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I’m So Tired of Love Triangles in Stories

My new novel Psychic City has been out for a few weeks. And holy hornbeam have y’all been awesome about it. I’ve been hearing from a lot you who have already read the book (wow) and really enjoyed it (aww).

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the book, Psychic City is a slipstream mystery that follows a trio of polyamorous women who are detectives investigating a string of murders. And oh yeah — they’re all psychic.

Their psychic powers help them in some ways — and also hurt them in other ways, both at work and at home. The empath member of the team frequently notes that knowing what her partners are feeling doesn’t always help her figure out what to do about it.

And they’re not just a work trio. They’re also a triad. That unfolds as the narrative plays out, the fact that they’re dating each other, too, and that none of them are straight (it’s shown as the reader gets to know the characters, not told upfront).

It was a really gratifying experience to write an entertaining book that had polyamorous, queer main characters. And also to write a book in which the vast majority of characters are women.

But there’s something else I’m really pleased about, too. There’s no love triangle. There never was at any time. And without getting into Spoilertown, the triad organically formed rather than happening because a couple actively looked for another partner. Accidental triads (or even Vs) are frankly my favorite form of meet-cute.

The Drama in the Book Has Nothing to Do with Non-Monogamy

Now, that doesn’t mean there’s no drama. There’s plenty of drama in the book. Most of it has to do with the fact that someone’s going around murdering psychics. Yes, there are actual relationship disagreements among the characters. However, they have nothing to do with the relationship structure. They’re the normal kinds of things that people generally fight about in all relationships.

That was something I was frustrated with when I read other novels and watched movies that featured non-monogamy… they tended to focus on love triangles as a point of tension. Or they had the relationship structure and/or jealousy or insecurity be a chief antagonist in the plot.

Nope.

Their relationship structure is frankly not even the most unusual thing about them. They are really quirky heroines and… they’re psychic, which makes them super out there.

And they’re just really relatable. They’re obviously queer. They’re obviously polyamorous. But they’re also charming, funny, powerful, and geeky buttkicking women.

I knew I was on to something when not only my queer friends but also my mother — who is notoriously anti-non-monogamy and struggles to accept queerness — loved the characters, who are very clearly queer and all dating one another.

When she read this book, it explained so much to her that I never could through the direct approach.

It’s frankly the other reason that realistic, entertaining representation is important. Not just so that people who are represented know they’re not alone (although that IS important) — but so people who would normally treat those who are different from them as the “other” or outsider will have a deeper understanding that at the end of the day we’re all human beings, even if we forget how much we share, distracted by the differences.

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You can purchase the book from the links below. Want to help out? Leave a review after you’ve read the book. Thank you all!

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Non-Fiction by Page Turner:

Dealing with Difficult Metamours

A Geek’s Guide to Unicorn Ranching

Poly Land: My Brutally Honest Adventures in Polyamory 

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