GP Crew Interview with Kristen Ashley

Win one of Kristen’s back list.

 

Collective SQUUEEEEs from the GP Review Crew!!!!

Yes we admit we are Kristen Ashley addicts and are over the moon excited that she took time to chat with us. We couldn’t decide who was going to interview Kristen so we decided on a Crew interview.

Join us in giving Kristen a huge Guilty Pleasures Welcome!

Ladies, first off, thanks for wanting to ask questions! Gives me the opportunity to do one of my favorite things, gab and do it gabbing about my books!

We are honored to have you here.  Thank you for a great interview.

DiDi:

I love that you use older H/h.  What drives you to create more mature romances?

True to life, which I inject in my books in a lot of ways – realism and real issues, my books are fiction and the drama can be over the top but the underlying personalities, histories, flaws and life issues are not – love comes at any age. And women never lose their relevancy and often society makes them believe they do when they absolutely do not. At any age we are vital, interesting, amusing and sexy. Case in point, the sexiest story going on Sons of Anarchy this season is the love affair building between Gemma and Nero. Ages ago, I read a comment on Sweet Dreams that said, at first, she was turned off with the hero and heroine’s ages but not once she got into the book. There it is, my work is done. Sexy is sexy at any age. There’s no time limit. Women should feel vital as long as they’re breathing because they are and my books lay testimony to that, I hope!

Are you a product of the Hair Band Era?  Do you rock the Rock Chick style?

Yes, I am a product of that era though funnily enough, I was a pop music girl back in the day. And I rock any style, depending on my mood but one of them is most definitely the Rock Chick style.

Rhayne:

What Character has been the hardest for you to tell their story?  Is there one that just fought the direction you wanted to take them?

The character that was hardest to tell her story was Sadie from ROCK CHICK REGRET. What she endured was horrific and after a lifetime of shutting everyone out, looking over her shoulder, living in fear then having that happen to her, I felt for her so much, it tore me up. Not only that but also her struggle to maintain that control under the relentless friendship, support and love offered to her from Hector, Buddy, Ralphie and the Fortnum’s gang. It is not easy letting go of a lifetime of honing a coping mechanism. I love it that none of them gave up on her just as much as I love it when she let them in. Her journey was an honor to take with her but that didn’t mean it was an easy one.

And I would say that pretty much every main character fights the direction I want to take them. They are their own entities and they go where they want to go. I do remember thinking that Kia would make Sam work harder in HEAVEN AND HELL but she let him in relatively quickly which surprised me. Nina’s stubborn refusal to talk to Max about his dead wife in THE GAMBLE frustrated me but I understood it. Tor really ticked me off, not believing Cora and living what he considered a sham in FANTASTICAL. I wanted to kick him in the shin and really felt for her when she was taking him his birthday cake and she overheard his conversation. Though this gave him a lovely opportunity to grovel. And Mike totally ticked me off when he broke up with Dusty in GAMES OF THE HEART but it gave her the opportunity to lay it out for him and I loved her strength, anger, passion and complete understanding of herself. So, I guess what I’m saying is they fight me but they know who they are and they take me in the right direction.

I’m intrigued with Marcus and Daisy.  They appear in most of the Rock Chick books and we know a little of their history, but are there any plans to give Daisy her own story?  Also, when you introduced Daisy’s character did you plan for her to have a continuing role in every book, or did she just fit in?

Yes, Daisy was meant to be part of the Rock Chick Posse. As with any family, and this is a family although not everyone shares blood, you accept your loved ones for who they are, whatever they do and whatever they have in their past. The existence of Daisy and Marcus in that troop demonstrates that. I liked that Marcus is not a good man, everyone knows that, including Daisy but she is so filled with love, gives it without condition, the entire group welcomes not only her but him. The truth of the matter is that Eddie (and Hank) would take Marcus down if given that chance and they all know that. But, as a family, they find ways to get past these rather huge issues and live in relative harmony because of the foundation of love the gang shares.

I had never planned to write a book about them and although it is often requested, I don’t know if I will. Firstly, I don’t know when I’ll have time so if it does come about, it won’t be an entire book but probably a short story or novella. Secondly, Marcus is not a good man and doesn’t have any intentions of being that. Although he has also made his compromises to live within that group in order to give that to Daisy, he is what would normally be considered a villain. Daisy’s back story is also very dark. Although I’ve explored these issues in my Unfinished Hero series, Daisy and Marcus take that to a different level. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t enjoy the challenge. I just don’t want to take away any of the love my readers feel for them by exposing them too much. That said, I never say never so you don’t know. It could still happen.

Ava: 

I loveTex.  Was his character inspired by a real person?

Yes, two actually. One is someone very close to me so I don’t talk about him, that’s between him and me. The second is a man named Tex. HA! Back in the day, I lived in Ava’s house in Denver and Tex lived across the street. He was very like Tex, had a bunch of cats, sat on his porch with a shotgun on his lap and night vision goggles on his face, he was a Vietnam Vet and he didn’t often leave the ‘hood. But he looked after it. Everyone knew him. And he looked out for me. He was awesome. Definitely worthy of a kind, gruff, fabulous character being based on him!

When will we get to read Tabby’s story?

I can’t say right now but all will be explained soon… 

Daniella:

Are there any characters based off of friends or acquaintances?

