Ep 5: Soulmate Compass Tattoos with Ashley Weiss

Hey everyone, I'm so excited for another interview today And I am so excited to welcome Ashley Weiss on as our guest So a natural storyteller with a flair for the dramatic Ashley Weiss lives in Alberta, Canada Her debut novel Cupid's Compass began as a 2020 quarantine project and grew to be an irreplaceable Passion when she isn't writing Ashley can be found cuddling her dog or watching movies with her love. So welcome Ashley Thank you so much for having me Julie Ah, I can't wait to do this interview with you because I read Cupid's Compass not long ago And just thought it just it just blew me away. And so I'm so excited to talk to you about it. I I am so excited you read it. I am delighted you decided to do this like podcast series I think it's amazing and I'm honored to be in like the first one. Is this your fifth interview? Yeah, it's like up my fifth one now Yeah So, thank you so much for having me. Yeah, no problem and I first gotta say I like I really love following you on Instagram and just seeing all the author things you're doing and You're on a roll like you go to so many events to sell your books and just get yourself out there And I just got it. Like I just first of all have to say that's amazing and then second like how do you do it? Maybe like like I don't know if you want to share tips at all But like just you know getting yourself out there I mean, isn't that kind of nerve-wracking or are you kind of used to it now or I? I feel like I'm starting to get the ropes of it now I think that I am lucky to be one of the few Writers who falls more on the extroverted side of the spectrum So doing public events and public speaking isn't as challenging for me Whereas I do find majority of writers are naturally more introverted. There's a reason they love no being in there kind of like off the space. So What kind of started as this dream of having just one book signing event at an indigo chapters? All of a sudden blew up and I started looking for more and more opportunities and it started with just bookstores and then I started looking into markets and then December was really cool because I did like a whole bunch of different like holiday shopping events and It was just like the payoff was so huge Not only being able to just reach a demographic that I just can't reach on socials. No matter how much I try But like having people who have already read my book go out of their way to come to these events to come and buy Character art or just to like meet me in person is it's been amazing and I'm really grateful for it So well the first six months my book launch I did a lot my intention for the rest of this year now is like I want to do maybe one a month and just kind of like Pace myself because they can be really tiring but it's so rewarding and with my goal of getting my book into as many people's hands Possible. It's just like really supports that. Yeah, I like that I'm totally makes sense and I feel like local people are more willing to support local authors So it's like oh, hey you live in my area and you wrote a book. I want to read it so yeah, yeah, and when you meet the author face-to-face you feel like that connection and There's a lot more of a desire to pick up their books, so And it helps really like reach your audience Demographics, so like Cupid's compass ideally is written for a female audience age. Let's say 15 and up but like to be able to like pick and choose people coming into a bookstore who are there to discover a new author and To be able to like connect with those readers who maybe don't have social media or you know Just our paths would have never crossed. It's just it's a gift and like opportunity That's so true. That's very true And I'll have to consider like doing some research in my area to do that because yeah It's true and you can reach that demographic that audience So let's talk a little bit about your author journey. So Start out with like I guess When you started writing and what that journey has been like for you Yeah, for sure I think that I've always been you know a storyteller as every writer is like from youth it's just what I've always had a passion for but it wasn't actually until 2020 that I started working on Cupid's compass and I in my mortal life as I like to call it I'm a massage therapist and I was off work inevitably because of Covid so I Literally was just in my one-bedroom apartment all day every day for I think it was three or four months straight and on day six I woke up like with the fully developed idea like I just sat up in bed in the dark and was like I want to write a book about people connected to their soulmates through compass tattoos and My boyfriend happened to be up making coffee It was like 6 in the morning something outrageous and I I go out into the kitchen and it was so bright So I had my eyes closed and I was I walked right up to him I was like, I'm gonna write a book and he was like Okay, babe, like I think that you're like kind of tired why don't you go back to bed? I was like, no, I'm gonna write a book and I tell you the concept and he was like Okay, so like I hop up on the counter and like I just like pitch this idea to him and he's you know Being polite like okay, like that's really awesome, babe and then by the time he got home from work that day our entire apartment was covered in like Pages of like outlines and characters and I was like I am writing a book and he's like you are writing a book So I just had all of the time and I really needed like that creative