrote, "This is the kind of horror literature that is both timeless and yet perfectly descriptive of the sad state of the world today for LGBTQ+ people." Camp Damascus was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel.

Bury Your Gays was published in July 2024. Library Journal reviewed Bury Your Gays positively, writing:

Tingle’s (Camp Damascus) latest outing is another refreshingly original look at horror, this time mixed in with algorithmic art, commodification of identity, and coercive capitalism. His hallmark inventiveness with structure, trope, and genre come through clearly here and are balanced perfectly. Nods to fandoms that have experienced “buried gays” are sprinkled throughout the book, and love in all forms—platonic, romantic, and everything between—remains the way to beat evil. Terror comes as much from being forced into a stereotype as from being killed by a cinematic villain.

Selected works

Novels

• Helicopter Man Pounds Dinosaur Billionaire Ass (A Novel) (2015)
• Straight (2021)
• Camp Damascus (2023)
• Bury Your Gays (2024)

Romance novellas

• My Billionaire Triceratops Craves Gay Ass (2014)
• Taken By The Gay Unicorn Biker (2014)
• I'm Gay For My Living Billionaire Jet Plane (2015)
• Glazed By The Gay Living Donuts (2015)
• Bigfoot Sommelier Butt Tasting (2015)
• Space Raptor Butt Invasion (2016)
• Pokebutt Go: Pounded By 'Em All (2016)
• Slammed In The Butthole By My Concept Of Linear Time (2016)
• Bisexual Mothman Mailman Makes A Special Delivery In Our Butts (2020)
• I Have No Butt And I Must Pound (2021)
• Pounded In The Butt By My Handsome Sentient Library Card Who Seems Otherworldly But In Reality Is Just A Natural Part Of The Priceless Resources Our Library System Provides (2022)

Harry Potter parody

• Trans Wizard Harriet Porber And The Bad Boy Parasaurolophus: An Adult Romance Novel (2020)
• Trans Wizard Harriet Porber And The Theater Of Love: An Adult Romance Novel (2021)

Platonic

• My Butt Is Comforted By The Realization That I’m Okay And Everything Will Be Alright (2017)
• Not Pounded In The Butt By Anything And That's Okay (2018)
• Not Pounded By Anything While I Practice Responsible Social Distancing (2020)
• Absolutely No Thoughts Of Pounding During My Fun Day With This Kind T-Rex Because I'm Aromantic And Asexual And That's A Wonderfully Valid Way Of Proving Love Is Real (2021)

Satire

• Oppressed In The Butt By My Inclusive Holiday Coffee Cups (2015)
• Pounded By The Pound: Turned Gay By The Socioeconomic Implications Of Britain Leaving The European Union (2016)
• Domald Tromp Pounded In The Butt By The Handsome Russian T-Rex Who Also Peed On His Butt And Then Blackmailed Him With The Videos Of His Butt Getting Peed On (2017)
• My Handsome Sentient Face Mask Protects Me Despite The Ridiculous Conspiracy Theories That He Won't Also He Pounds My Butt (2020)
• Not Pounded By Romance Wranglers Of America Because Their New Leadership Is From The Depths Of The Endless Cosmic Void (2020)

Self-referential

• Buttception: A Butt Within A Butt Within A Butt (2015)
• Pounded In The Butt By My Book "Pounded In The Butt By My Own Butt" (2015)
• Turned Gay By The Existential Dread That I May Actually Be A Character In A Chuck Tingle Book (2016)
• Living Inside My Own Butt For Eight Years, Starting A Business And Turning A Profit Through Common Sense Reinvestment And Strategic Targeted Marketing (2016)
• Slammed In The Butt By My Hugo Award Nomination (2016)
• Pounded In The Butt By My Constantly Changing Thoughts On The Ongoing Mystery Of Chuck Tingle's Real Identity (2016)
• Pounded In The Butt By My Book "Pounded In The Butt By My Book 'Pounded In The Butt By My Book "Pounded In The Butt By My Book 'Pounded In The Butt By My Book "Pounded In The Butt By My Own Butt"'"' (2017)
• Pounded in the Butt By the Handsome Sentient Manifestation of My Twitch Stream (2019)

Compilations

• Scary Stories To Tingle Your Butt: 7 Tales Of Gay Terror (2015)
• Space Raptor Butt Trilogy (2016)
• Not Pounded By Anything: Six Platonic Tales Of Non-Sexual Encounters (2019)
• Scary Stories To Tingle Your Lesbian Butt: Seven Tales Of Ladybuck On Ladybuck Terror (2020)
• Pounded By The Classics: Seven Literary Tales Of The Tingleverse (2021)

