Q&A Interview and Giveaway with Sharon Ashwood

Interview with Sharon Ashwood

Hello everyone!  LITERAL ADDICTION and Book Monster Reviews are very happy to welcome Sharon Ashwood to our sites today!  

Sharon is a free-lance journalist, novelist, desk jockey and enthusiast for the weird and spooky. She has an English literature degree but works as a finance geek. Interests include growing her to-be-read pile and playing with the toy graveyard on her desk. As a vegetarian, she freely admits the whole vampire/werewolf lifestyle fantasy would never work out, so she writes paranormal romances instead.

She lives in the Pacific Northwest and is owned by the Demon Lord of Kitty Badness. J

Sharon is the proud creator of THE DARK FORGOTTEN series, which currently consists of 4 books – “Ravenous”, “Scorched”, “Unchained” and “Frostbound”. 

She is also one of the amazing authors who contributed to the amazing new anthology, “Crave the Night”, which was just released on October 6^th.  The other contributing authors were Michele Hauf, Patti O’Shea, and Lori Devoti. 

For our readers who are new to Sharon’s work, let’s get you caught up with her THE DARK FORGOTTEN series and then give you a glimpse of “Crave the Night” as well, shall we!?

 “Ravenous”, Book #1 Synopsis:

Vampires, Werewolves, and other creatures have emerged from the shadows. And some of them have sinister THINGS on their minds...

Holly Carver is a witch who sometimes relies on the help of Alessandro Caravelli for her family’s preternatural investigations business. Alessandro is the oldest and strongest vampire in Fairview—and he’s made no secret of his desire for Holly. But while she aches to succumb to his suggestive wiles, she knows it would be an invitation to trouble.

Then Alessandro’s queen, Omara, complicates matters when she turns up in Fairview to enlist his help. Sultry and manipulative, she is jealous of Alessandro’s feelings for Holly, and demands he use Holly to trap Geneva—the most evil demon of all.

 “Scorched”, Book #2 Synopsis:

Ex-detective Macmillan has a taste for bad girls, but his last lover really took the cake-and his humanity. Now a half-demon, Mac's lost his friends, his family, and his job. Then a beguiling vampire asks for his help to find her son. Suddenly, Mac has a case to work-one that leads him deeps into the supernatural prison where Mac learns that cracking the case will cost him his last scrap of humanity.

“Unchained”, Book #3 Synopsis:

Ashe Carver, monster-killer, has the scars to prove it. But faced with a custody battle, she's hung up her stakes and taken a job at the public library, determined to show the courts and her ten-year-old daughter that she's as good a mother as she is a hunter.

Easier said than done. There are lovelorn vampires haunting the library, a slime demon in the shopping mall, and her new-mom sister needs a hand with her ghostbusting biz. Then, after centuries guarding a supernatural prison, Captain Reynard strides into her world like a hero from the library's Must Reads. Smokingly gorgeous, passionate and courageous to a fault, he has only weeks to live unless Ashe finds the thief who took his soul.
Ashe picks up her weapons to save the day—but not every problem can be solved with a stake. With so much tragedy in her past, Ashe fears the disaster she sees ahead—and prays she doesn't fail everyone. Again.

Memories are the hardest monsters to kill.
                                “Frostbound”, Book #4 Synopsis:

As a snowstorm locks down the city, someone beheads the wrong girl. Vampire-on-the-lam Talia Rostova thinks it was meant to be her. And now she's the prime suspect in her own botched murder and the prisoner of her smoking-hot-neighbor: a hellhound. And the hot-blooded Lore was bred to serve and protect, so he's not freeing Talia until he's sure she's the prey and not the hunter...

“Crave the Night”, Anthology with

Michele Hauf, Patti O’Shea and Lori Devoti:

This collection of never-before-published
novellas features paranormal pairings romance
readers will pine for. Vampires, demons,
werewolves, faeries and even a mermaid will
satisfy the darkest of cravings.

Are you all ready to get to know Sharon better?  Let’s get to the Interview and find out more about her, her amazing series, and what it was like working with the other 3 authors of “Crave the Night”.

LITERAL ADDICTION/Book Monster Reviews:  Hi Sharon!  We’re very happy to have you here today, and are very excited to help you promote THE DARK FORGOTTEN series, as well as help you get the word out about “Crave the Night”!

SHARON: Delighted to be here!

