Interview with romance author Morgan Ashbury Part 2

 

Hello, and welcome back. Today I wrap up my interview with Morgan, writer of romance and erotic romance. If you missed part 1, you can find it here.

Morgan writes romance and erotic romance and has been very busy in the 4 years since she was first published , with almost 20 books to her credit. Today we are talking about romance, her mentors and other assorted topics.

Welcome back Morgan, thank you for taking the time to do this. 

Bea: Was there someone who was, or is, particularly helpful to you? Was there someone who inspired you in your writing? In what way(s)?

Morgan:  I always acknowledge Kelley Armstrong. I met her at a writing seminar just as her second book, Stolen, came out. We clicked. I went to her website. One day she said, “What do you think about starting a writing group on line at my site?” That group gave me the forum I needed to improve my craft. Kelley also invited me to go to CanWrite 2005 in Kitchener with her, and that was where I first learned about “erotic romance”. Then she said, “let’s go to RT in May next year. It’s in Daytona Beach!” I did, and that is where I met my publisher.

I consider her friendship to be one of my greatest treasures.

Bea: Ok, so now I have to ask: Who are some of your favorite authors? 

Morgan:  How much space do we have? Kelley Armstrong, Emma Wildes, A. J. Menden (KA OWG member), D. B. Reynolds (KA OWG member & future featured interviewee), Sharon Ashwood, Raina James (KA OWG member), Lara Santiago, Nora Roberts, J. D. Robb, Jayne Ann Krentz, Catherine Coulter, Kay Hooper, Barbara Delinsky, Clive Cussler, Vicky Lewis Thompson. I also enjoy the staff writers who write as “Richard Castle”, lol. 

Bea:  Do you have a favorite of the stories you’ve written?

Morgan:  I am proud of every single story I have written. I have 16 titles published under the pen name of Morgan Ashbury (and no, please don’t tell them my real name), and I have 4 stories (well, 5 on Friday the 11^th) published under a second pen name, Cara Covington.

My Magic and Love series is my sentimental favorite. I was very proud of The Lady Makes Three, my first ménage.  I am also really liking this Lusty, Texas series, too!

***I think Magic and Love is my fave also, I really enjoyed them - Bea*** 

Bea: If you could be a character in a book, which one would it be, and what part would you play? (Romantic lead, sidekick, etc)

Morgan: Oh, there’s a bit of me in every book I’ve written. I’m Hannah in the Magic and Love Trilogy. I’m Lily, in Lily In Bloom. But if I could be in someone else’s books, I’d be a friend or a confidante to the hero or the heroine. It’s just the way I’m wired, at heart, I’m not a centre-stage kind of person.

Bea: You’re on Twitter and facebook, but don’t use them often that I’ve seen. Do you think that hurts your sales at all? Do you think they are important or necessary for published authors?

Morgan: Yes, they are important. All promotion is important. That said, I do believe the best promotion is writing really good stories.

I write a weekly blog and have since 2006. It’s called Wednesday’s Words, and it has a substantial following. It’s included as a regular article in a number of blogs, and is a featured item in “Euro Reviews” an European book review site based in Antwerp, Belgium.

Just this past December I finally set up a blog for it, specifically. This blog keeps the name of Morgan Ashbury visible, and that is half of what promotion is all about.

I don’t use the social networks often because I’m so busy writing! I published 6 books in 2010, which is a lot. And, sadly, I forget to tweet. It’s not that I don’t want to tweet and…[um is there a verb for posting on face book? Is it facing? Booking?] I do want to. There’s just not enough hours in the day.

There is one other aspect to all of this tweeting and facing and blogging. Let me say it like this: my first computer was an abacas.

Bea:  Do you prefer paper books or ebooks? Why?

Morgan:  I do like holding a paper book. But I have an awesomely lucrative career writing e books. So, I have to say I prefer both, for different reasons.

Bea: What is the most romantic anyone has ever done for you? How would you define romance in real life? 

Morgan:  In real life, romance changes as you grow older, and closer to the one you love. I have been married now for 39 years, come July 2011. When my feet or ankles ache, I say to my beloved, “please rub my feet” and he never says no.

That is pretty darn romantic.

Bea: Does your family read your books? What do they think?

Morgan:  My husband reads every single book I write. He is my main beta reader, and he is very proud of me.

My daughter reads some of what I’ve written, but she kind of skips over the sex scenes as she doesn’t want to know that I know those things!

My brother has purchased every one of my books, and my sister has read a few.

Bea: You first became published a few years ago, at what some might consider a late age. Do you think that has been an advantage, disadvantage, or irrelevant? 

Morgan:  I think things happen when they are meant to happen. In this day and age, when I can sit at home in my pajamas and write, and people buy and read what I write, things like age or infirmity really are irrelevant. 

I personally know a very good author, a top seller with both Amber Quill and EC, who is in her 80s.

Bea: Anything that you want to add or say to your readers?

Morgan: I consider myself highly blessed to have been given this second career at a time when I didn’t know what the future really held for me. 

So many of my readers take the time to write, and I am thrilled each and every time I hear from them. To my readers I would like to say, thank you! Thank you so much for reading what I have had enormous fun writing. 

Morgan, thank you again for coming by. I've enjoyed this.