Jennifer Ashley’s Top Five Questions:

Why do you write under so many different names?

Good question! I did not actually plan to write with different pseudonyms. I was rather ignorant of the publishing business when I started, and I thought I could just write whatever I wanted all under the same name and it would be fine.

What I didn’t know is that 1) publishers don’t like to share the success of your name with other publishers, and 2) readers don’t always want an author to write vastly different styles and genres. Your name becomes a signal of what kind of book you’ll get–a Jennifer Ashley romance will have alpha hunks, action, sex, and humor; an Ashley Gardner will be historical, darker, and in the POV of a tortured male hero.

When I first published, I sold my mystery series and some romances to two different houses at the same time (by accident), and the publishers wanted me to take different names; hence Ashley Gardner.

When I started writing erotic romance, I took the name Allyson James to 1) avoid annoying my other publishers; and 2) I had no idea if I’d be any good at it. If I tanked, Allyson James wouldn’t harm my other names. Allyson James so far is doing well, so she has her own career with slightly sexier, paranormal and futuristic romances. (And her first mass market book, Dragon Heat, is out from Berkley in July.)

Another reason authors change names–although I haven’t had to change for this reason yet (knock on wood)–is low sales. Sometimes an author won’t do well under one name, and so her publisher suggests that she try another subgenre under another name. Because–when corporate buyers order books, they look at the author’s name and see how well she’s done in the past. It’s more likely a buyer will do a bigger order on an unknown author in a popular subgenre than for an author with a history of poor sales. There are quite a few authors who limped along for a while then changed their names and subgenre and shot to stardom.

Why do you write different genres/subgenres?

Because I have so many ideas roaming around in my brain that I have to let them out! I love fantasy, mystery, and romance, and have great interest in writing all three. I can’t imagine writing the same thing over and over and over and over–there are authors who do that very well and are very successful, but I don’t think I’d be good at it. I need fresh ideas and fresh twists all the time, or my writing sucks.

I’m lucky I have editors who don’t mind my out-there ideas, and an agent who is tolerant of my many interests. Instead of running away screaming, my agent turns around and sells my proposals. He’s amazing. And very patient.

How did you get started writing/how did you get published?

I wanted to be a writer since I was eight years old and realized novels were make-believe written down. Seemed easy enough! I’ve always had a goal of publication, to write stories and have them appear in the shelves in libraries and bookstores.

I grew up writing to entertain myself, always thinking “some day” I’ll get published. And then one day I decided the time was right. I was a fantasy fan and read Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine, so I wrote a story I thought she’d like. She bought it, and I got a check for about $100. My first submission–sold!

This made me think that now everything I wrote would automatically sell! Ha! I couldn’t sell any more stories for about two years, and novels? Forget it! Rejection city. I gave up for a while, especially when I had to have surgery, and while recovering, I went back to writing for just for pleasure.

In 1999, I went to a seminar at my local Y where a woman was pitching her “how to get published” book. She inspired me greatly, and I went back home, dug out my historical romance mss., and started in again. I submitted to contests, started finaling and winning, and then submitted a complete romance to Dorchester. By that time, rejections had piled up again, and I decided that was my last romance submission. I didn’t need the stress. I had written a mystery novel and started shopping that to agents instead.

Almost to the day that my agent said he’d represent my mystery novel, Dorchester called and made an offer for Perils of the Heart. That was Feburary 2002. My agent sold the mystery series, then turned around and got a second contract for me at Dorchester. And so it went.

What is your writing schedule like?

I’d love to say I write to a schedule and am very organized, but I’d be lying. I *mostly* write to a schedule. I write in the mornings at breakfast (about 7:30-9), then I take a break to answer emails, do promotion, or whatever tasks, then I go back to writing. Take a lunch break, more writing in the afternoon, then knock off when my husband shows up again in the evening. Evenings off to hang out, watch DVDs, go out, etc.

That’s the overall plan. What often happens is that I have so many non-writing tasks that it pushes writing aside, or I have appointments in the middle of the day, or need to get with family or friends, or I just look at the computer and think “I can’t do this today!”

Most days I stick more or less with the schedule, but I’ve learned to be flexible enough to take that nap, take time for family and friends (cause what’s to say you they’ll be there for you when you finally have the time for them?), and allow myself to not be able to write for a day. Often on “dead” days, I’ll get inspired around nine pm and open up the laptop and start going for an hour or two.

The beauty of working for myself is the flexibility. I always hated office jobs because I couldn’t work to my own rhythms–I’d either be overloaded without enough time to finish, or I’d sit there for hours bored out of my mind but unable to leave. I know I was getting paid for those bored hours, but I didn’t care–I’d rather have the time than the money.

In my mind, you work hard when you have a project going, and stop work when you don’t. So being a full-time writer is perfect for me!

Do you have any advice to aspiring authors?

Plenty of advice! Besides my usual “don’t give up; everyone can make it; you have your own personal path to success,” I’d also advise being smart about the business.

“Smart” doesn’t mean cynical and bitter (e.g., “the publishers don’t care about writers and good stories!”), it means being *smart.* Learn the importance of distribution, that going for the biggest advance you can get is not the smartest idea, that you need to be published in the format that best reaches the audience you’re going for, that looking at the money alone will not make for a good career.

Do believe in yourself and your abilities (including your ability to grow as a writer), but don’t let your ego commit career suicide for you. Some publishers will treat you like crap–it is the way of things. It is more important to stay connected with your readers and focus on your career path than to be a princess.