My guest today loves to read and write suspense stories. Please help me welcome Ashley A Quinn to the interview hot seat! Let’s take a gander at her bio and then find out more about her, shall we?
Ashley is a contemporary romantic suspense author. She currently lives in Ohio with her husband, two kids, three cats, and one hyperactive German Shepherd mix. A lifelong lover of knowledge, you can often find her with her nose buried in an academic journal or a suspense thriller. She’s also an avid baseball fan and loves SyFy disaster flicks.
Author Social Links: Facebook * FacebookReaderGroup * Instagram
Betty: What inspired you to write the story you’re sharing with us today?
Ashley: A photograph. I was cruising through Instagram and saw a picture author Leslie Marshman posted of the ruins of St. Dominic’s Church in D’Hanis, TX. After I got over how hauntingly beautiful the picture was, I thought how great a place it would be to hide a body. Then the first scene for A Beautiful End popped into my head and The Broken Bow series was born.
Betty: Which character arrived fully or mostly developed?
Ashley: One of my side characters who has his own book later in the series, Thomas. He leaped off the page from the very first word he spoke.
Betty: Which story element sparked the idea for this story: setting, situation, character, or something else?
Ashley: A bit of all of it, I guess. It was born from the setting, but it’s driven by the characters’ responses to the situation.
Betty: Which character(s) were the hardest to get to know? Why do you think?
Ashley: A couple of the side characters I wanted to develop later. Their backgrounds didn’t want to come to me, so I had a hard time fleshing them out at first until I spent a little more time in their heads.
Betty: What kind of research did you need to do to write this story?
Ashley: Forensics. And oddly enough, botany. Large parts of the story are driven by the criminal investigation, and I had to create a trail for law enforcement to follow. I have a thing about needing to be accurate, so I delved deep to make sure everything I wrote was plausible.
Betty: How many drafts of the story did you write before you felt the story was complete?
Ashley: Three. A rough draft and two rounds of edits.
Betty: How long did it take for you to write the story you’re sharing with us? Is that a typical length of time for you? Why or why not?
Ashley: It was around three or four months, I think, which is actually faster than I used to write, but not as fast as I do now. This story was the start of taking my writing truly seriously. When I launched this series, it was the start of a new outlook on publishing for me.
Betty: What rituals or habits do you have while writing?
Ashley: I don’t really have any. I listen to music to drown out external noise if I need to, but mostly I just write when I have time.
Betty: Every author has a tendency to overuse certain words or phrases in drafts, such as just, once, smile, nod, etc. What are yours?
Ashley: Smiled, laughed, looked, nodded. I talk about hands a lot, too. People use them to talk and it’s become part of “speech” for me when I write dialogue.
Betty: Do you have any role models? If so, why do you look up to them?
Ashley: My mom. She works hard and can do just about anything she puts her mind to. I strive to do the same.
Betty: Do you have a special place to write? Revise? Read?
Ashley: I have a desk… I usually end up on the couch, though. When I edit, I print out the manuscript and use a pen, so then I cover the entire sofa with pages. My cat enjoys messing up my piles.
Betty: Many authors have a day job. Do you? If so, what is it and do you enjoy it?
Ashley: I don’t have a day job outside of writing. It is my job.
Betty: As an author, what do you feel is your greatest achievement?
Ashley: Becoming consistent with my writing and turning it into a real career.
Betty: What other author would you like to sit down over dinner and talk to? Why?
Ashley: James Rollins. His thrillers are fascinating. The way he connects information and draws conclusions from that is amazing. I would love to discuss his thought process.
Betty: Success looks different to different people. It could be wealth, or fame, or an inner joy at reaching a certain level. How do you define success in terms of your writing career?
Ashley: Being able to make a steady, livable income off my writing. I don’t need to be famous, but it would be nice to know that if something happened to my husband, my kids and I would be okay without me scrambling to find a decent job when I’ve been out of my field of study for twenty years. Writing and publishing is finally looking like it will be that for me.
London Scott’s routine, boring life gets a jolt when her niece discovers a woman’s body while out hiking with her boyfriend. It’s just her luck, though, that it’s Sebastian Archer who investigates the murder. Having known the man since childhood, she’s always been the annoying tagalong. Even though she finds him drop-dead sexy, that’s a ship that can never sail now that she’s guardian to her niece and his goddaughter.
Two years ago, Seb moved home to take the position as local sheriff, ready for a slower pace and to be closer to his family. That included his best friend’s sister, London. The beautiful innkeeper had held his heart since they were young, but the timing never felt right to start something. When a serial killer murders a woman in his jurisdiction who bears a striking resemblance to London, Seb realizes he could lose her before they ever get a chance.
Will London’s reluctance to date the handsome sheriff deliver her into the hands of a psychopath?
Buy Links: Amazon
I love how the cat “helps” Ashely with her writing, don’t you? Thanks for sharing about your writing process and role model, Ashely!
Is anyone else shocked that May is almost over already? Be sure to take some time to relax under a shady tree and read a good story before the warm weather is over and we’re talking about Halloween! Happy reading!
Betty
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Visit www.bettybolte.com for more on my books and upcoming events.
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