Every Pair Has to Matter

When I designed the relationships in Breath, Blood & Chain, I knew I wanted all three people to genuinely love each other.

As a man, what would appeal to me is two women who love each other and who each find their own reasons to love the same man. Being wanted by both of them would mean more to me if their love for each other is just as real. I want to read that relationship, and I wanted to write it.

With Avylena and Faerwyn, the devotion comes before the sex. Their history matters. They already have a place in each other’s lives. Sinystrad’s relationship with each of them has to earn its own place, too.

As the series develops, I will also explore another triad involving two men and a very powerful woman. The men’s love and desire for each other will matter just as much as their individual relationships with her. I want to give each of those bonds the care and room it needs to grow.

Whether I am writing two women and a man or two men and a woman, I want the love between every pair to matter. Each relationship should give me something different to write and the reader something different to feel.

I want the heat. I also want to know why these particular people reach for each other, what they trust each other with, and what it costs them to be honest.

That is how I try to write them. I get inside each character’s head and ask whether the choice makes sense. If I cannot believe it from there, I have more work to do.