'To Stand Close' blog tour

I've never done a blog tour like this before, it's very exciting.   

Front cover reveal - To Stand Close

This is the cover for my new book - To Stand Close

It's due for early download: 27th February and general release: 27th March, with the print release the same day. 

I'm very excited!

 

Sergei Polunin, "Take Me to Church" by Hozier, Directed by David LaChapelle

Please, watch this. I think it's totally, completely beautiful. I also Love the song.

Beyond Romance: Have you ever shouted at a book you were reading?

I'm honoured to be featured on Lisabet Sarai's blog. If you leave a comment you'll be entered into a draw to win one of my books. 

Go here...

Beyond Romance: Have you ever shouted at a book you were reading?

Cara Sutra Erotic Author Spotlight Series: Faith Ashlin

I've been lucky enough to be featured on Cara Sutra's Erotic Author Spotlight Series.

How fantastic!

http://carasutra.co.uk/2014/12/erotic-author-spotlight-series-faith-ashlin/

I'm on AReCafe!

To promote my new book 'A Slow Process of Understanding' I was asked to appear on AreCafe.

What an honour!

http://www.arecafe.com/cafe-news/faith-ashlin-world-like/?utm_source=&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=

Faith Ashlin: A World Like This

Please welcome Faith Ashlin to AReCafe!
A world like this one but not quite.

I love that idea. Taking a familiar situation and twisting it, just a bit. Then, of course, adding in a relationship between two gorgeous men, and seeing how love – and lust – can grow. It’s even more interesting if they are from different positions in society.

I’ve been fascinated by the idea of love between two people whose status seems poles apart for a long time. I tried it with royalty and soldiers in my book Knights and Butterscotch but I wanted to take it one step further.

For me, the ultimate imbalance has to be a world where there is slavery. One where slaves are such a normal part of life that no one questions owning one. A world like ours except slavery is commonplace. I thought that was a really interesting idea. How would people react in a world like that? It’s too easy to apply our morals to a different time and say we wouldn’t accept slaves. I don’t think back that in Roman times everyone was worrying about the morality of slavery. I’m also sure there are things we don’t question in the modern western world that, sometime in the future, people will look back on and shake their heads at.

I decided to take a world like that and think about relationships between slaves and owners. What really fired me was thinking about my own reaction to being in both those positions. I’d be a terrible slave. I’d either be cowering in the corner, too terrified to move, or so fuelled by anger I’d be plotting my revenge on my owner, no matter how kind he was. I’d be cooperative and thankful on the surface while peeing in his soup and absolutely seething inside.

But what if I were the owner? I’d try to be kind, decent and treat my slave well, but would I give him up when no one around me even questioned the idea of ownership? I doubt it. I think that takes someone exceptional and I’m not exceptional.

Would I actually rather enjoy have control over someone else and always getting my own way? I like to think not but one of the things I love about writing is having power over all the characters.
So how do I bring a slave and owner together in a loving – and lustful! – relationship that’s equal and fair? I have to change mindsets, diffuse anger and get both characters to see things from the other’s point of view. That was the challenge I set myself in my new book A Slow Process of Understanding. I think the result is one of the best things I’ve ever written.

Blurb for A Slow Process of Understanding

How does a world that accepts slavery affect both master and slave? Can two people build a new life for themselves with a start like theirs?

It’s a world like this one except for the all-powerful State that’s very firmly in control and the fact that slavery is legal. Jimmy had never really thought about it or the fight for freedom going on around him. He was too busy enjoying his privileged life as an actor on a sci-fi show.

But what is he meant to do when he’s forced to permanently bond to a slave he doesn’t want just because he made one silly, drunken mistake? Does it change who he is, what he is?

Trouble is, Jimmy isn’t sure who he was to start with. He’d never thought about it.
And what about his slave, Nate? Can a slave force Jimmy into learning something about himself?

It's beginning to look a lot like …

…. a huge mess in my house.

So how was your Christmas? Mine was really good but in a funny kind of way. We have a couple of family members who are very poorly and they wanted a fun, special Christmas. We managed to give them that, which made me feel good and, hopefully, made them smile.

But… oh the mess! Hours and hours of work and ten minutes after getting up this was the result.

How can that many presents – which I wrapped oh so carefully – be opened that quickly? But we did have lots of fun throwing squashed up balls of used wrapping paper at each other. I never realised just how scratchy it can be when it's shoved – forcefully – down the back of your pyjamas.

Someone came up with the idea of Naughty Secret Santa. Rude and funny were the instructions I was given so I did just that and told my kids to do the same.

Of course no one else did.

Chocolates here, oven gloves there and…. 'Pin the Tail on the Male' game I bought.

You think that's funny? One of the kids bought his 80-year-old granny an 'Inflatable Cock Fighting' game. Yes, two huge, blow up, strap on willies that you have to try and knock off your opponent.

Good job the older members of the family are broad-minded. Or at least pretended to be.

Then we played 'wrap the grandparents up as mummies' with cheap loo paper. Huge fun but oh the mess!

If I had just bought everyone an e-book – a gorgeous m/m story for those with 'taste' – think how tidy my house would be.

And how much fun we would have missed.

Happy clearing-up to you all.