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Sunday, February 20, 2011

Author Interview & Contest with Ashlyn Chase

February isn't over yet and I still have three more author guests left for this month!

Next up is author Ashlyn Chase who writes the amazingly funny paranormal series about some Strange Neighbors. Book #2, The Werewolf Upstairs, just came out this month and it was a delight to read.

So enjoy this interview with the author and make sure you enter the contest for your chance to win a copy of Ashlyn's latest relese!

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Amber - Hello Ashlyn! Welcome back to Amberkatze's Book Blog! It is great to have you back here as a guest again! The Werewolf Upstairs is finally here! What can we expect from the sequel to Strange Neighbors?

Ashlyn – Well, you’ll see more of the wacky characters you met in Strange Neighbors, and a few changes. Merry moved into the penthouse and her best friend Roz moved into her old apartment, 1B. Konrad (the werewolf) and Roz get together immediately and have a steamy romance. I had a hard time keeping these two out of bed!

Amber - I loved Strange Neighbors but will there be the same characters in The Werewolf Upstairs? Will we see Merry and Jason again?

Ashlyn – Merry and Jason are still in Florida when our story begins. They return from Spring Training and the story continues through the summer, so, yes, you’ll see them again. Roz saved her moving into the apartment building as a surprise for Merry, and Merry has a surprise for Roz.

Amber - Do people need to read Strange Neighbors to read The Werewolf Upstairs? Will this be a series?

Ashlyn – In my opinion it’s more enjoyable to read a series in order, but each book stands alone, so you don’t have to.

Amber - Both books have amazingly cute covers! Did you have any say in the choice of covers?

Ashlyn –I was allowed input, and the artist nailed my vision. It doesn’t always happen that way. I’m very, very happy with my covers.

Amber - Strange Neighbors and The Werewolf Upstairs are only two of many books you have written. What can you tell us about your other novels?

Ashlyn – I began by writing suspense, but soon transitioned into comedy. I love writing paranormal comedy with steamy love scenes. Most of my backlist is exactly that. I have a few contemporaries, but those are hot too. Most are with Ellora’s Cave, but I have a British publisher for two novellas. You can find all my books on my website.

Amber - Did you always wanted to be an author? Did you pick Romance or did it pick you? What about the paranormal aspect? Was it something you were always interested in?

Ashlyn – I guess I should have known I’d be an author early on, but I missed it. I loved creative writing in high school and kept a journal all through nursing school. When I needed a creative outlet, I began writing screenplays. There was always a romance involved, so I guess romance picked me.

Amber - Have you thought about expanding into other genres? If yes, which ones would you like to try?

Ashlyn – Let’s see, I tried writing young adult and couldn’t because I missed the sex. LOL. I’m not sure but maybe I’ll try a category romance sometime. Harlequin Blaze maybe. They allow a little humor in their contemporary stories.


Amber - What kind of research have you done for your books? Anything interesting or is the research boring?

Ashlyn – I find research interesting if it isn’t too difficult. I once wrote a story with a Rom (gypsy) hero and it was very hard to find information, because most of it is passed down through oral tradition. But I love to learn new things, so I interview people, look up factual information, pair known facts with my imagination to come up with a believable scenario.

Amber - How do you pick the names for your characters? Do they have any special meanings?

Ashlyn – Sometimes they just come to me. Other times I hold contests and let my readers come up with a name. Sometimes I consult a baby book and the name’s meaning might play into it, but rarely. I find it’s important to pay attention to the personality the name conjures up in my mind.

Amber - What comes next? Will we see more from the Strange Neighbors? Are there any other projects you are working on?

Ashlyn – The final book in the Strange Neighbors series is The Vampire Next Door. I don’t want to give a lot of hints yet. I’ll save that for later since it’s waiting for edits. Right now I’m working on two stories at once. One is a mainstream ghost comedy and the other is a hot tiger-shapeshifter comedy.

Amber - A lot of authors have 'soundtracks' for their books. Is there any music influenced your books?

Ashlyn – No. In order to write, I need silence or the white noise of my computer.



