Elin Annalise's Blog

 This is a summary of the updates about Looking For Hope that I posted on Twitter in March 2022, along with an update from April 2022. 

March 2022: 

LOOKING FOR HOPE is one of the hardest books I’ve written. I wrote it while in hospital, and two months ago, again in hospital, I was trying to finish its edits. Then Amazon messed up and cancelled all the preorders. None of these have been reinstated. They won’t even list the book now. And I’m just…exhausted and deflated. When Amazon cancelled it, I lost all the motivation to keep editing it. I haven’t touched it since then. And now I just don’t know what to do with it. It was a pretty destroying book to write, and I feel defeated. I haven’t had the energy to argue with Amazon to get the title back up, and part of me just thinks maybe I should leave it be and not release this book (at least, at the moment). There are preorders on other platforms but as Amazon holds the monopoly for indie titles, I am really considering cancelling this book altogether. The preorders from non-zon platforms wouldn’t cover the cover cost, let alone editing, design, and marketing—or the MONTHS I spent writing it! I rely on my Amazon sales to do that. But Amazon apparently doesn’t like my ace books 🤷‍♀️

It’s super hard being a hybrid author (publishing indie and trad) and right now, it’s making me want to just stick with the trad route. I’m motivated to write the manuscripts I send to my agent, but the ones I’d planned to be indie? I’ll still finish existing series, but it’s really making me consider whether I should switch back to fully trad. I set up these pen names (Elin Annalise and Elin Dyer) to be my adult and YA pen names for indie publishing, while I use @MDyerAuthor for trad and my teaching work. But maybe going forward I should ask my agent to represent these books too (she has asked about taking my ace romances the trad route before…). 

I just feel deflated at the moment. Indie publishing is hard enough without Amazon working against you.

April 2022: 

I’ve talked to my agent about my lack of enthusiasm for self-publishing my ace titles, and she’s happy to take the next one out on submission, as she does with my books I publish as Madeline Dyer—but I would still be using the Elin Annalise name for my ace romances. I don’t know whether my next Elin Annalise book will be Looking For Hope as I feel this one has been soured by this whole experience with Amazon (not to mention how they also messed up the preorders for my third novel) and my illness at the time. I have started rewriting it and the plot is becoming very different, but I just don’t know how it’ll turn out. What I do know so far is that I may very well move a little more into the ‘women’s fiction’ genre (or as I will now be calling it, Social Studies Fiction) with some of my new books which publish as Elin Annalise. They’ll still have ace romance in, but romance likely won’t be the heart of every single story. 

This isn’t to say I won’t write more romcoms, because I probably will. But I want to be able to write what feels organic for me. 💜

It’s a little weird that I’ll be moving away from self-publishing, especially as I have already commissioned covers for some more Elin Annalise titles that’ll hopefully be trad published now, but sticking to self-publishing these books just because I’ve got the covers doesn’t make sense. 

It also made me think about my other pen name I use for self-pub: Elin Dyer. I’ve got two series in progress under this name (each with the first book already published—both including ace MCs!) and I think I’ll likely finish those series via self-pub, and then plan to trad publish everything after that. So it may be that going forward I only use my pen names that are set up for traditional publishing: Madeline Dyer for dark and story stories, and Elin Annalise (which will hopefully become trad) for lighter romcoms and contemporary social studies fiction. 

 They had the opportunity to include asexuality… you know, on the colour that represents asexuality… but instead they wrote ‘straight’. 

I spotted this poster at my local NHS walk-in centre. Very disappointing. 

Ace erasure and exclusion is exactly why days such as #InternationalAsexualityDay are important.

 A Twitter thread from my @ElinAnnalise account 

Whenever I tweet about Asexuality and the need for more awareness and ace education, there’s always someone who’ll say I’m looking for something to be oppressed about or moan about, and that aces aren’t affected like other queer people.

Um, ace oppression and erasure IS real.

Can’t believe I’m having this conversation the day after International Ace Day either. 🙄🙄🙄 

We need more awareness & education, because common responses to telling someone you’re ace are: 

“You should see a doctor.” 

“It’s not a real thing.”

“You’ll find someone in the end.”

“Is it because of trauma?” 

“That’s unnatural.” 

“I can fix you” or “I will fix you.” 

“I choose not to have sex sometimes too!” 

“You’re just scared.” 

“You should see a therapist.” 

“So you have no emotions?” 

“Wow, you’re missing out.” 

“It must mean you’re not happy.”

“I think you’re just repressing your sexuality.” 

“You’re not a whole person.”

“Wow, that’s weird and creep.” [still not sure how it’s creepy!]

“I bet it’s your hormones.” 

So many people think they know what Asexuality is, but then they are actually basing it on misconceptions.

