Author Interview ~ Ashley Ladd

Good morning everyone. Today's author braving the leopart print couch is Ashley Ladd. Welcome, Ashley! Good to see ya over here. I always like to start with questions that help us to figure where you are. Where are you from?
~ I was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio where my dad still lives. I’ve been in South Florida for the past 20 years. I consider both home. I miss Cincinnati and my family there very much. But Florida is now home, too.

I can certainly understand, you home is where you hubby is, where you heat is. Why don't you go ahead and tell us your latest news!
~ I have a vampire romance just released by Ellora’s Cave on April 22nd (also my husband’s birthday) called “Truth, Justice, And The Vampire Way an M/F vampire romance. I also have several more releases coming out: “Charity’s Auction” in the “Caught in the Middle” M/F/M anthology May 11th at www.total-e-bound.com. Also coming out at Total-E-Bound soon are:

Simon Says (June 29, 2009) – an M/M romance
Best Mates (July 27, 2009) – an M/M/F romance
Doggy Style (coming soon) – an M/M romance
Sorry Charlie (coming soon) – an M/M romance

Well, HUGE congrats on the publishing news! Bet you're doin the Snoopy dance a lot lately. :-D So, what book are you reading now?
~ I started reading a non-fiction management book tonight. My day job boss recommended I read it to become a better manager. It’s called “ Bringing Out The Best In People”. I’m also reading “Still Irresistible” by Dawn Atkins. It’s a Harlequin Blaze.

So you read A LOT... can't say as I blame you... it's a break to read someone else's baby for a little bit and get away from mine. Do you see writing as a career?
~ Definitely. I can’t afford to give up my day job yet, but I have every intention of writing as long as I can breathe and type. My goal is to be able to quit the day job one day and write full time.

Oh, That would be nice! Who doesn't want to be able to have their writing support them. *sigh* Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
~ I was born wanting to write and be a writer. As long as I can remember, I considered myself a writer. I’ve always loved to watch Superman and I loved Lois Lane, reporter. I wanted to be just like her and have my own Superman. I still love Clark Kent and would love to have one of my very own. J

Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?
~ Unfortunately, no. I’d love to and hope to someday. I hold down a full-time day job as a customer service manager for a charity and I also still have a 14 year old and 18 year old at home, so I’m tied down. However, I’m lucky to live in a tropical paradise which is a great setting for romances, so I feature South Florida in my books often. Who doesn’t like fun in the sun?

What does your family think of your writing?
~ Well… My hubby used to be aggravated until I started earning royalties. He still gets irritated when I schedule phone interviews and I want him and the kids to be quiet at night. My older daughter refuses to read my books even though she’s 25. She doesn’t like the naughty parts. She can’t get used to her mom writing about “that stuff”. My dad’s supportive – probably the only one in my family who’s truly supportive of my writing.

And now it's time for our "Absolutely Nothing to do With Writing" questions. What animal do you think makes the best pet and why?
~ Cats! Dogs are a close second but they make you walk them in the middle of the night and when it’s raining and thundering. They also jump on me when I get home every time. Picture Dino running at Fred Flintstone. It’s cute in a way but also sometimes scary as I have a big Husky, almost as big as Dino. I’ve always been a cat lover. I love to cuddle and pet them. I love to look at them. I enjoy their ability to be independent if I have to be at work or school for several hours a day. I don’t have to walk them outside all the time no matter the weather. I can’t imagine life without my cats. If I had to be reincarnated as anything but a human, I would want to be a cat.

Do you have any strange handwriting habits, like capitalizing all your “r”s or dotting your “I”s with heart (or anything like that)? Is writing half cursive and half printing strange?
~ I did it today in fact. Also, I write shorthand (Gregg’s) so lots of times I will write in my shorthand, either all the way or interspersed with cursive words. Did I tell you my day job boss likes my shorthand ability? My younger daughter seems to think my shorthand talent is neater than my being a published author.

You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?
~ Well, I wish I wasn’t born with a cleft lip and palate and hadn’t needed a lot of surgeries growing up. I also could have done without the bicycle accident when I was six years old. I was learning how to ride my bike, lost control, and careened into a three-pronged tree, broke my nose, and knocked loose several teeth. As if I needed more injury to my face. Thus, I’m not thrilled with my pictures. I tend to see my cleft lip and my broken nose although my kids and hubby tell me they don’t notice it.

