Alisha Rai is an American author of contemporary, erotic, and paranormal romance novels. She advocates for greater diversity in the romance genre.[1]
Alisha Rai | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Alisha Rai |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | American |
| Genre | erotic paranormal |
| Website | |
| www | |
Career edit
Prior to becoming a romance author, Rai worked as a lawyer.[1][2] She began publishing her work in 2009, focusing on e-publishing. She shopped her books to traditional publishers, but she was repeatedly told that romances with non-white characters would not sell.[3][4] Over her career, she expanded into different publishing methods.[5][6] Her Forbidden Hearts series and her novel The Right Swipe are published through Avon Romance.[7] Rai's book Serving Pleasure, was the first self-published book to appear on The Washington Post's annual list of best books of the year.[6]
Rai includes protagonists from a variety of ethnicities.[5][8][2] Her writing also explores the spectrum of sexual identity.[1]
Rai is a vocal participant in the discussion of misrepresentation and under representation of minorities in traditionally published romance.[1] During a racially charged dispute involving Romance Writers of America (RWA), Rai's comments on Twitter were widely quoted as a demonstration of the romance community's dissatisfaction with the organization. She was among a group of best-selling romance authors that demanded the resignation of Damon Suede, the RWA president-elect during the controversy.[9]
Rai has been on the receiving end of online harassment.[10]
Themes edit
Rai's book The Right Swipe explores aspects of modern dating, specifically online dating and dating apps, along with the contentious research into the effect of concussions on athletes.[11] The book includes feminist and intersectional elements, with the heroine being a woman of color who is a CEO of a Silicon Valley company that employs a work force made up largely of women.[12][11]
Personal life edit
Rai is Asian of Indian origin.[1][13][14]
Rai began creating stories at the age of 13.[2]
Bibliography edit
| Title | Series | Publication Year | ISBN/ASIN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glutton for Pleasure | Pleasure Series #1 | 2009 | B002GEDF2I |
| Cabin Fever | 2009 | 9781605047539 | |
| Veiled Desire | Veiled #1 | 2010 | 9781605048918 |
| Veiled Seduction | Veiled #2 | 2010 | 9781609280475 |
| Never Have I Ever | Reynolds Pack #1 | 2010 | 9781609283056 |
| Hot as Hades | 2011 | 9781609286286 | |
| Night Whispers | ShadowLands #1 | 2012 | 9781609285449 |
| Play With Me | Bedroom Games #1 | 2013 | 9781301991358 |
| Risk & Reward | Bedroom Games #2 | 2013 | 9781301449187 |
| Bet on Me | Bedroom Games #3 | 2014 | 9781311537669 |
| A Gentleman in the Street | The Campbell Siblings #1 | 2014 | 9781514616956 |
| Serving Pleasure | Pleasure Series #2 | 2015 | 9781518710100 |
| Falling for Him | The Karimi Siblings #1 | 2015 | B00WTWI44G |
| Falling for Her | The Karimi Siblings #2 | 2015 | B012X78XSS |
| Be My Fantasy | The Fantasy Series #1 | 2016 | 9781548839314 |
| Stay My Fantasy | The Fantasy Series #2 | 2016 | B01H2PFGYK |
| Hate to Want You | Forbidden Hearts #1 | 2017 | 9780062566737 |
| Wrong to Need You | Forbidden Hearts #2 | 2017 | 9780062566751 |
| Hurts to Love You | Forbidden Hearts #3 | 2018 | 9780062566775 |
| The Right Swipe | Modern Love #1 | 2019 | 9780062878090 |
| Girl Gone Viral | Modern Love #2 | 2020 | 9780062877888 |
| First Comes Like | Modern Love #3 | 2021 | 9780063059436 |
| Partners in Crime | 2022 | 9780063119468 | |
| While You Were Sleeping | 2023 | 9780063083967 |
Awards edit
References edit
- ^ a b c d e Beckett, Lois (April 4, 2019). "Fifty Shades of White: the long fight against racism in romance novels". The Guardian. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
- ^ a b c Luther, Jessica (Nov 6, 2017). "Getting Steamy with Author Alisha Rai". Shondaland. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
- ^ Garcia-Navarro, Lulu (April 8, 2018). "The Billion-Dollar Romance Fiction Industry has a Diversity Problem". NPR. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
- ^ Ho, Solarina (January 16, 2020). "Romance book industry in turmoil over racism controversy". CTV News. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
- ^ a b Faircloth, Kelly (November 22, 2017). "Author Alisha Rai Discusses Writing Romance Novels in a Very Rough Year". Jezebel. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
- ^ a b Charles, Ron (November 26, 2015). "Romance finally breaks The Post's 'No Self-Published Books' rule". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
- ^ "Alisha Rai". Avon Romance. 2019. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
- ^ Alter, Alexandra (July 7, 2018). "The Changing Face of Romance". The New York Times. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
- ^ Lenker, Maureen Lee (January 6, 2020). "Romance Writers of America cancels annual RITA awards contest amid racism controversy". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
- ^ Carpenter, Julia (June 25, 2019). "Romance Novelists Write About Sex and Pleasure. On the Internet That Makes Them Targets for Abuse". Glamour. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
- ^ a b Diehl, Amanda (August 5, 2019). "Burned Out By Dating Apps? 'The Right Swipe' Will Relight Your Fire". NPR. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ Green, Jaime (May 28, 2019). "Four Delicious New Romance Novels". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ Bhalerao, Anandita (November 7, 2019). "Verve Weekend Guide". Verve. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
- ^ Washington, Roxanne (December 20, 2019). "Belonging Books seeks to diversify the romance novel genre, as do other publishers and authors". Cleveland.com. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
- ^ MacLean, Sarah (November 18, 2015). "Best romance novels of 2015". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
- ^ Lenker, Maureen Lee (December 18, 2017). "The 10 best romance novels of 2017". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 19, 2019.