Laura Ashton

Having my book published is a dream come true. My first book, Jasmine's Urban Cowboys is the first of a series entitled Sensual Awakenings. I write about ménages because, although I've not been fortunate to participate in one (one can dream, can't they?), nothing seems sexier or stimulates my imagination more than my heroine enjoying two or more hunky partners of the opposite sex. Grrrrrrrrr!

I spend winters in Sin City and summers in Northern Arizona. Don't be surprised if I use those places as settings for my upcoming books. I lived near Dallas a few years ago, so that's why I used it as the setting for my Sensual Awakening series.

My second book of the Sensual Awakening series was released Oct 2nd and is selling well. Thank you. I hope to have new books in the series out soon so just be patient. I'll pass anything new to you as soon as I find out.

LA

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Fun Q&As with LA

Q: Why don't we start with you telling us a little about yourself?

A: My age is one of those things you need a government clearance to know. Right now, I live in Las Vegas, but where I'd really like to live would be Santa Barbara. If I ever got to where I could live off my writing, I'd consider living there. Let's see, what else. I'm married to my second husband. Actually, hubby helped me quite a bit on the first book, but not the second. Had me a Jasmine type of divorce with husband number bye bye.

Q: Can you tell me about your writing routine? Do you write every day?

A: On work days I rise early and write for two or three hours before going to work. If I have time, I write for an hour or two after getting home. Unless I have something planned, I spend all weekends writing.

Q: Do you feel like you have an interesting perspective in the writing of a love scene?

A: Somewhat. I try to vary the scenes, both in the setting and method used. I also strive to be spontaneous and not sound like an instruction manual.

Q: Do you have any hobbies or interests beyond writing?

A: I like to do artsy things. I just finished a book trailer on Jasmine's Cowboys. I also like fooling with interior design, which may be why I made Jasmine an interior designer.

Q: Do you feel that part of yourself comes out onto the pages when you write?

A: Absolutely, I think every author does this. It's what they call, our voice.

Q: Is there any news or books coming soon or upcoming release you would like to share?

A: After Jasmine's Urban Cowboys, another Sensual Awakening book, Sharing Brenda, is in pre-publication. A third Sensual Awakening book, Victoria's Secret Life, is in the works and should be a dandy.

Q: Where would you like to visit sometime during your life?

A: Having spent my whole life west of the Mississippi, so far, I'd kind of like to travel back East. New York City and Washington D.C. I'd also love to see Paris. France, not Texas. LOL.

More Q & A from Laura

Q. Why did you become a writer? Was it a dream of yours since you were

younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?

A. I started putzing around on the computer and a story came out. I said, "This is slick. I want to do this for a living. I still want to do this for a living but they don't make it easy.

Q. What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike?

A. I absolutely love creating stories, giving life and breath to my imagination. No, I don't even mind promotion, though I resent that it eats into writing time.

Q. How do you balance your personal and writing time?

A. I don't. Writing time is a big fat hog.

Q. What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?

A. Contemporary romance. If I get tired of it I may try suspense thrillers or fantasy. My third book has a little suspense thriller in it.

Q. Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally

from your imagination?

A. A little of the former, especially names but mostly on the later.

Q. Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and

why?

A. Camilla, I modled her after a favorite aunt.

Q. What would you want readers to take away from your books?

A. Happiness, satisfaction (LOL) and entertainment.

Q. If you could be anyone or anything that you wanted, who or what would

you be?

A. I wouldn't mind being a sorceress. A good looking one of course in a permanent polyamorous relationship with two demi-gods.

Q. Okay how can we find you on the web? Do you have a web page or blog you

up keep?

www.laauthor.com

www.myspace/laauthor

Q. Where is your favorite place to write?

A. On my laptop, wherever it's convenient. I'm not fussy.

Q. What do you usually have with you when you write? Snacks, drinks,

notes??

A. Coffee. Rarely snacks.

Q. If you could live in any time or place or be one of your characters in

your books who or where would you be?

A. I think I'd like to be in Hollywood in the thirties and forties, when it was like paradise. Who would I like to be? Me of course.

Q. What character would you say has the most YOU in them or how you would

like to be?

A. Jasmine's without a doubt.

Q. How do you feel about reviews and readers emailing you about your books?

A. Sure I like reviews and fan mail, Fan mail makes my day. Since I'm so new I haven't had a lot but I'm looking for more. Ya hear that folks?

Black Raven Interview

Laura, tell us a little about yourself.

Hi everyone, I'm a fairly new author. Last year we spent winter in Las Vegas and this summer, we stayed in Prescott. Pronounced Pres'-kit. So, don't be surprised if I use those places as settings for my upcoming books. I lived near Dallas a few years ago, so that's why I used it as the setting for my Sensual Awakening series.

