Friday 29 March 2013

The Unraveling of Lady Fury by Shehanne Moore

I've been waiting to make this post for a long, long time. Finally, today's the day that the amazing Shehanne Moore's book is relaesed.
The Unraveling of Lady Fury

Shehanne has made a wonderful post to celebrate this special day. So, without further fuss I turn my blog over to her and her creation.
Avast ye, me hearties!
Bosley Crowther wrote in the New York Times of 10 August 1940 about The Sea Hawk, ‘Of course, the film is all historically cockeyed, and the amazing exploits of Mr. Flynn, accomplished by him in the most casual and expressionless manner, are quite as incredible as the adventures of Dick Tracy. But Flora Robson makes an interesting Queen Elizabeth.’

Talk about damning the whole sorry thing by faint praise. The Sea Hawk is after all,a pirate movie, although it’s not set during the golden age of piracy.
220px-The_Sea_Hawk

Pirates as you’ve guessed, or rather the depiction of them in books and onscreen, is what I’m going to blog about today, after I’ve firstly thanked the lovely Faith for so kindly asking me along. Why? Because my hero is an ex privateer, so when it came to creating him, I had to take a look at a few things.

This was one.
JOhnny_Depp

No offence to Johnny, whose portrayal of Captain Jack, I love, but the swarthy mascarad, look for my hero…er no.

And could I really imagine him and the heroine together on deck, looking like a prize pair of Spanish gypsies, never mind twats?
230px-Tyrone_Power_Maureen_O'Hara_Black_Swan_6

When they were on deck in their somewhat stormy, murky back story that was?

The depiction of pirates in popular culture with festering teeth, eye patches and more cutlasses than an Olympic fencing team, was not encouraging. And of course, thank you Robert Newton for the fact that every one of them speaks with an ‘Ooooh Arrrrr, Jim laaaahd’ West Country burrrrrrrr.
robert_Newton

And as if that’s not enough, will you just look at what the poor man has got on his shoulder? Yes. In case you can’t make it out, it’s a parrot. A fashion accessory for pirates along with a hook and a stump.

The grief I’m giving myself, I’d have been forgiven for making the hero something else. A travelling circus artist, a bank manager, or something. Even the era - 1820 - was wrong to have been scourging the Caribbean.

But actually, it wasn’t. It tied in really well with the War of 1812 where privateers claimed three quarters of the 600 British merchant ships taken. The fact my hero was now an indentured servant, completely down on his luck, worked with what happened to these men in the years afterwards. It also worked with his biggest strength and flaw. Pride.

I tried to keep some of the pirate notions. He’s ruthless, conniving, and pretty concentrated on certain things only. Leave the family silver around and he’ll take it. And yes, he wears a tricorne hat. But he totally hates parrots. They squawk too loud. And because in reality, he’s a dirt poor farm boy from Savannah, he once took elocution lessons. Oh, he’s also blond. And drop dead hotly gorgeous. It’s what makes the heroine, having to sleep with him, so difficult.

No, you didn’t misread that. Conceiving the Beaumont heir gets a whole lot harder the second Flint Blackmoore steps on the scene!
TheUnravelingOfLadyFury-ByShehanneMoore-453x680
Release date is, today, 29th March from Etopia Press. Cover by Amber Shah Designs.

Blurb

Genoa 1820

Rule one… There will be no kissing

Widowed Lady Fury Shelton hasn’t lost everything yet. So long as she produces the heir to the Beaumont dukedom, she might keep her position and her secrets. But when the callously irresistible man she’d rather rot in everlasting hell, than bed, threatens to expose her, she invents bedroom rules to stop herself wanting the one thing she knows he can never give her.

Rule two… There will be no touching

Only when it comes to rules, ex-privateer James Flint Blackmoore is a master at making his own. Soon he’s playing with fire. Both know future happiness can only lie in keeping each other at arm’s length. Yet they’re torn by old hurts and the promise of new passion.

But some rules are made to be broken…

Why is she so determined to hate him? Will her secret truth make it easier or harder for him to abide by the rules? Or will Flint finally convince her he can give her the one thing he never has?

