Skye has come today to talk about her new release, The Home I Find With You. It’s a a queer polyamorous post-collapse romance and as such is right up my jigger. Welcome Skye! Thanks so much for coming along!
Firstly, tell us in your own words why you’re doing this interview?
My first full-length romance novel, The Home I Find With You, is out March 3rd. It’s a hopepunk post-collapse polyamorous small town romance with a suspense sub-plot, and yes, that’s a lot of descriptors!
It’s my first M/M title (after two published F/F stories) and my first polyamorous romance. A lot of firsts!
What started you writing?
Like many romance writers, I found the romance genre when I really needed something to get me though a rough point in my life. I’d written fiction passionately from when I was six or seven through college and then just fell away from it, but I didn’t start reading romance intending to pick up writing again.
When I did, I went through this somewhat ridiculous process of denial. First I told myself I just wanted to scribble some notes down for myself. Then I said maybe I’d have friends read those scribbles at some point. Then I said maybe I’d put them up for free somewhere and see if anyone else happened along. It took a while before I was willing to admit I wanted to get published. Maybe that’s what I had to do to work up the courage, haha.
Where do you write?
In a house built in 1964 that was not soundproofed against the possibility that in 2020 and 2021 there would be two adults trying to work here and one child trying to attend virtual school here. I have gotten way more familiar with YouTube white noise coffeeshop type videos than I ever expected to! 🙂
Writing is an intrinsically solo occupation. Do you belong to any groups or associations, either online or in the ‘real’ world? How does that work for you?
Finding writing again gave me a fresh creative hobby, but I’m definitely one of those people who loves being in a team rather than on my own… and you’re right, aside from co-writing situations, writing is a solo gig. But I need other people to cheerlead for or I’m a sad daisy! So I’ve engaged with other writers on Twitter and in Discord servers. I’ve made some great writer friends and found amazing critique partners.
It can be super intimidating to reach out when you don’t already know anyone, though. I started with some of the hashtag games on Twitter, and one day I also just held my breath and tweeted that I wanted to connect with other queer authors of queer romance for beta reading and whatnot, and it worked.
If anybody reading this doesn’t already have a queer romance writer crew and wants one, come sit by me, we’ll chat!
Tell me a little bit about your most recent release. What gave you the idea for it?
The Home I Find With You is a romance set in a rural town fifteen years after a future U.S. Civil War. It’s an M/M love story, but also polyamorous. One lead character, Van, is pansexual and has a girlfriend. They have an open relationship. He’s actually dating someone else too as the story begins, but that other relationship coincidentally ends as the attraction between Van and the other lead character, Clark, is heating up.
Many polyamorous romance novels end in a closed triad: three people, all involved with each other romantically and sexually, and not involved with anyone else outside the triad. I wanted to do something a little different, to present a romance between Van and Clark that is very intense and real—actually life-changing for Clark, and maybe even life-saving—without it being exclusive or meaning that Van’s relationship with his girlfriend has to end. I also wanted to show how one person might have different relationships that bring different things into their lives, but that doesn’t mean one relationship is better or worse than the other.
I love post-apocalyptic movies, comics, and games, so the post-collapse setting of this book was a natural for me. But I have to admit that I’m often frustrated by the lack of attention to supply lines and salvage in those works. I find myself yelling “Where is the food coming from? Why haven’t you gotten all the usable stuff out of that abandoned house and brought it back to your stronghold?” So it was also fun to base the suspense part of the story around exactly those questions, how resources are being salvaged out of the environment, how this small town is making it, what types of technology they’re able to bring back into town from the nearest big city and what’s kind of faded out of people’s lives.
The Home I Find With You
A polyamorous romance about building a new life after the world falls apart.
Life in rural Colorado fifteen years after the second U.S. Civil War is perilous. Van and his girlfriend Hadas only recovered from the attack that killed Van’s wife because their community helped them heal. The warmth Van and Hadas share isn’t the love he lost, but it’s precious. He’s content.
Clark survived the war, but his family fractured and now his relationships are in ruins… which must be his fault, or everyone wouldn’t say so. Figuring he can’t destroy ties he doesn’t create, he relocates to start over, zero interpersonal complications welcome.
When Van and Clark meet, though, it’s nothing but complicated. Clark can’t stop wanting quiet, loyal Van no matter how the electricity between them misfires, and Van craves more than hookups from the charismatic newcomer. Hadas and others start coaxing Clark out of his emotional isolation, but when violence threatens the town, Van and Hadas must leave him behind to defend it.
To bring them safely home, Clark must decide whether Van’s love, Hadas’s friendship, and the belonging he’s found are enough to overcome his fear of once again letting down those he cares about.
A high heat, hurt-comfort post-collapse M/M romance novel with D/s elements, polyamory, open relationships, and a guaranteed HEA.
Detailed content warnings are available on my website for those who need them.