My Reading Refuge(s)

Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series ’s, 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 of your life to choose love and light.

These days wanting to relax and shut away the outside world is an almost constant ‘want’ of mine for a variety of reasons. I could fill several blog posts with my concerns and, at times, fears. However, the purpose of this post is to share with you who my “go to” author(s) are, authors whose books keep me on a more even keel.

What I’ve found interesting as I’ve thought about who and how to write this post is I’m not buying books like I used to.

Image copied from Jo Beverley website

Why? I’m still reading every day.

This year I’ve purchased three historical fiction (my favorite genres) and only finished one. I’ve spent some time analyzing why because they are authors I’ve read and enjoyed in the past. I don’t even remember the books/stories enough to say anything specific about them. However these are some of the reasons I don’t finish books or end up reading the last chapter or two before putting the book aside.

+ The story didn’t keep my interest.

+ Too much description of clothing, rooms, etc. I actually don’t care what the hero and heroine are wearing or what color the drapes are much less the fabric. And I find that boring to read.

+ Too much description of the seduction and sexual activities of the characters. I’m even okay with the fade to morning when the bedroom door closes on the couple. I’m not a prude. In my own books my characters make love. For me, it’s another aspect of a story that can actually become boring if it goes on for pages and pages.

So what have I been reading this year?

My keeper books. I actually started rereading all my fiction books during Covid. I also reread my entire series. I’ve purchased several non-fiction books that I’ve enjoyed and I’m looking forward to getting to a book store for Malcolm Gladwell’s latest. Hmm, I might just start rereading the books by him I already have.

My Go To Author is Jo Beverley. I also have numerous books by Nora Roberts and StephanieLauren’s Cynster series (Bar Cynster books).

Right now I’ve finished my 3^rd, 4^th or 5^th read of Jo Beverley’s Company of Rogues. While I’ve read all of these books at least 3 times, a couple I’ve read more. And I’ve started on her Georgian period books with the Malloren family as the heroes or heroine.

Image copied from Jo Beverley website

I’ve reread all of Nora’s books set in Ireland, one of my most favorite places in the world. And when I say “reread” I don’t mean just once. The series she wrote in the ‘90’s have been read at least 3 if not 4 times.

Early on when I started reading romance (1998), I was struck by the norms or expectation of Regency England about what was “appropriate” behavior for a “lady”.

What struck me?

 The vestiges of those “norms” that were alive and well during the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s, my growing up years.

I will admit that as I’m reading these books for the 3rd, 4th or 5th time, I am seeing aspects of the story that didn’t register or stick with me over the years. And I think that is because, for me, the stakes of how these remaining years of my life will be lived are higher. I’m in my 80’s now. One of those people living on a fairly fixed income. I do have book sales but nowhere near the thousand a month mark.

Image copied from author's website

The probability of a marriage of convenience is slim.

The probability of winning the lottery even slimmer as I seldom buy a ticket and when I do, checking the numbers continually slips my mind.

The probability of inheriting thousands of dollars is non-existent in that I don’t know anyone that has thousands of dollars.

Image copied from author's website

So when the world around me seems dark and bleak and scary, I turn to books that transport me to another place and time. Once I finish Jo Beverley’s Malloren series and get Malcom Gladwell’s latest book, I am going to start rereading his books. I doubt I’ll be transported anywhere and I might be engaged to the point where the world around me recedes to a mere shadow.

You can find my books at your favorite e-book vendor as well as through my website www.JudithAshley.net and Windtree Press. Print books are available at Jan’s Paperbacks in Hillsboro, OR and Arte Soleil in Portland, OR. Their addresses are on my website. And be sure to ask your library if you’d prefer to read my books through that resource.

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

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2025 Judith Ashley

Relax, Escape or Just Because

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 of your life to choose love and light.

What activity relaxes me? Takes me away from my every-day life? The one that has been a part of my life for the longest is reading. I have clear memories of curling up in the comfortable over-stuffed club chair with a book in hand. Back in elementary school, I liked reading about princesses in towers being rescued by shining knights. In the 1950’s, that was the only kind of book that transported me away from my life.

Courtesy of Deposit Photo

I was a duck out of water in many ways and would have been more suited to being a son than a daughter. I did not appreciate the dolls, clothes, powder, etc. I got as gifts much preferring the cars, trucks, etc. my brother’s received.

College? Yes I went and I’m grateful to have graduated. Doors, I had no idea I would need to be opened at all, opened for me in the future. In my day, most “girls” went to college for their Mrs. rather than a B.A. or B.S. much less as Master’s degree.

However, as my life progressed, as most lives do, with ups and downs and surprises aka challenges, my ability to lose myself in a book helped me survive them.

In the 1980’s I mainly read non-fiction or self-help books looking for the recipe that would smooth my path in life.

In the 1990’s many of the books I read were thriller or maybe suspense. I loved Tom Clancy’s books as well as John LeCarre’s. However, my reading favorites took a major change in direction in 1998 when my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. Days in the hospital after surgery and hours in waiting rooms while he underwent radiation therapy followed. I needed something to whisk me away from the finality of his life and the toll it was taking on my mom.

The gift shop at Providence St. Vincent’s in Portland, OR introduced me to Nora Roberts. I have no idea which of her numerous books it was but it helped. So, I read more of them. At one time I think I’d read virtually every book she had written under Nora Roberts. I never did make the change to J.D. Robb’s books.

Also in 1998, a friend of mine started Wild Women Writers. This eclectic group of women started meeting in December. At that time I wanted to take a workshop I’d created in the 1980’s and turn it into a self-help book. However, as I struggled to figure out basics such as formatting, etc., I began to have lucid dreams and visions where seven women showed up and I witnessed their lives: hopes, dreams and challenges.

When they wouldn’t go away, I began writing their stories. It took a while to finish the first one as I had many lessons to learn about not only the craft of writing fiction but also the intricacies of publishing.

Book One in The Sacred Women’s Circle series was published in March 2014. Lily: The Dragon and The Great Horned Owl shared that month with Books 2 and 3.

Elizabeth: The Lady and The Sacred Grove 

Diana: The Queen of Swords and The Knight of Pentacles.

Did I read while I wrote? I certainly did. My keeper shelves contain many of the books I didn’t want to end.

My favorite authors include

Jo Beverley’s Company of Rogues and her Malloren series

Stephanie Laurens’s The Bastian Club and the Cynster series

Most anything written by Nora Roberts writing as Nora not J.D.

Current favorite authors?

I’m waiting for Book Three of Eleria Grace’s Clubmobile Girls. I’ve reread the first two books a couple of times. Her research is fantastic and since I had uncles who fought in WWII, as well as clients who were veterans of that war, I’ve been able to understand them better because I understand at a different level what they went through, what they survived.

I still find getting lost in a book more satisfying than movies or television. I doubt at this point in my life that will ever change.

You can find my books at your favorite e-book vendor as well as through my website www.JudithAshley.net and Windtree Press. Print books are available at Jan’s Paperbacks in Beaverton, OR and Arte Soleil in Portland, OR. Get the addresses from my website. And be sure to ask your library if you’d prefer to read my books through that resource.

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

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2025 Judith Ashley