Howdy, All!
Today we have a special treat, L.A. Ashton has dropped by to answer some questions so we can get to know them a little better and to discover their fantastically interesting vampire-themed urban fantasy, Echoes. There might be a teaser about a new book too.
L.A. Ashton, welcome to my blog.
L.A. Ashton: “Thanks for having me! I enjoy seeing you around the interwebs; you’re fun and I think we have really similar taste! It’s an honor.”
JP Jackson: <blushes>“I was so happy you decided to come for a visit. I haven’t had a chance to read your book yet, but what an intriguing concept, looking into the lives of two ancient vampires. I need more time each day to read all the cool books.”
L.A. Ashton: “Big same. So, I hear there are some rapid-fire questions I have to endure?”
JP Jackson: “LOL, Why does everyone hate these? They’re not so bad. Come on, let’s do the first one – which would you rather, long winding country road or off the path hiking trail?”
L.A. Ashton: “Both of these are excellent! But let’s go with hiking trail.”
JP Jackson: <snicker> “Watch out for bears!”
L.A. Ashton: “HAH! I see what you did there. Bears can come too!” <Winks>
JP Jackson: “Yay for bears! Okay, what time of the day do you think is your peak performance time?”
L.A. Ashton: “Between 10am and 5pm; after the coffee and emails and before one of my partners starts begging me to leave the book alone, lol!”
JP Jackson: “Ha! I know exactly what you mean. My husband is regularly poking his head into my writing room and asking ‘what you up to?’ which is just the cutest thing, but that usually means he wants me to come sit with him. Partners. Ugh. Am I right?”
L.A. Ashton: “Yeah, what the heck? It’s like they love us or something!”
JP Jackson: <Laughs> “Totally. Alright, as an author, I’m sure you’ve come across many words, made up or slang. What word would you add to the dictionary if you could?”
L.A. Ashton: <Blank Stare> “Hold on, doing a Big Think. Uh… uhhhhhh…
…
…
“This isn’t very rapid-fire lol. How about… instead of the dictionary, I wish that “sparkly jerk” would be added to TVTropes.com! Alyssa Wong (@crashwong on Twitter) used it to describe one of her preferred character archetypes and it’s one of my favorite things. I love sparkly jerks and think they should be properly recognized!”
JP Jackson: “Sparkly Jerks it is. Although I’ll confess, I’m not entirely sure I understand the depths to which that term could be used. Right now I’m thinking of a punk rocker decked out with a pink Mohawk, a silver vest, and bright purple doc martens. The attitude on them is palpable. How about that? Close? ”
L.A. Ashton: “Lol! It’s more like… they’re assholes but you love them anyway? Like they have this irritating charm that you just can’t deny. Think… did you watch True Blood? Eric Northman is a sparkly jerk! Jamie Lannister and Han Solo are at least Sparkly Jerk Adjacent.”
JP Jackson: “OMG! I hated Eric Northman – what an asshat. But damn, that body. Okay, I get it. Adorable Assholes. My brain is twisting with options here for characters – I’m starting the plot/characters/outline for a new project and I think I can totally use a Sparkly Jerk! Alright – What’s your favorite “go to” piece of clothing right now?”
L.A. Ashton: “Leggings (because real pants are the devil) and/or any clothes that show off my tattoos! I have a big one on my back that doesn’t often see the light.”
JP Jackson: “Cool! I have one on my back too – although, not big, but it rarely sees the light of day. Maybe I just need more tattoos, ones that peek out from the clothing I wear. Yes! Okay, you’ve convinced me. More tattoos it is. Finish this sentence for me: When I dance I look like…”
L.A. Ashton: “A pleased goblin!”
JP Jackson: “HA! OMG, that’s priceless. I love it. Haphazard, hands flailing, no one’s quite sure what the hell they’re listening to…but the goblin doesn’t care and keep right on dancing.”
L.A. Ashton: “It’s like you’ve seen it yourself!”
JP Jackson: “Seen it? I’ve done it. Delicious. Okay – what’s your favorite TV show?”
L.A. Ashton: “Brooklyn 99! Game of Thrones used to be up there, but, well…”
JP Jackson: “What was it? The ending? Or the fact that it’s just all over?”
L.A. Ashton: <groans> “The ending was Real Bad. Tossed character development out the window. Forgot how to pace an episode. Other things.”
JP Jackson: “I gotta be honest – I didn’t see that option of an ending coming, but the more time I sit with it, I think the more I like it. Seems rather fitting. I know, not everyone will agree.
