I write for more than entertainment - Ashley Fontainne

Today's Author: Ashley Fontainne

Ashley Fontainne

What do you write?

My three book trilogy, Eviscerating the Snake, consists of the following books:

Accountable to None

Zero Balance

Adjusting Journal Entries

The series is classified as fiction/suspense. The story line deals with one woman’s pursuit of revenge against the people who hurt her and the repercussions of seeking revenge.

I also enjoy writing poetry and short stories. In 2012, I released a small collection of them entitled Ramblings of a Mad Southern Woman.

My latest novella is a suspenseful thriller entitled Number Seventy-Five. The story is about one woman’s nightmare after entering the world of online dating. I am thrilled that the book is a finalist in the 2013 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards contest in the fiction/suspense category. Not bad for a 74 page story!

I have a full length novel slated to hit the market in October 2013. It is a suspense/thriller with heavy Christian undertones entitled The Lie.

Also, my publishing company, RMSW Press, contracted to release the memoirs of Nick McDonald, the former Dallas police officer who arrested Lee Harvey Oswald. The release date is set for November 1, 2013 to coincide with the 50^th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Why do you write?

Ever since I was old enough to do so, reading has been a passion of mine. That love segued over to writing poetry and short stories, starting when I was a teenager. My friends and family kept telling me “you should write a book” but it wasn’t until I went back to college at the age of 40 that I gave it serious consideration. My creative writing instructor loved my work and pushed me to write my first book, Accountable to None.

For whom do you write?

Until my first book was published, I wrote strictly for friends and family. But once my college professor threw the challenge to write a novel my way, things changed. I realized that I had a lot to say and the words poured out.

Yes, I write for entertainment value—to a point. As with most writers, my hope is that the words on the page will sink in to the mind of the reader and they will find some way to apply the central theme of the story to their own life. For example, in the Eviscerating the Snake trilogy, I wanted to convey to the audience that revenge, justified or not, carries heavy consequences, sometimes worse than the original deed. Each of us has had at least one moment in our lives where we contemplated “getting even” with someone who hurt us. Sometimes, we become so focused on obtaining revenge that we don’t stop and think about what could happen after. If just one person reads the series and decides not to travel down the dark path of revenge, my goal was accomplished.

By whom you inspired?

There are so many! My favorite book ever written is by Alexandre Dumas – The Count of Monte Cristo. I love classical literature. However, I also enjoy the works of the great writers of our time. I read a little bit of everything from horror to mystery.

What inspires me most is life. As a writer, we tend to notice things around us that others might miss. The simply beauty of a butterfly as it flies past. The morning breeze on our skin that gently coaxes the hair on our arms to stand up. The eyes of the homeless soul who craves help from strangers. Even a lone penny on the ground can spark a story.

You can Share you current writing (Any small Story/Poem) or Tell your Future plan about writing?

Below is an excerpt from the prologue in Number Seventy-Five:

The smell of decaying earth filled my nostrils with a toxic stench, coaxing me slowly out of the darkness. Confusion poked at every corner of my mind like sharp talons and nearly made me gasp from their burning grip. My body woke up next and sent its own signals of torment speeding through my neurons up to my fuzzy brain. Every inch of me throbbed with white, searing pain. My ears joined the sensory overload fray and sent a signal of grating, metallic scraping sounds that came from behind me. The odd familiarity of the noise tried to take center stage in my thoughts but failed miserably. The struggle against numerous others clamored over it with ease.

The heavy fog of confusion was instantaneously burned away by the jolt of adrenaline that flushed out my system from its prior fugue state. My aching body reacted by stiffening, my mind controlled now by ingrained gut instincts which forced me to remain frozen in place like hidden prey. Memories burst forth in sharp succession and showered me with the last images of consciousness I could conjure up. My mind clamored to put the broken pieces together.