Sharon Ashwood is a free-lance journalist, novelist, desk jockey and enthusiast for the weird and spooky. She lives in the Pacific Northwest.
The Midnight Moon Café is pleased to introduce urban fantasy author Sharon Ashwood!MMC: Welcome to the Midnight Moon Café, Sharon. When did you first become interested in writing paranormal and urban fantasy romances?
Sharon: Thanks for having me here!
I don't remember a time when I didn't love stories with magic and mystical creatures. To me the Narnia books seemed quite reasonable, possibly because I had a wardrobe that had been my grandmother's. Sadly, no faun in the back of it, just lost mittens!
When did I get into writing? I've scribbled stories all my life, but started to kinda sorta take it seriously about six or seven years ago. I think that's when I decided to spend more time chained to the keyboard and less time talking about how brilliant my book was going to be. It's easier to sell a manuscript if you have one. Duh.
MMC: Let's talk a little about world-building in the Dark Forgotten series. How did you come up with your backstory for this series? And how does that setting affect your main characters?
Sharon: The original concept began during a rambling conversation with a friend. We asked ourselves what would happen if supernatural creatures came out of the closet and tried to get jobs. How about credit cards? What impact would their presence have on our economy? Our legal system?
Yup, we'll talk about anything to avoid housework.
Even after she had the good sense to get off the phone, I kept going. I decided that the non-humans would have a huge stake in appearing to blend in because they'd want full equality as citizens. Some would have relevant skills and thus earning power, but many might not. Beneath the civilized surface of the new non-human society, turmoil would be brewing. Monsters would still be monsters when the humans weren't looking. (Swell the spooky soundtrack.)
Every time I turned on the TV or opened a newspaper, more questions would come up. I wondered what sort of delicatessens werewolves would like--more specifically, what would they serve??? Were wizards just people with time enough to read big spell books? And what about those vampires? There's always something up with the bloodsuckers.
On my website I have a "monsterpedia" I keep adding to when I have time. It's an encyclopaedia of my universe. It keeps growing as I write and plan future books. Plus, it's a catch-all for me to refer to. World building is actually a lot of work. I think my next series might be set in a single city block. It would be much simpler.
Anyway, so that's the turbulent world my characters live in. With the emergence of the supernatural species, our social order is in a state of flux. Humans are at risk, but so are the monsters. They've given up the protective shield of anonymity, and there's far more of us than them. Computers and advanced weapons have evened the odds in our favour.
Alessandro, my vampire hero, has been given the job of keeping his people in line and obeying human law. His queen is lobbying to get equal rights for non-humans and doesn't want any bad PR. Of course, someone starts murdering co-eds vamp-style and the human police start asking questions.
My heroine, Holly, is a witch and a ghostbuster. She's just freelancing, trying to earn tuition money, but soon gets sucked into a conspiracy involving demons and a doorway into a hellish prison dimension. Everything starts escalating into an all-out paranormal war with her magic as a major weapon.
From there it's just fun, fun, fun.
MMC: You created quite a bestiary of characters: various ghostly entities, demons, changelings, vampires, etc. What sort of research was required to bring such a vast array of beings to life?
Sharon: Well, there are witches around that one can go talk to, so that part wasn’t hard. The werewolves were more of a problem ….
Mostly, I enjoyed the fact that this is a genre where you're expected to invent, the more the better. To get inspired, I read a lot of myth and folklore. I also read horror and put in a few light touches to up the creepy quotient here and there. For the ghostly stuff, I've had a few experiences that gave me the right otherworldly feel. I have to say, though, I've not encountered a hostile haunting myself. I had to guess what that felt like.
I think I spent the most time on the vampires. Mine are a little different in that their bite has an addictive, erotic venom (woo-hoo!). But, before everyone starts lining up to donate, the bite's drug-like qualities are infamous for destroying the human will and, consequently, human lives. The vamps are very careful to keep their feeding habits out of sight.
MMC: Now that you've whetted our readers' appetite, please tell us more about “Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten,” which is the first installment in the new series.
Sharon: I've already mentioned Holly and Alessandro, the heroine and hero. She runs her ghostbusting agency, and he joins in when she needs back-up. That's one thing I like about him--he's very respectful of the fact she has her own power. He's protective--sometimes more than she likes--but not to the point she can't fight her own fight. After all, there's always enough bad guys to go around.
Okay, answer the question, Sharon. On one level, the story is all about a demon invasion and how ancient rivalries threaten to unleash horror on the world. On another, it's the journey of two individuals trying to find a balance of power between them so that they're free to love. Alessandro is the dark hero trying to break from old loyalties and find his way into the light. Holly is a sexy young witch coming into her power and making legendary magic real--but that carries a huge cost.
MMC: I loved that your witch heroine came from a long lineage of practitioners of the Craft, but that she had conflicted emotions in dealing with her magick.
Can you tell us more about that?
