Today I welcome L. A. Ashton to the blog to answer a few questions
for Author Interview³.
1) Tell us 3 fun facts about your writing history
I obsessively wrote vampire fiction in junior high.
When I was six, I wrote very bad poetry with very bad accompanying illustrations. There was one dedicated to Pepsi.
The plot for Valhalla was almost entirely imagined while listening to a single song ("Kassai to Gekijou no Gloria" by Matenrou Opera).
2) Describe your writing style in 3 words
So very gay.
3) Name 3 of your literary influences
Charlaine Harris
Drew Karpyshyn
Ted Chiang
4) Share your 3 favourite books
They change all the time! I love 1984 and The Poisonwood Bible when I’m feeling “literary”, but if I want to have a really great time I’ll read Dalí (E. M. Hamill) or Carry On (Rainbow Rowell) again.
5) What are your 3 essential writing tools?
computer, coffee, cats.
6) Where are your 3 favourite places to write?
I write at my desk at home, but I would love to write in a cabin tucked away in the mountains, or in a sunroom filled with light and plants.
7) Name 3 items on your writing wish list
I really want to try writing horror!
I’ve always wanted to write a piece that blends space and sorcery.
I wrote a divergent history novel AGES ago, and I want to turn it into something great.
8) What are your top 3 tips for aspiring writers?
You gotta write. A lot.
Find someone who truly cares about you to be a critique partner. You have to be able to trust them when they love it, and when they don’t.
Don’t lose sight of why you started writing in the first place.
9) Tell us 3 of your writing plans for the year ahead
I have two contracts other than Valhalla scheduled for release this year. I also plan to finish my current WIP and query my most recently finished novel to agents.
10) Tell us about your latest release
Valhalla is the answer to a question I was asking myself. With eternity as a backdrop, what is truly important? What really matters in the scheme of things? A valkyrie is met with a soldier who is unwilling to die, even with a grand afterlife promised to him. Together—and separately—they must decide what life and humanity mean to them.
L.A. Ashton
NineStar Press
31 December 2018
18k words/Novella
MM/Historical/Fantasy
Preorder from NSP!
Sakuma has served as a Valkyrie for centuries, smoothly escorting thousands of souls to the grand halls of Valhalla. While the world tears itself apart during WWII, he is summoned to retrieve the soul of a fallen Japanese soldier, Ishii Hiroshi. To Sakuma's surprise, Ishii refuses his invitation to eternity.
The two meet again and again as the war repeatedly sends Ishii to death’s door, and what should have been a fleeting encounter becomes something much greater for the both of them.
Sakuma is determined to give Ishii the reward he so deserves, but Ishii’s stubbornness may condemn him to an eternity outside Valhalla.
About the Author
L. A. Ashton is an LGBT+ author writing LGBT+ fiction. They were born and raised between neat grids of corn and soybean fields. They enjoy rock music, traveling, and anything else that adds color to their daydreams. They believe in the healing properties of art and of having a cat firmly stationed on one's lap.
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