UFI welcomes Author Ash Krafton. Thanks for Joining us!!
What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not know from looking on your bio or reading in another interview?
I’ve recently learned that my office may quite possibly have the worst Feng Shui on the planet. Maybe that’s why I’ve been writing anywhere but.
Of course, it could be that my desk needs a good cleaning but we won’t talk of that now. It’s got to be the Feng Shui.
What do you enjoy doing on your down time?
Prowling through time. (Okay, maybe a little too dramatic.) My family enjoys visiting historical districts and attractions so we spend a lot of time in places like Gettysburg and Philadelphia and Baltimore. Museums are another favorite place to visit the past.
And I watch a lot of Doctor Who. It’s the whole timey-wimey thing.
What is your Favorite part of writing?
Knowing that every book, every chapter, every page is a fresh opportunity to make something out of nothing. I can put a series of words together and make something new come to life. It’s a tremendous feeling.
Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?
I only have one, and it’s more of a quirk, really—I can’t have anyone look over my shoulder when I write. I can’t even bear to have my husband standing behind me. Just the thought of someone watching each word as it gets pecked out—GAH.
What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Genres?
LOVE LOVE LOVE Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison, Tanya Huff, and Laurell K. Hamilton. Also a big fan of Tricia Schneider and Sharon Saracino.
How would you pitch WORDS THAT BIND to someone who has not heard of it before?
It’s a love story about a genie and his therapist. Never fall for a client—especially when the client is an immortal djinn and you are the talisman to which he is bound.
Can you tell us a little bit about the world that WORDS THAT BIND is set in?
It’s based on modern-day Philadelphia, PA. The other-wordly scenes come along whenever the hero, Burns, is around. He is a portal to another word altogether.
Do you have a favorite scene in WORDS THAT BIND?
My favorite scene is one in which Burns apologizes to Tam. I loved showing his tender side (as well as his choice of beach wear.)
Which one character out of all your books was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?
My favorite to write would be Sophie Galen, the empathic star of my Demimonde series. She’s written in first person so I get to experience her world first-hand, through her eyes, no filter, no distance, no dimming of the bright and sharp experiences of her headlong rush through life. In contrast, writing Tam, the heroine of WORDS THAT BIND, was a challenge because she begins the story unable to experience any emotion at all. Writing her, however, gave me the opportunity to study non-verbal communication in order to process the story through her. The challenge has really helped me to see people in a new light and to hear what they are not saying.
What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?
Currently, I am finishing THE HEARTBEAT THIEF, which is a paranormal tale about the flip side of immortality. It’s a cross between Jane Austen and Edgar Allen Poe and I love writing every gothic inch of it. Since it will be pitched as YA/NA and therefore a different audience, it will be released under the pen name AJ Krafton. While the book is not yet in its final stages, the cover design is complete and can be seen on www.ashkrafton.com I’m hoping for a release by spring 2015.
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An urban fantasy novella, Strangers at the Hell Gate, was published by Wild Rose Press in 2013. Her latest project, Words That Bind, won first place in the HeRA RWA “Show Me the Spark” 2013 competition; it is also available through Wild Rose Press as an October 2014 release.
Krafton also writes New Adult speculative fiction novels under the pen name AJ Krafton. Upcoming titles include The Heartbeat Thief, Face of the Enemy, and the award-winning Takin’ It Back. She is part of a YA/NA collective known as the Infinite Ink Authors.
In addition to novel-length fiction, Krafton enjoys writing poetry and short prose, some of which earned distinctions in various writing competitions. One of her poems was also nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She’s a proud member of Pennwriters, Romance Writers of America, and Pikes Peak Writers. Krafton is also a staff blogger for the Query Tracker Blog.
Find Ash and her books
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Words That BindAmazon / Wild Rose Publishing
Social worker Tam Kerish can’t keep her cool professionalism when steamy client Mr. Burns kindles a desire for more than a client-therapist relationship—so she drops him. However, they discover she’s the talisman to which Burns, an immortal djinn, has been bound since the days of King Solomon…and that makes it difficult to stay away from him.
Ethical guidelines are unequivocal when it comes to personal relationships with clients. However, the djinn has a thawing effect on the usually non-emotive Tam, who begins to feel true emotion whenever he is near. Tam has to make a difficult choice: to stay on the outside, forever looking in…or to turn her back on her entire world, just for the chance to finally experience what it means to fall in love.
Excerpt:
“So. You’ve destroyed a stereotype for me. A genie who lives in a library.
Different.”
“When in Rome, no?” He stirred his cup before setting down the spoon with a
light clink against the saucer. “Or, I suppose it is more accurate to say when
in human form. When I am Burns, I prefer here.”
“Human form.” It didn’t sound right. Who said things like that, and meant it?
“Can you change into anything you want? Any shape at all?”
He stretched out his legs and cocked his head, sliding his gaze up and away.
“I suppose I could. I’m getting old and set in my ways. There’s this…” He swept
his hands down the line of his body.
Her eyes were unable to keep from following, not even when he lingered over
his midsection. Even lounging, his shirt was tightly tucked into his beltline.
No belly fat there.
He tilted his head and gave her an upper-teeth smile, nibbling gently at his
lower lip. “And apparently this form is pleasing to the eye, so I wear it often.
But there are others. Tiger, a favorite. Savage and regal and the colors of
flames in the night. Fearsome to behold, but very useful when dealing with
physical conditions in which a human form may be outmatched. Plus, I can lash my
tail.”
His voice took a teasing, conspirator’s tone. “I love my tail. You’d love it
too, if you saw it.”
She trained her eyes firmly upon his. No way would she give him the pleasure
of checking out his tail.
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