Having my book published is a dream come true. My first Siren Menage Amour release, Jasmine's Urban Cowboys, only came out four months ago and my second release, Sharing Brenda will become available October 2nd. I write about menages because, although I've not been fortunate to participate in one (one can dream, can't they?), nothing seems sexier or stimulates my imagination more than my heroine enjoying two or more hunky partners of the opposite sex. Grrrrrrrrrr!

My age is one of those things you need a government clearance to learn. Although right now I live in Las Vegas, where I'd really like to live would be Santa Barbara. If I ever got to where I could live off my writing, I'd consider living there. Let's see, what else. I'm married to my second husband. Actually, hubby helped me quite a bit on the first book, but not the second.

Laura, I'm glad you brought that up. I've heard you mention that you had a Jasmine type of divorce with "husband number bye bye and that your current husband helped you quite a bit with Jasmine's Urban Cowboys. Would you care to elaborate on those statements any further?

Blackraven, have you ever heard of the term scallywag? That's all I'll say about husband number bye-bye. Ted didn't exactly help a lot, but he did let me know when my male POV was off and make suggestions. He doesn't particularly like me writing mfm menages. I see his point of view, but I'm not going to stop. You think he might shape up if I wrote fmf menages? (wink)

I know he would prefer it in real life. LOL.

ROFLMAO! I'm familiar with the term sacallywag Laura and you're correct, enough said.

Now I loved Jasmine's Urban Cowboys, but I must admit that I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen to Brenda after her character was introduced in Jasmine's story. So, tell us about your upcoming release, Sharing Brenda.

I'm sure you can tell from the title-Sharing Brenda-that we're dealing with another mfm. I can't tell you too much about the story, but I will tell you a little about the characters. Brenda's heroes are Billy Joe Watkins and Salvador Rivas, so I guess the story could be considered interracial, though it doesn't feel like it. Camilla is in the story as well. I actually modeled her after my favorite Aunt. Naturally, she is one of my favorite characters.

I'm sure you've been asked this question many times, but I'm going to ask it again. What inspires your writing and how do you develop your characters?

I've always liked writing. The interaction of words and phrases always fascinated me. About three years ago, I decided to see if I could write fiction. It took a year or two to learn the ropes. I started writing Jasmine's Urban Cowboys about a year ago and Sharing Brenda seven months ago. As for my characters, it seems to be the story that dictates what they're going to be like, not me. You might say I inject my characters into the story rather than build the story around my characters.

Now Laura, I know most authors have a ritual they go through before they can sit down and write. What's yours? Are you considered a storyteller or a story builder? Do you write every day?

I used to think of myself as a storyteller, but I've changed my mind. I now think I build a story, like building with blocks, layer by layer. Each layer on top of the last. I never box myself in on an ending either. Usually my endings don't reveal themselves to me until two thirds through the book. I get some great endings that way.

I must agree with you on that because I didn't know what was going to happen with Jasmine until the end, which intrigued me and held my attention. That's a good thing because I get bored easily. Great job!

Who are some of your favorite authors and if we were to visit your home, what books would we find on your bookshelf?

Confession time. Since I started writing seriously, I haven't read a full length novel. Prior to that, I read mostly authors with a humorous, or horror bent. Janet Evanovich, Carl Hiaasen, Dean Koontz and F. Paul Wilson.

Favorite books by them are: One for the Money, Skinny Dip, Hideaway, and The Tomb.

That's not a bad thing. Leah Braemel said she doesn't read anything when she's writing a new book. Now when she finishes a book, she reads a novel as a treat to herself for finishing a new book. Maybe you could look at it that way.

What author(s) introduced you to romance, but more importantly erotic romance? What intrigued you about their books and made you want to write erotic romance?

My first exposure to erotica was through and author named Dan Simmons, who's really a sci-fi writer, but husband bye-bye had an erotic anthology by him that was wild. After reading that, I would periodically gloss over his erotic anthologies.

I suppose Emma Holly was my main erotic romance influence, not so much for her stories but for her writing. I wish I could make sentences flow as she does.

How do you determine which love scenes to put in your books? Is it based on your connection with the characters, from personal experience or friends' suggestion?

All I can tell you is it's entirely spontaneous, like good sex should be. Let's see, in Jasmine's Urban Cowboys, there are six sex scenes. Two in a bed, one in a whirlpool tub, one in a bar, one in a kitchen and one in a hot spring.

Now for my favorite part of the interview. What does it feel like being a new author? What projects are you currently working on?

Being published feels great. I feel fortunate being associated with a progressive company, SirenBookstrand. I've heard horror stories about some other publishers. The promotion is daunting though. I can see where it's necessary. After all, if I don't tell the world about my books, nobody else will, but it's tedious and takes time away from writing.

I'm finishing up Victoria's Secret Life. After that, who knows. I have ideas for several additional Sensual Awakening stories. I also want to look into writing western historicals.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I don't seem to have a lot of spare time, but when I do, I read and if we have time we like to travel. Last weekend, we spent two nights at the historic Boulder City Hotel. We loved it. Other places we like to visit are Sedona, Grand Canyon, Jerome and Payson. On our radar is Bisbee, Taos, Sante Fe, Lake Tahoe, Virginia City and Biosphere, IL.

