Lindsay Anne Kendal

Meet Ashley Fontainne.

Thank you so much for coming here. It's a pleasure to have you, and as you know, I'm a big fan of your work. Let's play question time.

What brought you to this genre? 

I have always been drawn to mystery/suspense novels ever since I was a teenager and dreamed of writing one of my own, and actually shared some of my short stories with friends and family, but no one outside of that small circle.  It wasn’t until I took Creative Writing I & II in college that I shared my writing portfolio with my incredible instructor that things changed for me.  Her belief in my writing and constant prodding to seek this as a career is what pushed me to write publically and thus, Accountable to None was borne.  I wanted this book to be full of suspense and mystery, but also leave the reader asking themselves the question: “What would I have done?”

What inspired you to write this particular book?

While taking a class in college on World Literature Up to 1650.  So many of the classical texts incorporated revenge into their storylines: Beowulf; The Iliad; Hamlet and The Count of Monte Cristo.  The Count of Monte Cristo was my favourite in terms of the deep hatred that became Edmond Dantes’ world, and the extreme lengths he went to as he plotted his revenge.  After reading these incredible works, I realized that human nature, in terms of seeking retribution for wrongdoings perpetrated upon us has not undergone much change over the course of 2000+ years.  What has changed is the means to accomplish seeking personal justice.  I wanted to explore these guttural reactions in Accountable to None, but I also wanted to take the whole revenge motif to another level in terms of the cost of repercussions that surely follow, which will be addressed in the sequel, Zero Balance.  

Describe your novel in five words.

Modern twist on classic revenge.

Are any of your characters based on either yourself or people you know?

I believe that a truly rounded character is based upon a conglomeration of the author’s observations of not only themselves, but others as well, whether they actually know their “muses” personally or not.  Every conversation we have, every image we see, every person we pass on the street, possibly contains the next piece of the puzzle a writer needs to complete a character.  Although there are some underlying character traits of people I have come into contact with over my lifetime, they all truly are a mixture of many experiences melded together to symbolize the epic battle between good and evil.

Where can people find out our more about you and your books? (eg blogs, websites etc) 

Accountable to None is available as an ebook on Amazon.com as well as Barnes&Noble.com.  I am on Facebook and Accountable to None has a fan page.  My website is www.ashleyfontainne.com and I also have a book trailer on YouTube. 

Are you working on anything else at the moment? 

Yes!  I am about 75% finished with the sequel, Zero Balance.  My goal is to have it available for sale by December, 2011.

Chocolate or Ice Cream?

Ah, chocolate: lover of my lips and despiser of my thighs!

What’s your guilty pleasure? 

Chocolate covered strawberries and a glass of wine.

You’re in a horror film. You’re in a house and a bad guy is chasing you. Do you run up the stairs?

Horror movies!  Love them for their excitement and adrenaline rush, but detest them for their portrayal of women.  No, I do NOT run up the stairs, or run with heels on, constantly looking over my shoulder, thus tripping and falling!  I kick my shoes off, stand my ground, and nail the crazy bastard between his legs, then run out the door!

If you could visit anywhere in the world where would it be? Why?

Tahiti!  Need I explain why?

Thanks so much for sharing all this with us. I enjoyed having you here and I can't wait to see what happens next in your series.