L.A. Ashton: “Honestly, I think that specific outcome could have been amazing. I just don’t think they did it well. [spoilers] I’m a villain fucker (read: love Loki, Darth Vader, cried when one of the Seven Deadly Sins died in Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood), but I don’t think they approached it or paced it well at all.
JP Jackson: “I love your terminology. I need to have more conversations with you. Villian Fucker.” <laughs> “I hear ya. I’m a Sith, and I belong to Slytherin. Too bad people are all frightened of villains – we not so bad…so, on that note – what’s your greatest fear?”
L.A. Ashton: “Never feeling successful.”
JP Jackson: “Now I’m definitely having you back. You have two novels released with … something else coming…I’m dying to know what your definition of success is! For another visit perhaps?”
L.A. Ashton: <laughs> “That would be a long conversation, but I’d love to have it with you.”
JP Jackson: “Alright then. It’s a date! Describe yourself in 3 words.”
L.A. Ashton: “Oh, let’s see. Imma go with intense (in any and all directions), shy, and excitable.”
JP Jackson: “That’s an interesting combination! I can ‘feel’ that in my head, but I’m not sure I can picture it. You know what I mean? I get the range of emotions, but I’m not sure what a person would look like while embodying those characteristics. I need to watch you more!”
L.A. Ashton: “Pleased Goblin!” <Sticks tongue out>
JP Jackson: <laughs> “Okay, yup. I got it. Alright, tell me, who’s your favorite author, and why?”
L.A. Ashton: “It’s difficult for me to choose. I really love E. M. Hamill and J. S. Fields because they create really different, imaginative SFF worlds that feel super accessible. I grew up adoring Charlaine Harris because of her dynamic characters and how you felt like you were growing alongside real flesh and blood people.”
JP Jackson: “Did you know E.M. Hamill was here last month? Sat in that very same seat!”
L.A. Ashton: “No way!”
JP Jackson: “Yup! Promise, it’s all true. But I agree with you completely. On all three accounts. Fantastic authors. Charlaine Harris is one of my personal favorites. I LOVE Midnight Texas. Or are you a Sookie fan?”
L.A. Ashton: “Big Sookie fan……………… big Eric Northman fan.” <laughs>
JP Jackson: <giggles> “I get it. Charlaine is the bestest!. Okay, last question – Piercings?”
L.A. Ashton: “Yes! I have lots of ear piercings and two eyebrow piercings (on the same brow). I also find them really attractive on others!”
JP Jackson: “Oh well, then I’ll tell you I have a piercing you can’t see and leave it at that.” <laughs> “Okay, you made it through the Rapid-Fire! Now, tell me all about Echoes.”
L.A. Ashton: “Sure! Okay, well, Echoes is a paranormal romance, just around three hundred pages, and it has vampires!”
JP Jackson: “Gah! I LOVE vampires, but that makes me think of two questions for you. One, what draws you in to the Urban Fantasy genre? And then two, and I’ve asked others this question, considering the huge success with Twilight and Interview with a Vampire, and True Blood, why vampires? Why not something else?
L.A. Ashton: “Oh man, uh. Well, to answer the first question, growing up on Charlaine Harris and Laurell K. Hamilton was definitely a part of it. I also grew up on horror and paranormal movies because my mom was a huge fan. We spent a lot of happy nights with vampire movies and popcorn. So for me the genre takes me back to family memories that I cherish.
But to answer your second question, because my mom loved vampires, I grew up loving them too. But I wanted queer vampires. I wanted vampires like me, or protagonists like me, and I wasn’t getting them. And if I was still gobbling up all the vampire media I could consume, then surely there were more people like me out there.
Echoes was also an exercise in complete self-indulgence. I wrote it for me, with the tropes and archetypes I loved, and I didn’t give a single shit about whether or not a publisher would pick it up. It was a book for myself and every other queer paranormal fan, and I was going to self-publish it. I did self-publish it… and then it was contracted by Ninestar Press not four months later. I’m incredibly grateful, and I can’t lie—I feel a bit vindicated.”
JP Jackson: “Fantastic! Congratulations, by the way. I love NineStar. They gave me my start too, and they let me indulge myself. I think that’s so important. When you write for yourself, your passion comes through, and I think readers absorb that enthusiasm and relate to it.”
