I’m so proud as an author to have a full, complete RH series out!
To celebrate, I wrote a special Afterword at the back of the final book mentioning my inspiration writing RH, my polyamory journey, and more behind-the-scenes secrets!
Read the afterword below…
When I first started reading reverse harem in early 2018, I’d only ever met one person who was polyamorous. She lived in Amsterdam, and I thought… maybe that’s an accepted cultural thing over there? Hah! Little did I know there were people practicing polyamory in my own backyard!
You may have noticed that the dedications throughout Our Fae Queen chronicle my own exploration of polyamory (often called poly or polyam). Book 1 is dedicated to the polyamory community in Charlotte, North Carolina for helping me find my own path. The rest of the dedications are in order of when these wonderful people came into my life.
Looking back now, it’s easy to see how I always leaned toward polyamory myself. Maybe if I’d known about it sooner, I would’ve found happiness sooner.
Then again, as my partner Scott always reminds me, maybe we both had a lot of growing to do before we found each other. My life has taken me in unexpected directions, and I’m glad it set me on a path to meet both Josie and Scott and all the other wondrous friends and partners I’ve had and will have!
So when I set out to write a reverse harem series of my own, I set it in a world where polyamory is not only accepted but normal. What’s the point of fiction if we can’t dream of our own fantasies, right?
My polyam friends often say that so many books, TV shows, and movies would be better if only the characters would accept polyamory. Love triangles could be a thing of the past! And yet, every good book needs a good conflict.
So Kenji and Glori never considered polyamory for themselves, despite befriending polyamorous Angel. The growth they go through is similar to what a lot of people experience when first trying out polyamory.
And then, of course, I set things up so that even characters like Angel couldn’t be truly polyamorous… They were bound to be exclusive to their queen alone. There’s jealousy and misunderstandings, but in the end, Glori recognizes that the polyamorous way of the Fae works, and works well. That it has the potential to multiply happiness, not detract from it.
I don’t know when you first heard about polyamory, but a lot of people think it can’t work in real life. Maybe it’s true that polyamory can’t work for everyone. I’m certainly not out to change anyone’s mind.
Walking this path isn’t easy. People who practice polyamory face all kinds of challenges. Some of them are societal. Just like with homosexuality, polyamory is often not well understood or accepted.
Many of the greatest challenges, though, are internal. It takes a lot of effort to overcome our cultural norms to try living a life that’s so different from the mainstream.
Some people think jealousy is a beast that’s difficult to beat, but we’ve all overcome jealousy in our lives. Maybe when a sibling got special privileges we didn’t. Maybe when a coworker got a promotion that we wanted. Maybe when a friend got to go on a trip or to a party we weren’t invited to. We’ve all survived jealousy before, and we can do it again.
A growing number of people have decided that polyamory is a worthwhile journey for them. It’s not easy. It has its own conflicts and interpersonal relationship disasters. Polyamory can be just as full of heartache as serial monogamy. Healthy polyamorous relationships take as much effort as healthy monogamous relationships (and maybe even a little more, since more people are involved). But…
When polyamory works, it’s beautiful. I’ve considered myself polyamorous since April 2018, and I have no doubt that it’s the right path for me.
Like I said earlier, I’m not here to convert anyone to polyamory or tell you how to run your life or criticize anyone for preferring monogamy. The purpose of this Afterword is to shed some light on why I created the themes and character arcs of Our Fae Queen. Real-life polyamory inspired me to envision a world where this type of relationship is the norm, not the exception.
If you ARE curious about polyamory, here are three books that helped me along my journey:
- Stepping Off the Relationship Escalator: Uncommon Love and Life by Amy Gahran.
- When Someone You Love Is Polyamorous: Understanding Poly People and Relationships by Elisabeth Sheff.
- The Smart Girl’s Guide to Polyamory: Everything You Need to Know About Open Relationships, Non-Monogamy, and Alternative Love by Dedeker Winston. (Not just for ‘girls’!)
You can find my reviews of these and others on my Goodreads relationships nonfiction bookshelf.
While you’re there, why not add all the Our Fae Queen books to your bookshelves?
I can’t thank you enough for your support of this series!