Judith Ashley
is the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic fiction that honors
spiritual practices that nourish the soul and celebrates the journey from
relationship to romance.
My usual writing process is a story starts appearing in
my night and day dreams. I see the characters
in various settings. I hear them talk
to each other. So when I sit down to write, the story just flows. However,
there have been a couple of times when I’ve veered from that process.
First
Love is a short story in The
Gift of Christmas Windtree Press anthology. Of course I knew the history of
Ashley Ann Carlyle, who becomes the heroine of her own story in The Sacred
Women’s Circle series. And originally Christmas didn’t figure into it at all.
However, I really wanted to be in this anthology which is
why I deviated from my process.
What did I do?
I’d already written a rough draft of how Ashley and Art Kenner
met, her family dynamics and their courtship including her stance on her voice
being heard and respected and being a partner in the relationship. Since in the
original story Art proposes in the spring, obviously not suitable for The Gift of Christmas theme, I rearranged
the story line so that Art proposes on Christmas Eve.
However, First Love
turns out to be a “Happily For Now” story. When you read Ashley, Book Four in The Sacred Women’s
Circle series, you learn those promises Art made that Christmas Eve were not
kept.
While First Love
is about the promise of a future of love and laughter.
Ashley:
Dragonflies and Dreams is about her journey to accept and love her
physical self in a new way. And to learn to trust that the new her with inner and outer scars is
lovable and deserves a future of love and laughter.
The
Gift of Christmas contains 12 short stories by 12 different
authors. Anthologies in general and The
Gift of Christmas in particular are excellent ways to get to know a
new-to-you author. It is available at all major e-retailers. Your local book
store and library can also order a print copy for you.
Ashley:
Dragonflies and Dreams is also available at all major
e-retailers. And, yes, your local books story and library can also order print
copies for you.
© 2018 Judith Ashley