LITERAL ADDICTION/Book Monster Reviews:  We always like to start by getting to know our guest authors a little bit better.

Q1): Can you tell us 3 things about yourself that we couldn’t find out easily on the Internet?

SHARON:

I have an obscene amount of tea on my kitchen shelf – I seem to collect interesting blends wherever I go.  My current favorite is called “Dorian Grey.”

Although I force myself to get up at 5:00 am and write or go to the gym, my natural tendency is to stay up till the wee hours and sleep in late (want to find me on social media? Try 11:00 pm PST). However, a nine to five job obliges me to keep daylight hours during the week.

I don’t usually write to music, but if I do it’s often baroque chamber music. For some reason, it clears my head.

Q2):  What are 3 things that never fail to make you smile?

SHARON: Animals, friends, and my morning coffee!

Q3):  If the world were to end tomorrow, what would you do in your last 24 hours?

SHARON: Find out who was responsible and see to it they got 12 painful hours. I’m not a fan of dystopia, and anyone who forces me to live with zombies and no refrigeration is going to pay.

Q4):  What are some of your hobbies and/or things that you enjoy doing when you’re not writing or taking care of other author business?

SHARON: Because I work, I had to give up just about every other hobby to fit in a professional writing gig. For years, I used to play a lot of music and performed with Celtic and Early Music groups. I also used to do freelance journalism.  Now I just try to get some exercise in my spare time—I just started Zumba classes, which are a hoot. I also love costuming and cooking, especially recreating historical recipes.

Q5):  If you could spend the day with any of your characters, who would you want to spend it with, and what would you want to do?

SHARON: I’d love to sit around the kitchen with the Carver sisters and Grandma and hear them talk spells. They would be the most comfortable of my characters to hang out with. And, because they are who they are, I’m sure I’d be involved in some sort of adventure before lunch was served. They seem to have a talent for attracting interesting situations.

On the other hand, I would love to have a tour of the Castle, and Mac or Reynard would be the perfect guides.  If I went with the dark fey prince, Miru-kai, I might not make it back to our world! 

Q6):  Who are some of your favorite authors, and what are a couple titles in your TBR pile/list right now?

SHARON: I couldn’t possibly list all my favorites, but right now I’m hugely enjoying the George R.R. Martin books, which I’m listening to on my iPod while I walk to and from work.

Also on the TBR pile are:

·       Steamed – Katie MacAlister

·       Lord of the Vampires – Gena Showalter

·       The Season – Charlotte Bingham

·       The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime – Judith Flanders

Q7):  With Fantasy being such a popular genre these days, what made you choose it, and what about it fascinates you personally?

SHARON: I think the fabulous thing about fantasy/science fiction/supernatural stories is that they are so useful. What I mean by that is—what story can’t you tell using those parameters? They can be hero tales or metaphors, cautionary or inspirational, or all of the above at once. For a writer, they’re a blank cheque. Go for it. The sky is the limit. Say what you have to say.

But, to be honest, I don’t tend to sit down and think, hmm, I’ll write a vampire story today. The stories come to me, and I tell them. In the last year, I’ve written paranormal romance, historical, steampunk, and a mystery. Each requires different techniques, and I’m certainly better at some than others. But, I always feel that I’m chosen by the story more than that I chose it. The most I can do is prioritize the characters clamoring in my head.

Q8):  What is your favorite type of scene to write – action, dialogue, sex, etc?

SHARON: I’d have to say I like action scenes. I feel like I know what I’m doing. A shoots B, who blows up C. Dialogue has a life of its own that can get away from you (just like real life conversations!). Sex scenes are variable. Some are easy, others are like herding cats. What I like best is editing. That’s when a writer can pull out the tool kit and show their stuff.

Q9):  What is a typical writing day like for you?  Do you have a routine that you follow?  Are there specific things that you have to have with you to get the creative juices flowing, etc?

SHARON: I get home from work, eat, wash the dishes, and write. If I’m lucky, I get two or three hours in before bed. That’s the time it takes me to write a scene.

I like stretching out my love seat with the laptop. The demon lord of kitty badness will often curl up on my feet. Those are the moments when the world goes away and I get my best work done.

Q10):  What’s your favorite inspirational quote?

SHARON: Living well is the best revenge. That’s George Herbert, the English poet (1593 - 1633).

LITERAL ADDICTION/Book Monster Reviews:  O.K, now we’ll ask some questions directly related to books…  J

Q11):  How was it working with Michele Hauf, Patti O’Shea and Lori Devoti with “Crave the Night”?

