Sunday, November 21, 2010

Guest Author day with Ashlynn Monroe

To get us started can you tell us a little about what you are working on or have coming out?
Right now, I’m working on a series of steam punk vampire hunter shorts.  The will be compiled into a book when the series is complete.  kNight Romance Publishing has contract the series. 

I’m also working on book 3 in the Templar vampire series.  Book 1 is scheduled for release January 2011.

In November, I have several books coming out.  Protector Mine from Evernight Publishing is 11-10-10; Blood Kin from Keith publications is 11-15-10.  On November 30th, I am part of a paranormal Christmas anthology with my friends the Wicked Muses.  Wild Horse Press is the publisher for Christmas in Redemption.

I have a few stand-alone short stories I’m fitting in too.

What makes a book great in your eyes?
As a reader, any book that keeps my interest from the beginning to the end is great.  As a writer, any book with a natural flow and dynamic characters is great in my eyes.

Do you have any guilty pleasures?
Adult Swim on cartoon network, I love those raunchy shows!

How much of the book is realistic?
I get enough reality getting out of bed and dragging myself to the day job.  I try to write fantastic stories filled with wondrous occurrences.  I do try to keep my characters responses and emotions realistic.  The sex in my stories is always realistic too.  

If a reporter were to follow you around for the day, what would the readers get to see in your daily schedule? 
They’d probably fall asleep from boredom!  Actually, I get out of bed and get my kids up.  After dropping them at school, I commute to a different city for work.  Day job hijinks ensue before I drive my long commute again.  I get the kids from the after school program and then I make supper and help the kids with homework.  We play a little Wii or board games and after a book the kids go to bed and I write while be distracted by facebook.  Hubby is only home every other weekend lately he’s an OTR trucker.  Rinse and repeat until the weekend.
When you begin your stories, do you go with the flow, or go with an outline?
I’ve never used an outline.  I come up with a snip of an idea and run with it.

Is it hard coming up with titles or characters names?
I use a name book for the names and title is usually the first think I write down.  Surprisingly, I seldom change the title after the story is finished.  

What does your workstation look like?
Very messy and cluttered, my house is clean but never my desk.

Are you the type of individual who gets weepy at the end of a good movie, or a sad movie, or do you just stay neutral through it all?
I’ll cry watching a sad movie, especially when kids are involved.  I always feel bummed out when I read the last page of a good book.

Is there any books coming that you are itching to read (either electronic or print) from your favorite authors?
I’m always itching to get my hands on a new book.  I’ve bought mostly eBooks since this summer when I bought my eReader from Sony.  I’ve meet so many wonderful authors that my to buy list keeps growing.  It’d be broke if I indulged in every book I wanted.  It’s been really fun reading people that I “know” from facebook.

If you were to replenish your cabinets with one junk food, what would it be?
I’d live off Twizzlers.  At the day job I’ve always eating out of an industrial size bag of them.  I’m nice and share, everyone knows who to find for Twizzler.

Sneak Peek into Protector Mine
Available at Evernight Publishing

Larissa is on the verge of complete insanity. She has grown up feeling a connection to the rural woodlands near her home. She has never been able to find what or who has been calling to her. 

Dante comes from an ancient line of shifters whose sole purpose is to keep their charges safe from vampires. Dante is Larissa’s Protector.   There are only two rules- never talk to your charge and never let them know that you are watching. Dante breaks every rule when it comes to Larissa when they are swept into a torrent of desire that threatens to consume them. 

Will the price of breaking the rules to follow their hearts be too great? Hunters lurk in the forest. Vampires are coming. Dante is all that stands between Larissa and the monsters who want to make her one of them.
Excerpt:
Her fingers lightly skimmed the rough stubble gracing his surprisingly soft skin, and she saw the need and longing in his exotically beautiful eyes. No one had ever looked at her like she was so important, so amazing. She felt his wonder and his love. How was it possible? It was like she had a view into his mind and soul and only the truth of their magical connection existed. When she saw the raw need in his eyes something twisted in her heart, and she knew that she would not run.

She pressed her lips to his chin. He bent down just enough so that their lips connected. It was gentle at first, testing, trusting. Then he pulled her against him, and it took the air from her lungs. Whimpering with joy and need, she returned his fervor with a desperation that was entirely her own. His rough hands caressed her cheek, and the moment of wonder brought the prickling of tears to her eyes.

“What have you done to me?” Her voice sounded breathless.

“I would never hurt you. I haven’t done anything to you, Larissa.”

“What is this?”

“This is chemistry.”

Standing there in the middle of a wild place with a complete, albeit sexy, stranger wasn’t a safe thing to do. She wanted him, wanted sex, for the first time in her life. She embraced the lust. No, this wasn’t exactly where she imagined losing her virginity. It gave her pause that she was giving something away so easily she had so carefully guarded. Yet it felt as if this gift had always been his, and she had just been keeping it safe for him. She pulled her shirt off and let it fall to the ground. He wore no shirt and when their skin touched, an electric current traveled through him and into her. She gasped and her back arched involuntarily. He kissed her throat and she shivered, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him close.

His hands awkwardly battled with her bra, and he grunted with triumph as the bit of fabric joined her t-shirt on the damp ground. His calloused palms skimmed over her nipples, and she cried out with need. Larissa’s cheek pressed against his chest, and she felt enveloped in his primitive pheromones. His masculine growl made her smile softly against the hard wall of his chest. A sound, calling voices somewhere far away, registered in her mind. Her family was looking for her. She didn’t care; she was where she belonged, where she wanted to be. His chest began to heave, and his primal desperation against her belly was evident. He knew they were looking too.

When he swept her into his arms, she did not protest, her trust was complete. She reveled in the foreign knowledge that made no sense and yet seemed to answer all the mysteries of the universe in the same moment. Mushy and useless, she let her brain turn off and let her heart take over. Nothing made sense and she loved every moment of it. He moved through the growing darkness with her, and she clung to him, content to go anywhere he chose to take her. Closing her eyes against the blurring trees and leaves, it only nibbled at her mind that he moved with inhuman speed.

His voice sounded gruff and raw. Larissa wondered if he felt the pain of her leaving as horribly as she did. He spoke, and she clung tighter to him. “I have waited a lifetime for you.”

Her searchers were far from her mind as she found herself back in his dank wilderness dwelling. She had no idea what to say to his intense statement.

After a moment, she found her voice and spoke. “I think I’ve always been looking for you, too.”
 Find more information on Ashlynn on her website HERE

2 comments:

Ashlynn Monroe said...

Thanks for having me over Dawn!

gaeDarkwriter said...

Hi Ash nice interview. Just popped in to say hi and show support for my dearestt friend. Man I didnt know you had so much going on. I'm a bit jealous. It takes me 4-6 months to put out a full length novel and popping up everywhere. GOOD FOR YOU! yOU DESERVE IT WITH YOUR TALENT. Catch ya around the cyber world.
hugs, Gregg Endless

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