When I created Lianon, the female hero of my first book, Crossing Swords, I knew I’d be spending more time with her. She’s one of my favourite characters ever, and according to many readers and a few reviewers, she’s what made that book for them, too. But Lianon is something of an anomaly in the genre. She’s the anti-romance heroine.
Other heroines may be tough. They may be resilient and uncompromising and willing to do what’s necessary, no matter how horrible it is. They might even kill people for a living, and not find anything in their profession to feel guilty about.
But Lianon is…different. She’s unapologetically bisexual, and her last lover was ::gasp!:: a woman. She also doesn’t have a girly bone in her body—in fact, she’s barely female at all. She lived as a man, and with the face of a tomboy and the body of an Olympic gymnast, she had just about everyone fooled. Most shocking of all, she didn’t put on a dress at the end of Crossing Swords, only to discover some hidden feminine side that makes everyone like her better.
When I wrote Crossing Swords, I was as shaken as Lianon was by how hard she fell for Gil. She met him at a low point in her life, a point where she wanted—needed—to lean on someone, to be taken care of, to not have to always be the strong one—and who better than Gil al-Moirae to give her that. He brought out a submissiveness and vulnerability in her character that I imagined was both comforting and scary for her, but it was exactly what she needed.
At the same time, part of me was saddened that she would never have a woman in her life again. That she would never be in a position where she was the D in the subtle D/s dynamic of the typical romantic relationship. I envisioned her recovering from the terrible events in Crossing Swords to discover her role as “the woman” in her marriage was too small and unchallenging a place to happily exist. So when she started to fall for Kaela, the battered rape victim she and Gil took in at the end of Crossing Swords, it didn’t come as a surprise at all.
Nor did Gil’s misgivings over Lianon’s plans to help Kaela get past the rape that scarred her, inside and out. Which made the f/f/m polyamorous happily ever after in Bound by Steel that much more gratifying to write.
Click here to enter my f/f/m poetry contest for a chance to win a signed copy.
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Congrats on the print release!
I don’t read polyamorous stories all that often, mainly because I have a bit of a time believing in a HEA for everyone when, as a frequent plot line, an already established couple brings in a third party. Since Gil and Lianon’s relationship is fairly new, I can see the inclusion of Kaela being satisfactory for all. I’ll add this one to my b-day wish list ; )
I often have a hard time believing them, too. But it rarely has to do with how established a couple might be when they bring in a third.
People’s needs can change quite a bit over time, even within the context of a relationship—especially when the relationship is born out of crisis. When I considered what drew Lianon to Rhianna, her female lover, and what drew her to Gil, I realized she’s kind of a “bisexual switch”, and that she’d come to a kind of balancing point in her life when her needs would inevitably lead her to want to express both sides of her personality. And I understood, too, that Gil couldn’t fulfill that need because he was 1) not a man who was about to let a woman lead him around by the nose, and 2) also craving someone he could take care of and shelter, which was something Lianon didn’t (and would likely never again) need.
And Kaela’s experiences with men drew her first to Lianon, a strong woman who could protect herself and survive almost anything, and then to Gil, an honorable man she came to know would never do anything to hurt her.
So with me, it’s not so much about how long the initial couple has been together, but really, how and why do they need a third, and does that third need them too? It can’t just be that they want a hot, bi babe to make sex more fun. There has to be a deep emotional need in all three for the arrangement.
The last paragraph of your reply hits it, Kirsten. In the few polys I’ve read (and admittedly, they are very few) the emotional needs of those involved weren’t drawn well enough to make me think it was going to work much past the final page. Hot three-ways are fine, but there has to be a greater satisfaction achieved for me. So I’m counting on you to fulfill that
So I’m counting on you to fulfill that
gulp! I hope I managed to pull it off!
If you want, you can always enter the poetry contest and get yourself a free signed copy…