When I sat down with Hannah, our conversations flowed freely with shared laughter and connection. It felt more like a coffee with an old friend than an interview, and that wasn’t just because of our shared identity as disabled women and bookworms, but because of how easy it is to feel welcome and included in Hannah’s presence. We talked about disability, inclusion, representation, love, sexuality, identity and womanhood, following her path to international success.
“I just wanted to write books that felt like people I knew and like people that I surrounded myself with.” she says as we start chatting, referencing her beginnings. The truth is, that one simple sentence easily holds the essence of who she is as a person and author.
The “Out” Series and its Impact
Out on a Limb
“Out on a Limb” is the book that launched Hannah’s career on a path where it is today. The novel, featuring two disabled main characters, has now been translated to over 20 languages, with more coming soon. While Hannah says she still can’t believe her success, I understand why this story is so loved. When I first read the book, the depth and authenticity in it deeply moved me. I felt empowered by seeing myself in a hot, sexy, yet genuine and powerful love story, instantly becoming a fan of her work.
Given that diversity and inclusion are still far from being the norm in literature and media, I asked Hannah about her commitment to bringing diverse characters to life.
“I had to be intentional about the way I went around it because I wanted to do right by a community that I’m very proud to be a part of.” she explains, saying that basing “Out on a Limb” on her personal experiences was an intentional choice, and at the same time it felt like the story she had to tell, although it was very intimidating. “I didn’t necessarily want to, at first” she jokes, as we both recognize how challenging it can be to put oneself out there, although it has been worth it.
“The really cool thing about releasing Out on a Limb has been all of these wonderful conversations I’ve gotten to have with other disabled folks and readers and people who just struggle to see themselves on pages.” She adds, highlighting how much it means to her to hear people saying what either Bo or Winn or seeing them together meant to them. “It showed them- Oh, I can have a love story, I can be loved in that way, I’m not asking for too much- and it’s really just a desire for all of us to be seen and understood “.
Where much of the representation effort fails, almost forcibly showing the people at its centre confined to one particular label, Hannah’s stories contain multitudes. Bo and Winn are not one-dimensional, they are people, so much bigger than their disabilities. Their identity as disabled people is not the focus of story or a tool for the plot, as it is sometimes the case in literature. For Hannah, the story is never just about the relationship, or just about the disability, the mental health struggles, foster care or any of it. The author shared her thought process on intersectionality, defining ourselves, and defining her characters as more than just one identity at once, saying “I think of them as my friends. I don’t think about, oh, yeah, so-and-so is my disabled friend. I think about them being an excellent host or a really kind person or really funny or really fashionable or whatever, and then their struggle, their mental health or disability or anything like that, would be the fifth or sixth on the list of things that would come to mind. At the end of the day, that’s not the main focus or the main part of their personality. It’s not who they are. It’s just something that they are learning to navigate.”
This approach to diversity is so much about feeling seen and being seen as whole. Because of that, and how needed it is, it’s had a significant impact on various marginalised communities. I asked Hannah how she felt about the power her words have had, and if she expected her stories to continue being so influential, growing bigger still, well after her initial success.
“Not at all. Definitely not.” She tells me, a note of disbelief still present in her voice. She goes on to explain how, at a time when her friend and beta reader Sophie was helping her through the vulnerability and emotional turmoil of writing “Out on a Limb”, she thought with anxiety how the book might never “find it’s people”. The thing that motivated her to keep going despite the fear, was a simple yet powerful wish to create something that resonates with her community- “If 10 people read this and it matters to them and it speaks to them and they feel seen, it will be worth it. All we kept saying was just, if 10 people, if 10 people, if 10 people…” she shares, adding that at the time of writing it, she couldn’t even begin to process how the book would impact people.
“I could have never predicted the way it would go and I think it’s just such a beautiful thing.
I still don’t think I fully processed it. I don’t know if I ever will. It’s incredibly affirming to write a story that’s so deeply important to me and feels very deeply vulnerable and have it resonate with people because I really felt like it was going to be for me and, like, 10 people.”
