Living Your Dreams with Ashley March and a Giveaway

Today we have an inspiring guest post by romance author Ashley March! Ashley is such an amazing person to get to know - I've been following her on Twitter and her blog the last few months (with my BFF Aislynn). Ashley kindly offered to do up a guest post to help me celebrate my first year of blogging and she dazzled me with the topic: Living Your Dreams!

A Real Published Author by Ashley March

First of all, thanks so much to Chrystal for inviting me to participate in the celebration, and a huge CONGRATULATIONS on her 1st blogoversary! 

I used to say that everything seemed very surreal. When I signed with my first agent, when I received a three-book contract with NAL Penguin, when I received my first copies of my debut, SEDUCING THE DUCHESS, when the book actually came out in October 2010, when I received great reviews and awesome fan mail (I love my readers!!!)—it all seemed like I it was happening to someone else.

After all, I only started writing seriously with the intent of publication in February 2008. I signed with my first agent in September 2009, received my three-book contract in December 2009, and published my first book in October 2010. That’s fast.

In fact, I remember in March earlier this year during my 1^st Annual March Madness Blog Party—5 months after the book came out—that I still felt like everything was surreal. I’m not sure exactly when it happened—sometime between the blog party and now—but I’ve finally gotten to the point where I’ve accepted the fact: yes, I am a published author.

And it rocks. 

So now that I finally feel like a real published author, what exactly does this mean? It means I feel very fortunate. First of all, the friends I have made in readers, aspiring writers, fellow authors, book bloggers, and industry professionals are all absolutely amazing. It’s wonderful to belong to such a community of intelligent and generous individuals, and to feel that this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Secondly, I get to play with my characters. This is the really fun part. Late at night, after the day job is over, after the kids are put to bed, I get to have “me time”. And for me, this means that I get to go into the minds of strong, intelligent heroines and sexy heroes. I find myself smiling while I write because they smile on the page, getting emotional when they hurt, and of course, breathing a little faster when I write the sexual tension between the hero and heroine (yes, that’s a really fun part ;) ).

Finally, I get to see my books in bookstores. Whether physical bookstores or online bookstores, it’s such a thrill to see the covers with my name on them, to know that dear friends and random strangers alike will spend their hard-earned money to buy my book and take time away from their busy lives to read it. I write for myself—I have to, because I know I can’t please everyone—but when my readers email me to tell me how much they enjoyed my writing, this is better than anything else. I’ve made a connection with a reader, something that goes beyond the surface; I’ve given them a little part of me, and they actually liked it!

It’s real, this life I have, living my dream as a published author. And even though it feels real now, I know that every day for the rest of my life—because I hope to continue writing until I die—I will count myself as one of the lucky ones who have actually seen their dream come true.

To help Chrystal celebrate the blogoversary of Snowdrop Dreams, I’m giving away a copy of my debut, SEDUCING THE DUCHESS, to one random commenter (open to international residents). I’d love to hear about one of your life’s dreams that’s come true!

To enter - leave your reply to Ashley's question below and a way to contact you. Winner will be chosen at random on August 1st!