Sharon: Holly uses what she calls “small m” magic – things that don’t take too much power, like finding lost keys or shooing away a spook. “Big M” magic, such as necromancy, is more demanding. She finds harder magic painful because of an accident she had as a child. She doesn’t remember the details, but knows the accident happened at around the same time her parents died and her family broke apart. As a consequence of her injuries, she can’t access a lot of her potential and that puts her in danger. To complicate matters, she’s been left in charge of the family ghostbusting agency—she’s actually the only one left still doing the work. It’s too much for her, but she feels an obligation to past generations to try and keep it afloat.
MMC: What challenges have you faced in the process of writing “Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten”?
Sharon: The book has been rewritten a few times. Some of that was a function of getting better as a writer. Once it was the result of an editorial directive--the manuscript started out strictly in Holly's point of view. Every time it was born anew, the characters and the universe grew more sophisticated, but the basic story has stayed the same. I'd say sometimes it's a good thing to go back to the drawing board. If the story still fascinates you after a few drafts, you've got something.
MMC: What do you enjoy most about writing this series?
Sharon: I love the sheer flexibility of the paranormal romance genre. From a creative standpoint, there's very little you can't do. Huge demon mouse? Why not? Vampire riffing on the reality of Santa Claus? Sure. I can bring in action, humour, sex, and drama one after the other because the readers are open to that kind of variety. They're curious. They want to be wowed. It's a great motivator to stay fresh.
MMC: Can you give us a sneak peek preview of the next book in the series?
Sharon: Ravenous ends with one character still unaccounted for and the next book tells his story, which takes some very, very unexpected turns (I sure didn't expect some of them!). Much of the action moves inside the Castle, which is a supernatural prison dimension, and features a number of the prisoners there. Holly and Alessandro return as secondary characters.
MMC: What do you think is the key writing a truly memorable story?
Sharon: Always emotion. I'll forget titles, names, and even plotlines, but I'll remember how a story makes me feel.
MMC: Now to the fun questions. What's something that your readers may not know about you?
Sharon: I collect Halloween toys. Little mini-coffins. Tiny headstones. I have a cute little glow-In-the-dark mummy. Some are junk, some antiques, some made by artists. A total hodge-podge of stuff. I have a graveyard on my desk I play with when I get stuck in my writing. I choreographed parts of the Ravenous graveyard scenes using toys. Sadly, one of my gargoyles has gone missing. I suspect the Demon Lord of Kitty Badness might have played hockey with it and now it's having gargoyle adventures in a dark corner someplace.
MMC: What’s your favorite guilty pleasure?
Sharon: Do I only get one???? At the moment, it's Supernatural. I usually work at the computer during the evening, but I take a break for the Winchester boys.
MMC: Do you have a newsletter, blog, or website where fans can read about you and your books?
Sharon: My website is
www.SharonAshwood.com. My blog and newsletter are there.
MMC: Thanks for being our guest on the Midnight Brew!
Contest Time:
How would you like to win your very own copy of Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten?
Leave a comment for Sharon on this post and you're entered. We'll draw a winner at noon tomorrow, Friday, February 13.
Good Luck!
Reader, writer, editor, and lover of pop culture (which, other than yogurt, is the only culture she gets), Gwen Hayes says she loves to garden, cook gourmet meals, and hike in the rainforest…but that would be lying. Instead, she admits what she really likes is watching bad movies (don’t call me Shirley), playing celebrity gossip games (fafarazzi.com), and eating gourmet foods (cheetos=yum).
Gwen: Most of my stories take place in Serendipity Falls--a fictional town with an enchanted portal. Even if I don't specifically reference the town name, it's a good bet the story takes place there.
Gwen: Talon from The Fallen (available at Samhain). He's deliciously dark and angsty. And when you find out why he fell from Grace—well, then you'll know why I think he's so sexy.
Libre Me, by Victoria Frances, use courtesy of Rob Simpson of Dark Horse Comics 
Dark Immortal
Now, the Archeon deck. Nothing in my eyes is prettier. It was a direct influence for the Tease Tarot, and in an upcoming book, Bianca, one of our witches, uses this exact deck in a scrying session for the Fallen Angels in our Keepers of Twilight series. Wait, was that a tease? Yes I believe it was… but more on that as it comes HEH.
have this deck, but I WANT WANT WANT this deck. I have had the chance to peruse this deck a couple of times, and the images helped to shape the society of our Fallen Angels, as well as influenced a series we are currently developing (Sorry I cant say anything just yet on it, but no, it doesn’t take place in the Eververse.)
So since I gave very scant hints, Imma give away a copy of our first book in the Keepers of Twilight series, The Soft edge of Midnight.
You’re The One That I Haunt
Have you ever read Calls to Mystic Alice? It was published by Llewellyn in 2006. One of Llewellyn's reps gave me an ARC at BEA 2005. I didn't think much of it, unti I got home and read it. Here's the blurby thing for Amazon:
You've won the circle of angels talisman pin!
Send an email to: cass@cassandracurtis.com with the subject line: MMC Love Spell Drawing, please remember to include your full name and your mailing address, and you could win a cool talisman pin (pictured at left) with author bookmarks and other nifty goodies from Cass! Contest ends noon Sunday and the winner will be announced here and at Cass' website, Sunday night,