Nowadays, this book is popular all over the world and Hannah gets to be a guest at events that let her feel and experience the love of her readers, hearing first-hand of the things they loved, the ones that made them laugh or cry, but she admits that to this day, it can be difficult to really comprehend the magnitude of her work, saying: “Once it started getting picked up by readers and shared, within the first month of its release, it was read more than all of my other books combined. it does not feel real in the slightest and I’m going to think about it for the rest of my life”
Since the release of “Out on a Limb” many other authors have come to her saying that she helped them feel that publishing successful stories with diversity was possible, whereas before, they held back from it out of fear they wouldn’t do well. Knowing from personal experience as an advocate and public speaker how difficult it can be to fight through the fear of failure or rejection, I asked the writer what message she could share about it now that some time has passed since her breakthrough and she has continued to write unique romance novels that are consistently met with love.
“There will be people who don’t pick up my book because there’s 2 disabled characters, and then it’s not for them. You can’t force people to care or have empathy or want to read a lived experience that isn’t their own, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t show up and that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t write, because advocacy is the only way change really happens” says the writer. Additionally, she emphasised that it is crucial to remind readers to diversify the stories they read, because the readers are the driving force which will make publishers put more of these books out there.
Out of the Woods
“Out of the Woods”, the second part of the “Out” series, came out this January. The book follows the story of Sarah and Caleb, married high school sweethearts and best friends to Win and Bo from “Out on a Limb”, as they navigate a crisis in their marriage. Up to this point, I had read and loved all of Hannah’s previous books, but not having met my life partner, I feared this story wasn’t going to resonate with me. With that in mind, I asked Hannah for her thoughts on this book’s plot and relating to unfamiliar experiences.
“Not everybody married their high school sweetheart. But if I learned anything from the process of writing and releasing Out on a Limb, it was that sometimes even the more vulnerable, more specific parts of my own life story or the story of the people that I know and love can feel identifiable to many people, because at the end of the day, we’re all just trying to kind of make it through. I write characters who are feeling challenged and feeling inadequate and are feeling lost. And I think that’s a really common human emotion and a theme that keeps coming up in all of my books.” the author explains.
Reflecting on a recent conversation, she further elaborates on the recurring theme in her work. “All of my female main characters, are really in a position where they feel like life is happening to them, and they’re not living a life. And then by the end of the book, they’ve made choices and decisions that have it so they are living a life, and life is not happening to them anymore.”
This is something Hannah thinks anyone can identify with at one point or another, regardless of the situation they might be put in. We can see ourselves our loved ones feeling this way. From there, it’s just a matter of acceptance and finding a way to move forward.
You can put somebody in any situation, whether it’s married to their high school sweetheart or having an accidental pregnancy or having to take in their little sibling in foster care, and it’s really just a matter of coming to terms with what life is giving you and figuring out where to go from there. And I think that’s why Out of the Woods did work for people, despite them maybe not having that partnership or that long-term relationship, because Sarah’s just lost and she’s confused and she’s looking for answers, and I think that’s very natural and normal.”
The “Next” Series and reflections on Love
Books “Next of Kin” the very first one Hannah Bonam Young published, followed by “Next to You”, make the duo in the “Next” series. Similarly to others, these books provide love stories filled with passion and commitment, while not shying away from difficult topics that people usually put under the table. Both books have a connection to family relationships, with the first one exploring kinship care and adoption through the story of War and Chloe, while the second provides an equally striking insight into grief and its impact on the human mind, through its characters Lane and Matt.
Once again handling the complexity of the human experience with exceptional love and care, the author reflects on the depth of emotion and inner worlds of her characters.
“I just couldn’t imagine writing anything else, honestly. I think that the stories I love to read and the stories I wanted to write are the same.” she says.
“I think that romance has a really beautiful ability to write, to contain these characters with multitudes, because you are getting to know them so well, and often there are not these huge driving points that take away from their inner voice or take away from their inner world. So, I’m able to just have them with their rambling thoughts and with their lived experience, talking about their feelings and doing therapy and all these things that make them feel more mundane. But I think I just couldn’t imagine it being different.”
Her characters “live in the real world” because their stories are those of people she surrounds herself with. They have the struggles, backgrounds and lives and all of us could recognise in our families or communities. To Hannah, those are the people she loves, and those are the stories she feels are worth telling.
This particular commitment to her writing style makes Hannah’s stories be shaped in a way that everyone can see themselves in a scene or connect to a story. In all four books we had mentioned up to now, there is something unique to a particular lived experience, but shown in a way that makes it universal. For the author, this was exactly the goal she was hopeful to achieve.
