Meet Ashley Winter

Ashley Winter
Sep 1
5 min read

1. What is your favourite genre to write and why?

Well, this has changed over the years! I started off writing romance, and loved it. But I was eager not to become predictable, and I get bored easily, so I added action-thriller-mystery-suspense vibes to the romance (there always has to be romance!). Now my favourite genre is dual-time romantic suspense. I find the dual-time aspect makes the story so much richer. I get to throw the reader straight into the action, without the need for much build-up, and then gradually unfold how they ended up in this position. I LOVE twists and complex plots which challenge my brain and hopefully my readers too. There are huge challenges to writing fast-paced suspense-type books though. Your characters often don’t have time to process what is happening, and so getting emotion and depth into the story can be difficult. They also don’t have time to notice much of the scenery, so scene-setting is tricky. And the romance needs to happen fast too, as the timeline is short and intense. Making this feel authentic isn’t easy, but I do love the challenge.

2. Moving from South Africa to Wales to support a church plant is a big leap. How has that journey of faith shaped your storytelling voice and the spiritual threads in your fiction?

Yes, I don’t have the words to explain how difficult it has been for us as a couple and as a family. It has been a personal journey of feeling deeply abandoned to the point where I’m asking ‘Does God actually love me? Is He really faithful?’ to the place of seeing His miraculous deeds in our lives one after the next after the next, and knowing beyond all doubt, that He does, and that he is. This changes you. It shook my foundation to the core and re-established my faith more firmly than before. This is a firm bedrock in my stories - the goodness of God, over and over again, the goodness of God, and even when we don’t understand, the goodness of God.

3. You’ve mentioned fiction as your escape from the “overwhelming masculinity” in your home. What does that creative space look like for you — and how do you protect it?

When I first started writing, it was easy! I could switch off from all the chaos any time and place and dive into the story I was busy with. I was incredibly homesick for South Africa, and writing books set there, allowed me to escape there whenever I wanted. It was all-consuming and I started finding it hard to believe that my characters were not real and the game reserve I’d imagined wasn’t just a quick turn off the road to Durban! They were SO real in my mind.

But now it’s not that easy! I’m still homesick! But now I need peace and quiet and no interruptions, which is a challenge! My husband works from home, and my sons come and go throughout the day, all on different schedules. That’s how it goes with the seasons of our lives. From September though, all our older boys will be away at university, and it’ll just be three of us! So, as much as I’m going to miss them, I know I’ll soon have more time to devote to writing again.

A graphic of all books by author Ashley Winter

4. Your stories often reflect faith in the messiness of real life. How do you approach writing characters who are flawed but still seeking God?

I LOVE writing flawed characters who are on a journey with Jesus, because this is all of us! Without flawed characters, there are no bad decisions, no one needs rescuing, and there is no story. Showing their struggles, their emotions, and very often how they end up doing the very things they do not want to do, makes them relatable and real.

Interestingly, I recently had some feedback on my latest novel from a reader who found one of my male characters weak, and I believe she knocked off half a star for that. I wrote a male character once before who struggled with his identity and confidence, and this too was a problem for some. It seems many are okay with male characters having moral flaws, the classic bad boy, but they must always be strong and confident! But men aren’t always strong and confident, some have been crushed by what the world has thrown at them. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be a main character, that they can’t grow and change, heal, be used by God, or love a woman completely.

The harshest criticism I’ve had thus far was that my character was lustful by looking at another character’s legs! Oh my! The poor man! And here I was, thinking he’d done so well to keep his thoughts pure in the awkward situation I’d thrown him in, ha-ha. So, my advice, if you prefer perfect characters, behaving perfectly, you will not enjoy my books!

5. What are some of the biggest differences you’ve noticed between the South African and Welsh Christian communities, and have those differences surfaced in your writing?

This is an interesting question. I’ve found that the main difference is in authenticity and sincerity. It is hard to be a Christian in Wales. It is not generally viewed as a positive thing. You may even be judged to be non-inclusive, narrow-minded, hateful, hypocritical, and that you think yourself better than others. The average church size here is eighteen, I believe. So, anyone who calls themselves a Christian here, really is one. The believers are authentic and completely sincere in their faith. There is no corporate momentum, no exciting mega churches, just simple faith. I have found this deeply refreshing.

The downside though, is that believers here don’t dream or think as big as the South African Christians. They don’t have as bold or audacious a faith. They pray small prayers. They are sincere, but they prefer to avoid possible disappointment by not daring to ask for much.

Have these differences surfaced in my writing? Yes, to a degree. I have British characters who visit SA in my Love in South Africa series, and readers get to see church in SA through their eyes.

6. Do your children ever inspire your characters or scenes — either as comic relief or unexpectedly deep moments?

I can only think of one character which is based on one of my sons, and that is Asher in ‘When Trouble Comes’. He’s a quirky little guy with a stuffed fish called ‘Jeremy Clarkson’. And that is my son’s most precious possession.

7. How do you navigate the tension between writing stories that are entertaining and those that are spiritually meaningful?

Great question! Within the twenty books I’ve written, some have deep spiritual truths, and others are much lighter. All are told from a Christian perspective, though, and most of the characters will either be believers, or on a journey towards knowing God. But whether the book is deep, or light, my first goal is to entertain. If I can’t keep a reader’s attention, I can’t impact their lives with spiritual truths. So, I always start there, and sometimes it only gets as deep as characters calling out to God for help, while other books like ‘When Darkness Falls’, address deep theological issues of God’s will and suffering.