Acephobia is almost everywhere, and it’s so damaging. 

And ace people are threatened and oppressed and even hurt because of their asexuality. It happens.

 The manuscript I’m working on is becoming less and less like a romance, and more like a contemporary about healing/friendship/different types of love, with suspense and a romantic subplot. I’m really stuck on what to call it as I don’t like the term ‘women’s fiction’… 

Ideas?

Here’s the mood board I made… 

Why don’t I like the term ‘Women’s Fiction’? 

Well, it doesn’t really tell you much about the genre. It seems kind of sexist, like women have to have their own classification especially for them, and there’s no genre for ‘men’s fiction’—which, to me, kind of implies that (almost all?) other genres are written primarily with men in mind, and all stories for women just get put into this one category? 

Like, it also means men likely won’t read women’s fiction for fear of being seen as feminine … so why class a whole genre of books as being just for women? What is it about them that mean men shouldn’t read them? Are these stories deemed too emotional and weak? Too trashy? I know romance is often considered trashy, which is a huge problem, and it’s considered a female genre. So why do we have to have a second genre that’s just for women that many men will look down upon too and avoid? 

Women can read stereotypically male genres but men can’t read ours? 

And this isn’t to say that the things that pop up in women’s fiction aren’t available in men’s fiction—because they are! 

writes, “If I’m not mistaken, are there not many books written by men and marketed to all genders that include abuse, poverty, divorce, familial breakdown, and other social struggles? Philip Roth, John Updike, Jonathan Tropper, Jonathan Franzen, Jeffrey Eugenides, Pat Conroy, and Wally Lamb – to name a few. The prejudice is clear, but there is also a practical problem here. If ‘women’s fiction’ is a marketing device, it’s confusing as thus. Label a novel ‘women’s fiction’ — is the message ‘not for men’? By carving and dicing books into thin-as-lox slices, women writers lose readership. With ‘women’s fiction’ are half the potential readers in the world blocked off before the books hit the shelves?” 

I really don’t like the term ‘women’s fiction’, yet there’s not really an alternative for stories that focus on the social issues and people and families, especially when they’re written by women. If they’re by men, they’re often referred to as literary or classics, and yes, some women’s books will get classed as literary and classics too, but overwhelmingly they’re put into the women’s fiction category. They’re othered.

I think ‘social studies fiction’ would be a much better name for the genre—and that it should include both the books written for men and women and by men and women. (And of course non-binary and agender people too—in short, any books by anyone about social issues or struggles—because of course another way in which the current term of ‘women’s fiction’ is damaging is through equating it with gender, suggesting a gender binary.) 

Even just thinking of the name Social Studies Fiction (or social struggles fiction?) while writing this blog post has helped me a lot. I feel focused again, and I feel like it’s better describing what my current manuscript is. Maybe I’ll come back to this post at a later point to add more musings on this… 

So, I’ve not posted on here in years, which is a little embarrassing. To be honest, I kind of forgot I had this website. I write under three different names, and I’d been using one of my other websites as a catch-all type thing for everything I write. But I realised that just wasn’t really working. The books I write with my other two names are dark and strange, about haunted girls and powerful families—which doesn’t really sum up my ace romances and women’s fiction at all! So I’ve decided to separate my books onto different websites again. Thus, ElinAnnalise.com is being resurrected! 

I’m slowly updating this site with my new books that have released in the last two years… 

I’ll add some of my Twitter threads here, probably writing them up a little more, as I’ve been using my Twitter for a lot of updates and ramblings recently. But I think it makes sense to return to blogging as well. 

And I’ll update with writing news too—of which, I have lots to share! 

So, a brief look here at what’s been happening in the last few years, before I do some more detailed write-ups: 

- My Heart to Find and It’s Always Been You released.

- The Aces in Love series got gorgeous new covers by Sarah Anderson Designs. 

- It’s Always Been You became an Amazon bestseller.

- Some of my books have been nominated for awards.

- My Dec 2022 release, The Rhythm of My Soul, was going to release under this name, but the story evolved more into a dark YA story (and it has no romance). So I released it instead under my Elin Dyer pen name, which I use for my YA books with ace rep that I self-publish. (My third name, Madeline Dyer, is also used for YA books (some of which have ace rep, especially my new ones!) but those books are traditionally published.) Thus Elin Annalise will just be for lighter adult stories—romance and women’s fiction. Anything YA will be Madeline Dyer or Elin Dyer (depending on whether they’re traditionally published or self-published), and I’m likely to publish my darker adult books as M.V. Dyer. So I hope the pen name distinctions make sense! 

