Meet Military Romance Novelist Heather Ashby

I’m so excited to introduce today’s GLIAS author, Heather Ashby. Heather writes military romance novels for Henery Press and she’s here to tell us about her new novel “Forgive and Forget,” part of her series, “Love in the Fleet.”

Heather is a Navy veteran, whose mother was one of the original Navy WAVES in World War II. Heather taught school and raised a family while accompanying her Navy husband around the United States, Japan, and the Middle East. In gratitude for their son’s safe return from Afghanistan and Iraq, she now writes military romance novels, donating half her royalties to Fisher House Foundation – Helping Military Families. She lives in Atlantic Beach, Florida with her retired Naval Engineer husband. “Forgive & Forget” is Book 1 in the four-part series, “Love in the Fleet.”

Read on and you’ll be immediately hooked on the book’s storyline. Read further to find Heather’s great answers to fun questions AND her haiku challenge!

Welcome to GLIAS Heather!

Heather Ashby

Book: Forgive & Forget

Publisher: Henery Press

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT “FORGIVE AND FORGET”

When Navy journalist Hallie McCabe meets Philip Johnston at a picnic, she is drawn

to his integrity. He is a gentleman—and an officer. From her ship. Aware of the code against fraternization between officers and enlisted, Hallie conceals her Navy status, hopeful she and her secret will stay hidden on their aircraft carrier until she can figure out a way for them to sail off into the sunset together. Sneaking on and off the ship works for Hallie for a while – until the USS Blanchard deploys.

Caught in an emotional firestorm, Hallie faces a future without the man she loves, a career-shattering secret from the past, and the burden of being the one person who can prevent a terrorist attack on the ship she has sworn to protect with her life. Prepare to set sail for the Persian Gulf with a crew of 4,999 sailors and officers—and one terrorist in search of his own kind of Paradise.

TIME TO HEAR FROM HEATHER!

One lucky commenter today will receive a copy of “Forgive and Forget.”

LIZ: What’s your favorite “love” word?

HEATHER: Trust. Without trust a relationship cannot survive, thrive, or flourish. And that means any kind of love relationship: between lovers, parent and child, family members, close friends, or soul mates of any kind.

LIZ: What are the next five books on your ‘to be read’ pile?

HEATHER:

1.      Language of Flowers – Vanessa Diffenbaugh

2.      The Fort – Aric Davis

3.      Atomic Summer – Elaine D. Walsh

4.      Lowcountry Bombshell – Susan Boyer

5.      Scandal in the Night – Elizabeth Essex

LIZ: What one thing about your hero drives his heroine crazy? And what one thing about your heroine drives her hero nuts?

HEATHER: On the one hand my heroine is drawn to the hero because he is the model of integrity. Not having dealt with men she could trust thus far in her life, this is a good thing. However, it drives her crazy that he is such a strict rule follower, because he is an officer and she is enlisted. If he discovers she is in the Navy, he will walk away from the relationship, because it is against the rules for an officer an enlisted member to “fraternize.”

My heroine has a tendril of hair that falls down over her right eyebrow. It drives the hero crazy, as in he loves it and calls it “the golden tendril.” However, after he discovers she’s in the Navy and on his ship, it drives him nuts when the golden tendril falls, because half the men on the ship are in love with her, too, and they love it when that lock of hair curls down over her right eyebrow. The golden tendril is kind of a key piece throughout the story.

LIZ: We’d love to see a haiku about your hero or heroine! Could you write one for us?

HEATHER:

Sailor girl, Hallie

No one takes wind from her sails

Kick-ass heroine!

Integrity plus

Officer and gentleman

Hot, nice guy, Philip.

LIZ: Name three things that are, at this moment, in your heroine’s purse, weapons belt, or pockets.

HEATHER: The following would be in the deep pockets of Hallie’s camouflage uniform pants: her military ID, a small notebook and pen for taking notes on anything, since she’s a journalist, and a “brick,” a hand-held radio for communications on board a U.S. warship.

LIZ: What sound or noise do you love?

HEATHER:  The ocean, hands down. I live at the beach, and now that I am retired I walk on the beach daily. The sound of ocean waves is the most relaxing sound in the world to me. I love falling asleep listening to the ocean.

LIZ: If you were given a chance to travel to the past where would you go and specifically why?

HEATHER: I would go back to mid-19^th c. America to work on the underground railroad. I have such a fascination with it, and since I have Quaker ancestors who came to this country for religious freedom, I often wonder if perhaps I DID work on the underground railroad in another life. Every year that I taught school, the URR was my favorite unit to teach and we always read FREEDOM TRAIN, either as a read-aloud or as a novel study. I might not be able to abolish slavery in my little sojourn, but I would help as many escaping slaves as I could in whatever way I could for as long as I could.

LIZ: What will always make you smile, even on a bad day?

HEATHER: Music. My father was a musician and dancer, so my sister and I grew up marinated in music. From Classical to Country. I have some strange playlists on my iPod, but they always cheer me up. I don’t do boring, so whenever I have to do mundane things, I pull out my music and make a party of washing dishes or cleaning the house. The same goes for being down in the dumps. How can you be miserable when you’re singing and dancing?

LIZ: What is your biggest vice?

HEATHER: Swearing. My mother used to say, “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t even chew gum. I should get to do something “gosh darn it.” (PG-13 version) She had been a Naval officer during WWII and claims that’s where she learned to swear. I’d say I learned to swear in the Navy, too, but in truth I learned it as a child, listening to my mother drive! And since I don’t drink, smoke, or chew gum, I think I should get to cuss too – gosh darn it.

LIZ: What’s your favorite kid joke?

HEATHER: Having taught third grade for a number of years, I’ll share one of our favorites:

Q: How do you catch a unique rabbit?

A: You neak up on it.

Q: How do you catch a tame rabbit?

A: Tame way. You neak up on it.

LIZ HAS GOTTA ASK: What’s the most personal thing you’ve ever put in one of your books?

HEATHER HAS GOTTA ANSWER: Pretty much the premise of my first novel, Forgive & Forget. The basic conflict in the story is that an enlisted sailor and a commissioned officer fall in love. The Uniform Code of Military Justice states: Personal relationships including dating, cohabitation, and any sexual relationship between commissioned officer and personnel of the enlisted ranks is strictly forbidden.” When I met my husband, we were both in the Navy. He was an officer. I wasn’t. We’re going on 37 years of marriage and we haven’t gotten caught yet!

LIZ: And last but not least, Heather, I hear you have a great challenge for your fans today.

This was such a fun interview and I LOVED the opportunity to write haiku about my hero and heroine. I challenge the readers here to write a haiku about the book they are currently reading or writing.

Thanks so much, Heather. This was an amazing interview and I had such fun with your answers! I definitely hope you’ll come back to visit us here at GLIAS soon!

CONTACT HEATHER:

E-mail: hashbyauthor@aol.com

Website: heatherashby.com

Facebook: Heather Ashby Author

Twitter: @hashbyauthor

HEATHER’S NEXT RELEASE:

“Forget Me Not” – Henery Press – December 2013

This is the story of the zany aviator sidekick from “Forgive & Forget.” It was a 2012 Golden Heart finalist, entitled: “Cat on a Hot Steel Flight Deck.”