SHARON: Very easy. We did it all by email. They were fabulous to work with, very cordial and respectful, and all about doing a good job on schedule.

Q12):  Do you have a personal favorite book of THE DARK FORGOTTEN series so far; maybe one that has deeper meaning for you, etc?

SHARON: That’s a bit like asking which child is a mother’s favorite. They’re all very special to me. What I can say is that the last two pushed me as a writer. I tend to emotionally experience whatever the characters are experiencing, and those books, particularly Frostbound, were exhausting. Those characters saw some pretty tough moments, especially the last heroine, Talia Rostova.

Q13):  Was there any specific inspiration behind the creation of THE DARK FORGOTTEN series?

SHARON: The series really started because of a silly conversation I was having with a friend about insurance. If you can insure against an Act of God, can you insure against demons?  How would an adjuster handle that case? Would you have to have exorcist experts to verify possession? Before that conversation ended, my witch heroine, Holly Carver, had walked into my head and started telling me her life story. It just kept going from there.

Q14):  How many books do you have planned for the series?

SHARON: There are four—the series has ended for now, although I’m sure I’ll find a way to tell stories about some of the characters who never got their turn.

Q15):  What can we expect as the series progresses?

SHARON: The four books follow an arc: from the discovery of the Castle door and the emergence of the first supernatural prisoners, through the rebirth of the Castle and the liberation of the guards, and finally to the election of the first vampire city councilor. We see the hellhounds escape in book one and finally integrate with the other species in book four. Really, the series tells a story of how everyone more or less finds a place in the world.

Q16):  What other things do you have in the works outside of THE DARK FORGOTTEN and “Crave the Night”?

SHARON: Lots. I have two new series coming—see me frantically writing! One is pure paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne—vampires, royal weddings, stolen jewels, superspies, Mediterranean beaches. I’m having a huge amount of fun with these.  The other is a fantasy trilogy, and that project is so hot-off-the-press I can’t say much about it yet. The release dates for both are so far scheduled for 2013.

Q17):  Do you and the others have any plans for a follow-up to “Crave the Night”?

SHARON: I expect that will depend on how readers like this one!

Q18):  What legacy do you hope to leave behind in your work?

SHARON: I want to be on keeper shelves. I have books that I bought decades ago that I will never part with. I want to give people that kind of enjoyment.

Q19):  Is there a question that you’ve thought it would be great to be asked in an interview but have never been asked?  How would you answer that question?

SHARON: One question never asked is:  how do you feel when you finish a book? When the very last edits are done and the proofs are read and reread and sent off to the publisher? It’s a roller coaster of emotion. Relief. Regret. Loss. Pride. Anxiety. You’ve spent time in the most intimate moments of your characters’ lives. Now you have to say goodbye. It’s kind of an empty nest experience. Of course you move on, but no book is exactly the same.

Q20):  Is there anything specific you would like to say to your readers while we have you here today?

SHARON: Thank you to all those readers who followed me through the Dark Forgotten series! I put my heart and soul into those books, and those readers who email or find me at conferences to chat are the best encouragement to keep writing! Love you!

I think all authors will agree when I say it’s a very tough business and hearing from readers is one of the real reasons we hang in there.

LITERAL ADDICTION/Book Monster Reviews:  Sharon, thank you so much for being with us today!  We’re happy to help you get the word out about “Crave the Night” and we’re VERY excited to chat with not only you this evening but Michele, and Patti as well.  Thank you so much for sharing with us today and for inviting the others to chat with us also.  We’d love to have you back to help promote a new release in 2012 if you’d be interested. 

SHARON:  I’ll let you know when I have definite dates for my next releases! Thanks so much for inviting me to come hang out on your web site for a day!

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CONTEST:

SHARON is graciously offering up a signed copy of “Ravenous” to a winner from Book Monster Reviews and a winner from LITERAL ADDICTION (over on their site). 

To Enter: Make sure you are a member of the Book Monster Blog by clicking on the “JOIN THIS SITE” button at the top left hand corner of blog page, and then post a comment on the interview and make sure you leave a valid email address. 

*Any comments without an email address will NOT be entered into drawing.

Don't forget to drop by the LITERAL ADDICTION website (http://www.literaladdiction.com/) and follow the directions and links to enter their contest for an extra chance to win!!!