Two events of significance occurred during of the birth of Ashley L. Knight in 1977. One was the VC10 jet flight time record from London to Bahrain was smashed by her father in his determination to be by her side and the appearance of brilliant meteor showers over the desert island that was witnessed by her godmother. Moving away from the gathering war storms of the Middle East conflict, her family settled in mountainous Idaho, USA, to the seasonal rhythms of ranch life. Ashley's love of horses and her strong riding skills made her an elegant Rodeo Queen and spokesperson.
 By 15 years Ashley was already enrolled in university in Idaho where she majored in English/ Writing Emphasis, with a minor in Biology. Her English language skills resulted in a coaching job from her professor for new writers at university. College summers were spent with her younger sister at the ranch riding by the Little Salmon River or at Disney World as an intern in their summer program. Talented in poetry and lyric writing, Ashley began to compose and perform her own songs at an early age, taking formal voice training at college and competing in singing talent shows.
A chance meeting in downtown Boise brought love's destiny to her life. Greg and Ashley were married in McCall by the glacial blue waters of the lake. Inseparable, they now have two small children of their own.
Ashley continued her love of water with The FINS Trilogy - a three part fantasy fiction saga made up of Fins, Fathom and Forever. When Ashley is not swimming in her mermaid tail, or working on her next novel, she and her family enjoy Idaho's beautiful terrain.
The following interview of Ashley L Knight is by Garett Powell from merbooksblog.blogspot.com:
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artist Emerald de Leeuw. |
What inspired you to write FINS?
A picture of a mermaid & a merman entwined in a kiss. I was a bit bored one day & typed in "pictures of mermaids" on Google & began sorting through the pages upon pages of irritating junk that came up. Once in a while some really beautiful pictures came up but then I saw it & it was as if a computer download hit me. The whole tale smacked me upside the head. I grabbed a pen & wrote as much as I could.
When did you realize FINS was going to be a trilogy?
Immediately. I told my publisher right away what I wanted to do & she agreed it was the only way to go. She even hinted at furthering it - making it a series, but I'm not sure I have the stamina for say, 10 FINS books. I don't want it to get old.
Which character do you identify most with?
This'll make you laugh - Élan, actually. Morgan's dialogue is how I think, but I am a Mother & I always saw myself more as her. Funny huh? I think most authors identify with the main character. Élan is a healer & has The Love - I was going to be a doctor - studied medical books since I was 6. I love that she is a doctor without going to school. That'd be really nice!
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 If a producer decided to pick up FINS, would you rather see a film version or a television series? Do any actors/actresses resemble any of your characters?
I'd be honored to have FINS on film at all. My big fear is to have it cheapened so I would be very concerned with the who, what, when, where, etc... would be dealing with it. The worst thing would be to have your heart/art/work crushed by someone who just couldn't care less. As far as the characters, my fans on Facebook all wanted to know who the characters resembled, so I finally gave in & tried to pick people who I thought were as close to how I imagined the characters. For instance: I think actress Robin Wright Penn resembles Élan. Brandon Routh resembles Tammer. Michael Pare from the 1980's movie Eddie & the Cruisers resembles Thayde & Taylor Momsen resembles Morgan. Troen looks like Chong from the 80's movies Cheech & Chong. If readers type in "FINS Trilogy" on Facebook & like the page, they can see all the pictures of actors & singers, models, etc I chose that resemble my characters.
 What do you hope readers will take away from your novel after reading it?
I hope that with FINS, they will simply fall in love with the book - that they'll think "Wow! That was different!" With FATHOM, I truly hope that there will be at least a few teenagers that will think "I feel like that every day. There IS a way I can get through this? I can feel better?" I went through a lot when I was a teenager & didn't have an outlet that I felt was supportive & helpful enough for me. I'm surprised I'm alive today. Though the book is a bit darker, it is filled with hope & better answers & I hope that if it helps even one person, it will have been completely worth all those hours writing it.
 Finally, what other projects - if you're at liberty to say - are you working on besides The FINS Trilogy?
I am working on three books at the moment! Talk about overload, but it gives me things to jump to when one subject gets old. The last book, FOREVER, challenges me daily and I am determined to complete it for next years publication. As for future works outside of The FINS Trilogy, click on Future Works to find out!
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