Amber - What have you been reading and watching lately?

Ashlyn –I got a new ereader for Christmas, so I’ve been reading a lot of my friend’s ebooks. I loved Paige Tyler’s Dead Sexy. Who could imagine a Zombie hero? LOL. It’s that kind of unexpected twist I love in a story.

Amber - If you could be any paranormal creature, what would you be and why?

Ashlyn – I think I’d like to be a shapeshifter. It would be fun just to wait for someone who’s drunk to come staggering along and then shift in front of them. LOL. It would probably sober them up fast.

Amber - Thank you so much for being a guest on Amberkatze's Book Blog! I hope you will come back again ;)






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Contest Time

Ashlyn has 2 copies of The Werewolf Upstairs to give away! (US and Canada only!)

How To Enter

Who would you like to have living upstairs from you?

No answer = No Entry

Earn more entries for each link you place about this contest on the net. You can post on Facebook, Twitter & MySpace but make sure you add links here for me to confirm your entries! However please do not make individual postings for each entry. Please post all your entries in one post.

Advertise Amberkatze's Book Blog on your site and get an extra entry for this and every other contest!



Amberkatze's Book Blog


You can also earn extra entries by emailing your friends about the contest. Just make sure you send a copy of your email or receipt to me at Amberkatzes_book_blog at gmx dot net.

Make sure you post your links here so I can confirm your entries.

Keep the contests going by using the Bookdepository.com and Amazon.com links/Banners below and around the site!



The Book Depository


The contest will stay open until Sunday 27th of February 2011 4pm CET and the winner will be picked by a randomizer. Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners and will pick new winners for any prizes not claimed within 7 days.

39 comments:

Vickie said...

Who would I love to have living upstairs?
Can I have a full house up there with Tom Selleck, Matthew McConaghey, David Boreanaz, James Marsters?

Barbara E. said...

I think having Girard Butler living upstairs would be fantastic because he's so sexy, funny, and great looking. I'd be borrowing a cup of sugar from him constantly, LOL.
I enjoy comedy in paranormal stories, so I'm looking forward to reading The Werewolf Upstairs.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ash! I couldn't pick just one sexy neighbor, one would have to be my teenage hottie crush Luke Perry, Plus Matthew McConaghey and Shawn Christian from Days of our lives!!!

chirth7@yahoo.com

Martha Lawson said...

Ok, Sean Connery, Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Robert Duvall, Richard Gere! That's all I can think of right now.Going for the older men!! So sexy.

follow on gfc

mlawson17 at hotmail dot com

Anonymous said...

I'm with Barbara, I'd love to have Gerard Butler living up stairs. He seems like such a sweet heart and the fact that he is sexy helps :-)


Stephanie G
Paranormal Haven

Meredith said...

Someone or something very quiet. I've lived with noisy upstairs neighbors before and am so glad there's no one above me now!

meredithfl at gmail dot com

Stephanie said...

I'd love to have Bones from the Night Huntress series living upstairs.

Skk25@aol.com

Pauline MIlner said...

I would love to have Elton John living upstairs. He could play his wonderful music just for me and I could bake him cookies!

I tweeted about this contest:

http://twitter.com/bullittmilner/status/39636683372765184

dod@rogers.com

Shelbycat said...

Hmmm ... well whoever it is would need to be quiet, no stomping around in the middle of the night. If they could bake that would be nice, lovely smells wafting down and the odd sweet treat making its way as well would be most welcome. Not sure who would fit this bill.

Anonymous said...

I would love to have Robert Patterson, David Boreanaz, Richard Gere and Kevin Costner and the guy from Species who hunts the alien. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com

Julie S said...

If I had to have upstairs neighbors, I would prefer whatever creatures are quiet and secretive about their identity.

juliecookies(at)gmail.com

Sharon S. said...

I would love to live beneath the Being Human roomates . They would be loyal friends :)

Read for your future! said...

Who would I love to have living upstairs?
Stephanie Myers so i could keep an eye on Midnight sun

Daelith said...