L.A. Ashton: “Most definitely! I learned that from my time in fandom; people like the things they like, and we should embrace it! Ninestar lets me take risks and I love that. It’s so much more fun when you’re writing for yourself and not worrying about a million outside factors.”
JP Jackson: “So, then, while writing away, without any of your partners bugging you,” <winks> “What kind of research did you have to do for this book? After all, your main characters are more than a few years old – your Urban Fantasy could have just as much been a period piece, no?
L.A. Ashton: “I had to do a lot of research into Native American tribes, where they might have interacted with the Vikings, how many of them are left, etc. It was… depressing. When delving into research about these things, it’s almost equally upsetting to realize everything they’ve gone through as well as how little information there is. I was unable to utilize the first and most viable tribe I investigated for Aranck because they had been completely wiped out, and information about their language was so sparse that I didn’t even feel confident to name people. The thought of all these people being forced out of existence in such a way—a way that left so little of them behind that they could be more easily forgotten than remembered—is deeply saddening and disturbing.
I knew more about Viking custom/culture/mythos because I’d always been interested, but it was really fun to bring them together. I love looking into different cultures and religions and seeing how they might overlap and interact.”
JP Jackson: “OOooh, Vikings. Again, next visit I think! Comparative Religions and Vikings. I alluded to this earlier, but I know you have a new release coming out soon, tell me all about it.”
L.A. Ashton: “One of the very few contemporary romances I’ve ever written, “Another Dance” is a novella about a shy journalist earning an interview with his figure skating idol. It’s another self-indulgent, tropey piece meant to feel good on the heart and soul.”
JP Jackson: “You know, in this day and age, I think things that are good for our hearts and souls shouldn’t be considered indulgent. I think they are necessary. We all need to smile more. Which book was easier to write? And how come?”
L.A. Ashton: “It warms my heart that you say that. I agree.
Even though Echoes is three times as long, it was easier. I wrote it in a month or two, and it was a lot like exorcizing all my gay vampire needs into a single messy word document. It came so naturally—partially because I’d wanted to write these things for so long and never allowed myself, and partially because Oskar and Aranck became very loud very quickly. Maybe they were just desperate to be together after a thousand years.”
JP Jackson: “’Exorcising my gay vampire needs’, Imma gonna use that one for days! I know one author who regularly says that writing shouldn’t be hard – that when we are writing from our hearts, the story just pours out. Sounds like this was the case! Now I have to put this book on my TBR List and bump it up several notches (like at the top!). Seeing as how this was, by your own admission, self-indulgent, I have to ask you… I know I go out of my way to make sure the characters in my books do not reflect anyone I personally know. Do you do the same? Or do you sneak elements of your family and friends into your works”
L.A. Ashton: “Guilty! I should totally do things your way, but I can’t help myself. Little traits, fashion, hairstyles, etc. sneak into my work.”
JP Jackson: “But do you tell the people you know?”
L.A. Ashton: “Sometimes yes! Other times… absolutely not lol.”
<laughs>
JP Jackson: “Alrighty, so after your new release Anther Dance, anything else in store? Tease us!”
L.A. Ashton: “I’m currently agenting a book with one of my partners and hoping for the best! We’re working on another title, and there are some other gears turning, but I can’t say too much!”
JP Jackson: “Suspense and Mystery! Excellent, more fodder for next time. Well, all the best luck to you! So I know Another Dance just went up on the NineStar site for Pre-Order, so we’ll make sure we include links to that for you. But beyond that, where else can people find your works?”
L.A. Ashton: “NinestarPress.com, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or pretty much anywhere books are sold!”
JP Jackson: “Excellent. Again, check the bottom of this post for all the buy links. Now, how about if readers want to get in touch with you?”
L.A. Ashton: “I’d love that! You can always find me through my website, or on Twitter.”
JP Jackson: “Well, unfortunately, that’s all the time we have today, but thank you so much for coming by for the visit. I’ll have my people call your people so we can get together again.”
L.A. Ashton: “I’m looking forward to it!”
Click any of these links to go to L.A. Ashton’s books:
Amazon | NineStar Webstore | B&N | Kobo
To get in touch with L.A. Ashton click these links!
L.A. Ashton
L.A. Ashton is an LGBT+ author writing LGBT+ fiction. They enjoy rock music, traveling, and anything else that adds color to their daydreams. They believe in the healing properties of art and of having a cat firmly stationed on one’s lap. Their official site can be found at www.LAAshton.com.
J.P. Jackson 