“Lane’s story isn’t just for people who have anxiety and Win’s story isn’t just for people who are disabled and Chloe’s story isn’t just for people who have, lived experience with foster care or sibling guardianship. They are people who contain enough multitudes to feel identifiable to so many different readers and the cool thing about that is that sometimes readers get to meet an experience that they have never thought about”
When readers reach out to her saying they learned something and that her books made them reflect on the experience of a friend or loved one, Hannah often finds herself at a loss for words, saying it is an incredible privilege to lend her voice to those conversations which now feel bigger than herself.
Romance, intimacy, and growth
In books by Hannah Bonam-Young, romance and self- discovery happen in the slow moments. There both tiny and loud moments of acceptance and love in these books, so I wanted to know what makes romance special? Her stories are filled with both tiny and thunderous moments of acceptance and love, which led me to ask: what makes romance feel truly special to her?
“What I really enjoy about writing love stories,” she says, “is the little moments that feel just as important as the big love declarations. I think it’s the acts of service, the little thoughtful things that each character will do for the other. In each of my books, there’s a moment that I can narrow down to, of consideration and thoughtfulness in a physical, tangible way. The way that Bo goes about splitting their expenses. It’s not a grand declaration of love, but it’s respect and it’s an understanding and communication and it’s showing somebody who is really capable of having awkward conversations when wanting to take care of somebody. And wanting to look after someone with respect in mind. Or like Matt, once Lane sets a boundary that she doesn’t want to see him anymore, he writes letters and sends them to her sister. So, then she can read them or maybe she’ll never read them, but it’s his way of showing up. Or like Caleb in Out of the Woods, when Sarah is upset because they’re going camping and they don’t have any electricity. She doesn’t bring her Kindle, but he brings it and he buys her a solar charger. It’s this little way of like letting someone know that they’re seen and, their past influences matter”
These men understand the history and personality of their partners/love interests and act in a way that brings them a sense of comfort, which Hannah explains further.
“Lane has a very deep fear of abandonment so Matt knew that even in their space apart, he needed to not abandon her. Win has a lot of trauma around things feeling unbalanced and a lot of anxiety around financial stuff and feeling fair and not wanting to be a burden. And he takes that upon himself to figure that out in a way that works for both of them. Sarah is just really anxious and likes her creature comforts, and Caleb makes sure that she has one of those things in an environment where he knows she was going to be uncomfortable.”
For this writer, the essence of romance is that it’s wonderful to declare love, and affirm it with words, but what is much more important is how people show up for one another. These moments in her books are a paragraph or two, but they are carefully woven into the story and beautifully candid. She gently them explains this rich emotional component saying
“I feel like they’re so impactful because it’s showing that everyone has their own way of needing to be loved and the right person will do that for you.
Another truth is that seeking love can make us uncertain and make us think we have to change. Loving ourselves and seeking the love of another takes growth that can be painful, especially when facing turbulence in our lives. Hannah’s romance novels often show this inner process, taking her characters on a path of profound change.
It’s definitely a delicate balance, because it’s hard to write a story where it feels like there is that growth, but it’s not them growing because they’ve suddenly found love, or they’ve found someone.” Hannah says, “that love is acting as a mirror more than a cure, because finding love is not a cure. It is just something that can help you reflect, and it brings out the ugliest parts of yourself, your biggest insecurities. I feel like when people are starting to develop a crush or develop feelings for somebody, they start to overanalyse: Okay, how do I look? How do I talk? How do I present? Is this person going to like me? They start to really self-actualize all of these things that maybe they’ve been putting off working on.
Through her main characters, the author shapes narratives that, for the reader, subconsciously put forward this balance between people finding self-love while also finding external love and validation. This personal and emotional development shows in the obstacles her characters face, where issues are not “magically fixed” by the other person’s love. It isn’t a case of “well, now somebody likes me, so now I’m fine”, she says. Instead that love takes the character on a journey of doing that inner work for themselves.
Win from “Out on a Limb” and Lane, the main character of “Next to you” are both great examples of this. Both of these women have been through a lot of hardship or trauma, and even though their stories are very different, Hannah says it was incredibly rewarding to write them not only learning to process and accept love from the person giving it to them, but “falling in love with themselves at the same time”.
