PSF Interview & Giveaway: Sharon Ashwood “Unchained”

**Visit Tynga’s Reviews today for her PSF Interview & Giveaway with Cyn Balog author of SLEEPLESS**

I’m so happy to welcome Sharon Ashwood to the blog today.  Sharon is the author of The Dark Forgotten paranormal romance series including Ravenous, Scorched and the upcoming UNCHAINED on July 6, 2010.  The Dark Forgotten world is full of “were-beasts, vampires, hellhounds, demons, dragons, unicorns—you name it.”  And Sharon has generously offered to giveaway a copy of UNCHAINED. Details below.

Sharon Ashwood is a free-lance journalist, novelist, desk jockey and enthusiast for the weird and spooky. She has an English literature degree but works as a finance geek. Interests include growing her to-be-read pile and playing with the toy graveyard on her desk. As a vegetarian, she freely admits the whole vampire/werewolf lifestyle fantasy would never work out, so she writes paranormal romances instead.

Sharon lives in the Pacific Northwest and is owned by the Demon Lord of Kitty Badness.

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Interview

ATUF: UNCHAINED is the third book in The Dark Forgotten series. There are characters who overlap from each book, but can they be read as standalone stories?

SA: Yes, I’ve tried to keep the stories contained enough so that someone coming in with book three would understand what was going on and would not be frustrated.  However, there are certain elements, like the background of the minor characters or the history of the world, that are less fleshed out.  It’s a balancing act faced by anyone writing a series:  how do you invite new readers in without boring old readers or confusing the heck out of everybody?  I try to make it work for both new and returning readers.
One of the ways I’ve tried to address this challenge is through the viewpoint characters.  Each one has a different take on what’s going on and will see and experience different things.  The longer the reader stays with the series, the more of a 360 degree viewpoint they’ll get of the world.

ATUF: Can you describe the world of The Dark Forgotten series?

SA: My characters live at a historical turning point.  The supernatural beings among us have been out in the open since the year 2000, which has created both fascination and fear among the human population.  On top of that, an interdimensional prison chock-full of supernatural creatures has opened a portal into our world right in the downtown. Who should be rescued from the prison, and who should remain under lock and key? It’s a tough question, because the vampires and werewolves in our world have just made peace with the humans.  They don’t want a whole new element coming in and ruining everything they’ve worked for.
This conflict is a great one to work with because it opens the door to all kinds of adventure. You have justice, freedom, heroism, star-crossed lovers, and the occasional dragon to play with—plus the opportunity for some cracking good bad guys.

ATUF: You have a fantastic resource on your website called the monsterpedia. Do you use it as a resource yourself when writing to keep your facts straight?

SA: I do confess to using it as a reference. It’s important to me to keep all the species and magic rules consistent. I also use the monsterpedia as a place to put weird facts that don’t fit in the books themselves but I’m dying to tell people about. I have more entries to go up and that’s one of my summer projects.

ATUF: Can you tell us about the supernatural prison in The Dark Forgotten series known simply as The Castle?

SA: Long, long ago, all the various supernatural species lived side-by-side with humans. Then, nine sorcerers got together and built a supernatural prison dimension called the Castle.  They belonged to a group of warlocks called the Order, and their desire was basically to be the most magical people around because that meant power, wealth and all that jazz. So, they put as many of the other magical species as they could into the Castle.  This included were-beasts, vampires, hellhounds, demons, dragons, unicorns—you name it.  It really didn’t matter if the other species were hostile to humans or not; they were killed or imprisoned. Of course, a few got away and survived in the shadows, and they became the modern vampires and werebeasts that “came out” in Y2K, when the information age made it easier to live on the grid than off it.  
Now, the Castle started out as a separate, garden-like world, but after the magic in it started to get old and run down, it turned into a dungeon.  I describe it as Escher meets a B horror movie—flickering torches, endless twisty stone corridors, and something vicious around every corner.

ATUF: The Carver family has been at the center of two of the The Dark Forgotten series. Holly in Ravenous and now Ashe in UNCHAINED. Will their half brother Brendan be getting his own story in the future?

SA: Brendan is estranged from his half-sisters, although he knows Ashe a little. I do have a story planned for him, but it’s yet to be determined exactly how that will play out or if the publisher will be interested in it.  What I do predict is that he would be reluctant at first to get involved in their world.

ATUF: Can you tell us about your favorite scene in UNCHAINED?

SA: It’s actually the first time Ashe and Reynard have sex. They’ve both got huge emotional barriers and even bigger challenges at a survival level, but they manage to make it to this turning point and give themselves to each other. As a writer, it gave me a chance to go deeper into the characters than I had before. Sex scenes are like any other action scenes—unless they move the story forward, they’re filler that should be cut but when they work, they’re fabulous.
My second favourites are Reynard’s interactions with Ashe’s daughter.  Those were where I found a fundamental kindness in his character. I think those moments are essential, because they answers the question, “okay, so what’s this guy like when he’s NOT pounding on a bad guy?”

ATUF: If UNCHAINED were ever made into a movie, who would your dream or, to keep things interesting, nightmare cast be?

