We recently connected with Ashley Sweeney and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

One sunny late afternoon in the innocent 1960s when I was nine, I stepped out on a limb in the deep woods behind our house on rural Long Island on a dare, my toes grabbing the branch and my wild blonde hair trailing behind me. Step by cautious step, I gingerly put one foot in front of the other and used my arms for balance. The freedom! The feeling of lightness! I was in my body and out of my body as I walked between earth and sky, and my heart swelled with the excitement of it.
Then, the snap.
In slow motion, I tumbled to the ground, and landed with my left leg askew, the bone protruding from my shin. After multiple childhood surgeries, I’ve been left with one leg shorter than the other my whole life, resulting in an uneven gait.
What I’ve learned from that experience — and many other experiences since — is that every risk has potential consequences. But I’ll never forget that feeling I had for that fleeting moment standing on that limb, and no one can take that away from me. In the end, it was worth it to take the risk.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In the early 1990s, I received an award from the Washington State Newspaper Publishers Association for a news story I wrote about a local issue. A titan of the newspaper industry presented the award at the annual event, reading aloud the judges’ comments on my work: “Sweeney is a master wordsmith.” The announcer stopped, cleared his throat, and said to all assembled, “If anyone said those words about me, I’d die happy.”
Those words validated my life’s work, beginning in junior high and high school, and continuing through college, where I worked on literary magazines, yearbooks, and newspapers, followed by, at that time, a career in journalism. I moved on from journalism to education and, for the last sixteen years, writing fiction full time.
To date, I have four novels published, which have garnered more than eighteen literary awards. In every book I write, I try to live up to those words imprinted in my psyche, “Sweeney is a master wordsmith.”

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

As a survivor of intimate partner/domestic abuse, I hold vulnerable women and girls close to my heart and have worked my whole life for a better, more inclusive, and safer world for women and girls. In all four of my novels, Eliza Waite, Answer Creek, Hardland, and The Irish Girl, I introduce wounded female protagonists who work through varied obstacles and difficulties to reach the other side. This doesn’t necessarily result in a “happily ever after scenario,” but the characters emerge stronger and ready to tackle whatever obstacles and difficulties obstruct their paths.
I’ve often said that fiction transcends reality, and that is borne out through letters, emails, and messages I receive from readers saying if my characters can get through particular difficulties (misogyny, abuse, derision, death of a child, danger, etc.) then they can, too. The fact that my fictional characters have the power to change womens’ lives for the better is the most important motivator to me to sit at my desk and pound out stories.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Risk! Resolve to read/watch/attend a book/film/event outside your comfort zone and especially pay attention to emerging voices.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ashleysweeneyauthor.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/ashleysweeneyauthor
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/ashleysweeneyauthor

Image Credits

Justin Haugen (headshot)