I'll bet you do, but you seems to have adjusted. :-D What’s a saying you use a lot? Where did it originate from?
~ “You guys”. I think a lot of people from Ohio, at least from Cincinnati, say this. It’s our version of “Y’all” or “You all”. It has nothing to do with men even though “guys” is part of it. I could be talking about all women or girls or a mixed group of men and women. Another man from Cincinnati works with me down here in Florida. He says it, too. I had to explain to my women co-workers that he wasn’t insulting them when he called them “You guys”. LOL

LOL, that's funny. I do say y'all... but I am partially from the south. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?
~ It was either shark or alligator. A co-worker when I lived in Mississippi liked to bring in strange food and make us eat it. She forced one of those on me, maybe both. It’s so many years ago, I honestly don’t remember if I had both. I know I ate at least one of them. It didn’t taste half bad but I still hate the idea of eating something that might have eaten a human.

A lot of people in Southern Mississippi (I was stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi) loved to suck crawdad heads. Yuck! I don’t think they ever convinced me to, but maybe I’m forgetting. It was considered quite a delicacy. In Ohio, we call crawfish “bait”.


But the crawdads are yummy that way... all the sauces and spices soak into the head. You barely taste what it is, before the spices his to you and it's all good. What is your heritage?
~ German. Pure as far as I can trace from the family tree. Both sides of my family came over from what is now Germany around the Civil War. They settled in Cincinnati, Ohio which still has a big German population. I’m amazed that so many generations were in the United States and I still turned out all German. It’s not that my families care about nationality. It just happened. Most of my family still lives in Ohio, in the Cincinnati area.

Huh, funny how life works that way, isn't it! Have you ever cried during a movie? If yes, which one and why?
~ This is so embarrassing. But I sobbed all through “Land Before Time”. My mom had died not quite a year before and I was still really upset. I didn’t realize until I was in the theater watching the movie that the little dinosaur lost his mother in the movie. I was a complete mess. Earlier tonight I was watching “The Parent Trap” and I cried when the girls talked about not knowing their mom or dad.

Aww, hon, who wouldn't cry in that situation! What is your favorite pizza?
~ Plain cheese. I used to like it best with mushrooms, onions, and Canadian bacon, but now I don’t want anything but cheese. And I also prefer it with very thin, crispy crust. Don’t give me a big,doughy crust.

LOL, everyone is different. What is one thing scientists should invent?
~ Houses that clean themselves – vacuum, wash dishes, scrub toilets, sweep and mop floors, make beds.

Wouldn't that be loverly? Do you sleep with the light on? Why or why not?
~ Yes and no. My hubby stays up late so I have to wear a sleeping mask. Thus I block the light. I prefer the lights off, even when I have the mask on. At least the mask makes it bearable. I also have to wear ear plugs to block out the sound of the hubby’s TV and computer. I used to think people looked (and were) weird to wear sleeping masks. Now I completely understand why.

Can you taste the difference between Pepsi and Coke? If so, which do you prefer?
~ You bet! There’s no contest. Pepsi and RC are sweeter than Coke and not as acidic. Coke burns my throat going down unless I water it down with a ton of ice. I much prefer Pepsi and even more so, RC. My mom was a Coke lover and didn’t like Pepsi. I once even worked for Coca-Cola, so I really don’t like Coke.

I can tell the difference as well. If you could wish for anything, what would you wish for?
~ For my family and friends to be happy and healthy.

Well, thanks so much for joining us today here at The Menagerie. I hope you had as much as we did.

Ashley Ladd lives in South Florida with her husband, five children, and beloved pets. She loves the water, animals (especially cats), and playing on the computer.

She's been told she has a wicked sense of humour and often incorporates humour and adventure into her books. She also adores very spicy romance, which she weaves into her stories. You can visit her at her blog.

Caught In The Middle Anthology: Charity's Auction by Ashley Ladd

When Char bids on and wins both sexy doctors Hunky and Hottie in her hospital's charity auction, she knows exactly what to do with them and it's not tidily winks.

Although head nurse Char Reynolds is desperately head over heels for bad boy Dr. Dexter Graham, he's moved on. Still she gets caught up in bidding for him at the hospital's auction for the new children's wing and wins. His smug expression drives her to also bid on and win the very hunky Dr. Ben Price, Dexter's nemesis and to plan a very naughty, very sexy night with both men.