ashleymarwrites

[ashleymarwrites]

The newest chapter in my slow-burn, time travel, Ancient Greece romance had just been posted to Wattpad. Read Bride of the Greek Prince chapters 1-11 now! For fans of Outlander who wish it was set in the ancient world!

"Perdita just wanted a vacation. Three weeks free of a certain annoying coworker constantly one-upping her. No impossible demands by a boss looking for any excuse to fire her. No nagging from her father and step-witch about when she is going to give them grandchildren like her perfect step-sister. Three weeks of relaxation on a Nile River cruise… But misfortune seems to follow Perdita (could it be because she was named after the tragic Shakespearean character?). Before she can settle into her vacation, Perdita falls into an exhibit on the ship, accidentally touching an ancient relic of unknown origin. Perdita finds herself being transported to ancient Egypt where she is being tried as a criminal… Lucky, or unlucky for her, Mycenaean prince Acacius takes in interest in her, calling her "Helen." He decides to bring her back to Mycenae with him to serve him as his wife. Perdita soon finds herself wrapped up in ancient politics, war, magic, and love… She wanted a vacation… not an adventure…"

[ashleymarwrites]

The Au Pair Affair (Big Shots Series) by Tessa Bailey

“The day we met, you could have asked me to bring you the moon on a platter and I’d have done it. Ask me for galaxies now. You get anything you want, gorgeous.”

[ashleymarwrites]

Endpage art I made for Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey!

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[ashleymarwrites]

Catch up on The Coven: Beginnings - Prologue- Beginnings (on Wattpad) before the next chapter is published tomorrow night at 7pm EST!

 Welcome to Stuarson, Louisiana, where three seemingly dissimilar college students, Scarlet West, Gigi Bouchard and Audri May are all trying to make it to the end of the term without their lives falling apart. Scarlet is busy obsessing over a lost library book which she believes holds the key to her mother's disappearance while also trying to recover from a less than perfect date with a boy (that she actually likes this time). Gigi is trying to hold onto the perfect life she has built in America, even if that means rejecting everything about herself that is actually real. Audri is attempting to remain invisible despite growing attention from her biology professor and an increasing amount of strange occurrences happening around her (many of which involve a wolf that won't stop appearing outside her window). This all changes one night when three students are found brutally killed-- and the three girls were witness to the horrifying ritual. Slowly, magic is reborn in the small town, and the girls learn that there is more to them than meets the eye. The one thing they have in common is the one things that threatens to force them onto different sides of a centuries old war. A new Coven is about to arise. 

https://www.wattpad.com/16234220-the-coven-beginnings-prologue-beginnings?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=AshleyMarWrites

[ashleymarwrites]

New Chapter of Bride of the Greek Prince is now up on Wattpad!

Perdita just wanted a vacation. Three weeks free of a certain annoying coworker constantly one-upping her. No impossible demands by a boss looking for any excuse to fire her. No nagging from her father and step-witch about when she is going to give them grandchildren like her perfect step-sister. Three weeks of relaxation on a Nile River cruise... But misfortune seems to follow Perdita (could it be because she was named after the tragic Shakespearean character?). Before she can settle into her vacation, Perdita falls into an exhibit on the ship, accidentally touching an ancient relic of unknown origin. Perdita finds herself being transported to ancient Egypt where she is being tried as a criminal... Lucky, or unlucky for her, Mycenaean prince Acacius takes in interest in her, calling her "Helen." He decides to bring her back to Mycenae with him to serve him as his wife. Perdita soon finds herself wrapped up in ancient politics, war, magic, and love... She wanted a vacation... not an adventure...

Read chapter 1 here!

Bride of the Greek Prince - Setting Sail (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/1515564629-bride-of-the-greek-prince-setting-sail?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=AshleyMarWrites

[ashleymarwrites]

Good/Bad media alignment chart

[ashleymarwrites]

If you're looking for a story with these vibes, check out The Coven: Beginnings on Wattpad.

