Welcome to the thirty second installment of “You’ll Never Believe…”
For those that don’t know what these new featurettes will be about, here is the scoop! “You’ll Never Believe…” will feature the weirdest questions or encounters that authors have been asked/had. Might be about their books or random things, like meetings in a bathroom where someone asked what brand of toilet paper they normally use. Fun stuff and inside scoops that an author would not normally share.
Today’s “You’ll Never Believe…” celebrates the release of Megan Erickson’s latest book “Trust the Focus”. In this one, the author tells us about her star-struck encounter with THE fabulous Kristen Ashley!
You’ll Never Believe… by Megan Erickson (Author of Trust the Focus)
Right, so yeah I’m an author but I was a reader first, trust me. Which means, I have my fangirl moments just like everyone else.
Kristen Ashley is an author whom I adore. I poured through her entire backlist when I discovered her (which obviously took months), and she really got me back into reading when I had hit a slump after my son was born.
So, I was at the RT Booklovers Convention in New Orleans. At the time, my first traditionally published books weren’t out yet. So I’m there, soaking in the atmosphere, loving hanging out with my writer friends, walking casually through the hotel, when I see KRISTEN ASHLEY. And she’s totally chill, just walking by, like she isn’t KRISTEN FREAKING ASHLEY and I’m dying inside. Now, if you meet me, you’d understand, I’m not really shy. Not at all. But I saw her and I totally froze up, clammed up, dear in headlights, the whole bit. I think I spoke out of the corner of my mouth to my friend, whispering, “Oh my God, that’s KA. That’s KA. That’s KA!” I couldn’t even say her full name. I was losing it.
So I didn’t do anything. And I let her walk on by me. And my friend was shaking me, saying, “Go back and say hi!” And I’m nervous as hell. But I gathered myself, and I went back down the hallway after her (I feel creepy saying that). And there she was, talking to some of the convention volunteers.
So I introduced myself, and basically babbled like a nutjob. I told her that my daughter is what I call a “Kristen Ashley baby” because her books were so hot and because I can’t count to 28. YES, I BABBLED THAT. And she kind of just blinked at me and thankfully didn’t take out a taser and sign a restraining order. She was incredibly nice, and laughed, and wished me luck on my new series. And then took a picture with me.
It was a true, crazy, fangirl moment that I’ll always remember, mainly because Kristen Ashley was so genuine. I hope to see her again at RT and actually get a signed book this time. And maybe not fangirl so hard.
I’m right there with you, Megan. Kristen Ashley is FABULOUS inside and out. One of the most genuine, kind and gorgeous rock chicks of ’em all!