CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS with the Naughty Ninjas: Andra Ashe

What is your background with regard to writing?
Can’t remember a time when I haven’t written.  Had a poem about a dog read on the ABC Argonauts Club read on the radio when I was 12.  I can’t make a choice between fiction and non-fiction and have had several articles published before finally getting published in short erotic romance.

When did you first begin writing with a view of embarking on a career as a published author?
I think all writers anticipate submitting with a view to publishing but some of us take longer than others to take that leap of faith and take our writing seriously.  My first romance submission was two years ago, decades after starting to write in the genre, and was more to prove to myself that I could finish something (albeit a short story) and finally send it out.

What is your writing routine?
Que?  Oh for the self-discipline to have some routine!  I still have a ‘day job’ so writing is definitely an evening/weekends thing and I’m easily …. oh I think the washing’s finished and needs hanging out.

Favourite snack whilst writing?
Chocolate or lime and cracked pepper potato chips.

If you weren’t writing, what would you be doing?
Photography – gardening – sewing – travelling – reading

What do you find easiest to write? And, the hardest?
Nothing is easy to write – but I do enjoy writing blurbs, putting across the essence of the story in a few short paragraphs.  The hardest to write is the next paragraph.

Tell us about the first book you wrote
Wellll, I have to ‘fess up to not yet having completed anything ‘book length’.  My published work is all ‘shorts’ so far.  My first published story came from a call for submissions for an anthology with a ‘boys of summer’ theme.  I was working on a book length story but felt a deadline and actually finishing/submitting something was something I needed.  Who knew I could write short fiction? Summer in Australia = beach and I love Cable Beach in Broom so my setting was easy and I wanted to write about a couple who embark on pushing the boundaries of their relationship.  As always with erotic romance the emotional aspect of their adventure plays an important part in the story and that’s the aspect which I want to give the story its strength.

 

Ten quickies:

Milk or dark chocolate?   Dark – preferably with a touch of chilli

Red, white, bubbly?  White  – Sav Blanc or Pinot Grigio please but developing a definite penchant for Rose

Salty or sweet?   Salty

Beach or mountains?  Beach

Give or receive?  Give

Facebook or Twitter?  FB

Romance or erotica (for reading and/or writing)?  The two aren’t mutually exclusive!  Erotic romance is my genre.

Dog or cat?   Dog – a big soft spot for Staffies

Summer or winter?  Winter!  Loathe and detest hot weather

Star-gazing or storm-watching?  Storms.

 

Find Andra online:
Website
Blog
Facebook
Pinterest