Three college girls discover that they are part of a powerful centuries old coven created to fight the Order of Demons, which has risen again. Despite their differences, they must come together to discover the secrets that once tore the coven apart and how to make it whole again.

https://www.wattpad.com/16234220-the-coven-beginnings-prologue-beginnings?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=AshleyMarWrites

[ashleymarwrites]

The Coven: Beginnings - Prologue- Beginnings (on Wattpad)

https://www.wattpad.com/16234220-the-coven-beginnings-prologue-beginnings?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=AshleyMarWrites

 Welcome to Stuarson, Louisiana, where three seemingly dissimilar college students, Scarlet West, Gigi Bouchard and Audri May are all trying to make it to the end of the term without their lives falling apart. Scarlet is busy obsessing over a lost library book which she believes holds the key to her mother's disappearance while also trying to recover from a less than perfect date with a boy (that she actually likes this time). Gigi is trying to hold onto the perfect life she has built in America, even if that means rejecting everything about herself that is actually real. Audri is attempting to remain invisible despite growing attention from her biology professor and an increasing amount of strange occurrences happening around her (many of which involve a wolf that won't stop appearing outside her window). This all changes one night when three students are found brutally killed-- and the three girls were witness to the horrifying ritual. Slowly, magic is reborn in the small town, and the girls learn that there is more to them than meets the eye. The one thing they have in common is the one things that threatens to force them onto different sides of a centuries old war. A new Coven is about to arise. *** Reuploaded and re-edited***

[ashleymarwrites]

How I Wish Things Had Gone

"When I met you, I saw our life together.

There were summer barbecues and late nights watching movies.

Our children had my eyes and your smile. She would stick up for him and he would keep her out of trouble.

We had a gazebo off of our doorstep that overlooked the ocean, and we would sit and have our meals in there when it was warm.

In the cold seasons, we would sit together by the fire and read.

I could see all of these dreams so clearly that they felt more like visions than my imagination. For years I was convinced that I knew the end of our story.

But then your workdays started getting longer, and my writing began to bother you. You said that it was taking away from our time together. I never mentioned that I felt the same way about your working overtime.

My reading and fandoms and writing and sewing became inconveniences to you rather than the quirky hobbies that I thought you found endearing. So I started going out with you more. My interested had to stay locked at home while you chatted with your friends who would never actually address me directly.

I never wondered why it was always my interests that got pushed to the side. It never bothered me that I was the one constantly compromising. Because you loved me.

You loving me was the most interesting thing about me. Everyone said so. I had no identity outside of being yours.

And I was okay with that. Because I thought it was the same for you. I thought everyone saw us as each other's. I thought you saw us that way."

"Ash--"

"Don't interrupt me. I thought your were as invested in this as I was. So imagine my surprise when I come across pictures of you at the lake swimming when you're supposed to be at work. Or driving around. Or going to parties. All this time I thought you were working when actually you were with her.

She made my life miserable in college and yet you become best friends with her."

"I'm allowed to have friends--"

"Not with her. She ruined my life and you chose her anyway."

"It's not like that. She really likes you and would love to hangout with you."

"I know you're not stupid. So don't treat me like I am. You're a fake. You've always been a fake and I hate that it has taken me this long to see it. And I hate that I've let this drag on. I've been seeing these pictures for months and this part of me wanted to believe that you wouldn't do that.

But then I got thinking about all of our time together and I realized that I don't think you ever actually liked me. You don't like my hobbies, or my friends, or when I do anything outside of you. You hate that I am more successful than you. I think you just wanted someone who made you feel important. I regret making you feel that way.

So please, get your things and leave."

"You can't kick me out in the middle of the night."

"Yeah well, you should've thought about that before coming home from hanging out with your girlfriend at 2a.m."

"You know, I've always found you boring."

"And I've always found you immature."

