By signing up you agree to our terms of use Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox. Is this intentional on your part, and how important is it for you to make sure these issues are intertwined with the central love story? The GRIP series tackles racism and interracial relationships head-on, and Long Shot deals with domestic violence. This award means I’ll continue to do what I’ve been doing my whole career – writing inclusive stories that reiterate we ALL deserve HEAs. I think part of my mission as a writer is to pull women who have been relegated to the margins of romance to the center. It’s an exciting time for romance, and I’m glad to be in the mix with such amazing storytellers. I really appreciate the steps the RWA board of directors have and are taking to eliminate the systemic biases that have excluded many authors of color. I hope my story is great, but I don’t want people to think I’m exceptional in the sense that there weren’t others writing stories that should have received this award by now. Not to mention other emerging authors of color who have gone unacknowledged by the RITAs. Black authors like Brenda Jackson, Beverly Jenkins, Rochelle Alers, Sandra Kitt, to name just a few, have been telling excellent stories for years. There are soooo many shoulders I’m standing on.

This win kicks down a door that should have been flung open long ago. It’s also bittersweet in the sense that I know I should not have been the first.

First of all, it’s so humbling and such an honor, of course. Kennedy Ryan: I don’t think I have fully absorbed it.

Hook shot by kennedy ryan