Best friends Jessica Aasve and Ashley Arn, living in New Glarus, are working on their second book as joint authors under the pen name Jessica Ashley. Their first book, Love in Little Switzerland, is set in New Glarus and may even be adapted into a movie in the future.
Their first book is a romance that takes place around the Christmas season.
“Love in Little Switzerland is a cozy holiday romance set in the charming village of New Glarus, Wisconsin, often called America’s Little Switzerland. The story follows Lucy Bennett, a Chicago woman whose life takes an unexpected turn when a winter snowstorm leaves her stranded in town just days before Christmas. There she meets Cole Hartmann, a local woodworker, and discovers that sometimes life’s detours lead exactly where you’re meant to be.”
The story involves many real-life locations found in New Glarus to show the authors’ connections to the community.
“The novel highlights many real New Glarus businesses and landmarks, allowing readers to experience the beauty and charm of our community while following Lucy’s journey of love, healing, and new beginnings. One of those businesses is The Alpine, a wine bar in downtown New Glarus owned by Ashley and her husband, Michael. In the story, The Alpine becomes the heart of the novel and the place where Lucy stays after finding herself stranded in town. We loved weaving real places and familiar community favorites into the story to give readers an authentic taste of New Glarus.”
Their second book has a similar theme to it, while also following a character present in the first story.
“Our second book follows Tess Hartmann, Cole’s sister from Love in Little Switzerland. While the first book focused on Lucy and Cole’s love story, this book explores Tess’s journey as she faces new opportunities, personal growth, and unexpected romance.”
While they wanted to have similar subjects in their second novel, they didn’t want it to be exactly the same.
“A large portion of the story takes place in Sonoma, California wine country, where Tess accepts a temporary work assignment. We wanted to expand beyond New Glarus while still keeping the small-town charm that readers loved in the first book. California felt like a natural fit since Ashley originally grew up there, allowing us to bring some of her own experiences and familiarity with the area into the story. Readers will still reconnect with familiar characters from the first book while following Tess as she discovers where life, and her heart, might lead next.”
One inspiration behind the books was their love for similar things and just talking about what it would be like to have this kind of media before finally writing it themselves.
“The inspiration came from our friendship and our love for New Glarus. We’ve spent countless hours talking about books, Hallmark movies, and the unique charm of small-town life. One day, we started asking ourselves, ‘What if a Hallmark-style romance took place right here in New Glarus?’ The more we talked, the more the story came to life.”
Another inspiration was the small-town feel of New Glarus and wanting to highlight all the things within the community they love.
“We wanted to create something that celebrated the businesses, people, traditions, and sense of community that make this area so special. The second book allowed us to continue that vision while exploring a new setting and new adventures for some of the characters readers met in the first book.”
They do have some future plans to continue on with this story and with others.
“We are currently working on Book 2 and have ideas for additional stories set in the same world. We love creating characters that readers can continue to follow and revisit.”
They are hoping to see their first story come to life as a movie, and while nothing is confirmed as of yet, there is a possibility that could happen in the future.
“Beyond the books, we’ve always envisioned Love in Little Switzerland as a movie. In fact, one of our biggest goals from the very beginning was to see this story brought to life on screen. We’re excited to share that we are currently working with a producer who has created a pitch deck package for the project and is beginning the process of presenting it to potential buyers, investors, and production partners. It’s still early in the process, but we’re thrilled to see that dream taking its first steps.”
Working together on the first novel and starting to work on the second is something they have truly enjoyed doing and has been one of their favorite parts of the process.
“Without question, sharing the experience together. Writing a book with your best friend isn’t something many people get to do, and we’ve had so much fun brainstorming characters, plotting scenes, and watching the story come to life.
The two also really enjoy how much people in their community love the book, and it’s fulfilling to them.
“We’ve also loved seeing the community embrace the book. Hearing from readers, meeting people at book signings, and watching local businesses get excited about being included in the story has been incredibly rewarding.”
One thing that was often difficult for the duo was actually finding the time to sit down and write the story.
“Both of us have full-time careers, families, and many other responsibilities, so fitting writing into our schedules can be challenging. We often write late at night, early in the morning, or whenever we can find a free moment.”
Getting to the point of publishing a book was also a difficult aspect of the process.
“Another challenge was learning the publishing process. Writing the book was only one piece of the puzzle. We also had to learn about editing, publishing, marketing, and promoting a book.”
The process of writing a book can look different depending on the person and the same can be said about two writers working on one story together.
“People ask us this all the time! We don’t sit together and write every chapter side by side. Instead, we spend a lot of time discussing story ideas, character development, and plot points. We use shared documents and constantly exchange ideas, edits, and feedback.”
Their writing process works for them so well since they’ve been friends for so long and have similar creative ideas.
“Sometimes one of us will draft a chapter and the other will expand or revise it. Other times, we’ll each write different sections. It’s a very collaborative process, and because we’ve been best friends for years, we have a similar vision for the story and trust each other’s ideas.”
Instead of using both their full names on the book, they decided to combine them.
“We also write under the pen name Jessica Ashley, which combines our first names. It felt like the perfect representation of our friendship and partnership throughout this journey.”
The plan was never really to publish a book; it was merely something they talked about until it evolved.
“We’ve always loved reading and storytelling, but neither of us set out thinking we’d become published authors. It started as a fun idea between friends and grew into something much bigger.”
The two did not plan on the book truly coming to light and growing into multiple possibilities in the process.
“Looking back, it’s amazing to think that a casual conversation eventually became a published novel, a growing reader community, local media features, and now the possibility of seeing the story adapted into a movie.”
They really appreciate the opportunity they had to make this book and highlight the wonderful people and places in New Glarus.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the support we’ve received from our community. One of our goals from the beginning was to shine a spotlight on New Glarus and the wonderful businesses that help make it such a special place. The response from readers, local businesses, and community members has exceeded anything we imagined. We’re also incredibly proud that the book has received 58 reviews on Amazon, something we’re very grateful for as first-time authors.”
Their main goal with this novel is to make something people will enjoy and to emphasize their community in the process.
“Whether someone picks up the book because they love romance novels, because they live in the area, or because they’ve visited New Glarus, we hope the story leaves them feeling inspired, hopeful, and maybe even planning a trip to Little Switzerland.”
If people want to support them, anything is helpful to continue their dream of it becoming its own movie.
“And if readers would like to support our journey, every book purchase and every Amazon review truly helps. The more readers who discover Love in Little Switzerland, the more opportunities we have to continue growing the series and pursuing our ultimate dream of seeing this story become a movie.”
