Amanda Ashley
Also known as: Madeline Baker

Madeline Baker is one of those rare birds - a California native. She's lived in Southern California her whole life and loves it. She married her high school sweetheart, and they have three sons, all handsome enough to be cover models!

Madeline never intended to be a published author. It just happened. She has
always loved to read though. The Black Stallion books, Lad, a Dog, Nancy
Drew, Mary Stewart. And then she discovered romance novels. One night,
when her husband was at work and her kids were in bed and there was nothing
on TV, she sat down and started writing a book of her own. And she's been
writing ever since. Writing as Madeline Baker and Amanda Ashley, she had
published 36 books and 7 short stories.

Madeline belongs to Romance Writers of America and Novelists, Inc.

An Interview with Amanda Ashley

PNR: For those who are new to the world of romance reading you are actually Madeline Baker, best known for you long string of Western Historical Romances. Yet your Amanda Ashley paranormal romances comprise nearly a third of your works. You've mentioned that "Masquerade (which can currently be read in the 2001 P.E.A.R.L. Award winning anthology AFTER TWILIGHT) was your first attempt a paranormal romance. What made you decide to give this subgenre a try?

Amanda A.: I'd written several historicals and I was beginning to feel a little burned out with westerns and felt the need to try something different. I had read a couple of vampire romances and loved them and decided to try one. I loved it, and I've been writing them ever since.

PNR: Your paranormal romances largely feature Vampires as heroes. What
do you think makes a vampire a great romantic hero. Are they the traditional, cursed, variety or do they willingly accept immortality? Which of the many
qualities or vulnerabilities which make up vampire lore apply to your characters?

Amanda A.: I think vampires make great heroes because they are dangerous and because readers of the genre like dark tortured heroes. And in the background, there's always the knowledge that the heroine's life is in constant jeopardy. I've written vampire heroes who feel cursed, those who accept it, and those who long for their mortality. As for which characteristics of vampire lore I use, it depends on the vampire, the setting, the mood, etc.

PNR: You've mentioned in the past that you are an Elvis fan. What inspired you to cast 'The King' as a vampire in your novella "Jessie's Girl" which was part of the Elvis themed Anthology, PARADISE?

Amanda A.: <G> It just seemed like the perfect match and the perfect way to explain why so many people claimed to see Elvis after he was dead. Elvis in Las Vegas, living the night life, still singing...I couldn't resist it.

PNR: You've also written a futuristic romance, have included aliens in several of your paranormals, and frequently include spirits in your novels. Tell us about some of these characters.

Amanda A.: Gosh, I wrote them so long ago, I don't know what to say. The only one I really remember clearly is my alien who looked like Fabio (Sunlight Moonlight) because it's one of my favorites. I was also very fond of my shapeshifter hero in Beneath a Midnight Moon.

PNR: You are considered to be one of the pioneers of vampire romance. How do you make these heroes sympathetic? Your books have always generated
excitement among the readers. Yet aside from your works and a those ofselect few veteran vampire writers, vampire romances have been scarce in recent
years. To what do you attribute the recent increase in enthusiasm for these
novels by the publishers?

Amanda A.: I'm really not sure how I make them sympathetic...I just write
them as they come to me, strong yet vulnerable, sometimes cruel yet capable
of tenderness, selfish in their desire to survive yet willing to die for the one
woman who can see the man within the monster.

As for the recent increase in enthusiasm among publishers, I think they have finally realized what the rest of us have known for a long time... paranormal romances are popular with a lot of readers - especially stories about vampires and werewolves. I don't know what took them so long to realize it.

PNR: It's a mystery to me <g>. Fans had been waiting with baited breath for your recent release, MIDNIGHT EMBRACE. For a four hundred year old vampire, Alesandro de Avellone is an altruist. He had been known to exchange blood with dying humans to the benefit of both. This is how he encounters Analisa Matthews? Tell us about her and her reaction to their first encounter.

Amanda A.: Analisa's family was wiped out in a plague and she herself is dying when Alesandro becomes aware of her...her purity calls to him and he decides he will give her a bit of his life-saving blood before destroying himself. She senses him in the room before she sees him...and when he appears out of the shadows, she is afraid, perhaps sensing that he is not what he seems to be. Of course, once he meets her, he is overcome by the need to know her better and his decision to end his life vanishes.

PNR: The illness which had nearly claimed her life had left her all alone in the world. The next thing she knows she's living a Cinderella existence courtesy of
her benefactor. Analisa had been poor, and hard working, all her life. How
does she respond to her changed circumstances?

Amanda A.: She is confused by the fact that someone she has never met has offered her the hospitality of his castle, overcome by the lavishness of her surroundings, and a bit intimidated by the servants. She also wishes that her parents and brothers had lived so she could share it with them.

PNR: Alesandro's original intentions have been to keep Analisa by his side for a brief time to provide for his hunger, leaving her set for life when their time
together ended. What changes his mind? Is he conflicted about his decision
to make her a part of his life?

Amanda A.: Love changes his mind...she is so obviously the other half of his soul...it is not an easy decision for him, even after she declares her love for him, because he knows that her life will be in constant danger, not only from him, but from others of his kind.

PNR: Alesandro has an enemy, a fellow vampire and former friend from his human past. Tell us a little about Rodrigo. Why has he sworn vengeance against Alesandro. What makes Rodrigo so dangerous, and why had Alesandro been loath to destroy him?

Amanda A.: Rodrigo blames Alesandro for the death of the woman he loved. There is no forgiveness in Rodrigo, only hatred and an overpowering need for vengeance. Alesandro is reluctant to destroy Rodrigo because they had once been good friends, and also because Rodrigo is his last living link to his old life.

PNR: It comes down to a battle between good and evil. Analisa is a gem,
courageous, steadfast, and loyal. I won't spoil the plot by asking more questions about it. So lets move onto your WIPs. I guess my big question is - When will there be a romance for Edward Ramsey the vampire hunter who was brought across in SHADES OF GREY? What is next for Amanda Ashley?

Amanda A.: I'm happy to say that Edward's story, AFTER SUNDOWN, will be published next February by Zebra Books. I owe Zebra another vampire book that will most likely be out in 2004.

Madeline Baker

Website

 Books

Buy it now!

Love Spell
February 1, 2002
ISBN: 0505524686
400 pages
Paperback

MIDNIGHT EMBRACE
ANALISA . . .

He whispered her name, and it echoed back to him on the wings of the night. One kiss, he thought, one kiss would do no harm. She was so young, so alive. She radiated warmth and goodness, chasing the coldness from his being, banishing the loneliness from his soul. Four centuries of prowling the shadows had brought him few pleasures, but the nearness of her soft lips, her warm throat, promised sweetness beyond imagining. She had wandered unchaperoned to the moonlit tomb where he took refuge by day, little suspecting that with his eyes alone he could mesmerize her, compel her to do his bidding. Yet he would not take her life's blood by force or trickery. He would have it as a gift, freely given, and in exchange, he would make her wildest dreams come true.

Featured in this Issue:

They're back! :
Amanda Ashley
Maggie Shayne
Updates:
Christine Feehan
Rosemary Laurey
Romance Interviews with:
Angelique Armae
Keri Arthur
Jennifer Dunne
Charlaine Harris
Katriena Knights
Jaye Roycraft
Susan Squires
Featured Website:
The Vampire Vixens