L.M.EVANS : BLUE ASHCROFT

PLEASE welcome the amazing author that brought you

the Hot series that has kept everyone on tender hooks,

BLUE ASHCROFT.

Hello Blue,Tell us a little about yourself ?

I started writing professionally at 26, after getting accepted to grad school and turning it down just because of a feeling that maybe I could reach or help more people this way. I think the best part about writing is helping other people have that ‘I’m not alone’ feeling that books gave me growing up. That and not having to wear pants.:D

How would you describe your books?

Serious themes, accessible writing and

(hopefully) fun plots.

What genre is your work mainly? Do you tend to stay in the same vein or are you hoping ( if not already ) to explore new ventures? .

I write under two main pen names but both are within the romance genre. I plan to branch into horror and paranormal at some point, but whatever I do will probably have love as an underlying theme. Just because love is kind of the most powerful force in the world to me, for good and for bad, so it colors every story I write.

Share with us a quote from one of your favourite characters in

your books?

“I don’t need something extra to make me care. I win because I just freaking. Love. Winning.”

-A1pha

Is it hard to come up with new idea's

and/or plot's?

No. I’m usually already anxious to start the next idea before I’ve finished what I’m working on. It takes discipline to stay the course.

What inspired you to write your first book?

Most of my books are inspired by tragedies and my need to scream to the universe about them. My first book was under another pen name, and it was my way of giving a happy ending to a childhood friend who had died, and my first book under this pen name (Deeper) was my way of giving a happy ending to the husband of a friend who committed suicide.

I think a lot of my books are just my way of rewriting

sad endings. The A1pha series on the other hand,

is just a rewriting of a happy ending.

Who is the easiest character to write

for and Why?

It’s easiest for me to write funny side characters like Lulu and Ethan because they usually don’t bring a lot of trauma with them. Hardest and why?Serious characters like A1pha. I have to be careful in handling the delicate back stories of certain characters without bringing down the book completely. But since characters like that are usually based on people in real life, I have to also look at what to keep and what to change.

Without giving anything away, what is/are your favourite scenes in your book(s)?

In the A1pha series?Probably a scene in the third part with Ethan and A1pha in the pool.I think it’s the only time I’ve ever laughed at one of my own books.

Do you have any hobbies?

I’m a huge gamer, especially because it works well with my pants-hating lifestyle. I also love reading, snowboarding, swimming, and trying to be less of a hoarder.

Do you have a specific writing style?

It used to be more literary but thatchanged as I played

with different genres. I would say that my writing

style is fairly lyrical and my themes explore

trauma and the ways we deal with it.

How did you come up with the title?

The title usually becomes clear to me as I read and get to know the characters. It just sort of comes to me and feels right. The feel of it is the most important.

How much of the book is realistic? Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

A lot of my books are inspired by life. I think it’s because I started writing memoir when I was first getting into writing. I’ve had some pretty dramatic (traumatic) life experiences and that colors my fiction.Sometimes too much.

Play Me is definitely inspired by a real life situation. After a difficult divorce I actually went back to my male gamer friends. I always looked back on that part of my life and thought it would be an interesting book. But I knew if I wrote it the way it happened, no one would believe it. So there are changes. Like there were five guys in real life and I made it three for the book.

What books have most influenced your life most?

Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery, A Room of One’s Own, by Virginia Woolf, The War of Art, by Stephen Pressfield, On Writing by Stephen King, Bird by Bird and Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott, and many more!

What are your current projects?

I just finished the A1pha series, so now I’m planning a supernatural horror romance (I know, weird, but I love horror) that I’m hoping to launch before Halloween.

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

I was never that interested in writing. I was always interested in reading. I guess writing grew out of that as I met people who encouraged me to do it.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Sex scenes. As an abuse survivor, they are emotionally taxing for me. I feel like sex is this big, powerful thing and I don’t take it lightly at all. The A1pha series contains my only sex scenes so far and that’s only because I felt the characters demanded them.

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

It’s a tie. Virginia Woolf because of her depth and her vision for the future in A Room of One’s Own, and L.M. Montgomery for making a lonely girl feel like she had a friend withAnne of Green Gables.

Who designed the covers?

Clarissa Yeo. She’s seriously a genius at putting my weird ideas together in a way that doesn’t look awful.

What was the hardest part of

writing your book?

Same thing as writing every book.Sitting down to tell the truth in a way that’s fictional enough to be believable, and trying not to let the fact that people will see and criticize it color your work.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Read Steven Pressfield’s War of Art. Lots of people have a story in them and want to write a book, but they never put their butt in the chair and get it done. Don’t think of writing as a lofty ideal. It’s hard labor.

How long does it take you to complete a novel from concept to completion?

It really varies. Deeper was heavily autobiographical and the first draft was written in 7 days. It took much longer to edit it though. Play Me took several months, even though it was half as long. It just depends how much I’m struggling to get things clear.

What was your first published piece? And how was it to publish your first ever book?

A book under my other pen name.It was absolutely terrifying and I was so naïve. Getting criticism was so hard. But it has somehow done very well and to this day I still get those precious “I don’t feel alone anymore” messages that mean everything to me.

Have you ever trashed a novel or story before or after finishing it, feeling it wasn't turning out as you planned?

No. I rewrote A1pha part one three times to get it right, wasting well over 90,000 words. I just can’t trash a story and move on. I have to fight it out. I think it’s because each book has a message, something I want to really say,so I can’t just let it go.

Do you have a special time or place to write?

I write in bed. Ooh la la.

Any funny experiences or quirks you'd like to share with your readers?

I think pants are just prisons for butts and I’ll use any means necessary to escape them, including but not limited to pajama pants made to look like jeans.

Do you ever get ideas at random moments, and if so how do you hang on to them?

