Sometimes when I finish writing a book,  it’s easy to leave the characters behind. Sometimes it’s more difficult.

This is Not a Love Story came out last year, and I’ve written two whole books since then (one, Cuckoo, is out this week, the other is yet to be announced). But the TINALS characters lodged in my head. Particularly Ethan.

 Ethan wasn’t there when I planned out TINALS. He wandered in all by himself. He didn’t get a voice in that book (I thought it essential to keep him quiet so he didn’t spoil the plot), but he did make his mark. I loved writing about him. He’s scratchy and sarcastic, a home-maker who hates people, a bisexual who’s completely at ease with his sexuality but has no idea how to conduct relationships. His parents hardly communicated for years, he’s got several nationalities and two religions, and he combines immense self-confidence with massive social unease.

So when The Edge – the author collective that I am proud to be part of –  collectively decided to create an anthology of short stories, I knew what I wanted to do. My story: The Day I Told the Truth, is a prequel to TINALS in Ethan’s voice, which can be read completely independently. It’s the story of him telling his parents that he is bisexual, and then finding the courage to tell them something else about their past.

In writing it, I drew on the experiences of  bisexual people that I know. Some had been told  their  sexuality is a phase, a stepping stone on the way to somewhere else. It’s funny how people are rarely told that their sexuality might be a stepping stone on the road to bisexuality, although that is often the case. And others were told that one day their choice of partner would cancel out their bisexuality, that being faithful to one person somehow cancels who they are. I also heard stories about prejudice against bisexuals from within the LGBT community as well as the wider community.

Ethan’s parents could not be more liberal and understanding, but they still manage to say and do the wrong things. But I hope that my story will encourage people to share who they are. because sometimes telling one true thing can lead to spilling secrets that are better  shared. And besides, being bisexual is nothing to be secretive about.

Having written this story, I still want to write more about Ethan. Maybe he’ll pop up in another book one day.

I hope you enjoy my stories and all the others in this anthology.  I’m very excited to be part of it.