Do you enjoy meeting new authors?
Then you’ll enjoy meeting my new friend and fellow Scrivenings Press author, Tonya B. Ashley!
Christina: Please tell me a little about yourself.
Tonya: I’m married to a firefighter/paramedic, and we are parents of a middle-school son who is teaching himself electric guitar and an adult son, a newly married firefighter. We’ve added a girl to the bunch in the form of a precious daughter-in-law. I enjoy a thread of adventure, whether in story or life. Fascinated with people, places, and nature, I love to explore through writing, reading, hiking, and artwork. One of my favorite hiking destinations is Fuzzy Butt Falls, which exudes quite the Narnia experience despite its humorous name.
Christina: That is a humorous name! I’ve never heard of that place, but if it reminds you of Narnia, I might need to check it out!
Let’s talk books! What is your book called?
Tonya: Of Faith and Dreams
Christina: When’s the release date?
Tonya: April 16, 2024.
Christina: Oh, wonderful, it just came out! Is this a series?
Tonya: Yes, Of Faith and Dreams is Book One in the Lost and Found Series. It can be read as a standalone or as part of the series, which has a prequel novella included in the novella collection A Gift for All Time.
Christina: Can you share your book’s blurb with my readers?
Tonya:
When Van Buren, Arkansas, is inundated with Forty-Niners seeking to outfit themselves with horses before heading west, Justin Hogue sees the perfect opportunity to step out of his father’s shadow to establish a horse ranch. The same influx of prospectors ushers in a competitive horse trader who wants him out of the way. Further complicating things, Justin is challenged with a new tenant at the Hogue family boardinghouse.
Eliza Dawn is an independent, headstrong seamstress who claims to follow the prospectors west to sell her garments. Justin believes she’s hiding something. So, he keeps his distance until a mysterious letter and ring unite them in searching for an unknown prospector.
Can they find one man in a thousand before the gold expeditions leave town? What will put Justin’s dreams at greater risk—conflict with the horse trader or Eliza Dawn’s secrets?
Christina: Oh, your story sounds exciting! And I have to say, I love your cover! What is the inspiration behind your story?
Tonya: It was a weird combination of things that brought this story idea together. In the fall of 2021, I tore a tendon in my ankle, which led to surgery and a significant amount of downtime. News of surgery came in October and gave me time to prepare for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) coming up in November that year. The NaNoWriMo website offers some great resources to prepare. One of their packets suggested an idea mash-up of sorts. I happened to be binge-watching Hallmark’s Signed, Sealed, and Delivered about detectives in the dead letter office and BBC’s Larkrise to Candleford, a coming-age-story set in turn-of-the-century Britain. So, I explored what it might look like if I did a mash-up of similar ideas. I came up with the idea of a boardinghouse owned by a retired steamboat captain whose children are launching into adulthood. The retired captain uses a room at the boardinghouse as a lost and found for items left behind on the steamboats. As his young adult children are drawn into searches for the owners of various items, they find direction, their place in the adult community, and the possibility of love.
Christina: I’ve watched Larkrise to Candleford! That series was great! That’s what writers do best, we mash up ideas! What’s your favorite part of the writing process? (Besides the mashing of ideas!)
Tonya: That’s hard to say. Each time I arrive at the next phase of the process, I think, “This is my favorite.” If I absolutely had to choose, it would be beginning a new story or content edits. I’m curious and love to explore things. Starting a new story is setting out on a new journey of exploration. Content edits sometimes serve as a deeper exploration of the story. My least favorite part is transitions. Transitioning from research to brainstorming to writing, editing, marketing, and so on. Each stage of the process requires you to be in a little different headspace. Moving from one to the next takes some extra effort, but once I work my way into the next phase I find things to enjoy about each phase.
Christina: If you could give one piece of advice to budding creatives, what would it be?
Tonya: Don’t wait for the muse to strike. Read books about creativity and do a little research. You can train your creative brain to come online when you need it to by developing simple habits and routines. You don’t have to sit and stare at a blank screen for hours on end or succumb to writer’s block. On my writing days, I have quiet time with Bible study and personal reflection. Then when I’m ready to transition into writing, I make a latte, light a candle, put on music (usually instrumental), and play low coffee shop noise with mumbling voices and clinking dishes. It took a week or two to train my brain, but now this routine is full of queues that signal my internal editor to hush and my creativity to fire up. So, research the things that work to spark creativity and things that hinder it. Then explore which combination of those things works best for you. Get to know yourself and your process.
Christina: Great Advice! Now for some fun! Name something quirky in your workspace. Can you give a little backstory about said item?
