When it comes to love, Mack Whitman prefers to limit it to writing songs and poetry. Aromantic, he’s content to have quality friendships and people who sometimes also share his bed. He’s never considered himself the jealous type. But when he sees everyone in his life, from his best friends to his occasional partners, moving toward more settled lives, it leaves him frustrated, disappointed, and worried he’ll be left behind.
Amelia Roberts doesn’t care about the genders of her partners as long as she follows her one rule: Don’t ever fall in love. It’s worked out well for her, since that’s a line she knows she’ll never cross with Mack. He’s as happy as she is to keep things as they are. The only trouble with her philosophy is that she didn’t count on meeting the one person who might change her mind.
Jomari O’Brien’s supportive family made it smooth for him to transition several years ago. Since then, he’s been in and out of love, and other people’s beds, plenty of times, and he has no regrets. Each one is a small part of a larger symphony. Becoming involved with two people at once is a more complicated harmony, but it’s one he’s willing to learn as long as they are.
Their individual melodies become discordant as they struggle to make them fit together. But if all three can learn to play with each other instead of against, they may yet hit all the right notes.
This novel is the last book in a series about four roommates, all musicians, living in Boston. Each book is about a different one of them, and each central relationship is configured differently, mostly variations of polyamory. In this last part, Mack is the central character. He was hardest to write because he’s been so closed off to me throughout the series. The only thing I knew for sure is that he’s aromantic. I wanted to write about what would happen when his long-term sexual partner fell in love with someone else and how it would change their dynamic. The biggest challenges for this last part were to do justice to the characters and also make sure I wrapped up all loose ends and gave everyone their hard-won happily ever after.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?
Took an Irish dance class. No lie. Well, my son may have been part of the influence there. He’s been dancing in other styles since he was 3, and he began learning Irish dance at a non-competitive studio when he was 7. He’d been trying to get me to try it for ages. What better motivation than while writing about an Irish dancer? It’s worked out so far; I’m in my third year, and I still love it.
How do you combine all the different worlds of your life in your works?
Writing is a way I express things I wouldn’t be able to talk about. It’s also a way I can take something that’s part of myself and allow a character to bring it to another level. I get inspiration from many places and real-life experiences and/or people. It’s not so much combining parts of my life as much as following the branches independently. For example, in one book, I might spill all my complicated feelings about religion. In another, I might be putting body image under the microscope. I do less combining and more splitting, I think.
How would you describe your writing style/genre?
I write contemporary relationship-focused, character-driven fiction. Sometimes that looks closer to a traditional romance. Sometimes it looks closer to literary fiction. All I can say is that I don’t fit neatly into a genre, but the emphasis is always on the growth of the main character(s) and their relationships—even when those aren’t romantic.
What was the weirdest thing you had to Google for your story?
I don’t like to think of this as weird, since it’s something real people need. But unusual, in the sense that it wasn’t for my own personal use? That would be researching prosthetic penises. One of the main characters is a trans man. He presented himself to me as someone exploring his options, so I gave him free rein. But I had no idea what that would look like, so I did some research. That included Google and talking to some very open trans guys.
What are you working on next?
I’m about halfway through a road trip novel featuring a couple of minor characters from a previous novel. I’m also revising an old pair of novellas for a re-release. I’ve got three projects in waiting, two novels and a novella. Most of my projects are connected in some way to other books I’ve written.
A.M. is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card AND the first three books in the series in eBook format as a single prize. For a chance to win, enter via Rafflecopter:
“Wait.”
“What?”
“I’m not letting you go home without talking about what the hell that was back there. You were really pissed off when you came to see me. You’re calm now, but if you go back home, you’re gonna get right back into that mess all over again.”
He was right, and Mack knew it. He turned over the engine. “Look, it’s freezing out here. I’ll drive you back, and I’ll explain on the way.”
“Fair enough.”
Mack waited until they were out on the road to say, “It’s fucking weird, having both of them together. It’s not like it hasn’t happened before, but not like this. I don’t know. It felt like they were doing this bonding thing, and I wasn’t part of that.”
