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Akshaya Raman

@akshraman

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Tamil American | Author: THE IVORY KEY & THE CRIMSON FORTRESS (out now) | Pronounced “ramen”

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✨COVER REVEAL✨

I’m so, so thrilled to share the UK cover of The Crimson Fortress!!!

When I shared the cover for book one, I spoke about how meaningful it was to have South Asian characters represented on the cover, and it feels even more special now getting to have that for a second time.

Jade, Sophie, and the entire Hot Key Books team absolutely crushed it! I’m so in love with the colors, the jewelry, and of course the jasmine in Vira’s hair!! And I can’t wait for you all to be able to read this book next year!

Illustrated by Jade Deo (@jaded.draws)
Designed by Sophie McDonnell (@sophiemcdesign)

UK preorders are up now (link in bio!) and I hope you’ll consider pre-ordering if you like:
✨secret societies
✨dysfunctional siblings
✨slow burn romances
✨Indiana Jones-esque adventures
✨puzzles & ciphers
✨ancient architecture by @akshraman

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4 years ago

✨COVER REVEAL✨
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I’m so excited to share the US cover for THE CRIMSON FORTRESS!! I’m absolutely in love with the colors, the flowers, and of course the incredible forts!!! I really enjoyed getting to incorporate so much architecture into the books, and to get to see that reflected on the covers as well is such a joy.

I’ll be able to share more details soon, including the official copy, but for now mark your calendars for August 1, 2023!!

I am so, so grateful to the immensely talented Doaly and Chris Kwon, as well as the entire design team at Harper Collins for creating this stunning work of art. I’m so lucky to have two beautiful covers for this duology of my heart, and I can’t wait to share the book with you all!!

artist: @_doaly
designer: Chris Kwon

And if you haven’t had a chance to read THE IVORY KEY yet, the ebook and audiobook are on sale for all of this month so now’s your chance to grab a copy for under $5!! And here’s a quick pitch if you’re unfamiliar with the book: set in an Indian inspired world where magic is a physical resource that’s running out, four estranged royal siblings must go on a quest to find the mythical Ivory Key, hidden by a dangerous secret society and rumored to unlock lost quarries of magic.
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#coverreveal #theivorykey #thecrimsonfortress #yafantasy by @akshraman

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4 years ago

Happy 2026! I fully meant to post this 12 days ago, but I’ve been recovering from travel and horrendous jet lag. I’ve finally managed to RESET (which happens to be my word of the year!) and I’m excited to return to my routines this week!

The start of a new year is always a time of resetting and reflecting for me, but I picked this word as a reminder that I can do those things at any point in the year not just on January 1st. I felt really stalled in many facets of my life in 2025, and I found it really difficult to break out of that rut, so this year I want to treat the start of every month, every week, even every day as an opportunity to reset and try again to do the things I want to do.

I also have a list of things I hope to do more of this year, but the main ones are to be more mindful/present, spend less time on my phone, and work on improving my concentration because my ability to focus has gotten alarmingly poor.

Let me know if any of you have any goals/resolutions or what your word of the year is! by @akshraman

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9 months ago

Writing retreat 2025: I got to spend a week in the desert with some of my closest writing pals of almost a decade (!!!) and it was truly so magical. I made a ton of progress on my fantasy WIP. I wrote a lot of words, but also got some great ideas and advice over the course of many discussions and brainstorming sessions. Everyone has such different approaches and perspectives that I always feel like I learn so much just from spending time with other writers. But the best part was getting to hang out and catch up after so long and hear about everyone’s incredible projects. Most of us live so far apart we can only make something like this happen every few years, and I’m already counting down the days until we can do it again ♥️ by @akshraman

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2 years ago

Happy new year! This is a little late since I took a few weeks away from social media, but instead of resolutions I usually pick a word of the year.

2023 (UNWRITTEN) was about embracing an uncertain future.
2024 (WORK) was about recommitting myself to the creative process.
For 2025, I’m choosing FOCUS.

