THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
The Broken Bow Series
Get a behind-the-scenes all-access pass to Ashley A Quinn's The Broken Bow Series!
***Synopis***
This series
revolves around a ranching family, the Archers. They own the Broken Bow. Each
book features one of the siblings (or a friend, as is the case with Close
Quarters) and has it’s own mystery. Some of the mysteries carry over from
book to book, but they all have a HEA with the couple in the story.
What is the sub-genre and trope? Did your characters lead you to this genre or
was that decided before the story began?
These books are romantic suspense. They’re all small-town romance, but some of them are friends-to-lovers, some are enemies-to-lovers, and some are second chance romance.
When I started this series, I knew it would be romantic suspense.
Are you more character or plot driven?
My characters drive my plot, but my focus is always the plot. The characters flesh out as I go.
With many main and secondary characters, how do you keep
them separated in your mind? Do you have
a story/vision board above your workspace?
They’re all individuals, so to me it’s no different than keeping friends straight in my head. I do keep a sheet with their physical characteristics and ages, though.
I know from previous interviews that characters take on a
life of their own. Were any of the
characters in this series determined to take their own direction instead of
where you initially wanted them to go?
All of them, in some way or another, do that. I get little tweaks in their personalities that I didn’t see at first. Most of the time, though, they take my storyline in directions I never thought to go.
Are any of the male POVs based on anyone you know?
Bits and pieces are based on my husband and some friends. I’ve taken some of their personality quirks or stuff they’ve done and used that.
Are any of the female POVs based on anyone you know?
This is the same as with my male characters. Some parts of are based off of my friends. There’s even a little bit of me in there.
Was there any one character/scene
that was harder to write about than the other?
There’s a scene in book two, Wildfire, that was hard for me to write.
It’s between Jace and Tara. They’re in the bedroom discussing their past life. I won’t give anything away here, but I cried my way through it.
What is your favorite book in the series?
Probably Wildfire. I poured a lot of my own life experience into that book.
It deals with the loss of a child. My son had cancer. He survived, thankfully, but there were times we wondered if he would. I put that pain into Tara’s character.
I know that we aren’t supposed to have “favorites” as far
as our children, but seriously, who’s your favorite character and why?
Wildfire. I’m proud of everything about that book.
Series question - Who is your favorite couple and why did
you decide on their dynamics?
Jace and Tara from Wildfire are my favorites, though Macy and Brady come a close second. Both couples have some great banter.
Jace and Tara take the cake, though, because of what they have to overcome to be happy.
How do you get inside these character’s heads to find
their perfect HEA?
They tell me. I start with the voice I hear in my head and let them run with it by trying to stay true to that voice.
What scene in this book/series sticks out the most for
you? Why?
There are several. Jace and Tara’s scene where they talk about their pasts, Rayna and Thomas in In Plain Sight first meeting Mason, and Seb and London’s first kiss in A Beautiful End. Those are just a few I love.
Series - Were any of the books harder to write than
others?
Scorched was probably the most difficult. They were the characters I’d gotten to know the least, so I had to learn them as I wrote.
How long did it take you to write this book/series?
I started book one in June of 2020. Book six came out in September of 2021, but it was finished in July of 2021.
How did you come up with the title for your book and series?
I needed a name for the ranch. After brainstorming with another author friend, we came up with the Broken Bow.
Since the series revolves around the family, the name fit for the series too.
If you met these characters in real life would you get
along?
Most definitely.
Series question – Did you know in advance that you were
going to write this as a series or did one of the characters in book one demand
their own story?
I knew I wanted to do a series. Standalones not part of a series don’t typically do well in my genre.
If your book/series were made into a movie, which actors
do you see as playing your characters?
This series has a lot of characters, but for the first book, I’d love to see Josh Duhamel as Seb and Elizabeth Olsen as London.
Can you give us a hint as to what we can expect
next? Whether a new book and series or a
sequel to an existing series? Can you
share a small tease?
My next book will be book three in my Foggy Mountain Intrigue series. I just started writing it, so I don’t have any teasers yet, but I plan on at least three books for the rest of the series.
I set Foggy Mountain aside when inspiration struck for the Broken Bow series.
After that, I pushed it aside again when inspiration struck for my Pine Ridge series. The characters are talking again, so I’m following along.
