See how I like shiny objects?

I must have been a cat in another life. Apart from the fact that I think they're adorable, like the cute fluffballs, I'm easily distracted.

While it might be shiny objects, or just something that's moving that gets their attention, my shiny objects are either new story ideas, or my many, many started stories.

They sit there in my Writing Folder, the folder I shouldn't look in because Because of my distraction obsession, I always have two stories on the go  and these live in my WIP folder on a totally different Drive, and these have  priority. I'm currently working on two stories that both have deadlines (one for a box set and one for submission from a conference pitch).

You'd think two books to finish is more than enough to keep my writing time fully occupied, and I do

hit my daily word counts to get these done on time, but then a writing comp comes up and I think it's a good idea to enter. Not with an extract from my current WIPs, but something from my Writing Folder. So I start going through a couple of books that are only partially written and get caught up in those stories again. I have to work on them to get them up to comp standard (which is a good thing because they'd need editing eventually anyway so I'm saving myself work, aren't I?).

I get immersed in these stories again and ideas start to flow. I do resist the urge to keep writing more, but I make notes about those ideas. Ooooh I so want to keep writing these stories now, rather than going back to my WIPs (where I am struggling a little because I must have forgotten to put on my pantsing pants). My imagination is reinvigorated for these older stories.

Is it any wonder I have half a dozen 'three chapters'?

Oh, and not mention the attraction (and a bit of necessity) of re-releasing the back-catalogue of half a dozen shorter pieces that have been previously published, so they don't languish in yet another Folder for months/years.

But I am more disciplined with my writing these days, and I have deadlines which drag me back to reality. The only recent partially started story is one for a box set which had the category changed (from contemporary to paranormal) so that wasn't an actual lapse back into old bad habits - but it is one that I'm revisiting for a competition and it's trying very hard to call me back to keep writing it.

I thought I'd share my shiny object so you can see what sort of distractions I'm up against :

Partially begun stories (some only have a few pages written) :
Pleasures Mistress - historical
Second Skin - contemporary
Sophronia - historical
Summer Salsa - contemporary set in Cuba
Wicked Wishes - contemporary
Anna - paranormalish set in Greece
Purr - paranormal 
Two's Company - contemporary
Untitled - contemporary where I'd lost the file and started rewriting
Untitled - historical about female pirates

Re-releases :
Diving In - contemporary
Miss Blaine's Misconduct - contemporary
Skin On Skin - paranormal short which needs reworking into something longer
Caught In - pararnormal

Ideas :
Hothouse Flowers box set - contemporary to include Miss Blaine from above
Night Father - contemporary (non romance)
Untitled - paranormal thriller
Untitled - contemporary modern version of Peyton Place

Sooooo, putting all that out of my mind now and getting back to reaching my daily word counts on my WIPs :

Undying Night - vampire story for upcoming box set (Feb 2020)
A Firm Hand - Book 1 from Bedford Brothers series as requested at conference.

Shiny objects all safely back in their Folder now, and that's where they'll stay until above WIPs are done - and I have my little whip-cracking friend here to keep me in line !!

For more about Andra and her writing life follow her in Instagram @andraashesmutmaven or on her website here.   

My 2018 Best Books

There is something about interlocking stories within a book that really appeals to me. I have no idea why. Maybe something from deep down in my psyche or in a past life? Who knows. It's the same with movies. My all time favourite movies (which all have this theme) are Babel, Crash and The Red Violin (check them out, they're amazing).

Maybe I'm just greedy and want more than one story for my money!

So it's not surprising that the books I enjoyed most during 2018 had this common thread. My 'reading' involves a mix of digital, hard copy and audio books and these are just a few those which gripped me and had me reading/listening more than once :

The Shape Of Us by Lisa Ireland
 (link is for the ebook but image is from the hard copy because I love this picture so much)

A touchingly emotional story of four women sharing a battle with weight loss and subsequently sharing each other's lives and supporting each other through relationship ups and downs.

Very relatable because Lisa paints a very realistic picture of female relationships. The strength of them, the fragility and the importance.

