Last year, I stumbled across Anna Fury’s Instagram page and signed up for her newsletter. She was a 2021 debut author and she was promoting an omegaverse series and I was intrigued. As someone who had never read or really understood what the omegaverse was, I felt like Anna’s books were a good place to start. I read the first book, we became friends and then I read the second one and we continued to chat. Anna even designed a sticker based on my ‘writer’s motto’ that you can pick up on her website right now.
While I haven’t caught up on Anna’s debut series—The Alpha Compound—I have learned quite a bit about the subgenre and it’s also opened my eyes to reading more books of the same kind. Beyond that, Anna is a great person. She’s extremely friendly and warm to just about everyone, she’s easy to talk to and incredibly motivational and kind. When I started out on my journey as an author, she cheered me on and I have only great things to say about Anna. (It’s also weird to type out my name while talking about someone else)
Her debut series might be complete, but Anna’s got so much in store, including a spin-off from the Alpha Compound series and a brand new series that kicks off on July 12th—you can preorder Noire right now!
Keep reading to get to know Anna Fury and all of the other awesomeness that she’s working on.
What inspired you to write—was it another author or books you read as you grew up?
I always wanted to write, but I never knew it would be romance. I truly imagined I’d write high fantasy or YA fantasy like Sarah J. Maas. That was always my jam, but I always left those books wishing they were a little more….*cough cough* spicy. Once Kindle recommended Ruby Dixon to me, I dove down into that rabbit hole and have never come out.
Why did you choose romance as the genre to write in?
During COVID I was so down. SO DOWN. And I kept thinking to myself how I really needed to find something to focus on that made me happy, and so much was out of my control. I decided to finally try to set aside a few hours a week to accomplish a lifelong dream—publishing a book. I knew enough about my preferences at this point to know romance was my jam, so I opted to start there. It felt like a really natural fit for me.
Why did you choose to self-publish instead of going the traditional route?
Trad publishing seems like a ton of luck and hit/miss opportunity to me. Plus, traditionally published authors seem to still be responsible for a lot of their own marketing, and very few people make it big enough to make great money. Plus, I’m a very type-A overachiever. I knew I wanted full control over the product I put out into the world.
What’s the best and worst part about being an indie author?
BEST: Seeing people fall in love with your characters and gush about them. There is no better feeling than that. I’ve been lucky to have a great response to my first series, and I love the reasons people fall for the different characters. It’s so freaking heartwarming.
WORST: Being responsible to do EVERYTHING by yourself is a real bear. As an indie author, even if you can outsource some of the work, that can be costly. You’re doing everything from photography to covers to merchandising to branding to marketing. On top of the actual writing. It can be very overwhelming, and I often talk to newer authors who mention how absolutely overwhelmed they feel trying to make it in authorship.
Do you write full time or is this something you do on the side? And would you want to write full time?
Side gig for now. I’m lucky that my day job pays me well with full benefits, so I’m not making enough to justify quitting that just yet. However, my 2-3 year plan is to quit the day job and write romance full-time.
Other than writing, what is something you enjoy and are really good at?
I’m an artist and a gardener, so I spend a lot of free time doing that with Baby and Mister Fury.
If not romance/subgenres of romance, what genre would you like to write in?
I’ve had a long-time idea for a YA fantasy trilogy, very Sarah J. Maas-style. Eventually I’ll probably write that, but it’s not top of mind for me at the moment…
What are some of your all time favourite books—ones that you recommend to people or can reread multiple times?
Bad Guy by Ruby Dixon, anything written by Roald Dahl, anything written by Kurt Vonnegut, A Court of Thorn and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas and Three Dark Crowns series by Kendare Blake (I’ve read this so many freaking times)
What are your top 5 tips or pieces of advice for aspiring authors?
Go with your gut. Do you hate social media? Then don’t do it. Focus where you’re comfortable and the rest will follow
Point number one aside, social media can take a launching-to-crickets book and really catapult it into the stars when done right
DO make friends with authors and bookstagrammers. It helps to keep you from being isolated, but they also extend your marketing reach
DO start your newsletter immediately, and work actively to grow it. It’s the one thing Amazon and the retailers can’t take from you
Don’t try to boil the ocean. Pick a couple places you can focus your effort, and outsource everything else that you can
Can you briefly tell me about the books you’ve published so far?
