Featured Spotlight: Alysha Rameera

Now and in future issues of our newsletter, OKRWG HEARTBEAT Editor, Ariel White, will be introducing you to various authors. Some will be speakers for the upcoming RomanceLahoma conference in August 2025, others will be Heart Awards winners, and still more will spotlight the OKRWG membership. If you would like to be featured in a future blogpost or newsletter, please contact Ariel. 

For our first HEARTBEAT feature, I had the pleasure of having an interview with 2025 RomanceLahoma speaker:

Alysha Rameera

Her debut novel debut, a fantasy romance based on Sri Lankan history and mythology, is about a woman with a talent for poison and stopping hearts who is desperate to claim the throne as the first-ever Raejina, even if it requires a bargain that tethers her to an ancient and alluring demon.

Get yourself comfy and cozy as we discover who Alysha is as an author and delve deeper into her writing.

~Ariel

Ariel, editor: Your debut novel "Her Soul for a Crown" comes out in 2025. Can you tell us about your journey to this moment?

Alysha: It's been quite the adventure – a thirteen year journey in 2025, actually. I wrote nine novels across different genres before landing here. The funny thing is, I knew I wanted to be an author from a very young age – all my passwords in undergrad had 'novelist' in them – but I had this idea that authors were supposed to be retired people with 'real' careers first.

In that time, I obtained my MFA, wrote nine novels (six young adult, two middle grade, and one adult). It took four and a half years of querying six different books to land my agent. 

 I had this idea that authors were supposed to be retired people with 'real' careers first.

I had actually queried another agent at her agency, but her list was full so she passed my manuscript to her colleague, and she fell in love! We revised for a couple of months and then went out on submission…literally as the pandemic shut everything down. A year later, all the editors had passed on it and we sent out the next book. That also died after a year. I spent the next full year working on my first adult project and then in the fall of 2023 that went out on submission. It was purchased in January of 2024.

Your path to publication wasn't straightforward. How did you maintain your determination?

I believe in my gut storyteller sounding the alarm when I’ve drafted something wrong, or when I’ve hit a plot hole. I also believe in burnout. For the first, I need to stop writing and think things through, no matter how long that takes. Thinking is part of the writing process; one of the biggest for me. For the second, I have to rest. This is so hard! But I’m trying to get better at it. I can’t create if my creative well is empty. I treat this as a job. I set time each day for writing, and let everyone know about it. my friends and family respected the schedule I had and because I protected both my writing time and my life time, we still had meaningful time together.

When did you shift perspectives from being just a writer to being an author?

I knew at a very young age, but never let myself admit it. I had this idea that authors were old, retired people who had a real career before writing. Finding John Green's work in my early twenties was a revelation. It showed me that young people could choose to be authors as a career. I challenged myself: write a book in 30 days through NaNoWriMo. If I could do that, I'd pivot careers immediately. And I did! 

When I decided to pivot careers, I decided to not be a writer but an author. Then, for the next ten years, I struggled to call myself an author because I was not published, let alone agented. Still, when I got an agent but no publishing deal, I struggled. It took another year and two books dying on submission before I’d had enough therapy to call myself an author, not a writer.

Side note, therapy is wonderful, and I highly recommend it to everyone I know and meet, especially writers. What we do is so internal, but so contingent on external factors. Therapy helps.

What does your typical writing day look like?

I write in my office. I'm up at 6:30 AM, have breakfast, and I'm at my desk by 7:30. For my historical fantasy romance, I start with research, then dive into craft books like 'Save the Cat Writes a Novel' and 'The Anatomy of Story.' I build a detailed world bible and outline, set up a Scrivner folder, set a deadline, and then begin drafting. When I had a day job, I wrote every weekend instead of daily, but I was just as disciplined about protecting that time.

Speaking of writing, what's your funniest writing mishap?

Oh, there was this scene in a sci-fi where a character was supposed to slap a 'button'... except I wrote 'bottom.' The memory of it still kills my critique partners!

The romance genre seems to be having a moment, especially on social media. Why do you think that is? Has the scope of romance novels changed since you began writing?

I think the pandemic played a huge role. People needed light and hope during such a dark time – something to lift our spirits and let them know they could feel happy again. Romance is finally being seen as true genre writing, not just 'smut that anybody can write.' I’m extremely happy to see the world start to respect it.

Romance is finally being seen as true genre writing, not just 'smut that anybody can write.'

How have your literary influences or author role models, current or at a younger age, shaped your writing? What are you currently reading or enjoy to read?

Sarah Dessen made me fall in love with books as a teen. Like, the hard love—obsession, character love, book hangovers. Michael Crichton opened my eyes to what books could do. Jay Kristoff makes me want to level up every one of my craft skills. And V.E. Schwab’s career gives me hope and fuels my determination. 

In terms of reading, I love a magical world, whether that be lighthearted or dark, or a bit of both. I have too many auto-buy authors, hence the stacks of books all over my office. Scarlet St. Clair, V.E. Schwab, Jay Kristoff, T. Kingfisher. Currently, I’m re-reading Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher. 

Any advice for other authors, yours or ones that you’ve received?

Take it seriously. You’ll get farther than you can imagine. Know that failure is the stepping stone. The staircase isn’t made of success, but failures—ones you learn from and use to level your craft up. So, don’t fear failure, embrace it, and know you are on your way to success.

Know that failure is the stepping stone. The staircase isn’t made of success, but failures—ones you learn from and use to level your craft up.

Alysha’s journey, from writing Olsen twin fanfiction to crafting historical fantasy romance, proves that sometimes the long paths lead to the most magical destinations.

You can follow Alysha on Instagram @alyshasbooks , find her on Goodreads as Alysha Rameera, and her website alysharameera.com/. The photos belong to Alysha. I asked for a recent selfie [pictured at the beginning] and the most recent pic taken [below]

Photo at the beginning of this interview: This is me in my most restful, creative well-filling moment. On the water, in the sun, with a drink in my hand!

Pictured left: This is my new favorite chocolate. My Uncle and Auntie brought it back from Holland and I am obsessed and had to share the brand with everyone I know.