Q&A With Willow Aster 

On March 15^th USA Today Bestselling author of romance, Willow Aster, had responded to my email agreeing to do this Q&A you all are reading right now. Some of Willow’s novels are True Love Story, In The Fields, Maybe Maby, Miles Apart, Autumn Nights, & Summer Time. On top of being an author, Willow has a podcast titled Living in the Pages, which has interviews with authors talking about books, life and the art of writing stories that impact us all as well as entertain us. 

Q: So Willow, what is it about romance novels that you enjoy writing about so much?

A: I’ve always been a romantic at heart, so writing romance has just come naturally. My husband and I have a crazy love story too, so hearing that our story should be a movie or a book, I had a feeling I’d write about it one day. And I did write parts of it in True Love Story.

Q: Where do you get the ideas for your romance novels? Is it fair to say you draw from real life people and places to create your worlds and characters?

A: There’s always a little bit of me in the story, whether it’s drawing from past experiences and embellishing, or a song I love, or a place that’s special to me…but I try to research a lot too for things I don’t know as much about to keep it more interesting.

Q: If you were to write different genres that aren’t romance, which ones would you write and why?

A: I’ve written a thriller that hasn’t been published yet and could easily see doing more of that!

Q: If you’re writing a new novel now, can you reveal any details?

A: I have a book that’s coming out on April 20th—Unforgettable. It’s actually the first in my new Landmark Mountain series. We met Jamison, the hero, in my last book, Autumn Nights. He moves to a small town in Colorado, where he runs into the woman he had a life-changing one-night stand with a few weeks prior. They had the most incredible night together, so he can’t figure out why she hates him when they run into each other again. 

I’m working on book two now and it’s got me all up in my feels…a second-chance romance.

Q: How do you deal with writers block if you ever run into that problem at all?

A: First I try to just write anyway, even if it’s a little bit…anything to keep the story moving. And then I try to fill my well in other ways—a good book, a movie, spending time with my family. Sometimes I just need to step away and take a break and know that it will all flow better when I go back to it later.

Q: What’s your advice to new authors on how to deal with online trolls, negative reviews and family and friends who aren’t supportive or interested in their writing goals?

A: I usually advise to not read too many reviews, but there are times you can’t avoid it. Sometimes you’ll get tagged in negative reviews or you have to go through reviews to post on your Amazon page, etc…and it’s really hard to not take the negative reviews to heart, no matter how many positive ones there are. When I read an especially painful review, I’ll message another author friend and we’ll vent about it until we’re laughing again. 

And with friends and family who aren’t interested in our writing goals…there are people in my life that I know to never bring up anything book-related. This is a vulnerable profession to begin with, sharing your thoughts with the world, and to have people in your life who aren’t interested in being part of that, or who think romance books are stupid, or that you’re wasting your time on a “hobby”…well, it just stinks. But I’d guess we all have at least one if not many people in our lives who aren’t going to cheer us on, and to that I say, ignore them and write what your heart wants to write. 

All that said, it’s so lovely when you have people in your life who are encouraging and supportive!  

Q: Does Hollywood have the rights to your romance novels? Hollywood is long overdue for creativity. 

A: No, they don’t. I’ve heard mixed things about it, but I’d still love to have some of my books on the big (or little) screen!

Q: How do you make time to juggle being an author and having a podcast? How did you come up with the concept  of  your literary podcast? 

A: Well, I did the podcast for three years while also writing full-time, and it did become too much. I wanted to help spread the word about all the books and authors I loved, and it was a really fun experience to get to know all of those authors!

Q: What’s your advice to anyone wanting to start a podcast? They seem like such fun but I’m sure it’s a lot of work?

A: It’s so much work! Very time-consuming to get guests scheduled every week and to read their books before and come up with the questions that fit best with them! My husband had the gear, which made it a lot easier, and he edited them for me too.