Winners! Or at least some of them!
August 1, 2016 • 1 Comment
The draw for a 5 copies of POSSESSED BY A WARRIOR have been made and I’ve had 3 responses. Congrats to Chris, Sharon, and Karen–your books are on the way. The two remaining winners have until August 5 to reply or I’m drawing two more names. If you’re reading this and entered the draw, check your email!
Blog Tour!
July 27, 2016 • No Comments
I’ll be here, there and everywhere talking about ENCHANTED GUARDIAN! Enter to win Camelot Reborn books 1 and 2 and a $50 Amazon gift certificate!
July 27 Guest Blog
Fang-tastic Books
http://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com
Giveaway! Enchanted Guardian release countdown!
July 25, 2016 • No Comments
Book 2 of the Camelot Reborn series is just about here! Enter to win a paperback copy using the Goodreads widget below.
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Enchanted Guardian
by Sharon Ashwood
Giveaway ends August 08, 2016.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Enchanted Warrior Giveaway!
July 12, 2016 • No Comments
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Enchanted Warrior
by Sharon Ashwood
Giveaway ends July 22, 2016.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Read a RITA Finalist!
July 3, 2016 • 40 Comments
To celebrate the fact that POSSESSED BY A WOLF is a RITA finalist, I’m giving away 5 autographed paperback copies! And this contest is especially for the blog readers and newsletter folks–no social media expertise required to enter this one.
All you need to do is leave a comment to this post. However, if you want an extra chance to win, name your favorite Sharon Ashwood character. Feel free to check out the book pages or Monsterpedia to jog your memory–your choice can be from any book and doesn’t need to be a main character. Contest closes July 22 at midnight PST.
And by the way, thank you to all you fabulous readers who’ve made by book dreams come true!
Father’s Day
June 19, 2016 • No Comments
Father’s Day is an odd thing for me. I’ve grown used to the endless advertisements celebrating Dads. I certainly don’t begrudge the holiday, but it does highlight the fact that my own father passed away some time ago and each reminder gives me a twinge. But, I’m happy to say I remember the good times we 
shared more strongly than any sadness I might feel. I adored my father. Yes, I saw his flaws and the chaos he sometimes caused but I was still a Daddy’s girl. He taught me a lot, including how to cling to my round-peg self in a world full of square holes.
He would have been an inveterate steampunk given the chance. He loved Monty Python, waistcoats, the Pre-Raphaelites, marmalade, British mysteries, tea, sausage rolls, and books. And books. And books.
Happy Father’s Day. Surely the afterlife is a library with easy chairs and a tea trolley.
The fortunes of a book in haiku
June 15, 2016 • No Comments
I lay no great claim to poetic talent, but some days I need to amuse myself:
A book proposal
Dance seven coy veils for the
Agency inbox
Mammoths!
• No Comments
Our local museum has a special exhibit this summer, “Mammoths! Giants of the Ice Age.” It’s done in partnership with The Field Museum in Chicago. Among the things to see is Lyuba, a 40,000 year-old baby woolly mammoth discovered frozen in Siberia. Apparently she drowned and through an accident of ice and bacteria, the poor thing stayed pretty much intact until discovered in 2007 by some reindeer herders.
Lyuba was remarkable but sad. The exhibit as a whole was fascinating. There were bones and artist’s recreations of heads of mastodons and mammoths (who knew there was a difference?) and lots of other elephantine relations. It’s a wonderful exhibit for kids because there are lots of interactive activities. Even as a non-kid, I enjoyed the straightforward presentation of the material. It reminded me of how much I loved biology in school–and how much of this stuff could be applied to a fantasy novel, because these critters were BIIIIGGG! There were some life-sized statues I took photos of. The short-faced bear made a grizzly look small and I couldn’t get the whole mastodon into the frame.
If this show comes to your museum, I recommend the trip.
The Tinder Box
June 12, 2016 • No Comments
Sometimes people ask me what my favourite fairy tale was growing up. There is a lot to choose from–I read all of the fairy tale, ghost stories and myths I could get my hands on. Andrew Lang’s fairy books loomed large (The Red, Blue, Yellow etc Fairy Books) as well as the usual Grimm and other European trad stories. 
Then there were all the Marvel and DC comics about superheroes. I didn’t differentiate much between the old stories and the new. The very best of course, was what happened when you combined fairy tales and comic books! And so my love affair with a ragged copy of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Tinder Box was born.
I don’t know why the story isn’t better known. It has all the great elements: a kidnapped princess, a clever but poor young man who saves her, and talking animals! The plot is simple–young man sets out to rescue the princess and ends up saving the day, but only through the help of three magical dogs summoned by the tinder box. The only reason he gets his hands on the box is because of his generous and helping spirit. Yes, he does his fair share of manly-man swashbuckling, but it’s the fact that he’s a good guy that wins the day. He’s somebody we feel sure will look after his princess.
There are a number of versions of this story throughout the fairy tale universe–one is a very old Welsh tale that has the hero saving ants from a fire and they later play a part in helping him along. The message of the story is clear: no matter how humble someone is, they have something to offer the world and should not be left to perish. I think that’s a tale for everyone, young and old.