As a young girl, Kristen Ashley took advantage of her mother’s Harlequin Club membership, devouring romances delivered each month. As an adult, Ashley started to pen her own love stories to include women of different sizes, ages, and backgrounds. After self-publishing her first book in 2008, Ashley soon found herself with several bestsellers in the Rock Chickseries, a Romantic Times Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Romantic Suspense, and a hybrid publishing deal with the Hachette imprint Forever to start releasing certain titles traditionally. In her success and in her devoted online following, Ashley saw the opportunity to give back to the female readers who love the genre as much as she does. She founded the Rock Chick programs to foster a sense of sisterhood among her fans and women in need while also supporting various women’s charities.
When did you start writing, and what drew you to the romance genre?
I started writing in my early 20s (that being nearly three decades ago). But I wanted to be a romance novelist from about the time I was 12 years old. As it happens, there were some bumps in my childhood. Things could get…unpredictable. I think, looking back, knowing that there was going to be an HEA (Happily Ever After), this was what drew me to the romance genre. It took hold and never let go.
For you, what makes a romance novel that really stands out?
Voice, mindful writing, and, in many cases, taking risks. If someone has a unique voice, takes a chance with how they tell their story, really owns it, I’ll fall into their cadence and fall in love with their story.
What was the first book you released on your own?
Rock Chick. I’d written or started and stopped a number of novels before that book. But the Rock Chick series was where I fully found my voice.
What have been the advantages to hybrid publishing?
I get the best of all worlds. I have my projects that I have total control over, from content to cover design to marketing. I have my projects where I get to work with people who have huge amounts of experience in the business. In this business, as in any, things change and they do it rapidly. You cannot be an island in the publishing industry.
That said, my babies [books] are my babies….This is probably why I’m mostly independently published.
What inspired you to create the Rock Chick programs?
From the beginning, I had a variety of goals I wanted to achieve with my books. To use my novels to guide women to see the beauty and worthiness in themselves. And more, to see around them the sisters who might be struggling with these issues and who might need support.
After years of rejections, having a readership was something I didn’t expect. It’s a vast understatement to say it was meaningful. These aren’t my readers, they’re my sisters. Thus, I built the Rock Chick Nation, which has three programs [Rock Chick Rendezvous, Recharges, and Rewards], all designed to further strengthen the sisterhood. Rock Chick Rendezvous are essentially weekendlong parties. Rock Chick Recharges are intimate evenings for women who have been nominated and deserve a night to be spoiled. And lastly, there is Rock Chick Rewards, which are donations I give to charities my readers nominate.
What is the main goal behind these programs?
Sisters supporting sisters. The mission statement reads: To live your best life, be true to your true self, recognize your beauty, and last, take your sister’s back whether she’s at your side or if she’s thousands of miles away and you don’t know who she is.
What are you working on next?
I’m back with Forever Romance at Grand Central Publishing to launch the Dream series, which is a mashup of my Rock Chick and Dream Men series. It feels like a homecoming!
Rhett Morgan is a writer and translator based in Paris.
