I'm Saying Yes To The Dress

Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic women’s fiction that honors pagan spiritual practices that nourish the soul. 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 as you overcome obstacles and find your happily-ever-after.

This month the Genre-istas’ topic is “Wedding Stories.” We’ve had similar themes in the past so I’m sure I’ve already told my own “wedding story” at some point over the last 8 years.

What I don’t remember sharing with you is the role television shows such as “Say Yes To The Dress” “This Old House” “House Hunters” and other programs on the Discovery, HGTV and PBS channels have played in my writing.

Perhaps because I eloped wearing my navy blue Easter Sunday suit, it’s been important to me to include a wedding scene usually at the end of the book (not true for Hunter and Visions of Happiness). But I digress.

There were literally years when I watched most of the home improvement and extreme homes shows as well as SYTTD. My friends would shake their heads in dismay. What was it about these (to them) worthless reality t.v. shows that drew me? I’d cock my head to one side and shrug my shoulders, a lopsided twist to my mouth. “I like them?”

When I started writing The Sacred Women’s Circle series, those years of watching “worthless reality t.v.” came in handy. I knew a lot about Lily as there are parallels with my own life. However to write the hero's story, those hours of sitting in front of my television were invaluable because Jackson Montgomery turned out to be an inventive sought-after architect.

The same is true for “Say Yes To The Dress.” Ball gown, Mermaid style, fit and flare, the amount of bling, see-through bodices, plunging neck lines and bare backs…before I watched SYTTD, I had a very traditional view of what a wedding dress would (should) look like.

I will admit that many of the programs that used to fascinate me no longer hold me in the same thrall. Why? Because it seems that the producers of programs like SYTTD and HH’s believe that the more obnoxious, demanding, rude, etc. the bride-to-be or her entourage or the house hunter/remodeler are the better.

While I’ve never flipped a house, I have had extensive remodeling done on my own. And I have been involved in numerous projects that have a promised completion date.

If every project had me up doing the “all-nighter” so it would be perfect for the client, I’d probably have slit my throat – I know that’s a bit dramatic but really – these professionals can’t figure out how to estimate what needs to be done in such a way that they do a quality job and still get some sleep?

If you find yourself binge watching certain programs, especially if you are or are considering the life of an author, ask yourself how you can use the experience in your writing or to learn and grow in your own life. And if you already do so, what programs or movies or books or music do you find inspire your stories and your life?

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2019 Judith Ashley

The Magic of Visions

Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic women’s fiction that honors pagan spiritual practices that nourish the soul. 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 you do overcome obstacles and find your happily-ever-after.

When I started writing The Sacred Women’s Circle series, I clearly saw seven women coming together to form their own special place where they were unconditionally accepted, supported and loved and where they created their own spiritual practices drawing from various religions. The visions were clear and I eagerly wrote these stories while learning more about the craft of writing and then the process of publishing.

Initially I pitched my series to traditional publishers but the changes they wanted me to make (have the women fight among themselves) would change a core principle at the very foundation of the stories.

The sixth and seventh books Gabriella and Sophia were published in October and November 2017. In each of the books there were secondary characters I thought might have their own stories to tell but I stayed focused on the original seven.

Before Sophia was published I began to have the lucid day and night dreams as well as hear bits of dialogue that marked the beginning of my writing these books. I was not surprised to hear Mark Parker and his son, Ethan but who was the woman and little girl?

Visions of Happiness was published in 2018. And while it isn’t one of the original Sacred Women’s Circle series books, it is a part of a larger circle of women.

And now? I started Visions of Ireland (may end up being a working title) in December but a series of health problems have curtailed my writing for the past four months. Set in Ireland, Vision of Ireland’s hero is a major secondary character from Elizabeth (Book 2 in the series) and the heroine is barely mentioned in Visions of Happiness. But here she is in Ireland seeking her to enhance her spiritual practice with dogged, determined, purpose—you get the picture.

Here’s the back cover blurb for Visions of Happiness.

Dr. Mark Parker and his foster son face a social worker who is prejudiced against single parent adoptions.

Jocelyn Edwards and her step-daughter flee the little girl’s abusive father ending their cross-country ordeal in Fremont, OR.

When a mutual friend brings them together, it is love at first sight for the battered little boy and broken little girl.

But the path to love between Jocelyn and Mark is fraught with nightmares from the past and fears of future loss.

To have the future they both desire, Mark and Jocelyn must persevere through the terror of loss to find love and claim their future.

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. 

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2019 Judith Ashley

Romance Authors Helped Me Through Tough Times

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.