This is going to sound weird, but I have very good verbal recall. I can recall conversations and song lyrics almost verbatim, so I say or think the idea to myself and it’s basically recorded.

Can you write on demand and under pressure, or do you need time and space before the creativity starts to flow?

I’m sure I’d prefer to write with space and time, but I write on demand and under pressure. Sometimes it’s physically painful to push through but I’m usually glad I did. It’s like any job, I think, in that you have to get up and do it even when you don’t want to. I also think some of the most worthwhile things in life are the most difficult to do and give us the most push back when we try to start.

How would you overcome writers block?

Writer’s block is very personal and kind of a controversial topic in the writing community, but I will share something I heard somewhere, and that is that sometimes when you are blocked, it’s because you have headed the wrong way. So when I’m really blocked, I reevaluate. But this thing we call writer’s block is different for every person.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I guess mainly just thank you for giving me a chance and for reading my fiction.

To those readers who have understood me, who heard me calling out to the void and reached back, you mean everything to me.

Thank you for the chance to speak with you. I really appreciate it and enjoy the blog.

BOOK REVIEW'S

FOR

(PLAY ME)...(WIN ME)...(CLAIM ME)....(RES ME)

*******************

PLAY ME

LIVING IN A MANSION WITH THREE HOT DUDES COULD BE ANY GIRLS DREAM.......IT'S NOT KIRA WILSONS NOT WHEN ALEX DUMONT IS ONE OF THEM.
OTHER GIRLS KNOW HIM AS A1PHA, A BEAUTIFUL, ARROGANT PRO GAMER AND NEWLY MINTED BILLIONAIRE. KIRA KNOWS HIM AS AN EX CRUSH AND A MAJOR PAIN IN THE BUTT.
BUT HE IS ALSO A OLD FRIEND AND GAMING BUDDY.

MY THOUGHTS

I LOVED THIS STORY, IT WAS A FIRST FOR ME READING ABOUT THREE HOT GAMERS. THE STORY WAS GRIPPING FROM THE START, ALTHOUGH I WOULD OF LIKED TO OF READ A LITTLE MORE ON KIRA'S EX. YOU CAN'T HELP BUT FEEL SORRY FOR KIRA WITH THE AMOUNT OF ABUSE THAT SHE WENT THROUGH AT HIS HANDS.
ALL THREE OF GUYS HAD SOMETHING ABOUT THEM THAT WAS
APPEALING TO EVERYONE. SEXY FUNNY CHARMING AND SWEET.
THIS WAS A CLIFFHANGER.

WIN ME

LIFE ISN'T EASY WHEN YOU LIVE WITH THREE GUYS BUT KIRA IS
TRYING TO ADJUST,THERE IS A LOT OF JELOUSY BETWEEN
THE THREE GUYS OVER KIRA.

MY THOUGHTS

THIS IS THE SECOND IN THE FOUR PART SERIES, THE TENSION IN THE HOUSE IS UNBELIEVABLE. ALEX AND KIRA HAVE STARTED GETTING BACK IN TO A ROUTINE AGAIN AND THEY ARE STARING TO LET THE WALLS COME DOWN AROUND THEM. ALTHOUGH ALEX STILL HAS A MYSTERY ABOUT HIM THAT HE IS STILL NOT WILLING TO SHARE. ALEX DOES NOT LIKE SHARING KIRA WITH THE OTHER GUYS IN THE HOUSE HE WON'T ADMIT HE WANTS HER BUT HE WON'T LET THE OTHER GUYS HAVE HER EITHER SO KIRA IS STUCK IN LIMBO AND IT REALLY ANNOYS HER.

I ENJOYED THIS ONE YOU SEE A DARKER SIDE TO ALEX.

CLAIM ME

THINGS CAN GET CRAMPED WHEN ONE GAMER CHICK
IS LIVING WITH THREE HOT GUYS...
SO KIRA HAS NO OBJECTIONS WHEN THE MYSTERIOUS A1PHA
SWEEPS KIRA AWAY FOR A SUPRISE STAY IN VEGAS,ESPECIALLY
AS HE'S PROMISING TO TELL HER MORE OF HIS SECRETS.

MY THOUGHTS

WE LEARN A LOT MORE ABOUT ALEX AND THINGS

HEAT RIGHT UP WITH HIM AND KIRA.

RES ME

EVER SINCE GEEKY GIRL KIRA LEFT HER ABUSIVE EX AND MOVED BACK IN WITH HER GORGEOUS FORMER CRUSH A1PHA AND TWO OF HER HOT COLLEGE GAMING BUDDIES, LIFE HAS BEEN ANYTHING BUT SIMPLE.BUT AFTER A CRAZY DAY AND A BREATHTAKING NIGHT IN VEGAS WITH A1PHA, THINGS ARE MORE COMPLICATED THAN EVER BEFORE.LAST NIGHT A1PHA SAID WORDS THAT KIRA HAD ONLY DREADED OF HEARING BUT WHAT HAPPENS NOW ?ARE THEY OFFICAL BUT KIRA MAY NOT HAVE TO WORRY FOR LONG, BECAUSE WHEN AN OLD ENEMY OF A1PHA'S SHOWS UP AT THE CON AND THREATENS TO RUIN EVERYTHING, KIRA'S HAPPY ENDING MAY BE OVER BEFORE IT HAS BEGUN.

MY THOUGHTS

THIS BOOK WAS THE PERFECT WAY TO END THE SERIES, IT TAKES ALEX TO MAN UP WHEN HE'S FACE WITH REAL COMPITION FOR KIRA. AND HE ALSO FACES HIS FEARS. WE ALSOGET INTRODUCED TO SOME FUNNY NEW CHARACTERS.

5/5 STAR RATING ON ALL 4 BOOKS