Welcome Crimson Romance author, Ashlinn Craven...

Hi Ashlinn! It's great to have you here and have the chance to learn more about you and your work. Wishing much sales and success with your latest release, BUILDING MR. DARCY. Let's kick off with my questions...

1.)                What did you want to be when you grew up?

Like Rhoda Baxter (recently featured on your blog and whose books I adore) I wanted to be an astronaut. Heck, I still want to be an astronaut. I also wanted to be a mom. That, I managed.

2.)                Coffee, tea or hot chocolate?

Coffee. Cannot stand the other two.

3.)                What genre do you typically read? Why?

Romance, subgenres: rom-com, NA, sports, historical, sci-fi—whatever’s looking good on the day. Why? Because I know it’ll be uplifting, and I need uplifting. If any other genre had the same guarantee, I’d probably read more of them too. I used to only read the classics and sci-fi and I didn’t touch romance until well into my thirties. I feel I missed out on much that romance could have taught me in my teens and twenties.

4.)                Share a favourite childhood memory.
The very first time we (me and two brothers and three neighbour kids) crossed the barbed wire fence and the stream at the bottom of our neighbours’ garden and raced into the fields and woods beyond where we had a picnic. No adults. It felt like Narnia and Enid Blyton wrapped in one.

5.)                Do you have any shameless addictions? ie. Tea, Books, Shoes, Clothes?
Music videos on YouTube, anything from piano tutorials to Britain’s Got Talent. Oh the hours of my life that I will never get back.

6.)                What do you think is the biggest challenge of writing a new book?
Truly believing that the plot I’ve written is going to hold up when I’m 27000 words in. If there’s going to be a problem, it’s going to rear its ugly head then. And it happens more often than not.

7.)                Do you aim for a set amount of words/pages a day?
For first draft, I’m trying to do this thing where I do 2k/hour. Doesn’t matter if I then just write one hour a day or four. But I try to get at least 4k/day. Sometimes I dictate with Dragon.

8.)                What are your thoughts on writing a book series?
It’s vital in order to get ahead in today’s crowded(insane) market. I’ve done one, but I need a couple more. Best and most fun way is to collaborate with another writer you trust which I was lucky to be able to do on my High Octane F1 racing series. I want to continue the artificially intelligent Mr. Darcy theme too because it’s got some of my readers very excited!

LINKS:



It is a truth universally acknowledged . . . that Jane Austen set the bar for romantic male leads way back in 1813. What mortal man could live up to the gruff yet golden-hearted Mr. Darcy?
Now programmer Zoe Bunsen thinks she has the cure to two centuries' worth of female disillusionment: a new artificial intelligence program that looks, talks, and thinks like Darcy. No way will she let the chauvinistic atmosphere at her company nor her stuffy colleague, Max, get in the way of her wildest dream - creating the perfect man. Even if he isn't quite human . . .
Max Taggart, project manager extraordinaire, has crossed a continent to secure this high-profile position. His frustrating teammate Zoe may not know it, but everyone's jobs depend on not only the duo meeting the nearly impossible deadline but the new AI being a huge success. Mr. Darcy needs to sell, even if that means selling out a few literary details.
When the AI starts using its scary degree of emotional intelligence to reveal their individual secrets, Zoe and Max must rethink everything, and a surprising connection begins to develop. Will these two unlikely cohorts cling to their prejudices or toss pride aside and admit love is stronger than a fantasy?
AUTHOR



1 comment

  1. Hooray, another wannabe astronaut! Great interview! :-)

    ReplyDelete