Extract
"James, I am sure you will manage. You managed plenty before. But I do not particularly desire to look at your body before, during, or after. Nor in any shape or form wandering about this house in just your breeches. Is that understood?”

His hands came down off his shirt and he glared, so he must have. “You wanted to look at it plenty before. In fact, it makes my head spin, just how often you—”

True. But that was then. “Rule three.” Clasping her fingers round the cool edge of the dressing table to create another inch of distance, she continued.

“Rule three?” he protested. “You mean there’s more?”

“I will not touch you in any place, intimate or otherwise. I will lie. You will perform.”


Find Shehanne at...
Twitter -
https://twitter.com/ShehanneMoore


Blog - shehannemoore.wordpress.com/

Facebook - www.facebook.com/pages/Shehanne-Moore/163736780417433

Webpage - shehannemooreweeblycom.weebly.com/


You can buy it here...

Saturday 23 March 2013

Sometimes I really am even more stupid than I thought I was


Yesterday I posted about getting Faith's ebooks signed.

I signed up for the service, read all the guff, tried it out myself and it's only today that I realised it was the Authorgraph service.

AUTHORgraph. Not AUTOgraph. It's even written in a different script on the site. It's really, really frigging simple and clear and I did not see it.

Sometimes I swear my brain is laughing at me, it really is.

Anyway if you would like a book signed with Authorgrpah, please go here and I will attempt not to muck it up.

http://www.authorgraph.com/authors/Ashlin_Faith

Just A Little Unwell by Iyana Jenna

Today I'm giving over my blog to my good buddy ... *insert drum roll* ... Iyana Jenna!

She has a book out today, it's called 'Just A Little Unwell'

 photo f54001df-85a2-450f-a068-5dd6bfe77833_zps05a3ac7c.jpg


Dear Faith, thank you for the opportunity to appear in your journal.

Here's the blurb for my book:

Patrick Trafford is pleased with the simple life he has, spending his time tending a tiny garden accompanied by his best friend, Chad, a cockroach. Nevertheless, he can't hide the excitement bubbling in him as a man suddenly appears in the garden.

Damien Abner politely welcomes, albeit somewhat at a loss, Patrick's warm offer to spend time with him. To have a coffee, watch some movie, and dance along with the characters in it.

They begin to date and Patrick has never been happier, though he barely knows who Damien is--not that it matters to him. For him, being clueless does mean bliss.

I thouht you might like to read an excerpt:

Patrick loves taking care of his garden, the white and yellow colors of honeysuckle and buttercups and some bushes of Deptford pink. He loves weeding and clearing off the garbage, and he loves doing it alone. The only company he wants or needs is his only friend, a cockroach named Chad. He's been doing it for months, or years--exactly how long he doesn't quite know for sure. He also doesn't know why no one else has ever come to the garden. He has several neighbors who live in two rows of small white houses just like his own. But he only sees them from afar, never talking with them or visiting each other's house. He's always alone, always in the garden the whole day, and he always goes home when the sky is dark with Chad tagging along, like he always does.

The same thing will repeat the next day--and the next day.

Until one day when it doesn't.

A person is standing near the fence at the corner of the garden. Patrick can't help but be wary, even though Chad is jumping around him as if he has no care in the world. No one's ever been with him here. No human, that is. The man's all-white uniform makes him even more nervous for some reason Patrick can't fathom. He sneaks behind a tall tree and peeks sideways around it. The man says nothing, but he doesn't seem to have trouble following Patrick with his eyes, as if the tree weren't even there. Patrick pulls himself in, back flat against the huge tree trunk, breath heaving. He stays there for quite some time, Chad chirping on his shoulder. When no other sound and no voice is forthcoming, Patrick's finally sure that the man is gone. He steps out of his hiding place.

The man is right there, waiting, smiling softly at Patrick.

"Patrick." The man nods at him.

Patrick freezes, his mind blank.

"Hi. My name's Abner, Damien Abner, your new..." The man pauses, as if he doesn't know exactly what he wants to say.
Recovering his senses, Patrick smiles back. He tries his best to have it be as soft as the man's--Damien's--but he ends up with more of an edge to his voice than he'd intended.