- I spent six weeks at the beginning of 2022 in hospital for brain inflammation treatment, which meant my the release of Looking for Hope was delayed. Amazon said they’d postpone the release date but then they cancelled the release indefinitely. This—along with other publishing problems with previous preorders—made me talk to my agent (who represents my darker books) and she’s interested in my next ace romance. This will likely be Looking For Hope, but I have now decided to rewrite it completely as I associated the previous plot too much with how unwell I was when writing it and just didn’t feel kindly toward that book any more! And I don’t want to put out a book I don’t like. 

- I set up an online Masterclass for Writing Asexual Characters.

- Several of my titles were included in book lists for International Asexuality Day 2022. 

 

IN MY DREAMS is out now!

I can't believe my first ace romance is out in the world! 

Writing In My Dreams was such a special process for me. I am asexual, and for so long, I believed that any romance novel I wrote would have to include allosexual characters. I didn't think anyone would want to read about a main character who's asexual, especially if it was a romance novel. I really believed that a romance novel had to include sex--but all I really wanted to write was the romance (because that's what appeals to me). You know, those scenes where your characters are falling in love, where everything's new and exciting, where you're really emotionally invested in a pairing. 

And where there's also no sexual attraction.  

Because that's what it's like for me. I'm asexual, and I don't experience sexual attraction or have a desire for sex. I'm still attracted to people (physically and emotionally), and I'm still very romantic (though many on the ace spectrum are also aromantic, I'm heteromantic). But I really wanted to write a romance where my own sexuality was represented--a book that would combat several myths about asexuality. Because, let's face it, people have asked if I'm "like a plant" when I've explained that I'm asexual. They've assumed I can't fall in love. And sometimes they've assumed that I'm broken or just haven't found the right person yet. They often think that any (non-sexual) relationship between an ace couple or an ace/allo couple can "just be a friendship" (when it's really so much more than a friendship, it's falling in love too). But people often look at me as if I'm crazy when I explain this.  

All those reactions to my asexuality are so invalidating of my sexual orientation, and the more I thought about it, the more I knew I had to write a book for people like me. But also for people who aren't ace. There's a lot of misinformation out there about what asexuality is and what it isn't, and I want to show people what being ace is like for me. And how it doesn't mean that an ace person can't have a relationship with an allo (sexual) person. Because it is possible--and being ace doesn't mean all we absolutely have no sex. Some do. Some don't. Some like sex, some are sex-repulsed. Being ace isn't about whether you have sex or not--it's about whether you feel sexual attraction and the desire to have sex or not. Those are two very different things. 

Only I was still apprehensive about writing this book. Not only was it scary putting so much of myself in a book (making myself vulnerable, especially when a lot of my friends don't know I'm ace), but I was worried that some readers would be disappointed when they realized this was an asexual romance and would automatically assume it was cold and unfeeling (which ace romances are NOT!). They wouldn't realize this was pretty much a 'sweet romance' story, in that those books also have no on-page sex (and often little or no implied sex). There are just so many harmful stereotypes out there when it comes to the word 'asexuality'. 

But a chat with m/m romance writer Crystal Lacey persuaded me that I should tell this story--Crystal was so encouraging, and she said I should definitely publish an own-voices book. And In My Dreams is just that. And writing this book was so validating for me. I still can't get over that. This was the book I needed to write--and it's made me realize that I have to write more books about asexual characters. I need to see more people like me in my romance. 

A huge thank you goes to out to everyone who's supported me with In My Dreams and preordered it. When I saw my preorder numbers this morning, I was actually blown away! I really hadn't anticipated that so many people would want to read this ace love story, and it was just such a wonderful feeling knowing that others want these kinds of stories too. 

About In My Dreams: 

Twenty-five-year-old Polly Brady was supposed to fly off on a dating holiday to meet others, like her, who identify as asexual, but when the nature reserve she works at goes into lockdown after a terrorist attack, she finds herself stuck with Harry Weller, her childhood friend and the only man she's ever loved. There are just two problems: Harry doesn't know Polly's in love with him, and he's also very sex-orientated.

Still, Polly knows other couples who have had successful ace/allo relationships, and given she was looking forward to romance this summer, what's the harm in seeing if there is a spark between her and Harry? Especially when the lockdown gives her the perfect opportunity to get close to him.

One way or another, Polly's going to make sure Harry notices her--and she's got just the plan to make this happen. Even if the plan keeps backfiring and making her look crazy.

In My Dreams is a heartwarming and tender sweet-romance featuring some questionable fancy dress choices, too many bow ties, and a girl who's determined to do whatever it takes to get her man. This is also an #ownvoices story for asexuality representation.

