Interview With Author Asha Nyr
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an accidental author of fantasy romance who writes to process unspeakable trauma from childhood sexual, verbal, and physical abuse. When I became disabled from medical conditions and lost my job, I focused on my DBT therapy and wrote a novel as an exposure therapy exercise. I had no intention of ever publishing, but I also didn’t want to go through the process alone. Confronting trauma is a painful and risky endeavor, so much that I had to put distance between it and myself with a medieval fantasy setting. I posted chapters online and readers came flooding in, including survivors who also said they found healing in the story. Shortly after, readers started asking for sequels and physical copies, and I realized that maybe this was how I could find meaning to my life again. Since then, in October 2021, I’ve written 11 fairly hefty novels, each one focusing on a different aspect of my trauma. I am gradually publishing them all in an attempt to restart my life and have many more books waiting for me to write them.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book I published is The Packless and the Fae Prince, book 3 in the Healing Fate series. The sequel brings back wolf-shifter Hekla from the first book, and through her struggles moving to a fae realm with harmful rules, I process my traumas around helplessness. Prince Belenus is my approach of those rules and his point of view explores the profound realizations I had when I went off to college, when I discovered that the rules I grew up with weren’t actually ‘the norm,’ that healthy relationships did exist. A reader wouldn’t necessarily know all this until they read the author’s notes at the end, but once they do, the book becomes a different, more meaningful experience.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I might have a couple, but it’s hard to say what’s unusual since I never took any creative writing classes, just paid a lot of attention to my English classes in school. For me, since the writing process is completely therapeutic, I don’t heavily plan or outline them. I write straight ahead from a single idea so I can explore new thoughts born from the traumatic scenarios my characters encounter. This allows the reader to discover the profound realizations I’ve found at the very same point in the story, so we are essentially taking the journey together. I also don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what to write when I’m in front of the keyboard. Before I fall asleep at night, I consider the next chapter, what I want to explore, and what I need to happen, that way, in the morning, I can pretty much jump into writing it all out. Thinking about the story before sleeping is also a good distraction for me as I have chronic nightmares and occasionally dread going to sleep.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’d say my two biggest influencers were David Eddings and Garth Nix. I’m not too familiar with newer works—I had no idea that fantasy romance was even a genre before 2021. Eddings’s The Belgariad and Garth Nix’s Sabriel both have likeable characters, fascinating lore, and gripping world-building. My attempt to create something as rich had me finding another helpful buffer against approaching trauma. Aside from the relief I find incorporating humor to counter darker elements, creating complex magic systems and interesting deities provided a welcome distraction in between intense writing sessions. Sabriel, a slightly morbid read, also made me feel like I had permission to carve my own rules within fantasy, something I couldn’t avoid.
What are you working on now?
I just released book 3, so I’m working on publishing book 4 now, The Tiger Pariah and the Runaway, a story about a woman who escapes from her isolated, cult-run village with its orphans when she discovers a plan to harm them. An exile runs across the runaways and works to lead them through the jungle to safety. I’m also getting close to completing The Winter King and the Wilted, book 9 of Healing Fate. After that, it’s moving on to writing The Fae Queen and the Deadman!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The best method or website for you to reach me at is https://www.ashanyr.com/
Do you have any advice for new authors?
This is a bit tough since everyone writes for a different reason and has different goals. I’ve only unintentionally fallen into the trade, utterly into the deep end, and I’m still learning. On the art side, I’ve discovered that readers tend to sense that an author has written something they enjoyed writing. If an author stresses only over what will sell, that creative spark may not find its way onto paper. On the survival side, becoming an author is starting a business and comes with the same challenges of investing and finding ‘customers.’ If your books don’t gain traction right away, don’t despair. You do have readers out there waiting for your book. It’s just a matter of finding them and giving them the best chance to find you. I cannot express enough the importance of investing in professionals and proper ads if you’re self-publishing—scrape and save however you can—and finding mentors to help guide you through the process.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
As someone who is learning how to reprogram her brain in DBT therapy, I’ve received a lot of life-changing advice over the years, so picking is difficult. Honestly, the advice I think that saved me the most was for me to never make decisions when emotional. Due to my trauma, I am a very sensitive person, and I’ve learned to recognize when an emotion isn’t serving me. When I’m depressed, I don’t give up; I take a break and take care of my body and mind. When I’m agitated, I don’t send that angry email or post that comment; I wait until the next day to see if it’s really what I want to say and if it does anything for me. Emotions are valid though and can serve us, so don’t forget to be compassionate with yourself. At this moment, I know I am doing the best I can. So are you.
What are you reading now?
I have not really been able to read any books since I started writing for exposure therapy, and I’ve been writing nonstop for about three years now. I tried and entering another story throws me off of where I am in my therapy. To be honest, it saddens me a bit as I feel like I’ve become distanced from a hobby that used to give me comfort, but the trade-off has been life-saving. The last book I read right after going on medical leave—before I lost my job—was by Kerrelyn Sparks. She was my first exposure to fantasy romance, and I only wish I could read more of her The Embraced series. Maybe someday.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I have quite a lot on the agenda. Right now, I’m working with my first PR team to get out from behind the screen. Showing my face for the first time has been a huge adjustment, but with so many readers asking about book signings, I know I’ll have to get used to putting myself out there. Having written about such personal topics, it’s nerve-racking for people to know what I look like, but that is simply more exposure therapy. For my writing projects, I also have a second fantasy romance series that I will be querying to find an agent for: The Summoner Chronicles. This series is therapy for my other conditions such as POTS, hEDS, and ADHD. I’ve written two books for it—So Familiar and How to Duet—and the third, After My Sewn Heart, isn’t finished yet. Though Healing Fate will always be self-published, and I have no plans of ending that series, I’m looking to traditionally publish The Summoner Chronicles. A lot is coming—continued healing for me and books that are enjoyable for my readers.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Well, if I have any hopes of reading more than 4 books for the rest of my life, those books will be on survival and how to escape! I suppose the most whimsical and entertaining of the lot would be The Book. The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding a Civilization by Hungry Minds, an author collective. I’ve heard good things about it, and the topics are intriguing, like how to make penicillin from scratch—though I’m not sure I’d be able to find the ingredients! I’d definitely bring a book on how to survive a stranding on a desert island so I can identify edible plants and fish, make smoke signals, etc. I guess if a couple of books covered survival, the third could be for entertainment. I’d love to read Kerrelyn Sparks’s latest from The Embraced series I mentioned earlier: When a Dragon Falls. I’d have to pause my writing therapy there!
Thank you so much for this interview. It’s truly been an honor, and I’m deeply humbled.
Author Websites and Profiles
Asha Nyr’s Social Media Links
Author Interview Series
To discover a new author, check out our Featured Authors page. We have some of the best authors around. They are just waiting for you to discover them. If you enjoyed this writer’s interview feel free to share it using the buttons below. Sharing is caring!
If you are an author and want to be interviewed just fill out out Author Interview page. After submitting we will send it out in our newsletters and social media channels that are filled with readers looking to discover new books to read.
If you are looking for a new book to read check out our Featured Books Page.