Oh yes. Many. Tod and Stevie from the ROCK CHICKS are real and not made up in any way. They are EXACTLY like that. Annette is based on my friend Danae. Herb and Trish are based on my stepdad and Mom. Both Ally from ROCK CHICKS an Jenny from PENMORT CASTLE are based loosely on my best friend Kelly. Lucy from MATHILDA, SUPERWITCH is based on my sadly now lost friend Lucinda (who was a fabulous cook, nearly as fabulous as she was a friend). Kate and Keira from AT PEACE are based on my nieces. Aunt Bette and Uncle Marsh in MOTORCYCLE MAN are based on my aunt and uncle.

I could go on but I often write love letters to my friends and family by either instilling some of their qualities into a character or doing other things. I have a friend Susi in Tennessee and so does Tyra in MOTORCYCLE MAN. I have a friend Melissa who gave me a fabulous cupcake recipe so Violet makes those cupcakes in AT PEACE. Carly Phillips discovered my books and she spread the word far and wide, a beautiful thing she didn’t have to do so both Faye and Chace’s Mom love Carly’s books in BREATHE. I never tell folks about these love letters. They read my books and, when they do, they get little surprises. But yes, there is a lot of love in my books and I pour it in in a number of different ways.

How do the stories pop into your head – friends and family stories or are all the characters just chatting away in your head so much there is a glut of stories waiting to be told?

I get inspired all the time so there is definitely a glut of stories waiting to be told! For example, I had this idea that just hit me out-of-the-blue, I wanted to write a book about a man who, on the face of it, is a complete jerk and the challenge was to try to get my readers to like him. Then Tate Jackson from SWEET DREAMS came to me in full, Lauren hit me right after Tate and that took off. I was watching the movie “Tangled” and I thought how fun it would be to write a story in a Fairytale-esque world that was not a fairytale when you got down to it. From that FANTASTICAL was born and then that series took off. Ivey and Gray in PLAY IT SAFE hit me like a rocket, their story just came to me and I don’t even remember how it happened. I do remember it hit me so strong, I sat down and wrote like a madwoman even more than I normally write like a madwoman. I had the first half of that book, which is not short, done in like three days! No joke!

Right now, even though I have the continuing stories of all my series bouncing around in my head, I have two more books outside those series also bouncing around! It’s a crowded place, my brain, but it’s also a happy one!

How difficult is it for you to be physically so far away from where the bulk of the stories take place?

Well, I’m not anymore but it was difficult when I lived in England. It was actually one of the reasons why I wrote so many stories in Denver. I missed it desperately as well as missing my friends there.

Piper:

Do you have a date in mind for Rock Chick 8, Ally’s story?

Yes, I have recently published my revised schedule and Ally and Ren’s story will be out in January of 2013. 

Lee:

I’ve read all your series, and while I love them all, my favorite has to be The Burg series.  The ages of your H/h are slightly older, you changed up the locale, and you added teenagers into the mix (brilliant move, by the way).  What was your inspiration to take a different route with this series?

I was reading a Dennis Lehane novel and he is such a brilliant writer, I love, love, love the books of his I’ve read. I had mostly written my ghosts and paranormal, ROCK CHICKS, and Mathilda at that time so I wanted to challenge myself to do something raw, emotional, with intricate character stories that interweave and more developed plotlines. I did want there to be lightheartedness and humor in them but I wanted to explore the emotionality and motivations of my characters more. Thus I left England and Denver and based this in my hometown of Brownsburg, a place I love, a place where good people live, people I love still live there and that’s where many good memories are. Basing this series there gave it a more emotional foundation from which to build. I love it that it works for you!

I really loved CREED!  After writing so many mainstream books what made you decide to branch out into erotic?

I actually didn’t intend so much to branch out into the erotic as much as challenge myself to write an anti-hero. I have always been fascinated by anti-heroes, often finding myself attracted to such characters as Tony Soprano from The Sopranos. He is not a good man but he is compelling, magnetic and he sucks you right in. I am always trying to challenge myself, do different things because the same thing over and over again for me and my readers would get boring. For myself and for you, I have to balance a line of giving you what you come to expect from me but also changing it up so you won’t get bored (and I won’t get bored writing it!).

It just so happened that Knight, the character, was a very strong personality and had a far more intense sexuality than my other heroes. So this gave me another opportunity to challenge myself or, say, free myself to explore an erotic theme as well as the anti-hero. 

Entire GP Crew:

What is your guilty pleasure?

I don’t have guilty pleasures. Pleasures should not cause guilt 🙂. I love to eat, so I eat. I love shoes, handbags, clothes, so I shop. I love to perv on hot guys, so I perv on hot guys. Kids do what they like (within boundaries, hopefully) and just enjoy it. I love that, it’s a beautiful thing we have then lose somewhere along the line. So I don’t intend to grow up. I intend to be a kid until I die. This does not mean I’m not an adult who does not take care of her responsibilities. But I don’t waste valuable headspace feeling guilt for doing things that make me happy. There’s enough demons up there, I don’t need to add to them by feel badly, for whatever reason, when I do stuff I enjoy that helps me battle them. So I don’t! I just let ‘er rip!

Thanks for your questions and giving me the opportunity to share about my worlds! I love it that you want to know and share! Thanks, ladies!

CONTEST TIME

What do you love about romance books with a touch of real life in the story?
One lucky commenter will win one of Kristen’s books (or a $5 Amazon gift card if you have read all of Kristen’s books). Winner will be from the rafflecopter entries on 10/14.

Where you can stalk find Kristen:

Website – http://www.kristenashley.net/

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kristen-Ashley/83283039199

Twitter – https://twitter.com/KristenAshley68

Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2958084.Kristen_Ashley

 

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