I want to continue to prioritize the work of writing and keep the balance I’ve found in the last few years, but in 2025 I want to focus my energies on the things I value and be intentional about where I’m putting my time and efforts.

I want to complete two big writing projects. I want to get more comfortable with baking bread (and maybe try my hand at something more advanced like croissants). I want to take a vacation without my laptop. I want to make more time for art—reading books outside of my usual genres, watching more movies, going to live shows and concerts. And I want to volunteer with a local organization and figure out how I can contribute to my community.

Let me know if you have a word of the year!

(I took that second picture in Pisa, but I have very few photos of myself in Italy as I was sick for most of that trip, so I chose the first photo from another beloved 2024 memory: seeing Ateez in concert for the first time) by @akshraman

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2 years ago

Ivory Key aesthetic ✨ by @akshraman

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2 years ago

Over the weekend I finished the zero draft of my new YA fantasy! You might have seen me talk about this WIP from time to time over the last year, but I started to really focus on this book toward the end of January. And 2 months and 44k words later, I’m finally done!!

Even though this isn’t a proper draft yet (it’s really just a very long and detailed outline) it is technically the first time I’ve finished anything since 2022 so it feels a bit monumental. And last night, after I spent 3 hours talking @ashleyvburdin through the whole story, she confirmed that it is in fact book shaped!!

I guess all that’s left now is for me to actually write it! by @akshraman

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3 years ago

The Crimson Fortress is officially out today!!!

This sequel has even more romance, food, architecture, secret societies, and of course family drama, and I hope you enjoy visiting Ashoka one more time and joining Vira, Ronak, Riya, and Kaleb on their adventures.

If you’ve followed me on this journey for a while, you know this wasn’t the easiest book for me to write, and it was your excitement and enthusiasm for The Ivory Key that kept me going and helped me reach the end. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to every single person who has picked up these books, and I’m so honored and thrilled to finally share the conclusion of the siblings’ story with you all.

Happy reading, and remember, you get to make your own destiny ❤️ by @akshraman

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3 years ago

Happy Deepavali friends ❤️

I don’t know if I ever shared the artwork of the boys on the back of the UK cover but @jaded.draws did such a fantastic job with them!!! I’m truly so obsessed!!

Also as a reminder, you can still enter the preorder campaign if you’d like (swipe the see the bookmark, sticker, and signed bookplate you’ll get) and it is open internationally! by @akshraman

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3 years ago

Wow I wrote a whole series by @akshraman

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3 years ago

I’m extremely not on top of things amidst a very hectic week of travel and didn’t really have a post prepared but The Ivory Key is out in paperback today!!

I walked into the first B&N I found and was very glad they had it!! I’m so grateful TIK gets the chance to reach more readers ❤️ If you see her in the wild please share pictures! by @akshraman

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3 years ago

Hello friends! It’s been a while since I’ve shared any updates on here, and I thought today would be a good day to talk a bit about The Crimson Fortress!

✨First of all, you can swipe for a little sneak peek at the first page of TCF, from Vira’s POV! Fun fact: one thing I really wanted to do in book 2 was to set a scene in a province inspired by my own home state of Tamil Nadu, and that’s where the first two chapters of the book take place.

✨TCF is out on November 14th, which is just over two months away, and you can preorder it now for 25% off during the Barnes & Noble sale if that’s of interest to you!

✨TIK is out in paperback on October 17th, and you can *also* preorder it now for 25% off!

✨And if you do preorder, hang onto your receipts! I’m in the process of working out a small preorder campaign that will include a matching sticker to the Kamala Society one from the Ivory Key’s preorder campaign.

✨One last bit of news since I’ve gotten some questions about it, unfortunately my publisher does not do physical or digital ARCs for continuations so there will be no early copies of TCF. I do believe there will be a finished copy mailing, so if you’d like to be considered for that, you can reach out to my publisher through the contact page on my website.

That’s all for now! I will be sharing information on where to order signed copies and details about the book launch in the coming weeks. I hope you’ve all had a great summer, and I can’t wait to share more soon! by @akshraman

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3 years ago