Making Memories

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What's new with Ashleigh?

When I was in graduate school, one of my homework assignments was to observe children learning outside of a classroom. Although the playground was a suggested resource, it was winter, and I wasn’t too keen on the idea of sitting outside for an hour taking notes.

After a quick internet search, I decided to try a children’s STEM museum. It was only a couple of years old, not some place I visited as a child, and the descriptions sounded interesting.

I felt a little silly walking into the building. I was the only one there not accompanied by a child. However, once I explained why I was there, the staff welcomed me. They didn’t even charge me admission.

I stayed there for a long time. First, I explored the entire museum. (It’s really not that large. A walking tour took only a couple of minutes.) I can’t remember all the attractions, but I remember the one I loved the most: the rainforest room. For over an hour, I sat watching children learn how to be scientists exploring the rainforest, keeping research journals as they discovered new animals. They even got to dress the part! But everyone’s favorite was learning about the physics of pulleys as they hoisted their chair up a tree to the canopy.

As I took extensive notes, I kept telling myself that I could not wait to have a family of my own so I could share this place with them.

Yesterday, my oldest turned fourteen, and I asked how she wanted to spend her birthday. She wanted to go to that museum with her younger siblings. She had such fond memories, but I worried she was too old.

Nevertheless, it was her birthday, so we went. (We keep our membership active, as it grants us access to other children’s and science museums across the continent.) All four children had a ball. Because it was just after lunch on a school day, it wasn’t crowded. Younger kids were home taking their naps and older children were still in school. It wasn’t exactly empty, but my children never had to wait their turn to try an exhibit.

All evening, and even into this morning, the children thanked me for taking them there. All four of them truly had a wonderful time. I felt blessed that we had a place where everyone could make happy memories.

What about you?

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Free Books

Dog Gone Troubles A paranormal cozy mystery! Magic in this witch’s family has a name: Trouble Meet Sidney Grace: Quirky Journalist. Curious Witch. Professional Butterfingers. Sidney Grace, a young journalist living in Boston, isn’t ready for all the troubles heading her way. For starters, she’s curious about her grandmother’s magic even though her spellcasting is a bit rusty. Sidney finds herself caught between her curiosity to learn more and her mother’s hatred for all things supernatural. After all, her mom has a Tupperware business to run and magic isn’t part of her business plan! The fact that her dad doesn’t seem to be bothered by an occasional spell gone wild, isn’t smoothing the water between these two matriarchs. But the family drama and her untapped magic are the least of Sidney’s problems. Things turn worse when her new boss asks Sidney to cover the annual Pup Parade and she makes a terrible mistake that could cost her career…and ultimately her life. Can her grandmother cast a spell that works right the first time and save Sidney? Or will her troubles finally get the best of this new witch? Dog Gone Troubles is a fun, heartwarming paranormal cozy mystery with quirky and charming characters that will keep you spellbound! This book is the prequel for the highly-anticipated Crystal Beach Magic Mystery Series.

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Other Books on Sale

Mardi Gras and Mayhem Book 4 of the Small Town Girl series Just a fun girls’ weekend in New Orleans during Mardi Gras...except for the murders. Chantilly Romero held an important place as a mover and a shaker within the New Orleans business world. An upstanding member of the community, everyone admired and respected her. But she had her secrets. Did she run an illegal high-stakes poker game out of her whiskey distillery? Had her bodyguard committed a few dastardly deeds, so Chantilly could profit? Did Chantilly’s husband die by his own hand, or did she help him along to the pearly gates? Regardless, the police never found proof of any wrong doing. Did someone take matters into their own hands?

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God's Hand at Work

This week's newsletter contains the following features:
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• What's new with Ashleigh?
• Hartfield Chronicles
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What's new with Ashleigh?

Have you ever felt like God (or the fates or whatever higher power you believe in) is pushing you in a certain direction? That has happened to me so many times in my life. It happened again yesterday (which is why this newsletter is a day late.)

Back in 2007, when I first applied for a teaching position, I sent my resume to a dozen school districts and a ton of private schools. I was so excited to have my own classroom. I was still student teaching, but I would be graduating soon.

One day, my father called while I was still at work. During a free period, I went to the AP Environmental lab and returned his call. I figured something must be wrong if he were calling me during the school day.

At the time, my father owned his own business, so his name was easily googleable. A school saw my resume and was interested in hiring me. But I had forgotten to put my phone number on the resume! This school wanted me so badly, they tracked down my father and found me.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering why I feel this was God’s hand, it was a parochial school.

Now that I’m again applying for teaching positions, I remembered to put my phone number on my resumes. Yesterday, I again felt God’s hand at work. A school I applied to last week called me. The principal even said that he usually emails, but something told him he should call me instead. I am going to save the rest of the story for next week, but let’s just say I have an interview this week and I really want this job.

How about you?

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Hartfield Chronicles

Hartfield Chronicles follows the lives of Melinda, Pat, and their friends as they navigate their way through boarding school life. Each episode features two stories, one from Melinda's point of view and one from Pat's, along with an excerpt from Melinda's writing journal. New episodes are published every Wednesday.