Other

• "Select your own timeline" adventures: Escape From The Billings Mall (2020), Expedition to the Frozen Lake (2021)
• Guides: Dr. Chuck Tingle's Complete Guide To Romance (2015), Sport (2016), The Void (2017), Film (2017), Time (2018)
• Dr. Chuck Tingle's Adult Coloring And Activity Book For True Buckaroos (2017)
• The Tingleverse: The Official Chuck Tingle Role-Playing Game (2019)

Other projects

In 2016, Zoë Quinn announced that they and Tingle were developing an erotic adventure game with the working title Project Tingler. The game was finally named "Kickstarted in the Butt: A Chuck Tingle Digital Adventure" and a Kickstarter campaign was started in October 2016 asking for $69,420 to fund the project. The game raised over $85,000 from 2,450 backers in a couple of weeks. As of 2024, the game has not been released.

During Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Tingle created the web site TrumpDebateFacts.com, which purported to fact-check various imaginary Trump claims, mostly attempts to hide Trump's supposed non-human origins (such as "I am not a poorly disguised mass of crabs wearing the skin of bloated human"). Tingle also released a number of satirical novellas featuring "Domald Tromp [sic]", including Slammed In The Butt By Domald Tromp's Attempt To Avoid Accusations Of Plagiarism By Removing All Facts Or Concrete Plans From His Republican National Convention Speech.

In 2018, a podcast titled Pounded in the Butt By My Own Podcast, based on Tingle's works, debuted in association with the producers of Welcome to Night Vale, a horror-fantasy podcast. Each episode is an audiobook version of one of Tingle's novellas, often read by an alum of the Night Vale podcast (including Cecil Baldwin and Mara Wilson). My Friend Chuck, a podcast co-hosted by Tingle and writer/comedian McKenzie Goodwin, aired from 2019 to 2020.

Tingle has been a strong advocate for transgender rights. In 2020, he began publishing satires of the Harry Potter series featuring "Trans Wizard Harriet Porber" in response to J. K. Rowling's stances against transgender rights. In 2022, he purchased the domain governorabbott.com and used it to protest Governor of Texas Greg Abbott's policies impacting transgender individuals.

