Author Spotlight - Jackie Ashenden

Welcome to Jackie Ashenden today. We're thrilled to help her celebrate her first release (although it is the first of MANY, so prepare yourselves for a treat :-)

Tell our readers a little bit about yourself.
Well, I've been writing since I was 12 and my first stories were fantasies based on LOTR. They were not awesome. But I wrote my first romance at 14 and that was. Totally. I was hooked. So for the next 20 years I wrote romances just for myself and a friend. I'd always dreamed of getting published but I thought it would be for writing the Great New Zealand Novel and I worried terribly that I wasn't literary enough. And I wasn't and thank God for that! Because I'm much happier writing hot, tortured guys finding their HEAs with strong, stubborn quirky chicks, than writing dreary literary fiction!

What number book is this? First? 100th? 200th?(Nora only!)
This is my first book. But I've sold six others since then.

Everyone who writes knows it's not easy - what methods do you use to keep at it on days when it would be so much easier to go shoe shopping?
Um, well, you're talking to the wrong woman here. I do like shoes but I LOVE writing. Yes, some days are harder than others, but I've never had a problem with forcing my butt in the chair. It's getting out of it that's hard.

What is your top promo tip for other authors?
I seriously believe the best promo you can do is write another book. You can plaster yourself all over the internet but that won't guarantee you sales. The only sure guarantee of sales is by writing and getting more books out there for people to buy. Romance readers are voracious and once they love you, they want to buy EVERYTHING you've written. So sure, do some tweeting and blogging and FBing. But then get back in the chair and get writing.

How does writing fit into your day? Or does your day fit in around your writing?
Definitely I'm a day fits around my writing kind of girl. My kids are at school and this is my day job – which makes me a very lucky girl.

Do you write every day?
Yes. I try to. I do take some days off now and then – especially after finishing something. But if I don't write I go insane and you wouldn't like to see me insane…

Keeping fit: Do you have an exercise regime to counterbalance all those hours sitting at a computer?
Pilates. At the moment I only go once a week but I need to get back into doing it at least twice. It's fabulous for back pain and relaxing your shoulders. And one session of Pilates totally cancels out all chocolate and wine for the whole week. Honest.

Just for fun: a year from the end of the book, where would your couple go on holiday?
They'd totally go snowboarding in Canada. Finn would teach Anna how to board and afterwards there'd be a hot tub….aaaand I'll leave it there. \

At what point in your career did you actually start to feel like you were a writer?
I've always felt like I was a writer. But I only felt it was my job since my first book was accepted – despite spending five years working towards publication full time. I guess you could call that my apprenticeship.

Do you have any tips, tricks or sacrificial rituals you do when you hit a story roadblock?
I walk. Or fold the washing. Or have a shower. Walking and showering in particular are awesome for helping me think my out of a tricky spot. Which would make walking in the rain doubly helpful!


When you’ve been burned, the heat of the moment is the scariest place to be.

Six months after a sexual assault, Anna Jameson has decided enough is enough. She’s sick of being a victim, of letting the experience have power over her. She wants her fear of physical intimacy gone, as in now.

In the quest to reclaim her sexuality, she needs a man. A man she trusts absolutely. A man like her best friend, Finn.

Finn Shaw is all about taking risks. He does it every week on his extreme sports TV show. But there’s one boundary he’s never pushed, and that’s his friendship with Anna. When his hyper-intellectual family kicked him to the curb over his dyslexia, Anna stuck by him.

Her request to become friends with benefits throws him for a loop. He can’t deny her anything, but this is a whole different ball game. Once they’re skin to skin, there will be no hiding the fact that he’s loved her for years.

When their chemistry burns out of control, Finn decides he’s the one who’s had enough. It’s time to break out of the friend box—and show Anna that risking her heart is a risk well worth taking. Even if it costs him her friendship.

Warning: This book contains a strong-willed heroine who knows what she wants, a daredevil hero intent on showing her how much more she could have, sexy love scenes that’ll melt your heart, and a grand gesture you’ll need a tissue for.


Thanks for visiting the Minxes blog Jackie. We wish you every success with this and your other releases :-)

VISIT JACKIE'S BLOG - http://jackieashenden.com 
BUY THE BOOK - click here