Adele Ashworth

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First off, I want to welcome you to The Romance Reader’s Connection and tell you that we are so pleased you have taken time out from your writing to join us.  Also, I’d like to give you a big “Thank you!” for writing WINTER GARDEN, one of my all-time favorite books, which happens to have one of my all-time favorite heroes in it, Thomas.  We’ll get to his and Madeleine’s story in just a bit.

Adele Ashworth: Thanks so much on both counts, Jen!  I’m really very glad to be doing this interview for TRRC. 

JR: When did you first start writing?  How long did it take for your first book to become published? 

AA: Well, that’s kind of a loaded question. <g>  I suppose I’ve always loved to write.  I started writing several books when I was in elementary school, but then usually got caught up in other more important things like boys and reading.  I began to seriously write in college, but that was non-fiction, as I was a Journalism major.  I didn’t start writing romance until 1993. 

My first book was never published, but my second – MY DARLING CAROLINE – was.  I finished MDC in April of 1995.  It took me several months to get a good agent (Denise Marcil, who still represents me), and it took her nine months to sell it.  It was published in October 1998 by Berkley.  

JR: Unfortunately, I have been trying unsuccessfully for years now to get my hands on your first book MY DARLING CAROLINE.  Don’t you feel sorry me?  <G> I’ve got one ordered from a website, so hopefully it will get here soon.  I must tell you that I spent quite a bit of money for it - doesn’t that make you feel good?  

AA: LOL! I don’t know whether to be thrilled or sorry for you! <g>  But thank you for taking such time and trouble to get your own copy.  MDC went out of print fairly quickly, and I suspect STOLEN CHARMS and WINTER GARDEN will follow soon, especially since I’m now writing for Avon.

JR: How do you feel knowing that your first book is in such demand and hard to find? 

AA: Actually, I feel both thrilled and humbled (that so many people want to read it <g>) and of course a bit amazed that anyone would spend so much money on a book I wrote.  There weren’t a lot of copies printed in the first place, but I’m also hoping that sometime in the future Avon will choose to re-issue it. 

JR: Where did you get your inspiration for STOLEN CHARMS?  You have the heroine seeking adventure with her “Dream Man”, the legendary English thief, the Black Knight.  

AA: STOLEN CHARMS, my second book, was an interesting adventure for me.  I’ve never talked publicly about my inspiration for this book until now.  Here’s the story:  

I wrote my first novel in 1993 -- called EVEN AS YOU ARE -- that was never published (as I stated before).  But when I started that book, I envisioned a series featuring four brothers as four heroes for four different books.  Well, when I started sending out EAYA to publishers, I began writing my second book (the one that ultimately became SC) with the hero being the brother of my first hero, and so on.  I got about three or four chapters into it (the names of the h/h were Lydia and Drew), at which point I decided, as the rejections for my first book started flowing in, that I might not get that book published, or at the very least, not anytime soon.  So, I decided at that point to drop the book that became SC, and concentrate on writing something entirely different.  Thus, MDC was born. <g>  

When Berkley offered to buy MDC in the summer of 1997, they signed me up for a two-book contract, and wanted to know what else I might have that they could go with for the second book.  I quickly polished up a proposal with what I had written at the time – the second book I’d started after writing EVEN AS YOU ARE.  But by that time, three-plus years had passed and my writing/plotting/characterization, etc. had gotten better and perhaps more sophisticated.  I wanted to use the beginning of the second book, though, because I loved it.  So, I took that beginning, then changed the entire plot, changed the names and motivations of the central characters, and with that, SC was born.  What’s been fascinating to me, too, has been how lots of people have commented on SC and how the beginning of the book seems less focused, more convoluted, and the heroine especially so much less likable than later in the book.  This is certainly due to the fact that I wrote most of the first four or so chapters in early 1994, and the rest of the book in 1998. 

JR: My favorite book, WINTER GARDEN, has to be one of the most passionate books I’ve read.  Thomas and Madeleine are paired together to stop a smuggling operation.  Thomas is also physically impaired from a tragic accident years ago.  What makes this book so extraordinary, in my opinion, is the delicately woven threads between the past and present, why Madeleine is there and what secret Thomas is hiding.  First, I have to ask you personally for Thomas.  Please send him to me because he has stolen my heart! <G>  How did you come to write about a wounded hero like Thomas?

AA: Thanks so much for the lovely comments on WG!  As for Thomas, he’s mine. <g>  But seriously, here’s more to the story of the first book I wrote: Thomas really is a reinvention of my first hero – Christian Blackwood, the Duke of Clarington in, yes again, my first, unpublished romance novel, EVEN AS YOU ARE.  By the time I reinvented him for WG, however, I added more depth to his character, more angst, introversion, and age.  He was a far better hero in WG. <g> 

JR: Did you fully realize the emotional impact such a relationship would have on your readers? 

