Jennifer,
Thank you so much for
having me on your blog. I’d love to offer your readers a chance to win Shadow
Watcher delivered to their Kindle or Nook. Also, I’m running a contest on my
website, www.ashlynmathews.com, to
win all three of my books. Good luck!
Was your road to publication a delightful stroll in the park
or a tiring jog over hot coals? My road
to publication was easy. Sometimes so easy, I’m embarrassed to admit it. However,
it’s the “after” that was the most challenging. For Shadow Watcher, I was asked
by my editor to do a “wholesale rewrite.” What that meant was several subplots
were cut, secondary characters were killed off, and my premise of the hero and
heroine being soul mates was abandoned. I also went from a 75k manuscript to
55k. That happened in 3 weeks. I agonized and cried over the changes. However,
in the end, I hunkered down and rewrote/revise, and I think my story is better
for it.
What is the most difficult for you to write: Characters,
conflict, emotions? Conveying emotion on
paper is the hardest for me. Conflict I get. My characters I know from birth
before I write their stories. But to convey emotion in a non-cliché manner is
hard. I remember with Shadow Watcher, my editor was like, this is a romance.
Readers expect your characters to show or tell us what they feel. I’m very
action oriented so I try to convey my characters’ emotions through action. That
may or may not be the right way to do it, but that’s what has worked for me. A
character can only cry or smile in so many different ways, lol.
Do you have critique partners? I don’t have critique partners but I use two or three consistent beta
readers who give me a general idea of what they like/dislike, any plot holes,
and clarification points that need addressing. They don’t focus on grammar but
the overall picture. I find this process more useful than a critique group or
partner. When I have used critique partners or a group, I find that it takes me
longer to finish a book because I’m constantly changing things based on that
critique. Then I doubt myself and it becomes a spiraling free fall of constant
rewrites and edits which I don’t have the patience for. I get really cranky,
lol. I’m sure for some writers, a critique group is invaluable. I say do
whatever works!
What music are you listening to lately? I like to listen to angsty, haunting music that represents my books.
For Shadow Watcher, I suggest Skillet’s Awake and Alive. For If Only, it’s 3
Doors Down’s Here By Me. Right now, I’m listening to Richard Marx’s Hazard
based off of a fellow author’s top 10 favorite tunes. Mostly, I like rock. But
I enjoy all types of music. For my latest WIP, Echo UnMarked, it’s the Phantom
of the Opera.
Tell us a little about your WIP. My next WIP is Echo UnMarked, a Shadow Watcher novel. I have some ideas
of a plot but nothing concrete yet. Readers can find a blurb and excerpt on my
website www.ashlynmathews.com.
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Favorite romance movie? One
of my favorite romance movies is House of Flying Daggers. The movie begs the
question of “Is there such a thing as love at first sight?” It’s a tragic love
story with a love triangle set in the forefront of an impending war. I’ve
watched it several times and the ending still has me grabbing for my box of
Kleenex.
Blurb for Shadow
Watcher: Demon Hunter Sophie Sinclair and ex-Homicide Detective Ryan
Campbell are pitted against one another, tested by mysterious forces in a
dangerous game of secret identities, contracts for murder, and past betrayals.
Sophie Sinclair was presumed dead. When an enemy’s
transmitter reveals her existence, she must return home to bargain for her
ex-lover’s life and face the unanswered questions from her past.
Ryan Campbell is a reluctant fighter. Bitter since his
father’s murder, he wants nothing to do with the paranormal world. When his act
of betrayal is discovered, he must do the unthinkable to save his life.
Duty above love, duty above family, and to protect the weak
from the strong. Sophie has always lived by her family’s motto. Will she choose
to protect the ex-lover from her past or the reluctant fighter who could be her
future? She can save only one man.
If Only (Available
12/3/12): One night. One accident. A
friendship torn. A chance at love lost.
Excerpt:
A funeral was the worst place for a reunion. Beneath her
umbrella, Asa kept her head lowered. Otherwise, her eyes would be drawn to the
man standing in front of the casket, his shoulders hunched beneath his suit,
his gaze down cast as cold rain fell from the skies.
Rhys Miles. The man who had hurt her with an insensitive
comment during one of the most memorable nights of her life, and a man she had
hurt in return with her own painful words. The minister’s final prayer and the
whispers of “Amen” from the handful of mourners pulled Asa out of her thoughts.
Giving the casket one last glance, she hurried away, but wasn’t quick enough.
“You weren’t invited,
Asa.”
Rhys’s tone was harsh and filled with animosity. Asa dug her
nails into her palm and gripped the umbrella’s handle tight. Yet, beneath his
dislike of her was a grief she could relate with, and for his sadness, she
stopped and faced the man who used to be one of her good friends.
“I loved your grandmother, and she cared about me. I have
every right to be here.”
Unlike the other mourners, who came prepared with an
umbrella in hand, Rhys appeared to enjoy the rain as he tilted his face to the
sky. The ink of his hair appeared darker than her own strands of black, if that
were possible, while his suit molded to his body like a woman offering him her
comfort.
He was a tall guy. If things were different between them,
she could share in his grief and settle her head on his chest, over the spot
above his heart. She’d run her fingers across the straight brows over his
intense hazel eyes then down the chiseled plane of his face before she would
press her lips to his cheek.
But their situation remained the same for the past year. He
avoided her. She tried to forget him. It hadn’t been easy. Asa waited for him
to say something, anything. The rain continued to fall while his silence echoed
in her ears.
Taking a deep breath, he redirected his attention back on
her. “You might’ve been Jo’s neighbor, and yeah, she might’ve loved you like
you were her own flesh and blood, but she damn well knows how I feel about
you.”
How I feel about you.
His last words whispered hot on her forehead. The umbrella, with its edges
tipped upward, should’ve distanced them. Instead it concealed their exchange
from curious stares as the others filtered to their cars leaving her alone with
him.
Shoving her free hand inside her coat pocket, Asa mentally
counted to ten. The simple task proved difficult. She hadn’t been this close to
Rhys since they had slept together at a party almost a year ago.
He had loosened the tie around his neck, exposing tan skin
she remembered flicking her tongue over, the salty taste of him from their
lovemaking still embedded deep in her memory. Through the smell of wet rain,
she caught a whiff of his deodorant. Old Spice. Sexy, familiar, and very much
Rhys.
