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Wednesday 20 February 2008

The Wednesday Interview


What is The Perfect Gift? Why it’s the latest release from multi-published author Ashley Ladd. It’s out now through Total-E-Bound. Yes, it’s another click on the cover and buy moment. Ashley graciously stopped by the Amarinda blog to share her thoughts on a plethora of subjects.

The interview

1. What is the most unforgettable thing about your book that will make people glad they picked it up to read?

I’m told that my strength is my dialogue, and thus I hope also, characterization. I want my readers to care about my characters, to identify with their emotions and to root for them to achieve their goal, and in some cases, to survive as well as to find the love of their life.

2. Is what you look for in a man what you write in the hero?

Of course!

I like strong men. When I say this, I mean emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically strong, not necessarily physically strong. I also like a man who makes me laugh, who I can talk to non-stop and never be bored.

I also like men with deep, charming voices. (If my day job boss SM or one of my good friends BS read this, you both have extremely sexy voices.)

That is not to say, I dislike men with great physiques. I’m not blind. I appreciate them. I’m turned on by them. Sometimes I even drool over them. However, I could also find a man in a wheelchair very sexy if he possessed those other traits I mention above.

3. Do you think your heroine is like you and if so why?

Usually my heroines possess some of my likes and dislikes, my foibles and fears, my talents and downfalls.

Once, however, I deliberately created a heroine that was polar opposite of me. She likes to gamble. She’s no stranger to hard life. She’s laying low. That’s in my book “Deadly Love” published at www.newconceptspublishing.com

4. If your book was made into a movie who would play the hero and heroine?

Let’s see…

In “Tiger’s Play” Nicole Kidman would play Kelly, the heroine. Hugh Jackman would play Nick, the hero. The book can be found at: www.newconceptspublishing.com

In “The Perfect Gift” James Marsden would play Brendan, Bo Bice would play Ty, and Jennifer Love Hewitt would play Bianca. The book is available at:
http://www.total-e-bound.com/

In “Shipwrecked” Kate Becksinsale would play Katie (name is coincidental) and John Schneider would play Scott. The book’s available at www.total-e-bound.com

In “Blessed Be” Tony Geary would play Luke, and Cassie DePaiva would play Chloe. The book’s available at
http://www.ellorascave.com/

In “American Beauty” Matthew McConahey or Brendan Fraser would play Brad and Jennifer Aniston would play Kirsty. If not for their past personal history, Brad Pitt would also make an excellent Brad – the name thing is coincidental. But I won’t do that to Jen. The book’s available at www.ellorascave.com

In “Deadly Love” Nicole Kidman or Kate Hudson would play Melissa and Matthew McConahey would play Cody. It’s available at www.newconceptspublishing.com

You can tell I’ve never thought about making my books into movies. LOL

5. The bad guys have you are hanging by one toenail over a vat of boiling oil. You must tell them the location of the diamond mine to save your life. To do this you risk harming your true love. What do you do?

Um…I would of course protect my true love at all costs. Heroine means “heroic”, right? However, if I lie to the bad guys and give them a false location, won’t that protect me and my true love?

6. Name your special talent.

When it comes to writing my stories, its dialogue. I love to create believable, realistic, and fun dialogue that’s different for each character. That should be a no brainer, right? Unfortunately, I see many stories where the characters sound a lot alike. Without tags, I couldn’t tell whose speaking. That annoys me no end.

My claim to fame otherwise, is typing. I type 100 + wpm. My day-job boss says my strength is in “multi-tasking” or in other words, I know all the aspects of our customer service job. Of course, I’ve only been doing customer service for almost 14 years. I once overhead my ex-boss (retired) say I was the best admin person he ever saw. I am pretty good. I take short-hand, I type really fast, I write my own macros, I’m good at Excel (that’s the ex-Accountant coming out). I can surf around the Internet faster than a speeding bullet. And, I can write a pretty decent letter.

7. How do readers find out more about Ashley Ladd?

Please visit me at my website at: http://www.ashleyladd.com/
Really please visit me at my blog where you’ll get to know me at:
http://www.ashleyladd.blogspot.com/
I’ve been trying to blog daily for your reading pleasure.