productive kind of like stability in that time of my life and Yeah, it just it just all came to fruition and I'd always planned on writing a book but Before that moment, you know, I just didn't really have like that opportunity to be like it's now the time is now Yeah, I love that and I just I chuckle because it's like yeah, babe That's that's cool. And then realize. Oh wait, you're being serious. Okay Yeah, so what I'm curious. What does he think now that you've published this book and you're doing all these author events and such He is such a huge supporter in my life I mean He has my bought so many times the amount of times I've gone to a market and either forgot my signing pens My like square readers so I could take payments my banner I I famously have to call him at least once for every event good Just like I'll be right there Whenever I didn't to not forget something. He'll just bring me a coffee come be a little like morale booster Whatever things are slower. So he said when we had our book launch I had like a more intimate party with my immediate friends and family and each of them kind of gave me like this like toast And I had asked him like, you know, what was it like for you when I decided to write a book? He's like, well you became very busy like but I saw the moment you decided you were gonna do it and I knew you were gonna be successful and It's just it's just amazing to have someone in my corner like that, right? That's amazing I was so happy for you that you have him That's so great. And what made you want to go the indie route? That was chaotic. I so I Thoroughly researched and tried all three different routes. So I looked into self-publishing I looked into hybrid publishing and I looked into traditional publishing After initially doing all my research on all three. I started the hybrid route, which is when you like hire a company that essentially Facilitates a lot of the background parts for you. So uploading your book to different Medias and promoting your book on their website but right away I kind of started to realize like a lot of the things they were offering were Really expensive and I was like, could I do this myself at that time? It did feel really daunting I was like, I don't know. Maybe I should just try to traditionally publish so I did spend a year querying my book looking for agents and Unfortunately, just with like the young adult market right now It's super oversaturated and though I got a lot of responses being like this is really cool. This is really awesome It's just like not quite a bright fit right now. I Came to the end of the year and I was like, you know what? It's like I am more than capable and so I really like believe that every book published no matter which route it takes earns its own merit and like The amount of quality and it depends so much on how much the author puts in it But ultimately I went up going self-published that way there were a couple of massive benefits to going indie and that was primarily Having exclusive creative control over my cover design and the content inside my book I was really worried because my story is a multi POV Narrative with 11 different characters with one of them being a non-binary character I really thought that by getting signed on with a no bigger publishing house that they would either force me to reduce the amount of characters that I was following or Get me to cut the non-binary character because we're not seeing quite as much of that in the trad industry yet it's coming it's coming in tastes, but there was this relief when I decided to change change gears and go indie because I was like I know now that this story is gonna really be what I wanted Right, and I love that. I love that about indie because yeah You have that creative control and it allows you to be able to break some of those rules Like having 11 POVs, which I have questions about that, but we'll go to that later But yeah, you have that creative control and Yeah, you can just break rules and sometimes breaking the rules. Sometimes it works Sometimes it doesn't but with going indie it allows you to explore that and and I thought it worked really well in your book And I didn't feel like I was getting lost on Characters or like oh, who's this character again? Like I was able to follow along really well So I thought you did a good job with that And and then yeah with like traditional. I mean, I can't imagine going a year of querying your book what was that like getting like rejections and then ultimately coming to that idea or that not idea, but that decision to I'm gonna go indie It was hard It was mentally taxing and it was really frustrating because in that time period my intention was like Oh, I'm gonna query and while I'm querying I'm gonna continue writing book too but what I would have never guessed was just how time-consuming writing and researching and Personalizing each individual email to every agent was going to cost and like there were tons that just never responded But then when those rejections came in like it was it was really hard just like how like taking those and like having to take that moment and be like this is not a reflection of me or my work like I think I read a stat somewhere that it was like for One agent they would expect to get a thousand queries in a year and they would for a thousand queries They would pick one to pitch. Oh my The odds were low. I knew that it's like searching for a needle in a haystack You're looking for the perfect person that your book is a fit for and that they are a fit for you But you know after receiving a multitude of people being like not truly saying these words But what it felt like was them saying your books just not good enough. Not quite good enough That was really hard so when it came to the time when it came to December and that like deadline that I had set myself to make a decision by Was I had so much relief like it was like I had just taken a mountain of emotional stress Off my shoulders and I was I never looked back I was like This is absolutely the right path lots of my really really close like my best friend and my mom were like we all knew you were gonna self-publish like we But I had to do that year like I had to take that time for myself and really decide for myself that I was willing to put in the work that it takes to self-publish a book and You know hire the editors hire the cover designer The formatting and then uploading it to all the different types of formats whether it's Apple books Google books all that jazz and being willing To teach myself by the end of that year doing all of that was way easier than querying I was like, I am so done asking people to consider my book, right? Right. Yeah, I mean to have that relief of just being like I do not need any agents approval on my book I can just approve it myself and then do the work so I'm really glad that you had that mind shift and you're able to see that experience as I Can do this myself and I don't need to have this emotional weight on me And there was so much you learned on Like how am I gonna get my book to sell and you know get into readers hands and such so that's amazing they're able to Flip that experience from a really down one to a positive one Absolutely. All right. Well, let's talk a bit about Cupid's compass then so give us just a brief pitch on what it's about Yeah, so my book is based in a world where people have compass tattoos on their wrists that point to their soulmate And this whole idea the reason I have all these different characters is it's like what would people do if they were told by? you know an External source who their significant other should be would relationships be more likely to be successful Would people be eager to go and meet their person as soon as they get their compass because in my book like they don't they? Don't get it until they reach a certain age of maturity, which is usually somewhere in like the teenage years And you know who would rebel who would be like you can't tell me who I'm meant to love in this lifetime So it's just like an exploration of like all types of love and what people would do and really like what our soulmates Yeah, I loved your exploration of soulmates and what I liked so much is that it wasn't just romance there was like Various different kinds of relationships that you explored. I thought that was so interesting So what was your inspiration for going that route of like a soulmate? Determined based off of a compass tattoo that you get Well, I don't know that I have exclusively one source of information like have a long blog about this I have three that I'll like synopsis for you really quickly one. I would say like my mom my mom actually works in couples and relationship and like sex counseling so I've had a lot of exposure in my life to this idea of like what makes a healthy relationship and What do consent and boundaries really look like and that really inspired me to write a book that was more Like partially sex positive, but also just like not full further Endorsing this idea of what we're seeing in young adult romance, which is like toxic toxic relationships endorsing jealousy endorsing like miscommunication and I really wanted to Kind of change that narrative because as a reader I was tired Want to see a healthy relationship My second inspiration I would say absolutely was my like childhood love for mythology I mean I started with Percy Jackson as so many people do but Always loved and like started with Greek mythology from there, you know Roman Norse Chinese all that jazz so when I was naming this book and I realized like I was like Oh keep it's the God of love keep its compass and like the off Opportunity to start integrating what I ended up choosing as Roman mythology Into this like world was like another just like one of those like three Key factors that sparked the inspiration for the essence of this book And then the third one is a little more vague that not everyone will understand But when I was younger on tumblr there used to be these like social media posts. That would be like What if the entire world was black and white and then the day you met your soulmate? you would see color for the first time and that's how you knew you met your person or Oh, there was like there were so many like it was just this trend where people would you know Basically do these like mini story pitches and then people would like comment underneath me like but then when your soulmate dies the world goes back to black and white and I Love reading these and I wish I could think of another example of one. That's really good example one But I think that's like on a subconscious level those started to like, you know Inspire me from a long time ago because I really was like, oh man, like what if there was this? Oh another one I've seen is like you have a matching tattoo with your soulmate and the minute you find the person with a matching tattoo to yours Then you know that that's your person. But so yeah, that's my kind of third more obscure Inspiration I think you know a decade two decades from now. Nobody's gonna know what tumblr is anymore It's definitely not a trending social media platform anymore, but it was definitely part of my inspiration for this book The memories of middle school are coming back when we all had tumblers Love that era So I yeah I love those inspirations and I love that you wanted to go that route of showing healthy relationships and why a cuz Yeah, it's true. It's kind of gotten out of hand and I'm tired of it as well I'm not to say that everything in this series is going to be Fluffy and wholesome and perfect because I do have characters Intentionally showing the contrast like and not only like you said in romantic relationships, but I have parent-child relationships I have friendships and like just really showing like look at this example of this mother-daughter who are not in alignment with each other and are actively like allowing their relationship to become toxic Versus this other mother and daughter who are really showing up for each other and forcing themselves to communicate through hard things And so with the intention of having the healthy relationships, I still do have some, you know, debatably more darker themes of love and Relationships in this book, but it's meant to further highlight those contrasts Yeah, and I love that that you show that that it's not all just you know fluffy and happy all the time, but just being real and I think that that's something that I loved So much about it is that I felt like the characters with the challenges they go through That they are gonna be very relatable to a large amount of readers with various situations that they go through And then with the mythology, I was really curious you explained just a little bit about how you chose Roman mythology with you know, Cupid and compass and and Going that route did was there a lot of research you had to put into with Roman mythology? Yeah, and I like I skipped over a tiny piece that's that specific story which I think a lot of Readers would be entertained to know and that's not like when I originally wrote the first draft of this book I had actually had it written like the title was still Cupid's compass, but I see like a blend of like Greco Roman So like I just like jumping between Greek and Roman mythology as I please because I love both and then one of my really early beta readers was like stop it Pick one And so the Greek name for Cupid is Eros and I was like could I make change the compass or the book titled something along like Eros arrows and I was just like, oh, I'm just not I'm not buying and Don't see books committing to Roman mythology because ultimately a Roman mythology is a lot of copycat just from Greek I'm just little twists and flavors. So I was like, you know what? It'll be fresh. It'll be unique. So I committed to Roman at that time and though I did have pretty good Understanding if it was very well read in the mythology I still had my fair share of research that came up like I Was halfway through the book at one point and all of a sudden I was like, wait a minute Do the Roman gods also go to Mount Olympus? Is there another name for Mount Olympus and like they're just like they just don't they go to the Pantheon? which is like a really famous building in Rome and like there's a couple things that you just like stop all of a sudden you Be like, oh do they have this like because they're so blended in my brain, but like I understand they're distinctly different So of all the research I had to do for this book. That was the most fun That was the research most excited to do right like when you just love mythology in general I can imagine that would be a really fun part of the process Yeah, absolutely and I feel like the name Cupid is also a lot more recognizable too I feel like of any Roman name it's Cupid that I know but then everything else is Greek So That's a great choice. And then so in your story you have the 11 POVs So that's quite a few I'm wondering what made you decide to choose 11 characters to focus on and what was it like juggling those different POVs? So ironically, I actually thought it was 10 Until ARC reviews started coming in after my book was published and everyone's like there's 11 point of views There's 11 point of views and I was like what do you mean? There's 11 and I like went through and I was like There is 11 Funny like not intentional outcome but Honestly, like it was really fun I when I was very first that first day when I had all of those pieces of paper out spread out on the floor I knew right away. I wanted to have multiple characters and so like I just divided them up I was like first I've been I went by archetype. I'm like, okay Well, I want a jester kind of character and I want a mentor kind of character and I want a rebel kind of character And then after I had that outline, I was like, okay, let's input some zodiacs to give them really different personalities I was like you are a cancer and you are an Aries and you are a Libra and then I Intentionally went through a major aesthetically every single one of them was different and the longer I wrote the book the more I really got Clear on like, okay. This is this characters voice notes and how they differ this is this characters religious beliefs and how they differ and I was really really intentional on trying to make sure that all the characters were so distinctly different Not only so that I would reach a really vast audience that almost anybody could find someone that they were really like Either relating to or like could really be excited for But also just so that you wouldn't confuse the characters It was especially tricky with for example Nessie and Lacey because they're the same age their best friends They live in the same city So really trying to separate those two and like facing that off of feedback from my beta readers like these two characters voices are blending And I'm like, okay these two need to think more differently So I was like, okay I need to step Nessie up and to be more of like an intellectual and overthinker really articulate and in the same breath I'm now gonna make Lacey more emotional maybe not thinking about our actions so much but living by her like the heart on her sleeve and Just really making sure those character choices were different so that they were easier to follow and Go through. So what I often find is when I'm receiving feedback about my book is Sometimes people like oh, I don't remember this characters name But they were the one that and they like perfectly can describe the character So some people get lost a little bit with the number but nobody Especially after you get past those initial introductions I find most people don't have a hard time splitting them up and at the end Everyone's like I wouldn't have wanted you to cut a single character. Okay, every single one of those characters was relevant and important, right? Yeah, that's what you just mentioning that just made me think yeah that's like how I was able to keep up with all of the characters is that they all did feel very distinct and And I didn't confuse anybody with yeah I thought you did a really great job of making them each their own character and not making them to like Yeah, I'm like I made sure to put you know What's that called? Like then the index at the back of the book with all the characters for people who needed it and you know Ultimately, there's gonna be readers who are like, oh this book would have been better But just followed one character following their compass, but at the end of the day that wasn't the story I wanted to tell the story I wanted to tell was this broader perspective of soulmates not just one classic story So that's something I'm always really articulate when I'm pitching my book to people is like I need you to understand This is following multiple characters who all end up interconnecting in unexpected ways And if your brain doesn't like that, this might not be for you But because I wrote a book I wanted to read that was what I wanted to read and I know there's gonna be readers out There who are gonna really really love that too. Yeah, I love that direction that you went in And yeah with the idea of like soulmates. It's like I don't want to read just one perspective of it Just somebody who's just oh, I'm just so excited to meet my soulmate What if there's someone who doesn't want to what if they're not excited about this so yeah, I'm glad that you explored those different perspectives and With every character they all go through their own Unique situation like for example, you have a couple who are on the brink of divorce and then you also have another character who is You know lost a loved one or another character who is just so excited to meet their soulmate but they're a teenager so You you delve into a whole lot of these Situations and a lot of them are kind of like emotional tricky You even put like a trigger warning in the very beginning just saying like, you know I did my best to handle these situations as best I could and and you had a lot of feedback from readers as well I'm sure on a lot of these. What was it like? writing those situations and Well, what made you wanna delve into? You know those deeper complex topics And I think as a person like I've always been you know, really emotional and like I really value human experience and like relatability and I think that there's a lot of really big themes in life from you know grief and like Exploring your own identity and all those things that really need or can be Looked at in these like I don't know like fictional world So like well the top of this story like the what you call it Like the the story that comes out seems to be this more like magical kind of like fantasy romance like to have those deeper pieces is really what's going to like Emotionally move people and for me like I like books that made me feel things and I wanted to write a book that made people feel things like there's nothing that brings my heart more joy than knowing that my book made you cry or that you physically threw it across the room and outrage like that is fantastic because that was what I was trying to create because like I said Like I was trying to write the book. I want to read and that's the kind of book. I want to read Mm-hmm, right Yeah, and then I just felt like they were just so deep and just relatable I feel like with all these different situations I feel like everyone who would pick up your book be like, yeah, I'm like that person or like Like I felt like I if I was a teenager who got the tattoo I would be like, oh, yeah I would be like on my adventure Searching for my soulmate right now, you know And then but then like reading as an adult. I'm like, okay, I can totally see through this other lens and Yeah, and yeah, it's very emotional and deep and complex and I think readers will definitely like Reading that with all these characters and their various life situations So Looking back on everything that you've been through with writing and you know querying What is one piece of advice you give your past self or if you want to go in the direction of giving advice to? Aspiring authors you can do that, too um, I Like oh, there's there's so many things I mean part of me is like writing is a Dedication and if you wait to be motivated, you're never gonna finish so having like a really scheduled routine and like Choosing to make time even when you don't feel like writing is really going to be What moves you forward and takes the next step and like lets that dream come to fruition So yeah, like I would say push through those lapses of whether it's fatigue or an uninspired mood or whatever it is that's holding you back like Dedicate yourself and don't wait to feel inspired because the muses are not reliable They are going to disappear on you in the hardest moments But until you write it out once you can't fix it. You can't keep going So suppose that'll be even though I probably could list like ten different things. That's gonna be mine for the interview I love that and I feel like you're like speaking right to me because I'm like Oh, I'm not feeling like writing. I just won't write today. But so you just spoke right to me. I'm like, okay, Ashley I'll take your advice. I'll do writing today But yeah, that's true like setting your routine Even if you're not in the mood it gets the book done and then you'll feel really proud of it in the end Yeah, and like so for me I like weekdays from 8 to 10 I have a blocked off like that is my writing time I'm not gonna lie there are date days where I come and I just lay on the floor in my office and I'm like my only job today is To brainstorm where this one character arc is going or what needs to happen in this chapter Like I cannot be on tik-tok. I cannot be going to talk to the friends I am going to be in this room for two hours If you want to spend the whole two hours on the floor, that's fine But like committing that time because a lot of writing really is internal. It's a lot of figuring things out in your head, but Setting that intentional time is what's gonna help you get through those hurdles. I love that So good. All right, let's get into some rapid-fire questions All right. So what is your favorite trope love triangles? Oh, really? Yeah, I know that not a lot of people love them, but I am such a sucker for a well-written love triangle Oh like I love not only consuming them but also like writing them and yeah No, that's that's my go-to. They're definitely very entertaining. I I do enjoy a good love triangle. So what's a book? Recommendation you've got that has a well-done love triangle I would say one of my favorite love triangles is probably the clockwork angel series by Cassandra Clare Oh, yeah. Oh Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I'm like, is she gonna mention clockwork angel? So good, so good. Yeah, and then what is your favorite writing drink slash snack? coffee Just coffee. Yep Probably not the greatest for me, but it is what it is. I'm I'm sure a lot of people are will choose the same thing They're like, yep, just go for coffee What is your favorite book currently? Spicy question. Um, I'm gonna say the Song of Achilles, but I literally have so many Song of Achilles. I heard really good things about that book which um mythology is it based on it's Greek No, I Madeline Miller is currently my favorite author like she her prose her Knowledge of mythology her accuracy and her story weaving and just like Oh like her Emotional output and like capturing I can't pitch her enough I know this is supposed to be rapid-fire, but if you haven't read the Song of Achilles, you should you should read it All right. I am putting it on my TBR and high on my TBR now What are you working on right now? Look to I am working on book to keep his campus. Yay. How is that going? So good. I am What I would describe to be as like in like the final leg of draft one So the very first version of the book which keep its compass went through four or five drafts So but I do find the ones after this one go faster But I'm very close to writing kind of like that like climax ending scene So it's going great. Awesome. Glad to hear it. And yeah with that ending of cupids compass I'm like, I need book to right now. So yeah, no, right And Where can readers find you? So I often direct people to my instagram at Ashley Weiss writes with periods between each word That is like my like daily blogging like always sharing my author life and what I'm reading However, like I am on Facebook where I just leave some like major like user event announcements or like book announcements But I often really encourage people to sign up for my newsletter You can find that in both my Instagram bio and on my website Because that's where I end up sharing, you know Every quarter or so like the really big exciting news like this is the title reveal. This is the cover reveal This is you know, the sale that's gonna be happening So yeah, Instagram is my primary but if you want if you don't want those daily updates My newsletters are like the big sighting news announcements All right good to know and I will link everything in the show notes for you guys to check out and if it aren't you are On YouTube, it'll be in the description below. So thank you so much Ashley I had such a fun time chatting with you about just everything writing your book all that Thank you so much Julie for having me. You are such a fantastic interviewer. I And all your questions they were fantastic I really appreciate you not only reading my book but making time to do this interview. Of course. Of course. I really enjoyed it All right. Well, I hope you have a great day Thank you, you too