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Free Books

A Rare Connection Inspirational Romantic Suspense Is religion a need? How about love? What will Nicole and Andrew choose? Is religion a necessity? How about love? What will Nicole and Andrew do when they must choose? A French heiress takes her hard-working American best friend for granted. He puts UCLA on hold to serve as a missionary in South Korea. Intrigue and tragedy ensues. Will they survive to find a second chance at love? Sweet, Romantic Suspense, and a Stand Alone Novel

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Complex Solutions Math is easy for Lexi, but complex emotions are difficult, and A.P. Calculus won’t help her overcome guilt, fear, or self-destructive behavior. Sixteen-year-old Lexi Thompson believes she should’ve died in the car accident that took her parents. Now she slices her guilt into her skin, aggravating an already dangerous cutting habit. When Lexi is contacted about her parents’ lost proof of a famous math theorem, her guilt over her parents’ deaths intensifies. Math was her parents’ passion as well as her own. Lexi enlists her friend and fellow math whiz, Joe to help find the proof. As their relationship deepens, Lexi struggles to keep her self-harm secret. Further, she realizes she’s not the only one interested in her parents’ proof. A mysterious man hangs around her parents’ vacant home and lurks in the woods where she runs with her dog. The stalker’s presence exacerbates her anxiety, along with the frequency and severity of her cutting. The more she tries to conceal her self-harm, the more she pulls away from Joe and from finding the proof. If she can’t let go of her fear and open up to Joe, she may lose him as well as the proof to a man who’s intent on stealing her parents’ legacy.

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More questions from my recent interview

This week's newsletter contains the following features:
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• What's new with Ashleigh?
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What's new with Ashleigh?

This week, I am posting the remaining questions from an interview I did in one of my writing servers last month. (You can read the earlier interview questions here and here.

You have some really cool names for your locations! Which one is your favorite? And do you have any other favorite world builds? While I made up some of my character and place names, I used ancient Manx for a few of them. I think my favorite is Etoid Waefkysm. It means "Fair Winds" and is the name of the port city on the arctic side the the sea. I also really loved building each location. For the smaller villages, I wanted it to be primitive, similar to a Native American village before the arrival of the Europeans. The cities are more like what I imagine port cities to be during colonial American times. And the druid's home? Its how I imagine a well-learned hermit would live if he secluded himself in the arctic.

It's cool that you had a general idea, then figured it out as you went.
Are you usually a Plantser?
Or was this trying something new?

I am totally a plantser. My first finished novel, I developed a detailed outline. But my characters had different ideas. So I gave up outlining as a general rule. This book was a more detailed outline (and was still pretty minimum compared to some plotters I know) than I have used in quite some time.

I'm curious what made you outline this one!
Was there something about the story that made you think outlining was needed?
Or was it the fact that it was a series?

This book was a derby project. When I was looking at all the covers, I wanted to make sure I could write a story for each cover I selected. Just because the cover was pretty didn't mean I knew what would happen. I meant to just scribble out a few lines, but the story just spewed out, including the sequel.

Now that I'm thinking about this, I went into the derby knowing I wanted to do a book for younger readers and something told me to do a hero's quest outline. I forgot if the book inspired the outline or the rough draft of the outline inspired the hero's quest. But i do remember sitting down and seeing how that one page rough sketch could fit into the hero's quest formula. And it was surprisingly easy, which is probably why the book was easier to write. It was as if the story was calling to me.

How did the cliffhanger thing work out for you?
Did you succeed? Were there places where it was hard to get a cliffhanger to work?
And do you have a favorite among the ones you came up with?

I have done cliffhangers once before, so I thought it would be easy. In fact, I'm finding it very difficult on the sequel. But for Arctic Druid, I think most of the scenes were cliffhangers.

Some worked out well, like the one where Eamon is freezing and closes his eyes at night uncertain if he will ever open them again. Or where he is confronted by a band of theives and looks to a friend, only to find the friend has joined the bad guys.

Other chapters, the cliffhangers aren't as exciting. There is one chapter that is different from the rest; it is more a journal entry describing how the darkness was formed and how to get rid of it. That one doesn't really end in a cliffhanger. And there are others that are just like (I'm paraphrasing because I don't have the book in front of me) "He set off into the unknown." Not exactly stopping in the middle of the action or anything but just enough to add some mystery.

As for a favorite? Thats tough. I think I'm a little too close to the story because I like almost all of them. There's the chapter that ends with the friend turning sides. And the one that ends with the druid telling Eamon...something important, but I don't want to ruin the story for you. I also like the one near the beginning where the village elder nominates Eamon for the quest. Or the one where Eamon runs away.

Do you have a question you would like me to answer?
Reply to this email and I will answer it in a future email.

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Free Books

Wilhelmina Quigley: Monkey See, Monkey Do A witch with unpredictable magic. A tricky transformation spell. What could go wrong? Following a magical mishap, Wilhelmina Quigley accidentally transforms her classmate, Fynn, into a monkey. With a frightened Fynn running from those who could help him, Wilhelmina sets off on an extraordinary adventure to recapture and transform the monkey back to a boy. From incantation blunders to misfired spells, each step along the way brings laughter, surprises, and valuable lessons about self-discovery.

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Other Books on Sale

Journey of Soul The Search for Power His brothers can control fire. His sisters can manipulate water. His best friend can speak to bears. And all he has, is his dream. Phillip Jones' one dream is to become the world's greatest soldier but in a world where everyone can do supernatural things, it's tough being one of those who cannot. However, when he finds out about an ancient tree that can grant him his very own ability, he goes AWOL in Search for Power. Now he must escape the team that has been sent to bring him back and battle the enemy that desires the very same thing he does otherwise he will never grow to become the greatest. If you enjoy epic fantasy maps, military soldiers, deep plots with multiple contenders, dragons and other mythical creatures, then click the BUY button and follow Phillip's Journey of Soul!

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