Initially, I planned to debut with a sci-fi romance series. My author coach recommended I write a newsletter magnet to get that off the ground, and I started writing The Alpha Awakens. It took over my brain so completely that I couldn’t let it go, and that whole series just flowed right out of my brain and onto paper.
The Alpha Compound series is a dystopian paranormal romance where the main characters shift (although the fact that they shift isn’t a huge factor in the books like in most shifter romances, so I hesitate to even call it a shifter romance because it doesn’t feel like one). A virus has taken over the world, and it causes normal human men to turn into violent alphas. We pick up with most of the alphas in hiding, and humans are terrified of them.
Turns out there’s more to the alphas than meets the eye though….naturally.
Of your books, who is your favourite character?
Lordy, that is such a loaded question. How dare you hahaha. I swear I can’t pick because I love them all for different reasons. But Mitchell (from Awake At Last), is my current favorite. He grew and changed and had such a crazy story arc throughout the series. Plus, of the five alphas, he’s the most darkly possessive. I’ll admit, that appeals to me far more than it should.
What inspired your published stories? How and when did you come up with these stories and plots?
I totally dreamed it up in the shower one day when I was trying to figure out what to do for a newsletter magnet to draw in new readers. I intended for it to be a short story, and I actually started publishing it on Inkitt before pulling off that platform and changing direction.
How much of yourself do you put into these characters?
A lot. My friends read it and will say OMG YOU TOTALLY SAY THAT or OH THIS IS ABSOLUTELY YOU. I can’t help it ha!
When you write these stories, what are you hoping your readers will feel?
All the emotions. I don’t like to frustrate readers with things like “if they would just have a conversation this could all be explained”, but I do like to take them on a rollercoaster. My characters don’t always make the best choices, but that’s real life!
What is a story/stories that you really want to tell?
I have so many in my head, but right now my dark labyrinth omegaverse story is really consuming all my creative power. And I am REALLY FREAKING EXCITED.
What’s next on the bookshelf for you? Anything you can tell us about a future project?
Currently, I’m starting the spinoff series to the Alpha Compound, starring Stone’s pack. He was a fan fave in the first series, so this one will see him building a new pack from scratch after a huge betrayal in the last series.
What are your most and least favourite tropes?
MOST: Snowed in, only one bed, fated mates, enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, age gap, daddy kink
LEAST: Don’t give me a secret freaking baby, anything with parents in it, anything with sports.
What are some tropes you want to write in the future?
I’d like to dive further into monsters because there’s just so much creative power and leeway there. I’d also like to revisit my original sci-fi series sometime soon. Eris Storm and I co-write a Vella serial called The Hot Alien King & I (Note: Kindle Vella is only available for US residents at this time), and we’ve got plans to turn that into a whole series. That’s very grumpy/sunshine, fated mates, don’t touch her or I’ll kill you…
What are some topics (sensitive and otherwise) that you think should exist more in romance?
I’d love to see a wider range of multicultural heroes as well as heroes who are differently abled. There’s not a lot of great representation of a man who’s not eight feet tall with ten-pack abs. I will admit in my first series, all the men are that. But in this next series some of that will change a little because I’m interested in exploring more diversity in that area.
As far as topics go, I’d love to see more male sex toys in romance novels. They’re in almost every single one of my books, but it’s rare I see them in other stories. I’m not sure why. Maybe because romance is predominantly a woman-identifying crowd, but men using sex toys is absolutely normal and cool.
What is your favourite thing about the romance genre?
I love the people I’ve met. I grew up feeling kinda weird and abnormal that I thought Beast was hotter in beast-form, or for finding King Triton a lot hotter than Prince Eric. Turns out I was just hanging with the wrong people haha. Romance readers and authors are my crew, and I am so so thankful for the friendships I’ve made.
THIS OR THAT
Ebooks or audiobooks (*shudder* audio haha. I tried listening and I feel incredibly awkward. Audiobook listeners are brave brave souls.)
Historical romance or romantic suspense (Neither!)
Single or Dual POV
Standalones or series (Series. Gimme all your side characters who become mains!)
Music or silence while writing
Plotter, pantser or plantser
Tea or coffee
Cold or warm weather or fall
Morning person or night owl (Morning person. I get up every morning at 4:45am to write for a few hours before my household gets up!)
Illustrated cover or photo cover (for my genre)
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