Interview & Giveaway with Ashley Farley (Saving Ben Blog Tour)

Today we have Ashley Farley here for an author interview and a giveaway! This post is part of the blog tour for Saving Ben, hosted by Xpresso Book Tours. 

Interview

Without spoiling anything, could you tell us what was your favorite scene to write in Saving Ben?

Although not the easiest scene to write, the fight between Katherine and Ben after the Fourth of July party was my favorite scene to write. Although I never encountered it on this level, past experiences with my own brother enabled me to identify with Katherine’s fear. It was oddly therapeutic for me to dig deep into those intense emotions—anger, fear, disappointment.

What is the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

Never give up! Even when the critics dampen your spirits with bad reviews, believing in your work will drive you toward success, which is true for most things in life.

If you had to pair your main character, Katherine, with any other character from any other book, who would it be and why?

If I had to choose a character from another book for Katherine, I would pick Will McLean, the young Citadel Cadet in Pat Conroy’s The Lords of Discipline. In The Lords of Discipline, when the school’s secret organization, The Ten, tries to run the first black student off campus during the fall of 1966, Will is forced to choose between doing what is popular and what is right. Katherine deserves someone who is loyal, honest, and kind—in my mind, someone who is old-fashioned. She falls for a man like that in Saving Ben. Thompson McCrae, the handsome medical student with a bedside manner Katherine cannot deny.

What comes easier for you, description or dialogue?

Dialogue! I’m fascinated by the way people interact with one another. Being a fly on the wall, I love to listen to the conversations around me, especially between my teenagers and their peers. With all his funny sayings, my son is a great study in dialogue.

How do you go about naming your characters?

Finding the names is the easy part. When I hear a name I like, I add it to my already long list that I choose from when I create a new character. Fitting the right name with the right character is the difficult part. In the young adult novel I’m currently working on, Wrecked, I changed the name of my main character three times before I found the one that best suited his personality.

What is one message you’d like to give your readers?

Live each day as though your last. Don’t procrastinate. Make your mark on the world today. Don’t let disagreements with those you love go unresolved, because you might not get another chance to say you’re sorry.

Thanks for the great interview answers, Ashley!

Giveaway

As part of the blog tour, the author is offering 3 signed paperback copies (US only), 2 ebook copies (INTL), and a $25.00 amazon gift card (INTL).  Enter using the form below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to check out all the other stops of the tour, and keep your eye out for Saving Ben, which has already been released.

Saving Ben by Ashley Farley
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Life is sweet for Katherine Langley. A freshman at the University of Virginia, she is free from the drama of her parents’ dysfunctional marriage and ready to focus on studying to become a nurse. Her brother, Ben, belongs to the hottest fraternity on campus, and her new roommate, Emma, is beautiful and charming, a party girl whose answer for a hangover is happy hour. She is also a psychopath.
When Katherine’s obsessive-compulsive overprotective brother succumbs to Emma’s charms and falls dangerously off-track, Katherine must save Ben from himself. Lives are threatened and someone disappears on New Year’s Day. The only evidence left: a single set of footprints in the snow.
From the university campus to a cozy cottage on Carter’s Creek, Virginia, Saving Ben is a haunting tale of love and loyalty, anger management, substance abuse, and betrayal