Welcome to my Author Website
I write Quirky
Adventure, Fantasy,
and Science Fiction with a twist;
and Poetry (without the twist).
About me
Hey there! Welcome to this brief dance of words, partner. My name is Quenntis Ashby, and I’m an ingenious invention of my mother’s (with a little help from my dad, of course). I was born, bred, and buttered in South Africa way back in 1976.
I’m a leap year Aquarian from South Africa who likes to jump off the page, onto the stage, and into the airy heights of your imagination. I retired from a performing arts career when the 2003 SARS epidemic ended a Cats Musical tour in Shanghai, China. My lifelong love of the stage influences my work as a creative artist, a teacher, a poet, and a writer working in Taiwan.
I’m married and have three lucky children in various stages of awesomeness. I adore them all.
I spend my days teaching, my evenings parenting and husbanding, and my weekends writing and editing.
I love learning new things and being around interesting people who are as curious about the world as I am. Even though I have completed degrees in Drama & English, Classical Ballet & Dance Musicology, and Creative Writing (Poetry), I am always eager to learn more.
My lifelong dream is to become a Career Author, by writing one email, one poem, one story, one novel, and one day at a time.
I arrived in South Africa in 1976, along with color TV.
I’ve been a creative writer ever since I learned how to write.
I spent half a dozen years pursuing a career as a professional dancer and creative artist in Cape Town. I danced with many companies while creating original dance and music compositions. My dream job was Dance Music Composer-Choreographer.
My dance career ended in June 2003 because of an ankle injury and the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV). I lost all 9 lives as a stage kitten called Victor in CATS. And my dreams of global feline fame and fortune? Forever paused in mid-air leap.
The end of one gracefully furred life meant time and space for a new adventure! After an intensive TEFL course, I was back on my two flat feet in no time.
Purr-fect!
I arrived in Taiwan in September 2003.
Performing Arts prepared me to teach English using my speech and drama skills in the language classroom.
I soon developed a daily writing habit to help me make sense of this new stage in my working life. I wrote articles on Redroom. I put my first novel on Authonomy, where I met poets from around the world. The result? Two online poetry threads, which became 2 unique books of collaborative poetry. I then blogged on Weebly and WordPress.
I found my way back to the stage and worked with many amateur and professional companies in Taiwan. Over 5,000 Changhua County students experienced the 2 drama tours and 3 Travelling Tales Storytelling Projects I was involved in.
I joined Rainbow Time Kids’ Monthly Magazine as a staff writer, editor, and voice recording artist while completing my MFA in Hong Kong. I helped develop the magazine’s interactive educational design, which I’m immensely proud of. Co-hosting weekly radio storytelling programs for ICRT for two years was a big highlight.
I continue to write, record, and edit stories for Rainbow Time. And I still enjoy performing and creating work for the page and the stage.
Purr-fect!
Manifesto in 5
I am always trying to inspire & motivate myself. To keep me on track I make secret promises to myself all the time.
However, these always end up being the easiest to break. I believe breaking a promise becomes almost impossible when I share it with my friends and my family. Because a shared promise becomes infinitely more tangible & real, & I am supported while being truly held accountable.
So, I am sharing my MANIFESTO in 5 with you.
Here are 5 promises I am making to myself for 2020 (& definitely on to infinity and beyond).
This author website & blog is one way of sharing that journey with you.
I pledge to celebrate my rarity. Out of all the billions of people on this planet, I turned out to be me. And there is only one of me. That makes me a very rare creature indeed. So I will be me, and I will celebrate the quirky creature that I am – no matter how odd and different I think I am.
I promise to continue the dreams of my ancestor(y)s. I am the result of many generations of human beings that have come before me. These ancestors dreamed of a better future. And it is this future I am living in right now. I too am dreaming of a better future for my children and the children of my children.
I will continue to be Quenntis. For there is nobody better qualified or brave enough to take this already-taken position.
I am before I do. I also take missteps and make mistakes. It is all part of being a lifelong learner. I am human. So my actions don’t define who I am, they help me to grow into a better me.
I honor my muse. To be inspired & to be creative I need to show up to work every day. I respect & trust my muse enough to let her do whatever she wants to do. She’s creative. She’s playful. She likes rules, but she also likes to bend & break those rules. She surprises me all the time. Sometimes she goes by the name of VERITY AQUARABBIT, but she usually likes to remain an enigmatically anonymous presence in my life.