I also enjoy receiving email from my readers and fellow authors and bloggers at: chinara@aol.com

Thank you, Amarinda, for having me as your guest. These were great, imaginative questions and I’ve enjoyed chatting with you. Good luck with your writing.

--Ashley


**A pleasure, Ashley --Amarinda

The Perfect Gift – the Blurb

Bianca's on the search to find the perfect gift for her boyfriend Ty this Christmas. But then she discovers a hidden stash of gay male porn under his side of the bed. Stunned, and scared, she needs to find out if Ty's more interested in men than in her. She arranges an illicit night for Ty with her handsome gay co-worker Brendan. To her astonishment and delight, the night turns into a ménage-à-trois, and all three lovers end up benefiting from this special gift.


The Perfect Gift - The Excerpt - warning this is an adult excerpt

Whistling, a merry jaunt to his step, Ty ducked snowflakes and the neighbor kids’ snowballs as he made a dash to the house. He loved Christmas and this year was the most special yet for it was his first living with Bianca. She’d made their apartment into a cozy home, brimming with Christmas magic, overflowing with love. He didn’t know what he’d ever done to deserve her, but he sure was grateful. He counted his blessings daily.
He was excited about his special gift for her—a diamond ring and first class tickets for Bianca’s dream trip—their honeymoon trip to Hawaii. Now she’d not only go to paradise, but honeymoon there—with him.
Shaking with the excitement, he couldn’t wait to see her expression.
Juggling packages that towered over his head, Ty managed to navigate to the twinkling tree in the corner of the living room and set down his packages without breaking anything.

Basting turkey filled the small apartment with homey, delicious smells that made his mouth water. The scent of candy canes blended with a trace of wax told him she was burning more Christmas candles. Blinking lights glistened off every reflective surface.
Everything was in place, except his lady. “Bianca? Are you home? Where are you, sweetheart?”
Only the whir of the heater broke the silence.
Worried she’d fallen asleep in the tub again, he checked the bathroom. Luckily, he found it empty and breathed a deep sigh of relief.
“Okay, are you waiting for me in the bedroom?” With a very special Christmas gift? Maybe she awaited him naked wearing only a large bow around her waist like last year. His cock flexed and his blood surged.
Excited as a little boy getting a shiny new bike, he rubbed his hands together and opened the door wide.
There was a naked body curled sexily on a brand new red and green satin bedspread, wrapped in a big red velvet bow only it wasn’t Bianca. It wasn’t even female!
Gulp!
“Merry Christmas,” Brendan, the hottie from Bianca’s office earlier that day, drawled huskily.
Jealousy battled with lust. A conflicted mess, Ty looked around for Bianca. “What’s the meaning of this? Where’s Bianca? Is she screwing around on me?”
Brendan laughed throatily and rolled his eyes. “No silly. I’m her Christmas gift to you.” He pointed at the bow, just above his huge cock that was swiftly showing signs of life. “Don’t you see the bow?”
Dumbfounded, his gaze glued to the man’s beautiful cock, and his mouth going dry, Ty echoed Brendan’s words. “You’re my Christmas gift from Bianca?” A million thoughts crashed into one another. “Why?"


Check out the latest in Anny’s serial on www.annycook.blogspot.com/ and then wander over and see what Kelly is up to her www.kkirch.blogpot.com/

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

7 comments:

Anny Cook said...

Great interview, Ashley!

Phoenix said...

Funny stuff, Ashley. Great interview AJ. American Beauty is already on my TBR list. It's nice to get another inside peek which proves to me how much I appreciate your writing style.

Molly Daniels said...

Great interview:) I've already put this one on my TBB list!

Sandra Cox said...

Excellent interview ladies.
Sandra

Unknown said...

Thank you, Amarinda, for hosting me today. And thank you everybody else for your kind comments.

I'm so pleased, even downright happy, when someone likes my books. I love it if I can make them laugh and/or fall in love.

Unknown said...

I love the cover and I really enjoyed the interview. I like men with great voices too, especially if the man has an accent.

Bronwyn Green said...

Excellent interview and excellent read - I really liked The Perfect Gift. :)