Romance Awareness Month and Old Stories

Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, soul nourishing romantic women’s fiction with light paranormal elements. My stories show you what life could be like if you had a place like The Circle where you are unconditionally accepted, supported and loved. And where, with this support, you make choices to overcome the darkest nights and choose love and light.

This month the Genre-istas are sharing their perspective on either, or maybe both topics: Old Stories or Romance Awareness Month.

August is National (USA) Romance Awareness Month. Independent books stores across the United States have planned signings and other events to showcase authors (especially local ones) who write in this popular genre. Most likely you are reading this early in the month as it goes live on August 5^th. You can check your local indie book store or, if you can check out https://bookstoreromanceday.org/ for more information.

Old Stories?

Old Stories is the other topic. Many authors, when asked about when they first started writing, will talk about elementary or high school, maybe college. Others will talk about their first novel, buried under the bed or the back of a closet or drawer never to see the light of day.

There are many thoughts about those old stories. Here are mine.

While I’ve spent a great deal of my professional life writing (court reports, case notes, adoption home studies, post placement reports, and training programs complete with instructor and participant manuals, I never wrote fiction until late 1999/early 2000 when the visions, dreams and dialogue surrounding the seven women who are the main characters in The Sacred Women’s Circle series showed up.

I’ve no old stories to dig out and rewrite or polish. I do have a non-fiction book based on a training I developed that is waiting for me to rewrite or polish i.e. finish. And I do have the cover!

There are writers who thoughtfully consider story elements, do character studies, plot out each chapter, write synopses – in other words they have their story outlined before they start the actual book. Other writers are more like me. They sit down and see what shows up on the page.

I will admit that when I was writing Gabriella: Chaos and Symmetry, Sophia: Every Ending Is A Beginning and the first book in the “Visions” spinoff series, Visions of Happiness,  I had to keep track so the story line, time line and characters were congruent with what had come before. It’s very disconcerting as a reader to find a character’s hair and eye color change from one book to the next much less their age or another element of their life.

Dreams, Visions and Dialogue

The dreams, visions and dialogue that, at times, kept me up until all hours of the night, were my old stories. I’ve worked over fifty years in social services as well as survived some rocky spots in my own personal life. My characters are like many of us who have or are still facing issues: divorce, infidelity, domestic violence, single parenting, financial struggles, abandonment, overcoming childhood abuse, death of a spouse and then there are the physical challenges of recovery from a major accident or injury and recurrent breast cancer.

In many ways I share traits with these women. There is a piece of me in every story…more of me in some than in others. And no, I’ve not danced like Hunter: The Dancer and The Drum and I’ve made drums. I’ve not had a luscious garden like Sophia, but I love gardens and I have taught in a public high school. I’ve survived domestic violence, infidelity and divorce, raised a son and grandchildren, weathered financial struggles, dealt with cancer although not breast cancer. And once I had my own circle of women who accepted, supported and loved me, as well as my spiritual practices that bring me peace, all the trials and tribulations that still occur in my life are easier.

When you read my Sacred Women’s Circle series you meet seven women who will remind you of yourself or someone you know or someone you love who also struggles with these everyday issues. You will learn how Lily, Elizabeth, Diana, Ashley, Hunter, Gabriella and Sophia overcome those obstacles and with the acceptance and support of The Circle find their Happily-Ever-After.

My non-fiction: Staying Sane in a Crazy World, provides you with a template to create your Personal Staying Sane Plan to help you through the challenging times.

You can find all of my books at your favorite e-book vendor. Be sure to ask your local library if you’d prefer to read my books through that resource. If you want a print copy? Ask your local independent bookstore to order it for you. If you are in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area, my books are carried at Jan’s Paperbacks and Arte Soleil.

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshley.net

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2022 Judith Ashley