You've mentioned that there's another story to be told in the Sensual Awakenings series - Vickie's story. Is this also a release we have to look forward to in the coming months? If not, when will it be released?

Vickie's Secret Life or Victoria's Secret Life, not sure which, is completed and I've been working the kinks out of it for the last two weeks. In case you haven't guessed, Victoria is Jasmine's matronly looking neighbor. I'm not sure when the book will be released. It may not be released until next year, but it will be worth waiting for.

Well Laura, our time has come to a close. It's been a pleasure having you visit The Blackraven's Erotic Cafe. Please feel free to come back anytime.

Thanks for having me Blackraven. It was fun.

AMANDA YOUNG INTERVIEW

Please welcome this weeks guest, Laura Ashton. Thanks for answering all my nosy questions, Laura.

Q: What genre do you write in, and why?

A: So far I write contemporary erotic ménage romance, I do have a Civil War era western erotic romance in my WIP though. (wink!)

Q: How long did you write before you received your first contract for publication?

A: I wrote for a long time before I decided to write fiction. Then when I decided that was what I wanted to write, I zeroed in on the a popular sub-genre, with a publisher who specialized in that sub-genre and my first two books were picked right up after about six months writing time.

Q: So, if you don't mind sharing, would you tell us about your latest work in progress?

A: Well my two upcoming books, Jasmine's Urban Cowboys and Sharing Brenda, were the first two books from my Sensual Awakenings Series, so my current WIP is book three of the series, Vickie's Secret and the Civil War story I mentioned, is called Desperate Love.

Q: Do you need to be in a specific place or atmosphere before the words flow?

A: Probably not a specific place or atmosphere, but I work much better in the wee early hours of the morning. I can't stand distractions. An exception to this is music. When I feel the need, it lubricates my mind and makes things flow better.

Q: If you could offer one tidbit of information for new writers, what would it be?

A: If you get disgusted with the closed door attitude of print publishers and agents, give digital publishing a try. You don't need an agent and the ebook industry is on the way up while the print book industry has an uncertain future.

I might add. You still need a good book, though.

Q: Do you have an evil day job or do you write full time?

A: Hey. I'm just starting. What do you think? I'm in the very unglamorous business of retail sales.

Q: What's your favorite dirty word?

A: Ah-hah! So this is an X rated interview. What other sexy questions do you have planned for me?

Q: Since you brought it up, if you could be intimate with three people (not necessarily all at one time *g*) without getting in trouble with your significant other, who would they be?

A: Boy! That would be the day, where I wouldn't get in trouble. Sounds like fun, though. Maybe you could talk with my husband. Tell him it would be research for our next novel. (wink!) Yeah he helps me, but I'm the driving force.

Okay, back to your penetrating question. Since I write ménages, if I could sleep with three hunks guilt free, it would definitely be at the same time. Now, who would the lucky lads be? I've always had a thing for Greg Kinnear, so he'd be number one, and rock musicians are sexy and the sexiest is Jon Bon Jovi, so he'd be number two, then I'd just have to have Wolverine in my bed, so Hugh Jackman would be number three and of course what ménage list would be complete without the irrepressible Brad Pitt. You did say four, didn't you?

Q: Do you have any tattoos or piercings?

A: No, my body is my temple, although I occasionally see a tattoo that catches my fancy and wonder how that would look on moi. However, hubby tried to convince me to get a boob job. I quizzed him, "Just what does 'for better or for worse mean'? I didn't ask you to get a penis enlargement, did I?"

Q: If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want with you?

A: We seem to be fixating on the number three. (snicker) Is it because I write ménages? Hmmm, stranded island? Assuming we had a renewable supply of bananas, coconuts and beer, I would like my laptop, with my solar charger, so I could work on my next novel. My husband in a loin cloth and if he wasn't available, my vibrator with a lifetime supply of batteries. Let's see that leaves one more thing right?

I know, a magic lantern complete with genie so he could grant me three wishes.

Q: Do you have any guilty pleasures you feel comfortable sharing?

A: This is beyond guilty. It's foolish. Bluebell, Pecan Pralines and Cream ice cream. Fortunately, the supermarket takes pity on me and is usually out of it.

Q: Anything else you'd like to share?

A: You mean besides my body with Wolverine and company? I think maybe we've pressed our luck enough with respect to my marriage, thank you. He already knows I have an adventurous mind.

Q: In closing, tell us a bit about your latest release (& share a yummy excerpt for those who aren't yet familiar with your work)

A: Ha ha, I'll bet you're expecting an 'R' rated excerpt.

My first release, Jasmine's Urban Cowboys, is scheduled for release Monday, May 18th. It's about a woman that can't seem to make up her mind, but I'll let you read the blurb and then a 'PG' rated excerpt: