Meet S. T. Ashman | Thriller Author & Mom

We had the good fortune of connecting with S. T. Ashman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi S. T. Ashman, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I’ve always had a love for the arts. I play the piano and used to paint, but it wasn’t until a few years into my career as a psychotherapist and social worker that I discovered writing. Around that time, my husbande and I were trying to start a family, but the stress from my job definitely didn’t help. I was working in correctional facilities with high-risk clients, including violent offenders and pedophiles. After two years of trying, I finally got pregnant, and that’s when I decided to focus on my pregnancy and look for a different way to contribute financially.

At first, I dabbled in other genres, but it became clear that thrillers and dark topics were my calling. My work had always been a mix of light and dark, and that naturally lent itself to the genre. When I finally began drawing from my experience as a therapist to write crime thrillers, it just felt right.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The hardest thing about being an author—or working in general, for me—is balancing it with being a parent. In my area, childcare is a huge challenge. Waitlists for preschools are years long, and a nanny wasn’t financially possible for us. When I started writing I Kill Killers, I was pregnant with my second child. Getting work done during the day was almost impossible unless the kids napped. For a while, I woke up at 2 or 3 AM to work through the night, stopping only when the kids woke up in the morning.

I’ll never forget when my son took a picture of me in the kitchen with my phone—wild hair, pajamas, squeezing in a quick edit of book two in the series. He said, ‘Mom, you look so tired,’ and thanked me for working so hard. He even asked if he could read my book. I laughed and told him, ‘Maybe when you’re older,’ since it’s a crime thriller. But it was a reminder of how much kids notice.

Now that my son has started kindergarten and my daughter is getting older, things have gotten easier, and I’m finally getting a little more sleep. One of the things I’m most excited about next year is traveling with my kids to foreign countries where my book will be sold and picking up copies with them.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
With Halloween coming up, I’m really excited because I absolutely love the fall season and everything spooky. I’d probably take my friend up to Northern New Hampshire to see the gorgeous fall foliage, then head over to Salem, MA. I don’t live far from Salem, so we’d definitely do all the witchy and spooky tours while sipping on hot apple cider. It’s the perfect way to embrace the Halloween spirit!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family, my fans, and even Hollywood. Before I’d finished writing I Kill Killers, people were already telling me it wasn’t worth it. I was told that, as a woman, I should stick to domestic thrillers or romance novels—that certain thriller genres and dark crime stories were better left to male authors. Some said publishers wouldn’t take a chance on a female author writing something so daring. And don’t get me wrong—I love to read romance novels and domestic thrillers in my free time. But I wanted to write something more intense, something different, maybe even wild. After all, it was me—a woman—who sat alone in a small room across from a man who stabbed his father over 20 times, working on his anger management. If I could handle that kind of darkness and tragedy in person, why not on paper?

It was a stressful, uncertain time, but my mom and father-in-law stood by me, encouraging me every step of the way.

Then, the first review copies landed in readers’ hands. I was anxious—nearly nauseous—when the first email notifications about reviews started coming in. This was my moment of truth, and I swore that if people hated the book, I’d never write something this wild ever again. Thankfully, it didn’t come to that. I was blown away by how many readers craved something like I Kill Killers. Suddenly, people started reaching out, sharing how much they loved the book. One fan even crocheted a little Hannibal Lecter doll and sent magnets of my book covers for my fridge. And when Hollywood came knocking, wanting to adapt the book for TV, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

Website: https://www.ashmanbooks.com

Instagram: booksbyashman

Facebook: Ashman Books

Other: TikTok: @ashmanbooks