Ashlyn Chase

I promised myself I wouldn’t be that chick. You know the one…she fawns all over her favorite author like it will somehow rub off on her. Well, I tried not to, I really did, but I’m afraid I fawned.

At our recent Let Your Imagination Take Flight conference, our keynote speaker was Mary Janice Davidson. I love her—um, you know, her books! They’ve provided hours of pure, guilt-free escapism for me. I’ve followed her career for years and have read at least half of her four page backlist. Well, during her keynote speech, she talked about being a fan girl herself! (Really?) Apparently she was invited to a book signing with two of her idols and admitted to touching them ever chance she got. Oh no! It was at that moment, I realized I’d touched her arm a few times too! Gaaaa! I was a fan girl! Oh, and that’s not all…

One bonus of being on the conference committee is that you get to go out to dinner with all the VIPs the night before the conference. It’s a chance to relax and socialize in an informal atmosphere. Well, that evening I told MJ (I can call her MJ now) I had a book plate with her signature on it, but I didn’t stick it in a book. I set it on my desk for inspiration. She said in her typical MJ fashion, “Oh…that’s nice—creepy, but nice.”
Well, I may have been a little too informal. I shared a yummy appetizer with Brenda Novak, dropped half of it on my jersey…and double dipped! (Eek.) I told her the minute I realized it, and assured her I was healthy. You know what? She was fine with it and actually double dipped too. These wonderful best sellers are people! Good people!

I’m finally used to having Barbara Keiler, aka Judith Arnold, around. But who knew she could crack me up as much as MJ did! It was a very fun-filled, belly-filled night. But, because I’m lame, I had to be the first one to leave and go to bed at ten-thirty. I just wasn’t able to stay up past my bedtime. It was probably a good thing since I was running around the next day, setting up the raffle table, giving a workshop and moderating another one.

Even though I was on the conference committee this year, I was able to attend a couple of workshops. They were fantastic. I’m really proud of the line-up we had and how many positive comments we heard afterward. For those of you who missed it, don’t worry. It’s not too late. You can order the conference on CD! The individual workshops are very reasonable priced and the whole set is well worth it! Check out our website www.necrwa.org to find out how to order. Or put this into your browser: http://www.fleetwoodonsite.com/index.php

This is so typical of the creative life. The opinions on your work are subjective. Some of us have a hard time remembering these judgments aren’t personal, even if they seem like it. Thomas Wolfe said, “Every novel is an autobiography.” In a way, that’s true. I can only write from my own head, and maybe that’s why attacks on our “babies” feel like attacks on us.

Now, what if you can separate personal attacks on you from subjective opinions on your work? Is it any easier? Not if you want to please all of the people absolutely all of the time. Most of us want our work to be well received. Some artists may prefer to provoke rather than entertain, but as long as they get the reaction they’re looking for, they’re happy.

The comedy writers of the world are especially apt to be misunderstood if people don’t realize their tongues are firmly planted in their cheeks! I once wrote a silly comedy about reincarnation. In our Judeo Christian society, the idea is ripe for satire! The majority of my readership probably doesn’t believe in reincarnation as a certainty, so that wasn’t the hot button.

Unfortunately, I addressed the subject of suicide in the story. Now many people do have a strong opinion on suicide and experience with people who’ve either thought about it or attempted it. Some people really liked the story and I received some glowing reviews. Others skewered me. They reacted to me like the folks who rolled down the car window and yelled, “Whore” to Penelope. She’s not a whore and I don’t think suicide is funny.

Does that mean writers should shy away from all possible hot buttons? How can you? Are they listed somewhere? Potentially, anything could be a hot button. You could write about a car or a prom and wind up dealing with controversy. Stephen King did. But he was going for horror and it made his career. His belief? “The innocent must suffer.” 

My belief? Humor can be found in just about anything…even rejection. And that is a tough lesson to learn. That thick skin people mention is painful to grow. Your skin has to be attacked a few times before calluses form. Attacked too much and a person becomes callus and bitter. There’s a reason callus has two meanings. One’s a very appropriate metaphor…and kind of funny if you think about it.

I’m thrilled to say I was able to write my usual 1,000 words this a.m. Something was missing when I couldn’t do that!

