NOTE: This interview was conducted in December 2025
00:18: How Ashley is feeling off the heels of her debut book launch
00:54: Why, at the start of the book, Ashley prefaced Once Upon a Time in Dollywood by clarifying that it isn’t a rom-com
2:57: How the idea for this debut book was conceived and picked up by a publishing house — from starting off as fan fiction to becoming a vessel for real-life experiences to securing Jasmine Guillory as a mentor via Reese’s Book Club
7:13: The value of Reese’s Book Club’s LitUp in helping to secure an agent and book deal.
10:33: The process and inspiration for the book’s characters — and some of the beautiful character-driven realizations that came after writing the book
14:20: Who would play Eve and Jamie in a book adaptation? (Plus a nod to a sequel…)
15:22: The process of writing from the perspective of a white man
17:51: How a degree in psychology and an ongoing career in public health has shaped her author journey
19:37: Book writing as a cathartic release
21:16: On how she measures success
23:38: On how she stays in the writing groove — and gets it back
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