Tonya: My oldest child was married last fall, so my youngest moved into his old bedroom and I’ve been working to convert my younger son’s old room into my writing office. When I finished writing Of Faith and Dreams, I was on a bit of a creative high with no outlet. So, I began painting a forest mural on one wall in the office. I’ve never painted a mural before, so it’s been an interesting process. And it’s gotten interrupted, so it may be on the list of summer projects to finish.
Christina: Oh, wow. A mural sounds amazing. That’s talent. So, when you’re in the creative zone, what’s your favorite snack to get your creative juices flowing?
Tonya: I don’t know if it counts as a snack, but I love coffee. I make my own lattes at home, but I also love writing field trips to independent coffee shops that are big on creativity.
Christina: I love the idea of calling a trip to a coffee shop a writing field trip. I take those often. Now from writing to reading—What book are you reading right now?
Tonya: I’m right in the middle of Amy Anguish’s For Better or For Granted. It’s a unique take on a love story. The main characters are a young couple whose marriage is in trouble. I love Amy’s writing. Her style reminds me of Robin Jones Gunn’s Sisterchicks series. She weaves a story that immerses you in setting and fun. Then she takes you to a deep place. I love a story that allows you to have fun and inspires a personal “ah-ha” moment. Amy Anguish is so good at that.
Christina: I love Amy! She was one of my editors. Okay, here’s another question—You just won free tickets to anywhere in the world! Where are you going? And who are you taking?
Tonya: I would love to do an island-hopping adventure in the British Isles. Sites related to C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien would be high on the list. I’d also love to do some cave and waterfall hikes across the islands. That would be amazing! If I happened to run into Bear Grylls that would be a bonus.
As far as who I’d take with me, how many tickets? *giggles* I’d either make it a trip with all my fellas or a girl’s trip. Either way, I’d be happy!
Christina: Fun trip! What will you be working on next?
Tonya: Next, I’m working on Book Two (currently untitled) of the Lost and Found Series. There is a prequel called Once Lost, Now Found readers can find in the A Gift for All Time novella collection and Book One, Of Faith and Dreams. Rebecca Hogue, the third of nine Hogue children, appears in the prequel and Book One. In Book Two, Rebecca Hogue gets her own story and readers will see the return of Dr. Benjamin Ewing from the prequel.
Christina: It sounds like you have your schedule planned out for you! I’ll need to check out that novella collection! What are you looking forward to—it doesn’t need to be writing related—over the next few months?
Tonya: In my “day job,” I’m a substitute teacher, so I look forward to having the summer off with my kids. Since my oldest is newly married, I’ll have a lot of one-on-one time with my youngest this summer. We have a school-sponsored trip to Washington, D.C. coming up. Summer will also bring driving lessons, hiking, camping, and hammocking. What a treasure!
Christina: Driving lessons! We have those coming up in our family too!
Speaking of driving lessons and childhood, what childhood story has stuck with you through adulthood?
Tonya: There are so many, but the one that stands out the most is Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. Leslie Burke was a gem of a character. I could so easily relate to the tomboy who spent much of her time in the woods creating an imaginary kingdom. All my childhood stories were lived out as I played make-believe in the woods around our home. There was a dragon that perched over the side of an abandoned railroad bed just a short distance from my house. Of course, adults thought it was an old tree that had been struck by lightning. But those of us with a little Leslie Burke in us…we knew.
Christina: Playing make-believe as a child was the best, and now as authors, we get to write make-believe! Creatives usually dabble in more than one creative outlet. How many unfinished projects do you have?
Tonya: Are we talking about writing? Or crafts? Artwork? Repurposing home décor or furniture? Home maintenance? Organizational projects? I might be guilty of bouncing around from project to project. Can anyone relate? When it comes to writing though, I’ve been training myself to dial in and get it done.
Christina: That’s great! I need some of that training!
I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, Tonya. I need to ask because every writer gets asked this question, are you a Plotter or Pantser?
Tonya: Tweener. I pants a little, plot a little. When writing, I’m easily overwhelmed if I try to lay out the big picture in extreme detail upfront. So, I’ll work up a skeleton outline and I’ll make some brief, but detailed notes about a scene or two at a time. But I’m flexible in my writing. Sometimes the story takes on a life of its own and before you know it, characters are doing their own thing. I’m happy to follow the story when it changes direction.
Christina: Thank you for sharing a bit of yourself today! Happy Book Birthday! I look forward to reading your new book Of Faith and Dreams!
To connect with Tonya and learn more about her books, please check out these sites!
https://www.facebook.com/tonya.b.ashley.author
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0CJRS731F