AA: Not at all.  I’ve really found reader response to WG fascinating (and even a little daunting <g>).  When I wrote WG, I was afraid that the characters wouldn’t carry the story and that having such a scarred and tortured hero might be a put-off to some readers.  What happened in reality has been the opposite – sometimes to the detriment of my other books and heroes.  What I’ve noticed is that readers who’d read my other books first seemed to be disappointed in SOMEONE IRRESISTIBLE because it wasn’t like WG, or as good as WG, and so on.  Readers who read SI first tended to love it.  But, to be honest, Thomas isn’t my favorite hero.  Jonathan (from SC) is. <g>  

JR: SOMEONE IRRESISTIBLE was your fourth book, but the first one I read.  I found the storyline refreshing in that the heroine was an artist and the hero was a paleontologist.  A stolen dinosaur jawbone becomes the key to the mystery, but it doesn’t overwhelm the way the romance works.  Mimi Marsh has wanted Nathan Price for a long time, but after that one kiss before his reputation collapses, she marries another.  Later, she is now a widow, and their paths cross again when he requests she draw the jawbone he had found.  Being an artist, I found Mimi intriguing.  What research did you do for the artistry and paleontology for SI?  Do you have a certain interest in areas that you explore in your writing?

AA: Most of the research for SI was done at my local library.  Not very glamorous, but practical!  I checked out books on sculpture, dinosaurs, and the English dinosaur craze of the mid-1850s.  I found a very detailed book about the dinner Richard Owen hosted in the new Crystal Palace, and simply placed part of my story inside it.  It was great fun!  But I use library books frequently, as well as a few of the ones I own, to plot my stories then help me write them. 

I have a profound interest in ancient cultures, history, and especially science!  I took a good number of courses in college, and whenever possible I try to incorporate my interest in these subjects when I write my books.  I especially love science, of nearly every kind.  If I could, I’d write every book about a hero/scientist. <g> 

JR: WHEN IT’S PERFECT is the story of Mimi’s sister, Mary.  Mary is a lingerie designer and seamstress, making a wedding trousseau for Christine Longfellow, the Countess of Renn’s daughter.  Christine’s sudden death brings home her adventurer brother, Marcus, the Earl of Renn.  Soon, Mary and Marcus delve into Christine’s last days, hoping to find some much needed answers.  Along the way, friendship and romance blossoms.  Marcus is an Egyptologist studying hieroglyphics.  Why make him be an adventurer that doesn’t want his birthright?

AA: Because it’s different. <g>  Actually, though, I like to write characters who aren’t stereotypes, characters who are different from the average person of their day.  I think it makes them so much more interesting underneath, and much more exciting when they find the person who will love them for who they are.  When I created Marcus, I had every intention of making him a nobleman who didn’t care in the least about his birthright.  All he wanted to do was make a small impact in history and live his desire of studying ancient treasures.  It made him unique among his peers.  I’ve always found that desirable in a hero. <g> 

JR: Now the lingerie part is really what had me intrigued.  Mary makes shocking corsets, which are not supposed to be seen except by the bride and later the groom.  Did you do any research on this type of trade for Mary?  Why was this appealing to you?

AA: I bought a book on the history of the corset and underwear through the ages.  Talk about fascinating!  It turned out to be a great research tool. <g>  When I created Mary as a secondary character in SI, I wanted to make her almost prudish in her public persona; a very straight and narrow individual.  When it came to writing her story in WIP, my intent was to show that underneath it all, she is a very sexy and sexually desirable woman.  She is a woman with secrets and passions beneath her formal personality, and Marcus becomes enthralled in peeling away all those layers, both literally and figuratively. <g>  And frankly, the whole erotic corset idea made the book a lot more fun to write.  Such potential to make the steam rise!  LOL! 

JR: Do you ever expect to write something different than historicals? 

AA: Oh, certainly.  I’m not sure where I’m heading career-wise, but I imagine that one day I’ll branch out into something different – perhaps chick-lit, romantic suspense, mystery.  I just don’t know, and have no definite plans for writing in another genre/sub-genre anytime soon.  My supreme desire is to write a Star Trek novel, but that could just be wishful thinking for now.  I just love Star Trek. <g> 

JR: What’s in store next for your readers? 

AA: Well, I’m in the process of writing my next book for Avon, called DUKE OF SIN.  It’s the first story in a trilogy.  This book takes place in Penzance, Cornwall, 1856, and centers around the hero, William Raleigh, the reclusive Duke of Trent who’s been acquitted of the murder of his wife, and the heroine, Vivian Rael-Lamont, who get together to solve a blackmailing riddle.  Both the hero and heroine are 35, fiercely independent, and frustrated by life’s and society’s demands on them.  That’s all I can say for now, except that the book will be released next fall. <g> 

JR: Thank you for taking time out to talk with us!  I know I’ll be looking out for the next book that has Adele Ashworth on the cover. 

(Click here for a review of WHEN IT'S PERFECT)

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