I'd like to have Alex O'Loughlin living upstairs. Just don't tell my husband I said that. ;)

Thank you for the interview and contest. This series sounds like fun and I will be adding them to my wish list.

cheleooc at yahoo dot com

Alicia said...

Ghosts. They're, for the most part, quiet.

wanda f said...

For a real person I would have to say either Jason Behr or Bruce Willis ,for a supernatural I would go with a shifter cat or wolf
flanagan@mebtel.net

clynsg said...

Definitely not something I have thought about, but for real life humans, I won't be greedy. Tom Selleck would be a good choice--but of course he would probably have his wife with him!

cgclynsg0 at gmail dot com

Victoria said...

Just finished STRANGE NEIGHBORS and loved it - so fun!

I would want either Larissa Ione's Wraith or Gena Showalter's Maddox living upstairs hopefully with me spending nights :). Both are super strong and protective.
If I had to pick a human - the guy who plays Damon (Ian) on the Vampire Diaries - he's so nice to look at ;).

GFC follower

vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

who would I like to be living upstairs?
I'd love to have an exciting paranormal author up there so I could go and bug her about her stories all the time as well as actually have someone to talk to about my obsession with the supernatural.

Andra Lyn said...

I would want Chris Pine :) or Chris Hemsworth...I just really like the chrises (If you don't know who they are, watch the newest Star Trek movie...you won't regret it!)

hense1kk AT cmich DOT edu

I tweeted
http://twitter.com/#!/hense1kk/status/39770113926234112

David said...

I would lovw to have Jacob Black upstairs

mckenziesmother@hotmail.com

tetewa said...

Jared Padalecki from Supernatural would be my choice!

Lady_Graeye said...

Who would I love to have living upstairs? That's easy! Gerard Butler, Dustin Clare, Alex O'Loughlin, Channing Tatum, Daniel Craig, Shemar Moore and Eric Bana; one man for every day of the week. I would have a sexy bunch of men upstairs to look at, play with and use for various needs. Having one for every day of the week I wouldn't wear anyone out!! Thx, Lisa G.


lisaglidewell[at]gmail[dot]com

Amy said...

I'd love to have James Franco and Joseph Gordon-Levitt living upstairs!

angeldream3(at)gmail(dot)com

Aurian said...

Living in Europe, so no contestant this time :(. I would like to have a family like Jinks from Kim Harrison books upstairs. They would help me out with stuff, and just cheer up my day.

SandyG265 said...

I'd like to have Sean Connery living upstairs.

wildcat32 said...

I would love to have Hugh Jackman living upstairs.

monster6236 at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

I think it would be cool to have the cast of Mad Men living upstairs. :)

-wookieecookie7 at sbcglobal dot net

Audra said...

Nathan Fillion or Jensen Ackles.
audie@wickerness.com

Lisa Richards/alterlisa said...

I want a bunch of paranormal romance writers to live upstairs from me!

(\___/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/

BookMarc Blogpants said...

Actually, I wouldn't mind having Ashlyn Chase herself living upstairs from me.

mckelly74(at)gmail(dot)com

A'lina said...

These books sound really fun! Who would I want living upstairs? Ian Somerhalder either as himself or as Damon. ;) Better yet add Jensen Ackles as his roommate and I'd be one happy neighbor! ;P

Thanks for the interview and giveaway!

saturdaynightfever said...

Hugh Jackman!

edgenemmers@gmail.com

AEKZ2 said...

I'd like to have Paul Walker living above me.

annettekz2@yahoo.com

Breanne said...

Dean Martin (but not a zombie)

bmweida at yahoo dot com

susansmoaks said...

i would like to have bob marley living upstairs
susansmoaks at gmail dot com

ShesAnAngel said...

Are you kidding? I would love to have either Damon Salvatore or Ian Somerhalder who plays him on The Vampire Diaries living upstairs, but we would definitely have to have an understanding or I wouldn't be around very long!

justine417@comcast.net

dvice12 said...

I'd like to have Tom Cruise living upstairs

Anonymous said...

I would love to have Johnny Depp living upstairs. garrettsambo@aol.com