As we talk, I am taken back to how deeply I felt about some of the thoughts Win had about parenting with a disability, because I recognised myself in them. I also almost avoided some pages of “Next to you”, feeling pulled in by the description of Lane’s anxiety attacks so much so that they were almost palpable. However, both of these women eventually find their way and grow as people, with their love stories acting as a catalyst. Hannah explains: “She (Win) would never question how capable he (Bo) was, and so it begged the question, well, then why do I feel scared? Why do I feel incapable? And with Lane, I think it was just seeing somebody who was so patient and understanding and wasn’t going to get tired of her.”
Hannah’s novella about an LGBTQI+ couple titled “Set the record straight”, as well as “Out on a Limb” and all of her other novels are spicy, hot, sensual and fun, with lots of action on the pages. However, there is a tangible tone of respect, inclusion and consent in these intimate scenes, no matter the context or preferences of the characters. Knowing that people of many marginalized identities, including disabled people, still face a narrative that makes their intimate lives come under a magnifying glass and become torn between scrutiny and curiosity, I asked the author about her approach to this aspect of her writing.
“My main goal with “Out on a Limb” was that they were going to be very sexy…I was sick and tired of the narrative that disabled people are just not sexual, or would lack intimacy, or wouldn’t have as much fun in that regard, or wouldn’t feel comfortable having a one-night stand. I knew that Win was going to be going through a journey of self-love and overcoming some insecurities, but I also know that Win is a gorgeous, athletic, beautiful woman who could absolutely sleep with anybody she wanted to.”
Referencing the story’s arc, Hannah explains that because sexual intimacy is a staple in romance novels, she was conscious of not letting it feel like an afterthought, or worse, like she was cutting corners. It was important not to diminish it just because these characters had a lot going on. “I mean, it’s an accidental pregnancy, they had to get pregnant” she says as we both laugh, then amends „But then they dragged it out to where they basically don’t touch again (for a long time) “when we share a pointed look remembering some particularly frustrating yet charged scenes.
Reflecting more on the dynamics of the pair, she adds “What’s different about how she interacts with Bo is that level of understanding they share, and the way he doesn’t rush her… It’s that moment where she’s undoing her blouse, and it just takes her a minute. And instead of doing it for her, he just leans back and watches her do it.” Bo’s actions say “I’m not in a hurry, and I’m not trying to speed things along, because you’re going to make things slow, or it’s going to be difficult”. It is clear that, in simple terms, the connections in her novels are not about differences, but about showing up for one another and showing each other that we are seen as whole and human.
The creative process, its inspiration, and upcoming books
While Hannah’s books have impacted and resonated with people all over the world, The Brown Sisters trilogy by Talia Hibbert and the Bergman series by Chloe Liese were the ones that made her dream of writing and publishing diverse romance novels feel tangible and possible. She felt empowered and affirmed seeing that these books are loved and popular. However, there is one love story that stands out:
“The book that I felt the most seen in, and afterwards I had this feeling of calm, was “Yours Truly” by Abby Jimenez. Jacob’s experience with anxiety and the way his anxiety manifests and presents are so deeply similar to me. And I think it was the first time I ever felt like when I was reading a book and I was rooting for him so profoundly. Like, I would go to war for him. she tells me, equal parts gentleness and humour in her voice.
At this time, Hannah is “deep in writing”- her next book, “People Watching” comes out in September. It’s the first one in a new duet series “People” and her first full length novel with a dual point of view. While she said that the interview felt like a nice break, I got curious what her creative process, and especially the development of her characters, was like.
“I have this very intense need to know absolutely everything there is to know about them. So, what I have to do before I start writing is really just this massive document of just info- dumping everything I know about each character, from who was their favourite teacher growing up to who’s their biggest influence, to what toothpaste do they use.”
Hannah says this approach allows her to understand a character’s backstory and what defines them, so it’s easy to know what decisions they would make and avoid her biggest fear of imposing her own rationale on them. “It’s my way of getting to know them to a point where I feel like I get to just transcribe the story. It is like I’m telling the story that they’re telling me, versus me having to make decisions and having to influence what they chose to do.”
The author says the process of writing “People watching”, was a much different experience because of the changing perspectives, explaining that while her info-dump on characters is always about both of them, this time around, she focused even more on her male main character – “I really needed to know Milo and I really needed to try to get inside of his head.”
As she speaks I realise that up until this moment, I didn’t actually notice that her books had a single point of view, because of how immersed one can feel in her stories.
“I get so excited when people say that they don’t notice my books are single POV because it’s hard to convey.” Hannah exclaims, adding that because her female main characters are going through an upheaval journey of discovering themselves or going through something life-changing, she always wants to give them the focus and time to let that story unfold.
Her books are sexy, beautiful love stories, but they are just as much about each character and who they are. “I also wanted to create men where they were so transparent and so earnest in the way they approached that you knew what they were thinking and you knew how they felt and you were in their head even if you weren’t reading from their perspective.” she adds as a way of explanation.
Hannah Bonam-Young’s romance novels have also become incredibly popular on social media. In addition to the illustrators the author directly collaborates with, showing their work on Instagram and creating special details for lucky fans, she also has Spotify playlists dedicated to each book, allowing the reader immerse themselves in the story. As a fan myself, this is something I truly love about her and her community, and we enthusiastically chatted about how she would love to see an illustrated edition for any of her books.
Since she usually writes her books in pairs interconnected by the main characters of one showing up as supporting characters in the and vice versa, I asked her about this choice and the decision not to expand to trilogies:
“For me as a writer It is important to keep moving forward. There’s a lot of stories I haven’t had a chance to tell yet and that I am excited to tell. As much as I miss my characters and I miss hanging out with each of them and I wish I could spend more time with them, I also know that the process of getting to know a new set of characters in a new environment is also so precious and I wouldn’t want to not have that. I think often I just do duets because I’m not ready to be done with the characters from the first book. But I think past that point, it starts to veer into self-indulgent and I need to meet new friends”. she explains and we both laugh, as I am once again reminded how committed she is.
She excitedly tells me there is fanfiction about Win and Bo, and fans are adding to their story, adding that the best thing about being an author is that readers get to take her stories and make them their own. “I think it is kind of continuing. It just doesn’t really need me anymore.”
Deserving and worthy
As I slowly near the end of my conversation with Hannah, I am excited for what’s to come. People Watching comes to readers in September, and “People pleasing” the second half of the series has already been announced as well. There is a contract for at least two more books later on as well, although she says they haven’t come to her quite yet.
When we once again express the need for more diverse representation, she shares a piece of advice for authors looking to write diverse romance novels, telling them not to worry about what’s popular or what’s most beloved and working right now and instead focus on the story only they can tell, and the characters they wish to bring to life.
For her fellow disabled and other writers of marginalised identities, she has a simple message to “just to turn off comparison” because it’s hard for disabled and chronically ill authors to let go of that, despite struggling to feel well or not in pain.
“You’re not going to be able to produce the same amount as somebody else, but your voice is needed. Your story is needed. And if it takes longer, it takes longer, but don’t compare in the sense of, so-and-so has eight books coming out this year, so maybe I should have at least had two. You have got to do it with your own body and your own mind and how you work and operate.”
She adds that more marginalised authors are needed, but trying to break through with these stories can feel like throwing oneself against a closed door. Still, she believes it pays off, because “sometimes that door opens, and it’s worth it”. Independent (indie) publishing, she notes, is a powerful path for these stories, allowing them to reach readers even when traditional publishers are slow to catch on to what people truly want.
Finally, I can’t help but admire this brilliantly creative and kind woman, asking her to share a message to the women out there that live the complex stories of characters, or to herself from before, now that she has taken control of the narrative, creating her own beautiful story.
“I put a large part of that in “Out on a limb”, and unfortunately, “Out of the woods”, and now “People watching”. I think I’m revealing a little bit too much” she laughs, then surprises me by turning to another person’s words and sharing the story of a kind teacher she had in high school, whose words to Hannah made their way into “Out on a limb”.
“It’s when Sarah says to Win “you deserve good things” she explains. “I think that when we have been hit time and time again by life in multiple different ways, it gets quite heavy and it feels like maybe the world is rooting against you. So, when good things happen, it feels as if they’re not supposed to happen, or as if something bad has to come. And I put that into Win”.
It’s a sentiment that rings true to both of us, and as I process what Hannah has shared, she firmly repeats it, adding “You deserve good things. Not only are they going to happen to you, but when they do, you deserve them. And there’s a pride and an ownership in that. And I wish that for more people, because I think women are often made to feel like we should be happy or content with what we have and not strive for more, or want more. But at the end of the day, you get to have good things. And when they happen, you deserve them. And you can keep striving for the more of it too.”
