Ruin & Roses

Deanna Ortega (they/them) is a queer author, content creator, and full-time bookish gutter rat based in Washington State.

They've been writing since middle school, when they realized fiction was just lying with structure. After a long detour through writer's block, they returned to their original manuscript-and haven't looked back.

Deanna writes romantasy and romance with teeth: morally gray love interests, conflicted heroines, cursed bloodlines, and a healthy dose of betrayal. They're drawn to power struggles, survival, sisterhood, and queer longing. Their stories have reached hundreds of thousands through BookTok and Instagram, where they're best known for explaining books to their non-reader husband and going feral over hot fae boys and complicated girls.

They've taken writing workshops, sure-but most of their craft was forged in the fires of obsession, deadlines, and asking "what if she was just a little more unhinged?" Their goal? To write the kind of book that wrecks you, heals you, and makes you want to throw it across the room.