I’d never really read romance novels until the summer of 1997. Oh, it isn’t that I’d never seen one, one of my aunts was an avid reader of Danielle Steele.

However the summer of 1997 my dad had exploratory surgery. Sitting in the hospital waiting for the surgeon to advise us as to the outcome, I needed something to distract me other than a Tom Clancy or psych-thriller-type book.

The hospital gift shop had Nora Roberts’ books and, while I don’t remember the title, I never looked back. You see, even though the surgeon said the operation was a success and the cancer had been removed, that wasn’t true.

When my dad’s balance went and his eye-sight was affected and the headaches relentlessly pounded, my mom relented and let me make an appointment to see an oncologist.

By this time it was too late. Over the next months, I spent hours with my dad at doctor appointments and while he had radiation treatments. Where was my mom? Her grief over losing her soul mate, her life partner for almost 60 years took a massive toll on her health. So much so, we weren’t sure she’d survive.

Trade paperbacks by Nora, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jo Beverley and a myriad others easily tucked into my purse. One was always on hand to distract me while waiting.

And that’s how my path to writing romance started. I read, immersed myself in the stories knowing that a happily-ever-after waited for me on the last page, while knowing a happily-ever-after was not waiting for me in my real life.

My dad died March 8, 1998. I was invited to join Wild Women Writers in December 1999. Originally I was going to take a personal growth program I’d developed in the early 1980’s and turn it into a book. I dithered around with that project for a year and then the magic happened.

I started remembering dreams, having day dreams, hearing voices of women who wanted me to tell their stories. They each wanted a happily-ever-after and were positive I was the only one who could write about them. All those hours of escaping into the pages of romance novels rushed back. I put the personal growth book away and started writing down the visions and voices that would not leave me alone.

Would I be a romance author now if not for all those books I read in hospital rooms and doctor’s offices? Read at night or when I couldn’t sleep in an effort to push away the darkness of grief at losing my dad?

Would I have taken the plunge if I hadn’t had these books in my hands?

I don’t think so.

While I’m no Nora or Susan or Jo, if one reader benefits from my books like I did from theirs, then I’m happy.

After working in social services for fifty or so years, one thing I know is this truth: We never know the impact we have on others. We never know if something we’ve said or written or done will change someone’s life.

What I also know is true is that when we move forward in our lives with love in our hearts and our deeds, we do no harm. And what better caveat than that – we send love into the world and did no harm.

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2018 Judith Ashley

Romance Awareness Month and Dreams

Pre-order now or on sale 08/06/18

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.

August is Romance Awareness Month and the Blog Queens’ topic pick for the Genre-istas? My Writing Dreams Come True! (And we did this a year ago when we didn’t even know August was Romance Awareness Month).

My writing dreams include my reader and fan-base growing because my books “speak” to them. The women in my books are relatable. The challenges they face are familiar if not personally, then because we know people who have tackled them. How my heroines and heroes deal with the obstacles stimulate ideas or provide a blue-print to use in solving my reader’s very real issues.

My writing dreams also include having the time to sit down and write the best story I know how to write. That has certainly changed for me over the years. I took six years to write Lily. Of course that included spending five years writing and rewriting the first three chapters! What I learned during that six year odyssey is how critically important it is for each writer to find her or his own writing process.

And, the more we write and learn the art and craft of putting words on the page to tell a story, the easier it is to write—at least that’s true for me.

Most recently my writing dreams manifested with the publishing of my first box set. The Sacred Women’s Circle series, Books 1 – 3 box set includes Lily, Elizabeth and Diana. To read the behind-the-scenes story of the writing of Lily, Elizabeth and Diana, click on the title. Or your can go to my website “Women” in the left side-bar and click the heroine’s name of your choice.

You can order The Sacred Women’s Circle series Books 1 – 3 at all major e-retailers. And during the month of August, if you are in the Portland, OR area, print copies of my books are on sale at Arte Soleil, 5530 SE 122nd Avenue. These books are regularly $15.00 each or $12.00 if three or more books are purchased. Through Labor Day Weekend, all books in the series are available for $12.00 each or $10.00 if purchased in groups of three or more.

Next month Visions of Happiness will be released. Visions is the story of Dr. Mark Parker (who you meet for the first time in Lily) and Jocelyn Edwards.

Both Mark and Jocelyn’s lives revolve around children who have been literally battered and broken. Parenting traumatized children who are not your biological kids brings Mark and Jocelyn together. They have a lot on their plates as they balance protecting Ethan and Emma and the daily tasks of parenthood with finding the courage to seek their own happily-ever-after.

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2018 Judith Ashley