References

1. Salandra, Adam (November 8, 2015). "Meet The Man Behind "Space Raptor Butt Invasion" And Other Insane Gay Erotica On Amazon". NewNowNext. Viacom International. Archived from the original on July 13, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
2. Jones, Ralph (January 5, 2015). "I Got Erotica Master Chuck Tingle to Workshop My Dinosaur Erotica". Jezebel. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on July 16, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
3. ^ Mancuso, Vinnie (March 2, 2015). "Meet Dr. Chuck Tingle, the Author Behind Amazon's Most Absurd Gay Erotica". Observer.com. Observer Media. Archived from the original on July 14, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
4. Votta, Rae (January 29, 2015). "Everything you need to know about gay dinosaur erotica". The Daily Dot. Daily Dot Media. Archived from the original on July 27, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
5. Harvey-Jenner, Catriona (March 2, 2015). "There is now Gay Erotica about #TheDress in the world". Cosmopolitan. Hearst Magazines UK. Archived from the original on August 13, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
6. Kramer Bussel, Rachel (April 23, 2015). "In the wake of "50 Shades of Grey," what's even better than sex? Ridiculous sex". Salon. Salon Media Group. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
7. ^ Barnett, David (May 19, 2016). "Dinosaur porn or Rabid Puppy pastiche? The strange story of Chuck Tingle". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
8. ^ "Pounded in the butt by the mystery of Chuck Tingle, Amazon's weird erotica king". The Daily Dot. April 25, 2016. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
9. Shatto, Rachel (August 10, 2023). "Chuck Tingle On His Chilling & Powerful New Novel 'Camp Damascus'". Pride. Archived from the original on August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
10. ^ Tingle, Chuck (August 14, 2019). "it is interesting that buckaroos would think i do not know how to write on ladybucks being attractive when i have loved sweet barbara for years even had son with her. i feel for other ignored buckaroos loving both buds and ladybuds. erasing of the bibuckaroo way is REAL issue" (Tweet). Retrieved August 16, 2019 – via Twitter.
11. Tingle, Chuck (August 14, 2019). "CONSIDER THIS i have been writing tinglers for half decade now and talking about my wife whole time. i have NEVER ONCE seen my way referred to as bi author only sometimes critized [sic] as 'confused'" (Tweet). Retrieved August 16, 2019 – via Twitter.
12. ^ Romano, Aja. "The secret behind internet erotica icon Chuck Tingle: his own life may be the best story he's ever written". Vox. Archived from the original on October 20, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
13. "Chuck Tingle". www.facebook.com. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
14. "Questions". Chuck Tingle. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
15. "IamA Jon Tingle, son of bestselling romance author Chuck Tingle who is responsible for titles like Space Raptor Butt Invasion and Pounded In The Butt By My Own Butt. I edit and help him publish his books. AMAA! : IAmA". November 25, 2016. Archived from the original on November 25, 2016. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
16. "Chuck Tingle". www.amazon.com. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
17. Votta, Rae (June 20, 2015). "Here's the guide to Amazon's best niche erotica you didn't know you needed". The Daily Dot. Daily Dot Media. Archived from the original on July 20, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
18. Tingle, Chuck (January 26, 2019). "after joining videogame stream of @Hbomberguy i have learned all about website name of twitch and this has inspired new tingler POUNDED IN THE BUTT BY THE HANDSOME SENTIENT MANIFESTATION OF MY TWITCH STREAM perfect for reading aloud with online buds https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N5GK2T8/ pic.twitter.com/fPHtqfoxks" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
19. Barnett, David (April 26, 2016). "Hugo awards shortlist dominated by rightwing campaign". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Archived from the original on April 27, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
20. Marcotte, Amanda (August 23, 2016). "The alt-right attacks sci-fi: How the Hugo Awards got hijacked by Trumpian-style culture warriors". Salon. Archived from the original on November 3, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
21. II, Vann R. Newkirk (September 2, 2016). "How N.K. Jemisin Won the Hugo Award". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
22. Schaub, Michael (April 27, 2016). "How did 'Space Raptor Butt Invasion' by Chuck Tingle become a Hugo finalist?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 11, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
23. Hathaway, Jay (May 5, 2016). "Chuck Tingle counter-trolls the Gamergaters who nominated his erotica for a Hugo Award". The Daily Dot. Daily Dot Media. Archived from the original on July 13, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
24. Feldman, Brian (May 6, 2016). "'Pounded in the Butt' Literary Genius Chuck Tingle Trolls Right-Wing Sci-Fi Nerds". Select All. New York Media. Archived from the original on November 13, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
25. Baker-Whitelaw, Gavia. "Chuck Tingle celebrates Hugo loss with new 'Pounded in the Butt' ebook". the Daily Dot. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
26. "2017 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. December 31, 2016. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
27. Kaila, Hale-Stern (April 4, 2017). "Here Are the 2017 Hugo Award Finalists but Spoiler Alert Chuck Tingle Should Win Every Award". www.themarysue.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
28. Kehe, Jason (April 6, 2017). "The Hidden, Wildly NSFW Scandal of the Hugo Nominations". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on September 9, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
29. Dunn, Thom (July 29, 2022). "Chuck Tingle to go mainstream with new books published by Tor Nightfire". Boing Boing. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
30. "Best-selling Booklist". USA Today. July 26, 2023. Archived from the original on August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
31. "'Camp Damascus' Is A Terrifying, Hopeful Tale Of Religious Extremism". www.pride.com. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
32. Chuck, Tingle. "Bury Your Gays". Library Journal. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
33. Cramer |, Phoebe. "Chuck Tingle Goes Mainstream...ish". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
34. "Zoë Quinn on Life Since Gamergate and Her Erotic New Video Game – Waypoint". August 24, 2016. Archived from the original on November 5, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
35. Andriessen, CJ (September 3, 2017). "This trailer for the Chuck Tingle game is going to pound you in the butt". Destructoid (published September 3, 2017). Archived from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
36. Romano, Aja (September 29, 2016). "Donald Trump is the ultimate cosmic horror, according to America's favorite erotica author". Vox. Archived from the original on June 4, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
37. Hathaway, Jay (March 14, 2018). "Chuck Tingle Interview: From Erotic Author to Podcast". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on May 2, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
38. "Pounded In The Butt By My Own Podcast". Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
39. "My Friend Chuck". Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
40. "Erotica Author Chuck Tingle on His Epic Governor Greg Abbott Troll". The Advocate. March 3, 2022. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.

External links

• Official website
• Chuck Tingle at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

• 21st-century American non-fiction writers
• 21st-century American short story writers
• 21st-century American writers
• 21st-century pseudonymous writers
• American bisexual writers
• American erotica writers
• American LGBTQ novelists
• American non-fiction writers
• American satirists
• American writers with disabilities
• Autistic LGBTQ people
• LGBTQ erotica
• LGBTQ speculative fiction
• LGBTQ writers with disabilities
• Living people
• People with Asperger syndrome
• Writers from Billings, Montana
• Autistic writers