Ashley Ream

What is your writing schedule?

Whenever I can steal it. In the evenings, on the weekends, hiding in my car. I have no shame. Working a day job means being both disciplined and flexible.

Where do your ideas come from?

S.J. Rozan, the decorated mystery author, said that writers are people who are able to access their subconscious with their conscious mind. I couldn’t agree more. My plots, characters and dialogue seem to live just under the surface all the time. I’m lucky to be able to dip into those subconscious streams.

Do you recommend writing classes or critique groups?

I recommend anything that works for you – assuming you’re an aspiring writer. (If you happen to be an accountant, I don’t think a critique group will be at all useful.) I took one undergraduate writing class, which didn’t take, and have never belonged to a critique group. That says nothing about the quality of those things and everything about my personality. I don’t play team sports either for most of the same reasons. I do, however, have beta readers who look over my first drafts. All of those beta readers are smarter than I am. That helps a lot.

Do you know that building/business/street isn’t where you said it was?

Probably. My characters live in my very real and beloved, adopted home of Los Angeles. And for the most part, I describe its geography, character and institutions accurately. For the sake of the story – and to keep my legal bills down – I often make up particular companies, buildings and streets and place them within existing parts of town. It’s also possible I screwed up, but let’s just go with the “fiction” thing for now.

Tell us something really embarrassing about yourself.

I’m a terrible speller. Seriously. Awful. I’m so ashamed.

What’s your favorite book?

Everything my friends ever wrote, The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea, Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell and a whole bunch of other stuff I’m forgetting right now.

What’s the best writing advice you ever got?

Read everything you write aloud. You’ll hear what’s not working. (Advice given to me by an old newspaper editor who had a sign in her office with the word “whining” and a line through it. That’s good advice, too.)

What’s your favorite quote?

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a Ride!’” – Hunter S. Thompson

If I send you my manuscript, can you critique it?

No, I’m sorry. That’s a legal sticky wicket, and I can’t afford the retainer.

Do you guest blog?

Yes, absolutely. Drop my publicist an e-mail.

Will you speak with our book club/professional organization/prison population?

Happily. Drop my publicist an e-mail.