Writing Disability Into Hockey Romance: An Own-Voices Author's Approach
I write hockey romance as an autistic author, and disabled and neurodivergent characters live at the center of my books — not at the margins as lessons or obstacles. My heroines get the grumpy-sunshine banter, the swoony hero, and the happily ever after, and they get to be fully themselves while they do. For the identities I don't share, I hire authenticity readers so the representation holds up.
Here's what that looks like on the page.
In Playing Games (January 2027), my heroine Rowena is autistic. She codes on her laptop during the quiet stretches at her bank job, she can't stand the sensation of long hair, and an arm slung over her shoulders reads as smothering rather than sweet. Her love interest, Jason, learns her — not a softened version of her. I write Rowena from the inside, because I am autistic too, and I wanted a heroine whose brain works like mine to get the fairy tale without having to mask her way through it.
That thread didn't start with Rowena. In Playing with Trouble, Ella spends the book convinced she's failing, until a quiet night with an audio-reading tool shows her that her brain processes information beautifully — just not the way school insisted it should. In Playing with Fire, Sloane's roommate Mel Ortega is a wheelchair user who gets to be funny, sharp, and central. And in Playing It Safe, Briar Beckett organizes her entire life around staying close to her sister Delphine, because love and caregiving are the same muscle for her.
Why authenticity readers matter to me. Writing from the inside is only half the work. For the parts of a character's life I haven't lived, I bring in authenticity readers before a book ever reaches you — the way I work with hockey experts on the sport, and the way I worked with readers on my first biracial protagonist so I could write her with care.
Frequently asked questions
Does Lainey Davis write neurodivergent romance? Yes. My forthcoming novel Playing Games features an autistic heroine, written own-voices, and neurodivergent and disabled characters appear across the Playing series.
Are these books still steamy and funny? Absolutely. They're high-steam, comedy-forward hockey romances with guaranteed happily ever afters. The representation deepens the story; it never replaces the swoon.
Where should I start? Playing with Trouble is the easiest entry point to the current Pittsburgh Fury books.