I am delighted to be speaking with Ashley Ladd today. Thanks for chatting with us today Ashley!
To start, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Where to begin? I'm ADHD woman, constantly on the run. I'm mom of 5 children (3 boys, 2 girls), grandmother of 2 (my littlest angel was just born October 23rd), adoptive mom of 5 cats and 2 dogs, and wife of almost 27 years to Dave. I'm in my 13th year of work for my day job, a charity that serves the poor of the Caribbean and Latin America. I'm also with Mary Kay, about to earn my red jacket. I take tae kwon do and just earned my purple belt, more than halfway to my black belt.

I'm a disabled vet (for hearing loss, service connected). I was in the US Air Force. I earned my bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Southern Mississippi while we were stationed in Mississippi. I earned my MBA from Nova Southeastern University shortly after moving to Florida almost twenty years ago.

You find yourself stranded on a desert island, what things could you not survive without?

Tons of diet Coke and watermelon, my laptop with Internet connection and electric, at least one cover model - CJ would be nice OR Captain Jack Sparrow to keep me warm, a food supply of course, and a working cell phone.

Can you tell us a little about your current release Make-Believe Lover?

Becca is either dreaming—or dead. She's been transported into the medieval world of her favorite adult cartoon. When her cat talks, fire-breathing dragons stalk her, and an evil king pledges his resources to see her dead, her favorite fantasy morphs into a nightmare. Worse, the hero can't wait to send her home.

Lobo is cursed. Everyone who has ever loved him has died, thus he's become a recluse. When the witch Becca and her devil cat insist on his help, he risks everything to save their separate worlds—and keep his bruised heart intact.
Sexual Content: Rated S-ensuous
Genre : Time Travel / Rubenesque
Book Length: .Novel.

What kinds of things do you do to prepare to write a love scene?

Watch romantic movies. Drown myself in romantic music. Light romantic scented candles. Snuggle up to my hubby a lot.

Do you have any special rituals to help you get in the mood to write?

Pretty much the same as the previous answer. :)

Do you have any indulgent behaviors one might find surprising?

I like to go to the gym and swim, or sometimes just float with my eyes closed and totally block out the world and relax. I also like to play with swords - "play's” the wrong word as Mr. A, my tkd (tae kwon do) instructor, really works us out. (I've always loved to twirl flags and swords). I love to cuddle my cats and my brand new granddaughter. I love to watch Boston Legal, Desperate Housewives, Smallville, Star Trek reruns, and especially AMERICAN IDOL. I adore American Idol and am in withdrawal anxiously awaiting Season Six.

You have two books coming out soon, Heavenly Hijinks and Chances Are. Could you tell us about both of these stories and when we can expect to see them?

Sure thing! Love to! Actually, both are out. Chances Are came out in June 2006 and Heavenly Hijinks came out in August 2006.

Chances Are (anthology): Undiplomatic Relations By Ashley Ladd
In the 26th century, Major Kady Elliott witnesses a heartless massacre of innocent children. Deeply disillusioned and troubled, she escapes the evil murderer, Emperor Lukas. She vows to stop him, so she defects from the Federation and goes in search of the rebel forces hoping to join their ranks.

But that's not as easily done as planned. Not only was she a high-ranking officer in the Federation, but she is the ex-lover of the rebel commander, Admiral Shane Trigilio. And Shane's not only bitter about her supposed betrayal of him, but he's insane. To rebuild his trust, he demands she follow his every command…

Planetary Passions - Heavenly Hijinks By Ashley Ladd
Clestie had no idea when she inherited her aunt's kooky mystic shop that she would come face-to-face with Leo the Lion himself.

Leo's celebrating his 3,500th birthday, a major milestone in every Zodiacal head's life, but none of his so-called friends have the time to party. Bored out of his mind with controlling the lives of all the Leo-born babies, he decides he needs a vacation. Earth is teeming with females just dying to share their heavenly bodies. Only, once he's on Earth, he can't return home on his own, and without his guidance, all the little Leos are running amok.

Talented psychic Petunia should be able to help him, but she's passed on to the next life and has left her delectable niece in charge. Unfortunately, the skeptical Clestie doesn't believe in mystical hocus-pocus…or him.

He'll just have to stick close—very close—until she does.

I learned from your website that you’re currently a yellow belt in karate. How did you first get involved in karate?

I'm a purple belt now which is about 3 belts higher than yellow. I have to go through blue, brown, red, and then I'll be a black belt! Not too far now till I make black belt...as long as my 11 year old stops getting in trouble and doesn't blow it for me. He emptied out the soap in their bathroom yesterday and got himself temporarily (we hope it's only temporary) demoted to white belt (all the way back to the beginning) for his misbehavior. He's the reason our family started tkd. He needed behavior modification big time and it was either that or military school. I'd never thought of doing karate or tkd before this, but I was into exercise and self improvement and as 3 other family members could take class for the same amount of $, I started, too. Now I'm way more gung ho at getting my black belt than any of my kids (my two daughters also take tkd, one is a purple belt like me and one is a camo belt, a bit behind us).

In your opinion, what are the three most essential ingredients of an excellent romance novel?

Romance, action & adventure, good characterization.

Congratulations! You just won a year off from work to travel anywhere in the world and write the story of your dreams. Where do you go, what type of book do you write, and what’s the title?

Choices choices. Uhm... I always dreamed of going to Australia. Or to a dude ranch in the Southwest. I love comedies and time travels, so probably one of those. I think the heroine would be a purple belt who is going ballistic about her direct marketing parties canceling.

Will you tell readers what you’re currently working on?

A very spicy FMM short Christmas story for Ellora's Cave. Also I'm working on a contemporary Harlequin type romance.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Thank you for spending time with me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd like to invite my readers and fans to visit me at www.ashleyladd.com. Many of my books are also available in print at Borders, Waldenbooks, and Barnes & Nobles, so be sure to look for them on the shelves. I love to hear from my readers at chinara@aol.com. And check out our blog at www.nightwhispersauthors.com and the yarnspinners blog.
Ciao,
Ashley

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions for us today Ashley!


Interviewed by: Tammy