Talk About My Favorite Authors: Ashlynn Monroe tells all about "Passion's Escapse" and "Lost Hearts"

It's been a while since I've had a guest blogger but I am happy to have paranormal and urban fantasy romance author Ashlynn Monroe who I've met online through the wonderful online publisher Wild Horse Press. She contacted me about reviewing a few of her recently published eBooks as well as interviewing her on my review blog, and then J.M. at Wild Horse Press contacted me about reviewing Ashlynn's debut novel, Hidden Magic. And don't forget that on Thursday, July 29th I will be chatting live with Linda on my live podcast show TAMFA—Phoebe Jordan about her paranormal and urban fantasy novels. She also has a written interview that I posted on Tuesday, July 27th if you want to learn more about Ashlynn. Now onto Ashlynn's guest blog about her 2 currently released novels:

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How I wrote Passion's Escape:

I love science fiction. My very first terrible novel that I wrote as a teen was science fiction and I’ve never lost my love of writing the genre. I love the freedom of creating worlds completely out of my own imagination. I also identify with the battle that women have been fighting since time began, to find happiness in a man’s world. I wanted Passion to be just as her name described her, a woman with heart who was not afraid to use that heart. She is the strength of every woman, that’s why I dedicated the book to women everywhere. She’s the kind of woman who can take on a life or death battle of impossible odds and still be desirable and unafraid to enjoy pleasure. She’s one of my all time favorite characters to write. This is one of the stories that I wrote this year. I started it at the end of March and I had it finished by mid-April. This story was so much fun I wrote every spare moment of the day.

My first idea came to me about a woman who had to escape her planet using skills that are not typically ones a woman has, there aren’t too many female mechanics today and in the future, I’m doubtful that this will change. I wanted Passion to be smart and brave and I wanted the men in her life to arrive during her greatest conflict. They present her a better option and she takes it. I love that about her, she’s not afraid to take a gamble. I also wanted to write a book where the girl has two simultaneous lovers, I’ve never written anything like that before and I felt that Passion was just the character to try it out on.

I surprised myself. I wasn’t going to have her end up with either of the men, I wanted her just to enjoy what they had to offer her and have her fly off into the sunset a free woman. The man she ends up with really needs her so without my consent they fell in love. I have to say, my characters usual control me I wish it was the other way around sometimes but it worked out for me well this time. These two pleasantly surprised me and I’m happy with how the story ended. I think it is much more satisfying than how I would have ended it on the first day I began writing.

Passion's Escape Blurb:

Passion's Escape
by Ashlynn Monroe

In a harsh world, only the strong survive. Passion has a choice escape or be sold by her desperate father. Fortune sends two powerful men into her life. Men who have the power to free her or enslave her and who together bring her to the pinnacle of pleasure. New worlds await Passion as she discovers that sometimes the slave can become the master.

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How I wrote Lost Hearts:

This science fiction story didn’t immediately appeal to me as one I would write as erotic. I scraped my first chapter three times before I got it right. This story definitely wanted to be erotic, I just had to accept it and write it the way it wanted to come out. I wanted this story to have a medieval flavor but still be futuristic. I am so pleased with the result. I wanted to write a story that could have been a historical romance if you changed the places and the dates and ignored the unique religion and bondage. This was also a new experience in writing love scenes for me. I actually wrote this story last fall. I started it before I bought my notebook computer so most of it I jotted down the old-fashioned way, on paper, before it went into the computer. I really enjoyed writing it and I was so glad it found a home with Silver Publishing. The company had some very talented people and they’ve really made this story perfect. I’m so grateful for all the hard work of Alison Todd and Reese Dante. I’ve had such a positive experience with this publisher and I’m so grateful to the company for realizing my work in such a beautiful way.

I love a strong hero. I also love a flawed hero. When I read if the hero is perfect, I roll my eyes and don’t connect with the story. My heroines are not perfect either, but they usually find the good in the hero and draw it out of him. I feel that this story was one where it was a draw; the hero brings the heroine around to his way of thinking that was also a first for me. In my recent writing, I’ve been bolder and it’s been paying off.

I love to write stories where the characters fall in love while being in conflict. Maybe I’m jaded but I think that true love can’t exist without true conflict. Life isn’t rosy and happy all the time and if I read a book without conflict, I can’t connect with the characters. Even though I write about fantastic lands, the humanity of my characters is realistic. My characters are contemporary in their realism even if the story is set in imagined worlds. I enjoyed Laurel she represents the need to be your best. I love in the end she choose her heart over being perfect.

Lost Hearts Blurb:

Lost Hearts
by Ashlynn Monroe

When a sensual dream lover becomes reality for a sheltered princess, her dream becomes a nightmare. Stolen from her groom at her bond mating ceremony that would have linked her to a man she does not love telepathically for the rest of her life she is faced with the man that she thought was nothing but imagination. The reality that he is the kind of alpha male warrior that she is not prepared to understand from a world that is frightening and foreign to her makes her doubt the love she feels for him. Duty to her people battles the love she has for her warrior in a battle that is fought in her heart. Her innocent body burns for him but her mind tells her that he is all wrong for her and for her people. When he dominates her body, she realizes that he has already dominated her heart. If she can fully accept him as her mate only then will she have the happiness that she deserves.

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You can find out more about Ashlynn Monroe and her books by going to her website, Facebook Fan page, MySpace, Twitter and her author group website Wicked Muses.