FC: Faithchicks, welcome our May Guestchick, Kristin Billerbeck, author of the Ashley Stockingdale books.Kristin, tell us a little about Ashley Stockingdale's latest adventure, WITH THIS RING I'M CONFUSED.
Ashley, is a fun-loving, but slightly warped heroine, and where there's trouble, she's usually the cause of it. But this time, she has some help with a sister-in-law that has more desire than talent as a wedding coordinator. Ashley must really question if getting married is really what she wants, after all.
FC: That butt bow thing really cracked me up. I loved how you made Ashley very human and honest. In your recent appearance on The Today Show, you described these stories as more than "a sermon in Jimmy Choos" (or something like that). What has been some of the reactions from readers to your chick lit stories?
The reactions that mean the most to me, are women reassessing the relationships they're in, and putting a godly value on them. I don't want to preach to women. I want them to have an enjoyable time with Ashley, but my passion is for women to think about their futures and be strong in who they are for Christ.
As Christian women, we can be so desirous of getting married, we miss some obvious dating warning signs. While they're reading Ashley, I just want them to have fun, but when they're thinking about boyfriends and relationships, I hope some of her mistakes will haunt young women. As for Jimmy Choos? Well, Christian girls living in the city definitely live in a different world. Fitting in can be an important part of witnessing to the outside world, but maintaining your true values in the midst of that is where the real work starts.
FC:Ashley is a patent attorney from Silicon Valley, where you lived for several years. What experiences did you have there that made you want to write this kind of story?
I was born and raised in the Bay Area, before it was called the Silicon Valley. In the shadow of Atherton and Woodside (very wealthy areas), one of the things that spoke to me, was how rich and intellectual people still do stupid things. I loved the irony of living in an area where they wouldn't kill a mountain lion in the middle of the city without a shrine to the animal. I mean, LION PEOPLE, walking near schools. (It's really rare that a healthy animal would do such a thing. Mountain Lions are very quiet creatures.)
So sometimes, there's just no common sense in intellectuals, and I can't help but see the humor in that. I love seeing PhDs dress up for a "Lord of the Rings" premiere or grown men battle it out for first place at the laser tag place. There is so much inherently funny about that, and the Silicon Valley. The IQ to EQ ratio makes me laugh.
FC: Well thanks so much for stopping by, Kristin. I had a ball reading this story and getting to know Ashley Stockingdale. I'm looking forward to THE SPA GIRLS in October as well. I hope everyone will stop by your website at http://www.faithfulchick.com and check out your books. (Cute new url by the way)
Recent Comments