I had an interview that just came out on my friend’s yahoo loop. awakeningdesires@yahoogroups.com
Check it out for more up to date career news. If you want the personal details on my surgery, I put those on my personal blog. http://www.ashlynchase.com

Yet, 3 times now I’ve had reviews critical of me because of the brevity of these Quickies. *Sigh.

Do reviewers realize sometimes we’re given a word count and not allowed to go over it?

That’s the case with my latest Quickie, the fundraiser! 11 of us contributed to it, and since they were talking about making two print anthologies out of them, we were cut off at 15K. Mine was about 14.5K.

After the year with no royalties, I think I’ll rewrite and expand this book and put it in my own anthology.

Meanwhile, if reviewers don’t like short stories, please pass on them in favor of longer ones.

Her life was far too short, the loss to her family too sad to imagine. But what we hope for Lara Punches is that there is a special place in heaven where animals and the people who love them go, and that she’s making new friends there and finding old friends as well.

Many of our readers and friends know Lara’s mother, Martha Punches, as that wonderful, upbeat, helpful soul in charge of Ellora’s Cave/Cerridwen Press customer service. Several of our authors were so moved by the heartbreaking story of Lara’s death, they decided to honor her memory by donating to her family a portion of the proceeds from books dedicated to Lara. Those books begin releasing this month.

Everyone who knows Martha loves her. And everyone who knows Martha knows that Lara was the apple of her eye. She was crazy about that girl. Never pretended her daughter was perfect, just enjoyed her company immensely and delighted in watching the wonder that was Lara unfold.

When Lara went off to Fort Wayne to study to become a veterinary technician, Martha was excited for her. Lara loved animals and was pursuing her passion, doing what she had wanted to do since she was in eighth grade. The school was an hour’s drive from home, far enough so she could be independent but close enough that Martha and Lara’s dad, Paul, could still see her often.

Lara was close to her parents and kept in touch by text, email and phone frequently while she was away. “Sometimes it would just be a one-word text, ‘hi’,” Martha said in a recent WANE TV interview. Lara and Martha had been emailing back and forth on the evening of January 22 while Lara studied for a test and Martha worked. Around 10:30 Lara called to say goodnight before going to bed.

A few hours later, around 5 a.m., Lara called again. Her apartment complex was on fire and she and her two roommates were trapped in their second-floor bathroom. All Martha and Paul could do was try to help her calm down and pray rescue workers would get through to them in time. They were on the phone with her until she lost consciousness from smoke inhalation.

When the firefighters arrived, they launched a heroic rescue effort. By the time they reached the second floor, the blaze was so advanced that the floor was already beginning to fall in and the ceiling was engulfed in flames. Lara and her roommates were taken immediately to the hospital.

Jennifer Spurgeon, 19, died the next day. Renee Patton, 18, died two days after that. There was hope for several agonizing days that Lara might pull through. Many, many people prayed for her, from devout Christians to those who were a little rusty in the talking-to-God department. But the damage to her brain was too severe. She died on February 12. She was 19 years old.

The tragedy of Lara’s death might have destroyed a lesser woman, but Martha’s strength, courage and faith through the ordeal have inspired the people who know her, even as we ache for her. She finds some comfort in the fact that Lara chose to be an organ-and-tissue donor and that parts of her will live on and might help up to 100 people. And Martha hopes that people who hear Lara’s story will understand the dangers of smoke inhalation and be moved to install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

She also tries to focus on the good stuff in Lara’s life. “She had a lot of dreams,” said Martha. “She also had a good life and good friends who loved her.” Shortly after Lara’s death, a friend of hers visited Martha and Paul and they found a text message in the inbox on Lara’s old cell phone. As the friend read it out loud, Martha felt as if Lara was speaking directly to them all. Part of the message said, “What would you do if your best friend died tomorrow and you never got to tell them how you felt? So, I just wanted to say, even if I never talk to you again in my life, you are special to me and you have made a difference in my life. I look up to you and respect you and truly cherish you…” Martha said in a message to her colleagues, “I don’t know who sent that to her but in my heart of hearts, I can almost believe she sent it to us.”

