Writing Home: A Crown and Glory Lesbian Love Story

I’m so excited to share that my next book, Home: A Crown and Glory Lesbian Love Story, will be released this November! This story continues the rich, emotional, and sensual journey readers have come to love from the Crown & Glory series. It’s a story about two women—Meeka and Tavia—who find love, belonging, and passion as they build a safe haven for others. Yes, it’s romantic, erotic, and full of heat, but at its heart, it’s about what it means to find home in another person’s arms.

My characters start bugging me about their story long before I start typing. One of the main characters, Meeka, began to talk to me about loneliness.

Loneliness is a serious issue worldwide. We have more communication technology than ever, yet we are more disconnected than at any time in history. There are endless texts but very little intimate conversation. Meeka was starved for community and authentic connection. This kind of loneliness messes with your mind, and people often turn to meaningless sex, drugs, alcohol, mindless consumerism, or soul-sucking work to relieve the pain. And yes, loneliness is a form of psychological pain.

Tavia, the other main character, deals with her loneliness differently. She has become a workaholic. Burying herself in work for the community seems like a life, but it can be just as isolating. Her closest companion is her cat, Max. Granted, Max is a fully developed, lovable character in his own right, but he is not the partner or community she needs.

So, here I am with these women telling me about their loneliness, begging me to write their story and resolve their isolation. I start typing. I would love to say I had a plan when I began this story, but I didn’t. It unfolded naturally, and the characters took me where they wanted to go.

I had to write this book scene by scene, then review it with the characters in mind. They have complex personalities and insist that I write about them completely—including all their mess. Although I’m familiar with what’s taught about writing and using character sheets, I don’t write that way. These women come to me as complete people. They direct me, the writer, rather than the other way around. They’re bossy and opinionated. They don’t just submit to my plot; they make their own way through the story.

Writing sex scenes has become more challenging as I go along. The current trend is to allude to the act of sex—to make it poetic without mentioning body parts. My sex scenes tend to be more authentic and sensual. My characters live in the real world. They’re not afraid of body parts or the messiness of sex. It’s also challenging because they show me vivid images, and I have to translate that into words. With the same pronouns, it can be hard to clearly describe whose breast is being kissed.

It’s even more complex in African American culture because the closer we are to each other, the less we use formal names. We become love, babe, sweetheart, boo, sis, and other pet names or nicknames. That can make things confusing on the page. So I have to strike a balance between erotic and real; between clarity and cultural authenticity; between character-driven prose and the broader audience’s expectations. It’s a tightrope—one that Black women walk every day in this culture.

This book was hard to write because I could feel their loneliness—not just their longing for sex, but their yearning for intimacy and community. I found myself tearful when writing some of the scenes because their loneliness was so palpable.

The beauty of writing within a series is that I already had a community for them—a soft place to fall. Within that community, they experience found family, unconditional love, and compassionate correction —the things we all crave. With the Sisterhood for support, they were able to see each other. They found both love and belonging—the home we all deserve.

I hope readers find this story uplifting and hopeful. My wish is that Home feels like a warm hug for anyone who has ever felt the cold isolation of loneliness—and a reminder that we are never too lost to be found, never too broken to be loved, and never too far from home.

Find Your Way Home with Meeka & Tavia

If you love heartfelt romance, powerful women, and the kind of love that feels both tender and passionate, Home: A Crown and Glory Lesbian Love Story is for you. Discover how two lonely women find connection, community, and meaning in each other—and build a forever kind of love.

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With Grace and Love,

Zuri Amara