After that, I have a series set in Aruba that follows a group of military heroes. It will be at least a seven-book series.
BIO:
London Scott’s routine, boring life gets a jolt when her niece discovers a woman’s body while out hiking with her boyfriend. It’s just her luck, though, that it’s Sebastian Archer who investigates the murder. Having known the man since childhood, she’s always been the annoying tagalong. Even though she finds him drop-dead sexy, that’s a ship that can never sail now that she’s guardian to her niece and his goddaughter.
Two years ago, Seb moved home to take the position as local sheriff, ready for a slower pace and to be closer to his family. That included his best friend’s sister, London. The beautiful innkeeper had held his heart since they were young, but the timing never felt right to start something. When a serial killer murders a woman in his jurisdiction who bears a striking resemblance to London, Seb realizes he could lose her before they ever get a chance.
Will London’s reluctance to date the handsome sheriff deliver her into the hands of a psychopath?
Someone is stalking Tara Miller...
All Tara wants is to forget. Home again after years traveling the world, she’s determined to put her painful past behind her. Surrounded by her big, loving, loud family, and with the distraction of her new restaurant, she feels like she’s finally beginning to heal. Then in walks Jace Travers. With one quirk of his beautiful, full lips, he shoots her carefully constructed life to smithereens. She does her best to avoid him, but that quickly proves hard to do when mysterious things begin to happen.
Jace needs a change. Memories of his wife and daughter surround him at every turn in his tiny Nebraskan town, keeping him from fully moving on. When the Boone County Sheriff offers him the position of Chief Deputy in Silver Gap, Colorado, he jumps on it, hoping it will help shake him out of his funk. It comes with the added bonus of living next door to the sheriff's beautiful and fiery sister, Tara. From the moment he sees her, she sparks his blood. Her skittishness only makes him want to know more about her. But unraveling the beautiful woman could prove deadly. Tara's past has come back to haunt her.
Since the debacle involving her friends and her ex, Rayna Nydert has kept to herself. Duped by the rotten bastard, she still feels guilty for her part in it all. With harvest season in full swing, her self-isolation has been easy to keep. But when she finds a beaten and terrified young man in one of her fields, to help him hide from his pursuers, she must turn to the one man who has the power to shatter her heart into a million tiny pieces, Thomas Archer.
It’s been years since Thomas and Rayna dated. Life led them in different directions, but for Thomas, the torch never died. Rayna’s always been his one and only. When she calls on him to help her care for the scared young man, he can’t say no. They soon discover, though, that they’ve stumbled over a dark secret. One that someone would kill to keep.
2021 Reader's Favorite Award Finalist in the Romantic Suspense Category
When Katie moved into his lab, Alex knew it would create problems. Two departments sharing a space meant for one was a recipe for disaster. Especially when it was Katie moving in. She pushed his buttons—most of the time on purpose—and distracted him with her wild hair and wilder personality. All he wants is his lab back, but when a case that should be nothing more than evidence-gathering takes a nasty turn, Alex and Katie find that working so closely has its advantages—in and out of the lab.
Maggie Archer hates having a shadow. But Declan’s hard to say no to. Especially when he turns those deep indigo eyes on her and tells her he only wants to keep her safe. The more he’s around, the harder she finds it to resist him and starts wondering why she’s even trying. But someone’s determined they’ll never get a chance to be more than friends. Can Declan stop the firebug before everything goes up in flames?
Years ago, Brady Archer went through a bitter divorce that left him sour on the idea of love. Since then, he’s refused to date, preferring one-night stands when he needs to scratch that particular itch. Mostly, he keeps to himself, content with his quiet life as a rancher. There’s only one woman who could tempt him to step away from it, though. Loud, bold, and beautiful, Macy Briggs. Her zest for life is infectious, but for shy Brady, it’s like trying to touch the sun.
Macy's is in a funk. Life is good, but it’s stagnate. The desire to find that special someone has become increasingly harder to ignore. All her friends—hell, even her confirmed bachelor brother—have found their other halves. She knows who she wants: big, buff, I look like a cowboy biker, Brady Archer. But she’s firmly in the friend zone. When her brother backs out of a camping trip last-minute, Macy seizes the opportunity to get Brady alone, determined to show him what love should really be like. But when things turn harrowing, they’ll have to fight for survival before they can have a chance at love.
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