You, Me & Her is the third book in a trilogy no one ever reads all three of. What happened is that first I wrote a total self-insert story about a middle-aged woman dating two younger guys. One was a shy rock climber, the other a flirtatious actor. The actor, Nate, was the one who set the poly tone, and at the end of the book the woman went back to her monogamous life with the husband she’d been estranged from.
By the time I’d finished My Guys, I knew I had to give both those guys their own happy endings. Derek, the shy rock climber, was definitely monogamous. You can tell that from the title of his book: Mine. He also turned out to be submissive, so his story only appeals to people who want to read BDSM with a female domme.
That left Nate. My plan was for Nate to “find the right woman.” In fact, I’d planted her way back in the first book. Her name was Deb, and they were enemies who would become lovers. Deb would teach Nate the true meaning of love, which would, of course, include monogamy.
The thing about crafting a three-dimensional character is that the character takes on a life of its own. Nate didn’t want to be monogamous. There was no “right” woman I could craft for him who would make him happy that way. And Deb didn’t want to be poly. If I put the two of them together, one of them would end up miserable.
Enter Joshua. One night, as I lay tossing and turning, struggling with the worst case of writer’s block I’d ever had (caused by the fact that I was trying to force a character to do something he didn’t want to do), Nate whispered to me that he was bi, and Joshua was born. As soon as I accepted that Nate’s happy ending would be both bi and poly, the words started flowing.
Along the way, I also crafted Sherry. Neither Nate or Sherry wants to be tied down, even within the context of a loving triad. Their brand of poly needed to be open. I was well aware that most readers don’t like open poly, but this book wasn’t written for them or even for me. It was written for Nate. Nate loves his happy ending, and I love this book. It doesn’t make me much money, but it’s still one of my favorites.
The complete My Guys trilogy:
As a bi polya person this book made me feel seen and is one of the few polya romances that feel real to me (I rec it all the time). I would never have guessed it wasn’t originally planned that way. Thank you so much for writing it!