Kristal: Hi Katharine! Thank you so much for joining us today for an interview! We are very honored to have you on the site with us! Feel free to stick around as much as you would like to chat with our readers as well!
Katharine Ashe: Thanks for hosting me today, Kristal. I’m honored to be here!
K: At what age did you know that writing was what you wanted to do? Did you have an “AHA” moment or was it something that you always knew?
KA: Even when I was a small child writing fiction made my heart sing. The thing is, history made my mind dance. And as I grew up I got this Really Silly Notion that the mind’s interests were more impressive than the heart’s. You see? Really silly. But not only silly… Tragic. Because that is CLEARLY NOT THE CASE.
So as it happened, I went to graduate school for my PhD in History, and became sad because my mind danced day and 
night while my heart only occasionally smiled. Late in graduate school I started writing stories again — historical romances — and my heart declared, “Finally!!!” That was my “Aha!” moment. I could do both at once! I finished my PhD, got a job as a professor and started a family, but through it all I kept writing. It gives me joy and energy and profound happiness.
K: So I’m loving the first book in The Falcon Club Series. “When A Scot Loves a Lady” is so exciting, there is so much going on in the story, every single page is something new to discover. Is it difficult to write a story that has so many great elements and get them all just right?
KA: Thank you!! As a reader my favorite kinds of books have intricate plots, rich emotional landscapes, and mysteries that keep me turning pages. So that’s where my imagination goes when I begin to develop one of my own books. It’s true, sometimes this gets me into trouble as I’m writing; I occasionally end up in places I didn’t anticipate. But that’s the great fun of writing a love story: the hero and heroine always set me straight when I try to take them places they don’t want to go. At the center of everything are those lovers careening delectably toward their Happily Ever After.
K: Let’s talk Scotland, Scottish men to be precise. I LOVED Leam. I felt like he had all the right stuff- everything that I look for in a hero. Did you do a lot of research on Scotland and Scottish men to make Leam’s character true to form?
KA: I’m so glad you loved Leam! It was so much fun writing him — a combination of alpha lord and thoroughly skirt-whipped male. I’d been reading history books about Scotland for years. Then I finally took a journey to Scotland… and I fell in love. It is a land both gorgeous and dangerous, hospitable and harsh, rustic and sublimely sophisticated. The green hills, the castle ruins, the heather waving on the hills, the fields of sheep, the art and music and busy cities were all fabulous, but the people were even more wonderful. I felt entirely at home, completely welcomed, and utterly happy. After that, writing a Scottish hero seemed
the most natural thing in the world. And I do love a hero with a secret identity, so that was great fun too.
K: The chemistry between Leam and Kitty was great, right from the very beginning! Can you tell us a little bit about how these characters came to be? Maybe share a secret or two about your writing process?
KA: I set out to write a story about a man and a woman who believe they are unquestionably wrong for each other but who, from the moment they meet, can’t keep their hands off each other. It happens sometimes, that chemical whatever that crashes two people together, and it can be earth shattering. I’d known Kitty for a while; she’s the sister of the pirate-earl hero in my “Captured by a Rogue Lord“. She’d been hurt as a young woman by a very bad man, and I wanted her to find happiness with a very good man. But the walls she erected around her heart over years were going to take a powerful force to knock down. Unanticipated, unwanted, and uncontrollable lust was that force!
But not just lust. For just because Kitty thinks she and the Earl of Blackwood have nothing whatsoever in common doesn’t mean they actually don’t. But Leam knows the truth, and their passion scares him to death. I loved playing with their consternation over their desire, and their absolute unwillingness to admit to something a whole lot bigger than lust between them.
K: Can you tell us a little more about your other series, The Rogues of the Sea series? How many of them are there? How many more will you write?
KA: My rogues of the sea are powerful men — peers on land as well as lords upon the ocean. They are driven not by wealth or status or even duty, but by conviction that their mission is noble. Their heroines are daring women, strong and brave enough to win these men’s hearts. I’ve written three Rogues of the Sea novels and one novella (“Swept Away by a Kiss“, “Captured by a Rogue Lord“, “In the Arms of a Marquess“, and “A Lady’s Wish“). The heroes of the novels have secret identities to protect the people they help, and my novella features a Navy war hero, whom I adored writing. The books are all stand-alone and very loosely tied.
K: Last but not least and along those same lines can you tell us what is next for the Falcon Club series? You have two more books scheduled to come out this year, can you tell us a little bit about them?
KA: Book #2 of the Falcon Club series, How To Be a Proper Lady, has a seafaring hero too! Captain Jin Seton is a former pirate with a very dark past and a lost lady in his sights, and he’ll stop at nothing to find her. The moment I wrote the first lines about Jin in “Captured by a Rogue Lord”, I knew I had to tell his story, and I knew precisely who his heroine would be — Viola Carlyle, kidnapped by smugglers fifteen years ago and fighting mad to be dragged back to England now. Jin is sublimely confident and totally caught off guard by his quarry. Also, I really love writing about men who can command the sea — the most dangerous, unpredictable force of nature there is. Or… come to think of it… that’s love!
In book #3, “How a Lady Weds a Rogue”, a hardened spy meets his match when a country miss demands that he play the role of hero in her quest. But the road may prove more dangerous than she imagined when her wanton desire for her Knight in Shining Armor and his intoxicating embrace turn out to be the real adventure…
“How To Be a Proper Lady“ is coming June 26, and “How a Lady Weds a Rogue” on September 25!
K: Thank you so much for stopping by to visit with us! I am so excited to see what our readers think of your new book, “When a Scot Loves a Lady” and get a peek at my review!
Thank you, Kristal. I’ve had a wonderful time!
Kristal here! Ms. Ashe is giving away an autographed copy of her award nominated novel
“Captured by a Rogue Lord” to one of you! Who’s it gonna be?
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