Monday, October 23, 2023

All I Need by Kathryn Ascher

 Hannah Murphy is over her dead fiancé. In the year since his death, she’s kept herself busy and has finally discovered who she wants to be. No longer will she be anyone’s doormat.

Quinn Taylor has been burned in love, so he’s focused on his career and his future. When the woman he’s secretly loved since high school flings herself at him, he’s thrown off balance. He’s finally on the verge of having everything he wants and couldn’t be happier. Just as their relationship begins to bloom, the past comes back to haunt them, and old insecurities rise to the top.

Can they overcome their self-doubts and move forward together—or will their secrets separate them forever?

 Wild Women Authors welcomes author Kathryn Ascher and All I Need, Book 4 in her Rocky Creek series. With Kathryn is elementary school teacher, Hannah Murphy, who will go first.

Good morning, Hannah. Thanks for joining us. Let’s begin with where you’re from. Rocky Creek, Virginia

What did you think the first time you saw Quinn Taylor. We were both five. He had just moved to town and his family started attending our church. I thought he was a little shy, but then so was I.

What was your second thought?  As I got to know him, I realized how funny and kind he was. He was always fun to be around.

Was it love at first sight? No, it was very gradual, at least for me.

What do you like most about Quinn? He’s always supportive of my wants and needs. He knows when I need him to let me fight my own battles and when he needs to step in and handle it for me. Mostly the former.

How would you describe him? Kind, hardworking, smart, handsome.

How would he describe you? Helpful, smart, nurturing, beautiful

What made you choose teaching for a career? I love working with the children, watching them learn, grow, and mature, both in their education and as humans. I love that I teach in an elementary school where I get to watch their progression before they get to my classroom, and then after, for the two years before they move on to middle school.

What is your biggest fear? Letting people down; disappointing others.

How do you relax? Cooking or watching television.

Who is your favorite fictional character? I identify most with Mary Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. Intellectual, dependable, but often overlooked.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? To look at every challenge in life as an adventure. My mom told me this when I left for college. I was very hesitant to go, I’d never been so far away from home and almost didn’t go because I was so nervous.

Thank you for spending time with us, Hannah. Now we’d like to chat with Kathryn.

What movies or books have had an impact on your career as a writer? There are so many that it’s hard to pinpoint just one. I love Jane Austen and feel like my first book had echoes of Pride and Prejudice in it. Every movie I watch I study the characters and their story arcs for inspiration.

Is there an event in your private life that you were able to bring to this story and how do you feel it impacted the novel? I was on several OM (Odyssey of the Mind) teams in school and really wanted to bring that into the book. The problems and the competitions were fun, and my high school team even made it to the state-level competition. Having done the competitions myself, hopefully I was able to inform and explain the competition to those who may not have been aware, or bring back fond members for those who were.

Tell us a bit about your publisher: how did you hear about them and what influenced your decision to submit to them? I met the president of BQB Publishing at a writers’ conference in Roanoke, Virginia. She wasn’t originally scheduled to present (a snowstorm delayed the conference and she was able to make it on the new weekend). I was at the point of either giving up, or self-publishing, which at the time was terrifying. Her presentation on the benefits of using a hybrid publishing company, like hers, convinced me to give it a shot. I submitted to her right away and my first book came out a year later.

What book[s] currently rest on your TBR pile? I have an extensive TBR pile, sadly, and the next book will all depend on the mood I’m in when I pick it up.

Last, what's up next and when can we expect to see it on the shelves? There are two more books currently planned for the Rocky Creek Series. Claire’s story is already finished and needs to go through an in-depth editing process. Dani’s story is still in my head, but I am looking very forward to writing it (her hero was in my first novel What It Takes). There are also two other books, completely unrelated to the Rocky Creek series in process. With luck and determination, they will all be out within the next five years.

 Kathryn Ascher can be contacted at: kathyrnascher.author@gmail.com

 For a purchase link for All I Need, info about her other books, or to sign up for her newsletter, go to: www.kathrynascher.com

 

 

No comments:

Post a Comment