We are delighted to welcome
Ashlinn Craven to the blog today. She was happy to answer a few questions for us:
2014 was a busy year for you
with the publication of High Octane:
Ignited followed by High
Octane: Unleashed. It’s evident from the titles that they are fast
paced. Is the excitement of the genre reflected in the speed of your writing?
Tell us something about your working day.
Hi
Natalie. It’s such a thrill to be on this blog. Yes, the High Octane books are set in the Formula One (F1) racing world, and
there’s nothing faster on the planet. I wish I could say the same for my
writing speed … I write in snatches, sometimes at 5a.m., sometimes lunchtime,
sometimes on a Sunday evening, always tapping away in my three-fingered manner.
Not an exact science, but maybe four months later I’ll have that first draft.
Explosive and Kick-ass are
just two of the expressions I’ve seen to describe your books. Had you visited
the world of Formula One before? I imagine there was a good deal of research
involved.
Oh yes, behind all the money
and international glamour there’s much to learn, some of it even interesting. The
day-to-day routine for an F1 driver is Spartan--they have to be sickeningly fit
to survive at their level.
An average person has a resting heart rate of 70 bpm but drivers have more like
45-50, which ramps up to 180 during a race. A normal person could survive two,
maybe three, laps at F1 speeds before they’d crumble under the g-forces. And as
for the mental training … drivers need to enter a meditative state before the
race to cope at all. So, to give them
relationship issues to deal with at the same time seems almost unfair of me,
but, heck, I do it anyway!
What would be your choice of
reading? Something in your own genre or a complete change? A favourite author?
My
genre choice is very mood dependent. Currently I’m glomming (buying everything of) Rhoda Baxter, Julie Cohen, Jenny
Colgan, Rachel Cross, Nick Hornby, and it kills me to leave out a whole bunch
of other fantastic authors but I don’t think you’d appreciate a list that goes
to the end of the page!
Your characters all have
wonderful names. Do your heroes and heroines choose their own or are you
allowed some input?
Thanks.
They choose their own names. They’re bossy like that. But I get my revenge when
it comes to choosing the cover. Aha yes, that keeps them on their toes.
Have you always been a
writer?
If
we discount academic papers and computer programs, and we probably should, then
no, it’s a relatively recent thing for me. I started writing romantic fiction in
2009 when I did a correspondence course with the London School of Journalism,
which was brilliant.
When you’re not working what
do you do to relax? I’m assuming you’re not a Formula One racing driver but I
could be wrong of course.
<Laughs>
I’m a useless driver. To relax, I stay as far away from the road as possible,
preferably in warm water of some kind, preferably with friends or family,
preferably with a glass of chilled Prosecco, and preferably with a view of the
Alps (not too hard as I live I Switzerland). This prevents me from reading,
which is probably a good thing.
As all members of the RNA
know, romance offers a multitude of genres and opportunities to the writer. Are
you ever tempted to try something else or is your foot firmly placed on the
accelerator pedal?
Situations
that engage the mind and the heart battling it out will always grab me, and the
romance genre is perfect for exploring those. I’ve eased my foot off the
accelerator pedal and with my next novel (Core
Attraction out April 27th published
by Crimson Romance), I’ve stepped into the world of nuclear power where my
heroine is a nuclear plant employee who runs up against an environmental activist
who’s returned home from Japan not a happy bunny. Set on my native east coast of
Ireland, its theme is tolerance in the face of the unknowable.
About Ashlinn:
Thank you for joining us
today, Ashlinn, and good luck with the new book.
Ashlinn Craven writes romantic fiction about people who find love, themselves, and each other, in odd circumstances. When she isn't dreaming up stories that engage the mind as well as the heart, she works in the high-tech sector where she sees the future being rewritten daily. Her favourite part of being an author is hearing from her wonderful readers from around the world.
The RNA Blog is
brought to you by
Elaine Everest
and Natalie Kleinman.
If you would like
to appear on the Blog please contact us at elaineeverest@aol.com
4 comments:
Your books sound fascinating and no wonder you need to relax after writing them!
Thanks so much, Angela! I do find my bpm rising when I'm writing those plot-turning scenes and it can take me ages to come down again. Hope my readers will feel the same way!
Your book sounds fab. I'm the total opposite of a petrol head. I'm more of a 'what sort of car do you have?' 'A blue one' type of person.
Thanks for the recommendation. Mwah.
Cheers, Rhoda. I'm not much of a petrol head either to be honest, I'm more into what drives the drivers! Love your books and can't wait for the next one.
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