Welcome to Dawn’s Reading Nook, Ashley
J. Barnard. Please let my cabana boys/girls get you a drink and make yourself
at home. Comfortable? Great…now let’s get down to business.
Q: Tell us a little about yourself. What
you do, either for a living or for fun or both?
Hi, Dawn! Thanks
for having me here. I am very lucky that I am able to be a fulltime writer at
home. I have five published novels and three published plays, and I’m always
working on something new.
I never use outlines. I usually start with a simple idea or couple of characters. I don’t like to think it out too much at the start; it’s very fun for me to have it come together as I go.
Q: Tell us all about your latest or upcoming release. What inspired it?
My latest release is an historical-fantasy novel called “Cast of Illusions.” It’s what you might call a Shakespearean fantasy, and was inspired by my many years on stage as an actress. I love Shakespeare and I love his language, so I wanted to write something as a tribute. It’s also poking a little fun as well; some of his comedies have ridiculous endings, with dead people coming back to life, twins reunited and mistaken identities. I had a lot of fun with that.
Q: If you had super powers, what would they be? Why?
I would love to generate a list of books that I would love more than any others. I’ve wasted so much time reading books I don’t like, and there’s almost nothing I like better in the world than reading a great book. If I had a list that would tell me my absolute favorites, one that would keep me busy for the rest of my life, I’d be so set and content. I’m sure I’d come up with some other powers that were a little more altruistic if given time, but that’s the one that popped into my head. : )
Q: What genre haven’t you tried yet but want to in the future?
One of my favorite genres to read is horror, but I’ve never tried it. I know my imagination would scare the crap out of me and keep me up at night, and that’s the reason I don’t go there. But someday I would like to be brave enough to write a really scary ghost story, one that I would adore reading.
Q: What’s a fun fact about you? Something unique, a particular talent?
As I mentioned above, I was an actress for several years.
Q: What is one thing readers might be
surprised to know about you?
As mentioned above, I was an actress
for several years. My husband and I ran our own Shakespearean theater company,
and I acted in several productions and on occasion directed and wrote plays.
Right now I’m rehearsing a scene for a Shakespearean celebration, so that’s
been very fun.
Q: Were your stories secret projects
or were you able to be open with your family and friends about your writing?
I started my stories when I was very
young, so they were definitely secret projects then. I didn’t tell anyone I
wanted to be a writer until I was in my late teens, and I didn’t let anyone
read my writing until I was 24.
Q: Do you have any weird writing
habits?
I love listening to film scores to
get me inspired. I LOVE making previews for my books in my head.
Q: What's your favorite genre to
read?
Horror, and I also love good,
mainstream literary stuff as well as Victorian classics.
Q: What type of book have you always
wanted to write?
A good ghost story.
Q: What authors can be found in your
library of books (print, audio or e-books)?
Michael Chabon, Stephen King, Anne
Rice, Guy Gavriel Kay, Ian McEwan, Ann Rice, Phil Rickman, Dickens, Hardy,
Updike, Irving
Q: If you could
travel anywhere in the world (money is no object), where would you go? Why? And
for how long?
I have a huge affinity for England
Q: Do you have any obsessions? What are they?
I love pirates and pirate ships. I
have to buy anything I find on it with a rampant lion, and I love foxes.
Q: Is there anything you’re currently
working on that you can give us a taste of?
I’m currently working a paranormal
romance for teens.
Q: When creating your characters, do
you have models in mind or are they totally fictional?
Mostly they’re fictional, but
sometimes real people are just too good to ignore. My MIL is an interesting
(crazy!) person, and sometimes I use her quirks for characters. Sometimes I use
actors in my mind and then describe the characters accordingly.
Q: Are you in control of your
characters or do they control you?
I start out in control. They always
take over.
Q: If you came with a warning label,
what would it say?
Don’t be fooled by my sweet
appearance. There’s a dark and twisted in mind in here that gets its way on the
page.
Q: Please tell us where we can find
you on the web.
http://www.ashleyjbarnard.com
is my website. Twitter is wckdwriter, and Facebook is wickedwriter7.
Thanks for popping by and I wish you
continued success in your writing career.
Thanks so much for having me!
Shadow Fox by Ashley J. Beanard
Synopsis
Jared
Bruin doesn’t know who he is. He remembers nothing of his early childhood
before the age of seven when he was abandoned in a park in St.
Louis
Almost
twenty years later, as he is battling a heroin addiction, suicidal tendencies
and a violent affliction he doesn't understand, he is hired to teach swordplay
to an enigmatic woman with secrets of her own, who somehow provides a link to
his past.
Then a
missing journal arrives that provides many answers to Jared’s past, and in it
another world is revealed, one of a Goddess, prophecies, elves, a devastating
love triangle, and a war in desperate need of a hero.
Excerpt (PG):
“Do you mind if we start over?”
“Not at all,” she said and took his
hand.
“Hullo. I’m Jared.”
“Glad to meet you. I’m Tarika.”
They shook hands, laughing, and she
caught sight of the inside of his wrist. The remnant of his self-inflicted wound,
though over a year old, still bore a raw and purplish countenance around the
raised and striking white line of the scar, and there was absolutely no doubt
as to the nature of it. His breath catching in his throat, he tried to pull his
hand out of her grasp but her fingers tightened around his and refused to let
go. With the fingers of her free hand, she lightly traced the scar all the way
up his forearm. The touch was so incredibly intimate Jared felt as though she
had undressed him.
“Why did you do this?” she said,
her eyes riveted to the scar.
“I . . .”
She looked up and met his gaze, and
he saw that her eyes were glazed over. As many seconds of palpable silence
passed, Jared tried several times unsuccessfully to pull away from her.
Finally she spoke, and her voice
sounded distant and utterly different. “You don’t know who you are. There is
something inside you that . . . you are hiding from yourself and others . . .
something you find terrible –”
Politeness be damned, he started to
yank his hand out of hers, only to have her fingers tighten so forcefully he
started to squirm. A distant voice in his head, oblivious to the circumstances,
said, Those are a fencer’s hands, no doubt about it.
“You’re afraid of it, you don’t
understand it, you fear it will consume you –”
Using his free hand as leverage, he
finally managed to pull his hand from her grip and put both hands on her
shoulders, shaking her, furious.
“Stop!”
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