AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – Ashley Suzanne

It’s Thursday, you know what that means….another Author Spotlight!

This week, Ashley Suzanne has stopped by. Ashley is the author of Mirage and Inception, and took some time out of her day to answer some questions. 🙂

Synopsis of Mirage:

Mira and Kylee meet Danny and Skylar during freshman orientation, their first week of college. Two sets of best friends embark on a new adventure together, forming life long bonds.

Mira and Danny are looking forward to their future as husband and wife. Everything was going according to plan. That was until tragedy struck them on graduation night leaving three broken people to pick up the pieces.

Skylar has always stood in the background, watching his best friend begin a life with the woman he fell in love with until he can no longer keep a distance.

Right when Mira thinks her life is back on track it spirals out of control. What if everything you thought you knew was nothing more than a mirage?

Get to know…

You published your first book, Mirage, this summer. What has that experience been like for you? Am I allowed to say it’s been weird? Okay, I’m saying it. It’s been weird. But an awesome time! Writing Mirage was a lot of fun, publishing was terrifying and seeing people fall in love with my characters takes my breath away!
Is there any part of your books that you can personally relate to? Do any of the characters have traits that are you? Even though this book is fiction, it’s really close to my heart. A lot of the book are personal experiences of mine and the people I love. Of course they’re altered, to fit the fiction realm, but they hit really close to home. I’ve been to the clubhouse I described, my husband is a biker, Kylee is ALL my personality and Skylar, well, CRAP, I wanna marry him and have his babies!
What do your fans love most about your work? The biggest compliment I’ve received is that Mirage was a refreshing change to the typical romance novel. I know a lot of people hate cliffhangers and want a HEA for the characters, and I’m one of them. But I wanted to do a different kind of cliffy and the ones who read it like it!! Doing a well plotted CH is a biggie for me and I think I nailed it!
What can you tell us about Inception (The Destined Series)? Inception is Danny’s story. Inception will give NO resolution to the CH in Mirage, but give you a back story. Many readers who email/message/FB me are telling me that it made a lot of the pieces come together that they were missing in Mirage. And the love the bond between Danny and Skylar!!
Now that you have published a couple of books, what are your thoughts on the writing community? I love my colleagues. I love the bloggers. I love the readers. I couldn’t think of a better job! Hopefully one day it will be my career!
Have you always want to be a writer? When I was in high school, I took a lot of English courses. Creative Writing, Expository Writing ect. I also loved Drama and the creative process of writing a play. I wanted to create since forever ago. I never thought I would be a writer though. I would have seen myself more on a stage. Then one day, I realized that I would rather see my name in print than in lights and the rest is history!
If you weren’t an author, what do you think you’d be doing? The same thing I do now LOL. I’m a full time employee, a mom and a wife. I’m also a blogger. If I wasn’t spending my nights writing, I would be reading!
What do you consider the hardest part of writing? What is your favorite part? The hardest part for me was tenses. I hate tenses, HATE. I always get them confused. I know it sounds stupid, but when I’m writing, I just tell the story as it appears in my head. I’m sure my editor wants to stab me in the eyeballs by now. The best part is plot changes. When your story is going one way and then all of a sudden a light bulb goes off and BAM you have a totally different story!
Who would you consider your inspiration personally? Professionally? Personally, it’s my family. My family has stood by me and given me support in anything I ever wanted to do in life. They never think my dreams are stupid and even if I fail, they’re there to pick me up again. They’re kind of amazing! Professionally, it’s the other writers in the Indie community. I can’t single anyone out because they are all so amazing. There are a few who are my own personal “Yoda’s” and help me through everything. I really admire them, their work ethic and their craft. I hope to be as amazing as them one day.
What does your family think about your writing? Have they read your books? My husband supports me to the fullest. He does anything he can to make sure I have my time to write. My kids hate it. They miss mommy. I can’t blame them. My mom is currently reading Mirage and my aunt just finished. It’s kind of weird they are reading the “sex” I write, but oh well!!! I think it’s kind of funny now!
What would you consider to be your biggest accomplishment? Hmmmmm. This is a hard one. I’m going to say that getting my GED this year is my biggest accomplishment and my proudest moment. I dropped out of high school when I was 17 and had my oldest son. I never had the chance to finish. Even though I went to college and had a career, I wanted to prove something to myself and be a roll model for my kids. I didn’t want them to ever think they can take the easy way out and it will all be fine. I’m the exception to that rule. So I took my GED at 28!
If someone asked for your advice about writing a book, what would it be? If you can dream it, you can do it! If you want it bad enough, Make It Happen.
Who are your top 3 favorite authors? OH GOD! You’re trying to kill me. Okay, let’s see. Traditional Published Authors: Janet Evanovich, Maya Banks and Megan Hart. I will read anything they write. Indie Authors: I just can’t do it. I’ll give you a top 10, in no particular order. Pamela Ann, Madeline Sheehan, SE Hall, Hilary Storm, Mia Michele, Kendall Grey, Gail McHugh, Jasinda Wilder, Harper Sloan and Pepper Winters.
Are you reading anything right now? What? I’m currently reading Falling Into You by Jasinda Wilder and crying my freakin eyes out.
What are you working on right now? Awakening .. SQUEEEEEEEE
If you could say anything to your readers, what would you say? There’s not enough room. THANK YOU!!! I wouldn’t be able to do what I love without you and your support. Indie readers are some of the most loyal dedicated fans I have ever run across in any industry. You stick by your authors and have no problem messaging them to tell them you wanna cut them, hug them, smack them or hump their legs. You are all WONDERFUL!