“I get it,” Trevor said.
“Do you? Because your family looks different.”
“What is it you wanted? To have Amelia to yourself? You’ve said she’s not your girlfriend. So why does it matter?”
“I don’t know!” But he did know. He had a very clear idea why it bothered him so much. Mack slammed his palm against the steering wheel. “She and I…we’re both fucking Jomari. We all know, but we’ve never hung out just the three of us.”
Trevor seemed to contemplate that. “Yeah, I’d say that’s different from my family. It really bothers you, huh?”
“Not that. It’s…” Mack didn’t know how to explain the way he’d seen the tender gestures between Amelia and Jomari. Sure, she would do the same for him, but it didn’t look or feel identical for some reason Mack couldn’t pinpoint. “I guess they’ve been getting to be closer since she started playing with Cian’s band.”
“Makes sense. Spending more time together. But you think there’s more going on?”
“I don’t know,” Mack admitted. “Up until now, I wouldn’t have thought so. She always said she was mostly into women. She doesn’t date men, and she made that clear to me. I didn’t care. But now here she is, and I can’t really tell what’s going on. She’s already cancelled plans with me so they could go out.”
“Ah.” Trevor was quiet a moment. “People change, you know. Until Andre, I thought I only loved Marlie and the couple times I fooled around with guys were, like, just sex. Then after Andre, I thought maybe Marlie was my exception and I mostly wanted guys. Now I’m not sure, but it doesn’t matter because this works for us. Jamie’s only into men, but I know he’s fucked women on camera and enjoyed it. He said Cian can’t separate love and sex, he’s got a high drive for both, and he doesn’t care about gender at all. Maybe Amelia’s needs have changed.”
“Maybe.”
It wasn’t only about whether or not her relationship with Jomari was changing. It was why. Why now, after years of things being the same? What made him different from everyone else? Mack hated the feeling she’d finally had enough and was choosing someone who might be able to give her what he couldn’t. But why would she have told him their kind of relationship was enough if it wasn’t? She knew who he was and that he made no apology for it. Was it like Trevor said, and she was changing, or had she been dishonest?
“Listen,” Trevor said as they pulled into his driveway. “Why don’t you invite Jomari for Thanksgiving?”
“What? Why?”
“It might be easier if it’s not the three of you having to figure this out alone, that’s all.” Trevor unbuckled, but he didn’t move. “Talk to them. The only way I made it work with Andre and Marlie is by telling them both the truth. And the only way I didn’t fuck it up with Jamie was by telling them I needed him in my life too.” He curled his fingers into a fist. “If only we could work that out.”
Mack didn’t reply. Jamie was still a sore spot for both of them. He helped Trevor unload the groceries and put things away. They had some time for him to think about inviting Jomari, but he wasn’t sure he was going to.
“Thanks for your help,” Trevor said. “Hey, you feeling better?”
“Maybe.” Mack accepted the Night Crawlers from Trevor. “I should get these to the others.”
“Good luck.”
Back in the van, Mack looked at the package on the passenger seat. For once, Trevor was right, but tonight he didn’t have the right words. Instead, he would bring the sour gummies as a peace offering and sit with them this time, even if it meant he had to watch confusing science fiction shows. He pulled out onto the road and headed for home.
Their published fiction includes several novels as well as a number of short works, and their stories have been included in multiple anthologies. They are an occasional host for Bi+Plus, a podcast for the bi+ community, as well as doing bi+ advocacy work and curating the best-of bi list on the QueerBooksForTeens website.
They are a social media contributor for Supposed Crimes, LLC, and they post about news, reviews, and updates. In between, they blog coffee-fueled, quirky commentary on faith, culture, books, chronic illness, and their family.
Author Website: http://amleibowitz.com
Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/AMLeibowitz/
Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/amyunchained
Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyunchained/
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8544236.A_M_Leibowitz
Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/a-m-leibowitz/
Author Amazon: https://www.booklinker.net/author-links.php