"Damien, would you like a coffee?"

Damien lifts an eyebrow. Patrick waves back at his house and up at the sky.

"It's not yet dark, so I can't invite you in for dinner. But I have coffee, if you'd like some."

Damien's face scrunches up for reasons beyond Patrick's comprehension, but finally it smoothes out. The smile is back.
"Sure."

Patrick beams. He leads Damien home, flicking Chad off his shoulder. Chad lands on the ground with a small squeak. Patrick shrugs. He'll live.

Once inside, Patrick grabs two cups off the counter, dividing the coffee between them and sliding one cup toward Damien. The man looks down at the cup. He seems confused. Suddenly Patrick remembers.

"Oh." He takes that one back. "I'm such a bad host. I thought you would like it black, like me. Cream and sugar?" He looks around. "I'm afraid I'm running out of cream, though."

"This is fine." Damien takes the cup back from Patrick and sips a little. "You make excellent coffee."

"I do?" Patrick beams. He points to the corner of the room. "You wanna watch a movie?"

"What have you got?"

Patrick drops his gaze. "Only an old Western flick. I love it because it has singing and dancing." He looks up to see if Damien approves. His heart lights up when Damien nods, smiling.

"I'd like to see it. I'm sure I'll adore it like you do."

"That's awesome." Patrick rushes to his TV and VCR set and plays Cat Ballou, his absolute favorite movie. He searches for his favorite part where they dance at the party in the barn then turns to Damien. "Can you dance? We should dance."

Damien shakes his head and hands, and he looks so panicked that Patrick laughs out loud.

"C'mon, Damien. It'll be fun."

"No, Patrick. You go ahead and dance."

Patrick ignores him and takes his hand. "It's not that hard."

Damien clearly looks uneasy, but he gets up and makes an attempt to haltingly follow Patrick's steps.

"Follow the music," Patrick says, laughing as Damien once more steps on his foot.

"I'm trying, I'm trying." Damien's laughing too.

Patrick stops abruptly, causing Damien to bump into his chest.

"What's wrong?" Damien asks.

Patrick opens his mouth to answer but immediately closes it again.

"Nothing."

"Come on, Patrick. You can tell me anything."

"Really? But I don't know you."



Author bio:

Iyana Jenna is a Pisces from Jakarta, Indonesia. She is a teacher and a dreamer. She considers herself quiet and a
good listener. She enjoys being a M/M romance author AND she likes cheese and banana fritters!

I can be found here:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/iyanajenna

Friday 22 March 2013

Get your books signed here!

I've just signed up for the ebook Autograph service. If you'd like a autograph to go with 'Pathfinder' or 'What You See Isn't Always What You Get' go here…

http://www.authorgraph.com/authors/Ashlin_Faith

I didn't know about this service until a good friend told me, but it looks fun and really easy to use. Go on, try it out!

Sunday 17 March 2013

Join the giveaway!



Sue Brown is very kindly hosting a giveaway for my book 'What You See Isn't Always What You Get'. Leave a comment on her blog to enter the draw to win a copy.

Thank you, honey, and good luck everyone. 

Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews

Got another wonderful review for 'What You See Isn’t Always What You Get' at Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews. Wow, just wow!

http://sinfullysexybooks.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/what-you-see-isnt-always-what-you-get.html

Thursday 14 March 2013

I twist Richard's arm...



When the amazing shehanne moore graciously allowed me to feature on her blog she added a twist that, I thought, was fun and different. She had me, as the author, interviewed by Richard, one of the main Characters of my latest book. I thought I'd post it here so anyone who wants to can read it.

From shehanne's blog.... Without more ado here's Faith telling Richard from her latest release 'What You See Isn’t Always What You Get' just why he should be in this book.

