A podcast produced and hosted by USA Today bestselling author Tif Marcelo featuring authors and creators, their books and products, and how they are inspired and motivated everyday.
Ashley Jordan is a millennial from Atlanta by way of Brooklyn. She attended Spelman College, obtaining a degree in psychology and a lifelong love and appreciation for women’s stories. While she currently works in public health, she has embraced writing as a hobby since penning her first short story in the second grade. When Ashley isn’t at the day job or writing, she is either at a Beyonce concert, rewatching Mad Men, or arguing about basketball with anyone who will listen. In 2023, she became a Reese’s Book Club LitUp fellow. In 2025, Ashley released her debut novel Once Upon a Time in Dollywood, which became a Reese’s Book Club Pick, an instant USA Today Bestseller, and was named on elf the best books of the year by Amazon, Audible, Library Journal, Southern Living, and NPR. In 2026, Ashley was named Georgia Author of the Year in the Romance Category.
In this conversation we discussed her debut ONCE UPON A TIME IN DOLLYWOOD and her fan fiction roots and inspiration. We talk about the messy middle in character arcs and writing children in romance. Finally, we chatted about how important it is to trust in yourself and the relationship between opportunity and alignment.
Links discussed:
The Summer Girlfriend by Kristina Forest
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Current release: FORTUNE'S BABY DILEMMA
Note: some links are affiliate links
Contact Tif at tif@tifmarcelo.com
Please check out her website for podcast submissions
