Tonya B. Ashley

Tonya B. Ashley is an award-winning writer who enjoys a thread of adventure, whether in story or in life. Fascinated with people, places, and nature, she loves to explore through writing, reading, creating art, and hiking. One of her favorite hiking destinations is Fuzzy Butt Falls, which exudes quite the Narnia experience despite its humorous name.

She and her firefighter/paramedic husband are the parents of an adult son, also a firefighter, and a school-aged son. Though she has past experience as a 911 dispatcher and volunteer firefighter, life with boys is her most incredible adventure. She has learned so much from them, including how to hike ten miles in 90-degree weather with 90 percent humidity, the easiest way to set up a hammock, the quickest way to the emergency room, and how to play a tenor saxophone. Sadly, attempts to teach her to play the trumpet only sounded like dying baby elephants.

A few things from Tonya’s adventure to-do list include the wild cave tour at Blanchard Springs, a hot air balloon ride, and hiking on a remote island searching for a rare kind of coffee. (Don’t tell anyone she hasn’t taken that coffee hike, though. That’s the story she uses when people ask how she split the tendon in her ankle. It’s much better than, “I was walking to the coffee machine in the kitchen.”)

When she is not writing, hiking, or enjoying time with family, she substitutes for the local schools. She loves to help students make connections through story and find their voices through writing. Her most treasured moments with students come when they have room to explore topics, situations, or emotions, and they wander into deeply profound or deeply humorous places.

Her favorite writer is C.S. Lewis, who offers enchanting worlds and flawed characters to explore in his fiction and no-nonsense, hard-hitting wisdom in his nonfiction. While she adores Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series, her favorite book is the Bible, which she loves for its artistry, messy people, practicality, and ability to deepen her relationship with God. She often reminds herself that “the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6).”

Tonya writes stories of resilience featuring messy characters and a thread of adventure. Like a good treasure hunt, great stories ought to offer a gem the reader can keep. Along with her publication credits as a devotional and article writer, she received first place in an ACFW First Impressions contest.

Photo Credit: B. Jones Photography