The best romance novels promise a happily ever after. Anna P. is just as interested in everything her characters have to survive to earn it. “I have always believed that romance novels are the best way to talk about the hard stuff in life,” she says, and across three books in her Love In Wildes series she has done exactly that, writing depression, anxiety, and self-worth into stories that still deliver the swoon.
Anna writes from South India, reads over 300 books a year, and came to fiction the long way round, through journalism, advertising, and a master’s in creative writing. Her newest release, Almost Home, is the third book in the series and free to read on Kindle Unlimited.
Writing the hard stuff without letting it take over
Plenty of authors keep the heavy themes at arm’s length. Anna leans in: “if not in romance novels, where else do we talk about things like anxiety and depression?” But her first book taught her that theme and plot are not the same job. “For book one, I used a lot of these topics as wounds and built the story around it,” she says. After feedback from her alpha and beta readers, she rebuilt her approach around a simpler truth: “These characters have all these issues they deal with, but that doesn’t define who they are.” The throughline she can state in a single sentence: “The central theme of my stories is falling in love with yourself while falling in love with someone else.” She writes those themes the way she has lived them, and brings in sensitivity readers so she never leans on depression or anxiety “as a tool because that’s not what it’s about.”
Characters built from the flaws she hides
Anna builds her characters to be difficult on purpose. “I didn’t want them to be caricatures or fit a diversity quota, I wanted them to be real and relatable and complicated and unlikeable and honest,” she says. Readers connect to the flaw, not the polish. And Anna knows exactly where those flaws come from. “whatever flaws I find in myself that I ignore…I give to my characters,” she admits. “I guess in some way, I’m working through my own issues through my characters.” That honesty costs her on the page. Writing the trust conflict between Frankie and Milo in Almost Home was the part she dreaded most: “I hated every minute of writing it. LOL.”
Building a readership from outside the room
Anna is candid about what it takes to publish from where she sits. “living outside of the US/Canada/UK really makes it hard sometimes,” she says. BookTok, the engine behind so many indie breakouts, is not available to her: “I don’t have access to TikTok,” because “the app is banned in India.” Time zones make podcasts and lives hard to schedule, and conventions are far and expensive. None of it has dimmed her. “But at the end of the day, I’m grateful for the fact that I’m able to do this at all,” she says. Her advice to other indie authors is earned: “the key is put yourself out there all the time,” and “if you believe in your story and what you’re trying to say with your words, the rest will fall into place the right way.”
Almost Home, book three in the Love In Wildes series, is free on Kindle Unlimited. You can find Anna’s books on Amazon, visit her at annawriteshere.com, and follow her on Instagram @annawriteshere and on Goodreads. Her next release, Almost Yours, a second chance, frenemies to lovers, brother’s best friend, age gap romance, is on the way.
If you’re an indie author trying to build a readership without running yourself into the ground, that is the work I do. Tell me what feels messy.
More author interviews: Ari Wright, Stacy Kristen, Bella Leigh Michaels, Mia Kun, and Heather Lynn.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Love In Wildes series about?
It's Anna P.'s contemporary romance series that writes depression, anxiety, and self-worth into the love stories. The central theme, in her words, is falling in love with yourself while falling in love with someone else.
Is Almost Home on Kindle Unlimited?
Yes. Almost Home, book three in the Love In Wildes series, is free to read on Kindle Unlimited.
What is Anna P. releasing next?
Her next release is Almost Yours, a second chance, frenemies-to-lovers, brother's best friend, age-gap romance.