SA: My first choice for Ashe would be Anna Torv, who is the actress on Fringe.  She’s the right physical type, and she also can bring out a subtle vulnerability to go with the kick-ass exterior. 
Reynard is harder to think of an actor for.  He was born in the 1700s and is drop-dead handsome, but I wouldn’t want a Patrick Dempsey type to play him, however lovely he’d look in an antique uniform. Reynard has been stuck in a horror show for centuries and survived by sheer force of will. He’s Patrick Dempsey with a layer of rake and then a whole lot of layers of make-my-day tough customer. I have no idea how to cast that!

ATUF: What other projects can we look forward to reading from you soon?

SA: I just turned in the book that comes after UNCHAINED, which at the moment is called FROSTBITE or maybe FROSTBITTEN. It’s all about the hellhound character, Lore, who is left in charge of guarding Fairview while the Carvers take a holiday. I’ll just say Lore will be the one needing a vacation when they get back.
I also have a short story coming out in the MAMMOTH BOOK OF PARANORMAL ROMANCE 2. It’s in the Dark Forgotten world, but has different characters from the first three books. I went for cute and romantic.

ATUF: What are some of your favorite titles/authors in the paranormal genres?

SA: Yikes! Where do I start? How about I say what’s on my reading stack right now. I’m into Jessica Andersen’s Mayan series, Kresley Cole, Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, and all of my blogging group over at www.SilkandShadows.com have just turned out books, so I’m turning pages as fast as I can!

ATUF: I'm a cover art junkie and UNCHAINED is just gorgeous. What can you tell us about the cover art for UNCHAINED?

SA: I completely agree that it’s a great cover and it matches my mental image of Ashe absolutely. Through my editor, I gave the art department the specs for the Ducati and rifle Ashe has and they went with those. 
Overall, the people doing the Signet Eclipse covers are fabulous. If you look around, they’re many of the nicest ones on the shelves.

ATUF: I did a post recently talking where different authors talked about the books their characters would read. What would Ashe read?

SA: Well, after she’s met Reynard I can see her reading a lot of hot historicals!  In UNCHAINED, there’s actually a lot about books because Ashe gets a job in the library. She reveals a childhood fondness for the Nancy Drew series. Ashe would probably read a lot of stuff like motorcycle repair manuals. I can see her reading the Dante Valentine series, except I’m not sure that would be too much like work. She’d probably have something very romantic that she’d pull out when no one was looking—and she’d definitely read whatever her daughter was reading, just to check it out.

ATUF: If UNCHAINED was a Frankenstein book compiled from elements of other books, what would some of those other books be?

SA: Buffy meets a disenchanted Richard Sharpe (or was it Mr. Darcy on crack?) and they encounter Harvey the invisible rabbit, except Harvey’s turned evil.  Dracula gets political and attacks the public library, then delivers a homily on the demons of materialism. Then everyone re-enacts the Magnificent Seven.

ATUF: In honor of Paranormal Summer Fest, can you describe your perfect Paranormal Summer read? And where would you love to be vacationing while reading it?

SA: My perfect paranormal reads always have vampires. Give me a vamp with some style and a sense of humour, and I’m won over. Where I’d like to go?   Cities with lots of history always get my vote.  I love London, and desperately want to get to Italy.  However, where I am going is to Orlando for the RWA National conference. If anyone is in the area, check out the big book signing on July 28 (my birthday!) because there will be many, many authors there and it’s open to the public.

P.S.:  Because of the increased incidents of paranormal infestation, Ashe has agreed to provide an advice column as a service to the public. You can get your personalized monster-busting advice by clicking here. 

ATUF: Thanks so much for stopping by Sharon.  Come back anytime!

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Visit Sharon online:

• Website
• Blog
• Twitter

Want to read more from Sharon Ashwood?

Dark Forgotten
1. Ravenous
2. Scorched
3. Unchained

Giveaway

Giveaway courtesy of Sharon Ashwood

One (1) copy of UNCHAINED by Sharon Ashwood

 

Book Description

Ashe Carver, monster-killer, has the scars to prove it. But faced with a custody battle, she's hung up her stakes and taken a job at the public library, determined to show the courts and her ten-year-old daughter that she's as good a mother as she is a hunter.

Easier said than done. There are lovelorn vampires haunting the library, a slime demon in the shopping mall, and her new-mom sister needs a hand with her ghostbusting biz. Then, after centuries guarding a supernatural prison, Captain Reynard strides into her world like a hero from the library's Must Reads. Smokingly gorgeous, passionate and courageous to a fault, he has only weeks to live unless Ashe finds the thief who took his soul.

Ashe picks up her weapons to save the day—but not every problem can be solved with a stake. With so much tragedy in her past, Ashe fears the disaster she sees ahead—and prays she doesn't fail everyone. Again.

Memories are the hardest monsters to kill.

Click HERE to read an excerpt

GIVEAWAY GUIDELINES

1. Open to Internationally
2. Fill out the form below
3. Entries for all Paranormal Summer Fest giveaways must be received by Midnight MST on July 4th.  All the giveaways winners will be announced on July 6th.

I would greatly appreciate if you shared this giveaway on your blog or favorite social networks.  And please say hi to Sharon. Thanks!

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