[ashleymarwrites]

Diet Culture

For each bite, the notorious THEY recommend you put down your utensil of choice and chew twenty times. Until your food is so unrecognizable that your stomach begins to reject it-- telling you it is full. But I spend my days ignoring the signal that flashes code food, growling at me and blacking out my vision every time I stand. So explain to me why I would listen to the opposing signal? When I eat, there is no time to chew chew chew 

because at any moment my breathing could get shallow 

  and my heart could begin racing 

    and my tongue goes numb 

     and my head spins 

      and I see nothing 

       and I am so scared

I have to get as much nutrition into me as quickly as possible before I remember how much I have grown to hate eating. Because when SHE, the voice that whispers all of my secrets and fears back at me, when she gets talking she doesn’t stop.

THEY teach you to chew and to diet and to buy groceries that just go bad int he fridge. THEY teach you to have this little voice in your head that sings shame down every calorie, every carb. But no one ever bothers teaching you how to get that voice to shut up once it begins shouting in your ears. 

When it is no longer a suggestion, but a command. 

[ashleymarwrites]

Being alone so much has given me time to reflect on things

And I've come to realize that I am human and people need to start treating me like I am just that

Human

[ashleymarwrites]

When I Say I Have Health Anxiety

i don’t feel safe in my own skin

i no longer trust my own body

and any moment I fear there will be an attack

the fear makes my head spin and it aches all the time

and i feel

i feel i feel i feel i feel 

when the anxiety doesn’t go away i feel

so my neck hurts and i can’t breathe because why does my neck hurt 

why can’t i just stop thinking

i think so much 

i am scared so much 

if i could just stop thinking i wouldn’t have to be scared 

[ashleymarwrites]

My Sick...

My sick is making me pretty,

So I cannot as for help.

They smile and say how good I look,

While I have to tell them thank you.

My sick is making me pretty,

And all I see is bone.

Bones on my hips, bones of my wrist,

And the shadows under my eyes.

My sick is making me pretty,

So they do not call me ill.

I eat for show, but each day I know

Every single calorie spent.

My sick is not at all pretty,

I miss the taste of food.

I miss my friends, late summer nights,

When I did not have these fears.

My sick tells me to be afraid,

That food will cause me harm.

But through tears I force another bite,

I will not let this anxiety win.

[ashleymarwrites]

Autumn is like the party you didn’t want to go to but are stuck at. 

You have to sit and wait for midnight to be able to play the “work” card and have someone drive you home. 

Fall is the party.

November is the reluctant drive home.

December is midnight.

It is October.

When I say you I really mean me, because I don’t expect anyone else to feel as trapped in their own skin as I do. 

Trapped in their own skin in a season that they don’t want to go through. 

Trapped in a degree they don’t really want.

Trapped.

[ashleymarwrites]

Documentary

Shoulders. The object of my fascination. Your personality is okay too, but your shoulders. Your shoulders are the kind of things people write poetry about. I would know. I do. Years down the road and I will still be writing about them. Deep brown rolling hills of the Sahara which I never had a desire to see before but now I am saving up my money to go to Africa. There is beauty to be discovered in things that we before overlooked. Once it is found there is no unseeing it. Some experiences are etched in to our brains, and smooth sand skin takes up the third largest portion of my brain. 

[ashleymarwrites]

Chemicals

I don’t love you anymore and you don’t love me. But I know the girl who used to love you so well that sometimes I let myself forget that I don’t love you—just for old time’s sake. Our eyes meet and we both look away. This happens several times, I forget that this isn’t natural. I forget that I’m supposed to hate you and you have a new girlfriend because you keep looking at me. And I keep looking at you so maybe you have forgotten too. I hope so. Just for now—just for the time it takes for blue to meet brown and then move on. Not long enough for it to be anything but just long enough for it to be something; a shared respect between two old lovers—two people who deserve to know each other in the past but not in the present.

I sip my cooler and lime bubbles that taste too much like chemicals to be enjoyable climb up my nose. You look in to my soul again. I never smile so you never smile, it wouldn’t be right for us to do that. So I just drink my chemicals and you drink yours.

We never actually speak. I feel like we have.

[ashleymarwrites]

Us

Our issue was circumstance. 

We could have made it.

We could have been the ones. 

Life got in the way.

It’s not on you, it’s not on me.

This doesn’t help any with the closure,

it would be so much easier to hate each other,

but it helps with the well-being.