Buy IN MY DREAMS

I'm also hugely excited to say that In My Dreams is the first book in my Aces in Love series! Each book will focus on a new couple (of which at least one individual in the couple will identify as part of the asexual spectrum), and book two, My Heart to Find, is already available to preorder. And you won't have to wait long for book two either--it releases at the end of October! 

 Oh my goodness, I almost can't believe it! My first ace romance releases in less than a week! 

Writing this book has been amazing--and so, so validating for my own identity. 

I'm asexual, and I'm a romance writer. When I begun my romance-writing journey, I firmly believed I'd have to write about sex. I mean, I started with my Rose Haven series (the prequel, When We Were Young, is out now, with book one following next year), and while I love those characters, I always felt a bit 'stuck' when it came to writing the sexual chemistry and the sex scenes. Because, well, I haven't experienced those feelings. I don't understand sexual desire. I've never looked at someone and felt sexually attracted to them. 

I realised I was ace (asexual) in my mid-teens. I'm now in my mid-20s, and this hasn't changed. At first, I kept my asexuality a guarded secret. I didn't know how people would react. I'd had therapists suggest I was broken, and friends suggested maybe I just hadn't found the right person yet--something that they believed was true because I like reading romance. They didn't think I could actually be ace when I liked reading those books! 

But I am not broken. I am asexual. And I am a heteromantic asexual.

Joining the ace community was like coming home. Finding others like me was such a relief. 

But still, I was trying to write sexual romance. It just hadn't really occurred to me that I could write ace romance. That was until I was talking to Crystal Lacy, an amazing author. And she was so, so encouraging on me writing an ace romance. 

So that's what I did--and this book releases in five days' time! 

Introducing: IN MY DREAMS! 

 Twenty-five-year-old Polly Brady was supposed to fly off on a dating holiday to meet others, like her, who identify as asexual, but when the nature reserve she works at goes into lockdown after a terrorist attack, she finds herself stuck with Harry Weller, her childhood friend and the only man she's ever loved. There are just two problems: Harry doesn't know Polly's in love with him, and he's also very sex-orientated.

Still, Polly knows other couples who have had successful ace/allo relationships, and given she was looking forward to romance this summer, what's the harm in seeing if there is a spark between her and Harry? Especially when the lockdown gives her the perfect opportunity to get close to him.

One way or another, Polly's going to make sure Harry notices her--and she's got just the plan to make this happen. Even if the plan keeps backfiring and making her look crazy.

In My Dreams is a heartwarming and tender lockdown romance featuring some questionable fancy dress choices, too many bow ties, and a girl who's determined to do whatever it takes to get her man. This is also an #ownvoices story for asexuality representation.

Find it on: AmazonGoodreads

Writing this book was just amazing, and it quickly made me realise that ace romance is what I want to write more of. Thus, IN MY DREAMS is going to be book one in my Aces in Love series! 
I now know that I want to be an ace romance writer. I want to see my own sexuality in romance way more than it currently is. This is what I want to write. 
And I'm still trying to work out what to do with my Rose Haven series. Book one is still in edits, and I'd written the MCs of that as demisexual anyway--which is on the Asexuality spectrum. I mean, after all, writing ace romance is what I'm most comfortable with. The prequel short story that I wrote for the Rose Haven series is something I've been thinking about a lot--and I think I may in face write an extended edition of it. To me, those characters are demisexual too--just like Jenna and Jared in book one. I never actually said that they were demi in the text, as at that point I believed I'd absolutely have to write out of my comfort zone. But now I feel confident in exploring my own sexuality and the ace spectrum in my books, so I think that this is what I'm going to do: develop Emma's sexuality further in When We Were Young, making her ace/demi-ness more overt in the text. 

I'm so excited to announce that my first short story will be releasing on October 29th, 2019!

Introducing When We Were Young: 


It's been eight years since Emma last saw Oscar, the love of her life. Eight years since their messy breakup. She never wanted to see him again and relive that pain, but then she finds his photo album among her boxes of college things.

Oscar never met his parents. They died the day he was born, and the only connection he has to them is through the photo album his grandmother gave him. A photo album he thought he'd never see again.

When Emma returns the photo album to him, Oscar discovers it's not just the album that's been missing from his life for the last eight years. But can Emma ever forgive him for what he did?

When We Were Young is a snack-sized read about young love and second chances.

This is a short read--perfect for reading during a break time--and I can't wait to share it with you! 
When We Were Young is currently available for pre-order for just £0.99/$0.99 at Amazon UK and Amazon US and you can add it to your to-read shelf on Goodreads. 
Very soon, I hope to have details of my first full-length romance novel to share with you. 

Welcome to my new blog!

I'm Elin Annalise, and I write romances! I'll be using this blog as a platform for my musings on romance writing and to keep you up to date with what I'm working on.

You can find me on Twitter @ElinAnnalise!