Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
i have written and illustrated many books which have been translated into several languages so I’m not sure how many are out there (around a dozen in English I think). My first book is called Girls Rule and was a best seller (it has since been re-released with a new cover). The books I currently have on the market at places such as amazon.com and Barnes and Noble are mostly aimed at tween and teen audiences, though I am currently working on books which are intended for adults.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The most recent book I have which is in the marketplace already is called Use Your Girl Power: Nothing Can hold You Back! The messages in it were inspired by ideas I had when I was growing up that a girl in the world could do anything she wanted to. i still believe that today (whether it applies to girls, boys, women, men… in other words, anyone who has a dream, as long as they work hard, in my mind, also has the ability to achieve it).
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
i wrote at home on my computer most of the time but i do some of my best writing when I am out and about and keeping busy. I’ll get an idea and then a stream of words — sometimes an entire section of a book — will come to me when i’m in the car, store, etc. And when that happens, I stop what I’m doing, whip to my phone, and type everything that’s on my mind into the digital notepad, then email it to myself from there so I can later paste the text onto my laptop and work with it further. I’m sure in this day and age, though, a lot of people are doing that!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Shel Silverstein, Todd Parr, Roald Dahl.. more specifically The Giving Tree, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and similarly illustrated books which egged my mind when I was a kid.
What are you working on now?
Books that help adults to figure out how to deal with specific issues in their life such as moving on after something traumatic or life-changing has happened to them; also a book about finding and pursuing your greatest dream or passion. For tweens and teens: a book on dealing with mean girls and another one about how to handle gossip.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
i have a website at www.ashleyrice.net, as well as an amazon author page and a page on good reads under my name.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep at it. Don’t listen to people who tell you that going into the arts, specifically writing, isn’t a realistic way to make a living. You can do it on the side if you need to, or, if it matters that much to you, you can find a way to make a living doing it (for example: my main job is writing greeting cards),,, but, no matter what, if you really want it enough, and you work hard enough, you can find a way to do it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Never never never never never give up.
What are you reading now?
The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I plan to write more books aimed at adult audiences, while continue to do some writing for tweens and teens as well.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible (I’m spiritual rather than religious, but the Bible says a lot of great stuff in it, The Dictionary (because it would be endlessly interesting to read if you were someplace like that), a Thesaurus (for the same reason; and because, in my real life, I am constantly using the thesaurus you can find online to look up different ways to say the same hing, The Giving Tree, because it’s so simple yet is able to break my heart every time I read it again.
Author Websites and Profiles
Ashley Rice Website
Ashley Rice Amazon Profile
Ashley Rice’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile