For this week’s edition of Fun Fact Friday, I am giving you five fun facts about After the Snow Melts, a young adult, m/m contemporary, interracial romance.
I always wanted to do a romance set in the decadent 80s, so I came up with a short story. Here are five fun facts:
- I love the city of Thunder Bay and Mount McKay, the gorgeous mountain situated in Fort William First Nation. This Ojibway community is a stone’s throw from the city and is located across the Kaministiquia River.
- One of my fave tropes is rich boy/poor boy. So I created Bryan Deschamps, a rich boy from a prominent family in the city whose parents are a doctor and lawyer. Then there is Elliot Wasacase, an Ojibway from Northern Ontario, who must travel to Thunder Bay to finish high school since his First Nations community does not have one. And yes, this happens lots in the real world.
- Since I’m a teenager of the 80s, I had to set the short story during this time period. Just like Elliot, I adore heavy metal. I did back then and I still do today, so naturally I made him a metal head.
- Meanwhile, since new wave was big then, I had to keep the couple complete opposites, so Bryan loves all things new wave. Very deep cuts and obscure bands. I must say, while researching new wave bands for Bryan, I came across the group Clever Lines and their song After the Snow Melts. I was impressed, and even named the story after the song title because the plot takes place in March. You can check out the song on YouTube.
- The forced proximity trope is a fun one to use in stories, so I left them stranded on Mount McKay (of course I came up with a fictional name for the mountain and reserve where it’s situated).
You can purchase a copy of After the Snow Melts here.
Maggie Blackbird 