RICHARD.  So this book means a lot to you… Do you have any idea, lady, how often we characters get that sob story from you authors?  What an arm twisting device it is……..no more.
FAITH. (Sweating buckets) That would be such a pity Richard, I mean I discovered your story and it just blew me away. It was a story just begging to be written. I cried at parts as I wrote them down but I think the ending is truly uplifting and will make anyone see that there is always hope. That no matter how bad things appear there is always a chance for something better. 
And then I fell in love with all the characters. Yes, all of them, especially you! But I’ll admit I have a real soft spot for Grady. At the start I didn’t know him at all but by the end I was hopelessly in love with him. He broke my heart but made me admire him so very much. Of course, if you don’t want to be a part of that….
 RICHARD. All right. All right. Excuse me while I just get back my arm in order to get out my violin.  Maybe raise some money busking on the streets here. Look sex for money isn’t exactly a new concept. It’s been around almost since creation. And you want to write about that? When I could just twang a few strings..
FAITH.  I don’t think it’s the typical ‘sex for money’ situation. Denny isn’t a slave anymore nor is he a whore. Plus you, Richard, aren’t asking for the normal reasons. There is so much more behind your request and it tells us a lot about you.  
 RICHARD. But you’re going to wait till I come on board to tell me it? Or maybe you haven’t even thought of it yet? Yeah that would be about right.  This world I live in, it’s really comfortable right? I mean do you have any idea how we characters get sick of that too? Being stuck in sick future visions you authors wouldn’t dream of living in yourselves? Run by Teenage Mutant Turtles or something.
FAITH. (Shifts uncomfortably) Now Richard, if you’d just sit down again I can tell you that it it…er…is a damaged world. Yes. But one that is just starting to recover and move on. No don’t get up again. Please.  You see it’s a place full of hope where people are really trying to make a difference. A place where slavery has gone but that didn’t make everything sunshine and flowers overnight. Now you all have to work for the peace. You and Denny will be doing that every way you can. How nice will that be?
RICHARD. Not that nice or I wouldn’t be keeping on fighting would I?
 FAITH. You fight because you’ve been fighting all your life and you don’t know what else to do. You lost hope and couldn’t see a future for yourself. But you found it again in a most unexpected place, and had the courage to go for it. 
RICHARD.  So you want to tell me why I should be in your book, cos so far….? 
FAITH. People should know your story, and Denny’s, because you’re truly interesting! You made me realise that we really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, nor a person by what you see on the outside. At first glance I made assumptions about both you and Denny but that’s not who either of you are. It took time but slowly I got to know you and I think other people will love to do the same because you really are worth knowing.
RICHARD. Ahhhhh. Okay, so call me an ambulance... I think you broke my arm.

Thank you, shehanne, you are a star!
http://shehannemoore.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/the-day-two-grilling-with-faith/

Sunday 3 March 2013

Review for 'Love is Love' anthology

I was just pointed in the direction of this review on 'Hearts On Fire Reviews' for the 'Love is Love' anthology.

http://heartsonfirereviews.com/?p=18410

The whole book was given four hearts, which is wonderful.

Then I saw this about my story

"My favorite of this anthology, which I would give 5+ hearts, is My Unintended by Faith Ashlin. Honestly, I wasn’t even expecting to like it when I started it because Noah seemed to be so wishy washy, not worthy of Greg’s devotion and basically running from him. He claims he doesn’t know what changed him from loving this man to wanting to leave him for a hypothetical wife and children. When he admits to Greg that he never envisioned the future with Greg in it, I wanted to cry for Greg. “Maybe I just haven’t given up on the whole assumed future yet?” What? I thought “jerk” and figured that was it. I actually wanted Greg to say forget it and leave the idiot. But, oh, then stupid, hurtful Noah goes to see his Grandma, who tells him the story of her unintended, Harlan. And then I wanted to cry for Harlan, for Grandma, for lost opportunities and for those who took the easy way and regretted it. And that story touched my heart and gave me hope. Loved it."

Oh wow, just… wow! There are so many great authors in the anthology that it's amazing that mine was singled out.

Just wow!!


Saturday 2 March 2013

Oh wow!


I am lucky enough to be appearing on the amazing, the wonderful, the utterly incredible *insert trumpet fanfare* Shehanne Moore's blog!

She has turned my humble offering of a blog post into something truly fantastic and really funny.

I bow down at her feet. This woman should give lessons on how to do blog post!
Thank you so much Shehanne. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Please, go and read…