Acceptance, says Martha, has been the hardest part. “I keep thinking she’s going to walk through the door.” Again it is her faith that gets her through. “She knew she was a child of God and that she would go to be with him when she died. It just happened so much sooner than we ever thought it would. Someday I’ll see her again. … I’ll cherish that day when it comes.”

A portion of royalties from the following books will be donated to the Punches family in Lara’s honor:
Best Friends Forever by Kate Douglas (released June 17)
Honey by Ari Thatcher (released June 19)
Sweet Buns by Marilu Mann (releases June 26)
Phantom Affair by Katherine Kingston (releases July 3)
Stray Lovers by Dalton Diaz (releases July 31)
Marry Me, Marietta by Cindy Spencer Pape (releases September
These books do not yet have release dates scheduled:
A Little White Lie by Mackenzie McKade
Nightwalker’s Pet by Cricket Starr
Giggles by Gabby by Ashlyn Chase *release date 9/15/09
Just Being Neighborly by Kaenar Langford
No Regrets by Joanna Wylde
Tuesday Afternoons by Brynn Paulin

This dedication will accompany each book:
This story is lovingly dedicated to the memory of a lovely young lady.
Lara Anne Punches
10/4/1989 to 2/12/2009
You touched the hearts of more people in your short 19 years on earth than you could have ever imagined possible.

For those wishing to make a donation in Lara’s memory, the family has suggested the Defiance County Humane Society or First Presbyterian Church in Paulding, Ohio. You can sign the guest book and leave memories at www.defiancefuneralhome.com.

To see Martha’s full television interview, visit WANE.com.

I’ve been trying to write this article forever, and I’m not sure why it’s been so hard. It seemed up until our current administration ‘family values’ had become a catch word for ultra conservative morals. Sex was taboo, yet violence was everywhere. In movies, music, and TV shows. Was it a case of ‘Art imitating life?’ Violence in schools, TV news war coverage, innocent children and animals being subjected to horrible treatment… That is, to me, immoral.

Our new president and his wife aren’t afraid to show affection for each other on world television. Thank goodness! The new administration also seems better able to think and discuss delicate situations before they act. I’m hopeful for the first time in a long time that our world might be able to turn itself around.

More and more people are buying romance novels and the demand for erotic romance keeps growing. Is that reflective of art imitating life or of life turning to art to reframe its bleak reality. As long as we continue to make love, not war, I’m in. I think we’re headed in the right direction.

Is that what’s in store for me? Oh no! I’m still in my bathrobe when the mail arrives.

I’ve been fairly quiet here, so I thought I’d share what I’ve been doing. My first mass market paperback hasn’t hit the editor’s desk yet. (Ash chews fingernails.) It’s going through my critique partner’s loving red pen slashes. Yes, loving. She catches every misplaced quotation mark and repeated word. When I see her tomorrow for our weekly chop session, I’m going to kiss her feet. I’d better email her ahead of time and ask her to shower first.

I’m especially grateful right now because my agent asked to see what I had so she could give me an opinion on a scene I was thinking of cutting completely and replacing with something very different. Only about one third has critiqued and repaired so far.

“Aw, it’s not that bad. I’m sure she’ll forgive a missed comma or two,” I thought. So I sent it. Then I continued on to self-edit before showing the next two chapters to Diana (my critique partner.)

Horrors! For some reason, I had forgotten how awful my words were before Diana spotted the bad ones and brainstormed better ones with me. I wanted to put my head in my hands and cry. I wanted to reach through cyperspace and drag that ms. back from my agent’s laptop–even if she had printed out the pages and they were literally sitting atop her lap!

If I don’t hear from her with some kind of positive encouragement, I’ll assume she’s off shredding my contract!  Oh, the humanity!!!

Oh, why do I do this to myself? Nobody’s perfect, right? Nobody! Even those who seem to think they are fail the perfection test for that thought alone (as well as being insufferable bores.)

Oy. There’s no way around it. I’m not perfect and I imagine my agent knows that. I hope she’ll be so captivated with the story she won’t notice I used the word ‘actually’ three times in one paragraph. Maybe she doesn’t care if the word him was supposed to be her and the whole meaning of the sentence changed. LOL (Oh no! I’m toast.)