Four very different women meet in an online forum for weight loss and soon take their friendship into the real world.



What I love even more than a book about interwoven stories is a series of books about the same characters (which is why I'm currently writing Book 1 in my own series!)

The 'Mischief Bay' series by Susan Mallery 

 

Four books about four groups of friends, whose lives also intersect in the small town of Mischief Bay. Strong friendships weather real life problems, griefs and share joys. Once I'd read one, I had to read the rest.

Three Sisters by Susan Mallery 

(Book 2 of the 3 Book 'Blackberry Island' Series)

 Another book about three friends who live in three adjoining houses (The Three Sisters).

Three women with complex, compelling lives and relationships who rely on each other for support and sometimes the brutal truth.

I'm yet to read the other two books in this series, but know I'll be drawn in to the life of this small town just as strongly.



While this style of book is my absolute favourite, I do read beyond the interwoven relationships theme. This next book did start with another trio of friends, but then concentrates on the erotic and romantic adventures of one.

Sweet Filthy Boy by Christina Lauren

Can't say enough how much I love this book!

'After a crazy Vegas weekend celebrating her college graduation—and terrified of the future path she knows is a cop-out—Mia Holland makes the wildest decision of her life: follow Ansel Guillaume—her sweet, filthy fling—to France for the summer and just...play.'

Of course it becomes more than just an erotic game and emotions run high.

The emotions in this story are raw and real - and the sexy sections are some of the best I've ever read. Christina Lauren knows exactly how to combine the two.

Catching Captain Nash by Anna Campbell

 Anything by Anna is fabulous. If you want strong, totally believable emotion with sizzling sexual tension then you will never be disappointed.

'Five years after he’s lost, presumed dead, Captain Robert Nash escapes cruel captivity, and returns to London and the bride he loves, but barely knows. Five years is a long time, and beautiful, passionate Morwenna has clearly found a life without him. Can he win back the wife who gave him a reason to survive his ordeal? Or will the woman who haunts his every thought remain eternally out of reach?'

Loved it!

Looking forward to another year of disappearing into beautifully created worlds and meeting flawed and relatable characters in 2019!

Visit Andra's own creative world at www.andraashe.com

A Little Twist To Your Fairytales by Andra Ashe

I hate feeling like I'm missing out on something, especially when my friends are participating so it was a no-brainer that I'd write a story for a box set planned by my awesome writing group - Twisted Fairytales with a paranormal twist.. Novella length was doable and we were so organised that we had almost a year to put it all together.

Sure, I had a couple of stories already on the go but nothing with a deadline so I gave my attention to deciding which fairytale to mix with what paranormal being.

I never know where my ideas come from, they just bubble up from the depths of my imagination and somehow my paranormal heroine told me she was a Selkie. A shapeshifter from Irish/Scottish folklore. A woman who changes from seal to human.

Unlike other shifters, Selkies shed their seal skins when they transform to human. That skin is the only way to return to their seal form, so keeping it safe is imperative. 

Selkies were popular in romance ages ago, and while I'm not trying to rekindle the trend I(but if it did,that'd be fabulous), they do fit in with the current popularity of shapeshifters. I figured as my heroine was a water-based character, I'd loosely (very loosely) match her with The Little Mermaid fairytale.

It's fascinating what we sometimes have to research for our stories. I watched Youtube videos about teaching someone to surf, videos of surfers so I could (hopefully) describe it accurately and finding just the right Irish name for my Selkie. I was so excited to find that Ireland actually hosts an annual surf and music festival which was exactly what my characters needed!

My heroine, Aislinn, ('Caught In') shares the box set with 8 other paranormal fairytale based stories including Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood  and Aladin.

Collaborating on a box set was a great experience. Under the guidance of our fabulous and extremely knowledgeable  'project manager' Tamsin Baker, we got our act together and finished our stories more or less on time (mine is in the 'less' category and cut it fine for the deadline) and the whole process required minimal whip cracking.

We're all very excited that our hard work has resulted in such a diverse collection of gorgeous looking set of books, so if you love a bit of  paranormal romance with some heat thrown in, Twisted Fairytales has just been released!