What inspires you to write?

My novels are exposure therapy for the physical abuse, psychological abuse, and sexual assault I survived when I was a child. Years into therapy, I learned about exposure therapy, which is when you gradually expose yourself to the element of your trauma in order to desensitize yourself. For example, if you’re afraid of dogs, you’d work to slowly approach a leashed, calm dog over multiple attempts, different days even. Over time, your brain starts to reprogram and understand that not all dogs are violent so you can start to feel safer in public.

Since I couldn’t physically approach the topics of my trauma, I tried writing for the first time, putting characters into traumatic scenarios so I could follow along on their healing journey. I learned unexpected things about myself and encountered realizations that aided in my recovery. All of my books are written for myself but published for my fans, my reader family. They encouraged me to publish in the first place, wanting physical copies of the stories, and I owe them everything.

Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?

The genre was critical for my exposure therapy and cautiously chosen. I picked fantasy romance because one of my sensitivities revolves around relationships and intimacy, and the books are spicy as a result of the latter. The medieval period was necessary to push the setting to a safe distance, buffer myself from memories that took place in the modern era, pushing away upsetting smells, tastes, and sounds. I could not write them in a modern setting. It’d be too close to home.

As far as the fantasy aspect goes, I needed to access more intensity than what I felt a human was realistically capable of, though there are humans and human witches. The emotions involved with wolf-shifters, dragon-shifters, cat-shifters, fae, and more verge on—if not embrace—the feral, wild, savage mind. It lets me push my limits, access deep emotions I can’t quite understand or accept yet, when otherwise I can pull all the punches I need to. The range it allowed me was broad, letting me use whatever I needed whenever I needed it.

What is the most important thing that people DON’T know about your subject/genre that they need to know?

I didn’t know this before, but after publishing, I discovered that there is a lot of prejudice regarding individuals that read darker romances due to, generally, protagonists that may display abusive behavior in the beginning. Though I don’t consider myself a dark romance author, my novels do have—and must—contain dark, hard-to-read sections. I want people to know that many people read to process their own traumas, and dark romance allows them a chance to heal by the exposure therapy they’re not aware they’re exercising. No other genre will suffice. I’m actually very vocal about this because my readers’ mental health absolutely comes first to me, and I don’t want anyone making them feel like there’s something wrong with them when they talk about a dark romance. It’s the last thing survivors need from their community. What they choose to read is not an endorsement for unpleasant scenarios, it’s coping, and many of my readers are survivors. If someone doesn’t read to process trauma, I’ll still support it. You never know why someone picks up a book, and they should never have to explain or defend themselves.

Do you have a special time to write, or how is your day structured to accommodate your writing?

I’m not sure how common it is, but I do a lot of my conceptualizing in bed after I turn off the lights. As I rest, I think about the next chapter and where I want the story to go. The relaxed, daydreamy state lets me skip past any writer’s block, so I don’t really get stuck during the process of writing the novel. When the next day arrives, I’m ready to put the words onto the screen. It all works quite well for me, and it’s a rhythm I’ve long since settled into.

What have you written so far?

I’ve written twelve novels across two different series. The Healing Fate series is at ten hefty novels now and focuses on my psychological and sexual assault trauma, while The Summoner Chronicles is more of a venting of my many physical disabilities and conditions, featuring characters with POTS, hEDS, ADHD, etc.

Since I’ve started publishing recently, I’ve only released three books in the Healing Fate series: The Mistake and the Lycan King, The Dragon Knight and the Coveted, and The Packless and the Fae Prince. The Tiger Pariah and the Runaway will be coming out early next year, aiming for January! As far as The Summoner Chronicles goes, I will be publishing that traditionally as it’s something I’d like to experience, and that series is more mainstream-friendly. I just need to find an agent.

Do you work with an outline or plot sketch, or do you prefer to let a general idea guide your writing?

When I start a book, I have only a particular aspect of my trauma in mind plus several scenarios I want to encounter. As a result, the books often do not turn out how I originally imagined and often shift dramatically as soon as I get halfway through the story. It’s for the better that it’s an organic experience, as it allows me to fall into events I didn’t plan for but felt like they should occur in the moment. Alongside my character, I have to cope with whatever comes my way, and it results in discovering ideas and coping mechanisms that contribute to my recovery.

What role does research play in your writing?

Research contributes way more than I’d originally expected, and the very best example is a moment in book two of Healing Fate, The Dragon Knight and the Coveted.

It’s the story about a pleasure slave, Elpis, who is liberated by a knight, Keyon, tasked with dismantling trafficking rings. Upon her liberation, she discovers that her enslavement lingers in her mind, her trauma making her suffer the same symptoms I do—ghost hands, the feeling of being touched inappropriately when no one is around. Something occurred to me as I had her explain it, and I quickly looked up skin renewal, discovering that the skin takes about a month to replace itself.

Since Keyon comes from an educated upbringing, I used him to relay that information. He tells her and asks her if she knows what skin renewal means. When she says ‘no,’ he says it means that within a month, her skin will have never known an unwanted touch. Putting that together, discovering it alongside Elpis and Keyon, blew my own mind, and the concept had me feeling like I had an extra shield around me. It’s been so many years since the sexual assault, and my skin has regrown many times. I would not have come to that realization had I not researched based on a fleeting thought. The result makes me want to share it with so many more people in case they experience the same breakthrough I did.

Can you share with readers a little bit about your latest book?

The last published book, book three in Healing Fate, The Packless and the Fae Prince, brings back beloved characters from book one. Hekla, a wolf-shifter, must travel to The Realm of the Fae to be with her fated mate, a fair fae named Prince Belenus. Upon her arrival, the queen rejects their destiny and forces him into an engagement with another woman against his will. The rest of the book deals with the couple trying to escape both the engagement and a tyrannical rule, but they also come from different cultures, and the ways they individually cope puts a strain on them both.

That being said, the book is actually about powerlessness and escaping the bubble of a warped reality. Belenus’s breaking free of tradition mirrors how I felt when I left home for college. I discovered something I didn’t know existed, alternatives to unhealthy rules. Seeing content or happy relationships brought me to my knees. It took a long time to deprogram so I could better relate to and interact with the people around me, and I explain all of this in the author’s notes. Along the way, I learned from both Belenus and Hekla about acceptance, forgiveness, and pushing against rules that seem impossible to fight.

What is your next project?

There are so many projects in the works. Not only do I have to publish the rest of my Healing Fate novels, I am rewriting the first book in The Summoner Chronicles, So Familiar. As mentioned, I will need to find an agent as I wish to traditionally publish this particular series.

So Familiar takes place in a fantasy world where a summoner cannot seem to successfully summon his familiar for the life of him. Once he finds a way to ‘force it,’ he ends up summoning a woman from another world, our modern one. Tamara, additionally disabled by POTS and hEDS (this is exposure therapy for my conditions and the fear of vulnerability in public), does not cope well with being transported to another world, not to mention being stuck as someone’s ‘animal’ familiar. He realizes he can’t accept it either, so they both look for a way to dissolve their shocking and unique bond. It’s an epic fantasy romance that’s lighter than my Healing Fate novels, full of romance, humor, lovable characters, spice, and dysautonomia representation. After that, we have How to Duet and After My Sewn Heart, the adventures of other beloved characters from the first novel.

With self-publishing The Tiger Pariah and the Runaway, plus the rest of the Healing Fate series, and querying for an agent for The Summoner Chronicles, my readers have a lot of exciting novels to anticipate! I simply can’t wait to show them.

Want to learn more about Asha Nyr?

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