Fortunately, my deadline was extended to July 31st so the WHOLE thing can benefit from my critique partner’s loving suggestions before those editing letters start flying through the mail.

Positive footnote: I plotted book two in the three book series.  (Well, at least that’s off my plate!)

Ash

TITLE: Vampire Vintage

PUBLISHER: Ellora’s Cave

RELEASE DATE: March 14, 2007
URL TO PURCHASE ALL MY ELLORA’S CAVE BOOKS: http://www.jasminejade.com/m-278-ashlyn-chase.aspx

URL FOR EXCERPT:

http://www.jasminejade.com/pm-6404-278-vampire-vintage.aspx

GENRE: Paranormal Erotic Romance/Vampire, Comedy, Suspense

LENGTH: Plus Novel

ISBN# 9781419958588 order from www.jasminejade.com or Amazon or from me if you want it signed!

BLURB:

Maura Keegan, addicted to vampire romance novels, decides to add a Gothic section to her vintage clothing store in SoHo…  What better way to get a tax-deductible trip to ….Romania….—and meet her future vampire mate?

Adrian, a sexy vampire living right under her nose in ..New York.., owns a vineyard in ….France…. producing very special wine for exclusive clients. It allows him and others like him to walk in daylight and avoid snacking on strangers.

He’s horrified to learn that the redhead he admires is planning to visit ….Romania…. to summon a ‘real’ vampire.  ….Adrian…. has every intention of being that vampire.  Only trouble is, she thinks he’s a wino tourist intent on spoiling her fun.  A visit to his wacky Romanian family might help convince her he’s for real, or send her screaming into the night.

.. ..

If you come across a pirate site,
please go to this link “Authors Against E-piracy” and report the link to
them. They will investigate and shut them down.

Author’s against e-piracy link: http://www.iwofa.net/Epiracy.htm

Here are some other things authors are doing to protect their salaries.

1) If you belong to RWA, report these sites or individuals to them. They are in the process of finding these bastards and taking legal action against them.

2) Report these sites to your publishers. You are not the only one losing money. Some publishers have lawyers on staff (like mine) or have one available for consultation and they can send a cease and desist letter that holds a lot more weight than from an author.

3) In lieu of a lawyer, you can report scams and piracy to this site. abuse@mediafire.com
or directly to the FBI. I include a nicely worded warning on my website’s Books Page, including the FBI site where you can report copyright infringement. Here it is:

E-piracy hurts writers
and is punishable by a $250,000 fine and up
to five years in jail.
Please don’t do
business with e-pirates
for both of our sakes.
http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/

Feel free to copy it and use it on your websites. You have my permission and encouragement to do so.

4) Whenever someone wins a book from you, imprint upon them the legalities by having them sign a waver before sending them your book. Here’s an example offered to any author who wants it:

WAIVER:

To Cheryl’s Book Nook (insert the proper name here)

I, Keta Diablo, do not grant permission for this book to be copied in
any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another
through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program or as a prize in
any other contest. This includes other review sites, readers and blogs.

Such action is illegal and in violation of the US Copyright Law.

When you no longer want the book, it must be deleted from your computer.
If you agree to these stipulations, please email me back and I will send
the book to you.

Keta Diablo, Author
www.ketadiablo.com

Linked In, that’s what. So far, it’s okay. Looks like a great place to network without a lot of nonsense.

I’ll try anything that sounds benign, knowing I can always unsubscribe if I need to. Facebook is history. All the virtual “gifts,” hugs, and invitations to play games just cut into my writing time and made me go grrr… Anything that  makes me growl has got to go. 

MySpace on the other hand, I love. After finally getting the hang of it, I can easily check in a couple of times a week and update my blog, send news to all my friends at once, enjoy comments people leave and it’s always fun to make another friend. I may not have a lot of time to devote to it, but I enjoy the time I’m there.  Friend me~! www.myspace.com/ashlynchase

I’ve been warned away from Grouply so won’t even try it. I hear they pirate your address book so if someone send you an invitation, it may not have been sent by them at all!  Yikes! The Internet is a double edged sword.

What groups do you enjoy?

Ash