According to her online bio, Ashley Carlson grew up wishing she had a “talking animal friend and super powers,” and when that didn’t happen, she decided to write them into existence.

And that’s where her new book, “The Charismatics,” comes in.

Released Dec. 13 on Amazon and her own website, ashleyrcarlson.com, “The Charismatics” is a fantasy novel set in the snowy city of Shinery.

Duchess Ambrose Killaher finds herself swept up in a world of intrigue and magic when a doomed arranged marriage and a shocking discovery force her to choose between allegiances to the upper class, or helping those who need it most.

Thankfully, she’s got that talking animal friend mentioned earlier at her side, Roan, as well as a handsome stranger to help her unlock her true potential.

Carlson happily admits that she has an overactive imagination, but it’s one she hopes has helped her craft a book that is fantastic in both content and entertainment.

Living in Phoenix, Carlson actually grew up in Fountain Hills, where her parents still reside. She graduated as a Fountain Hills High School Falcon in 2007, going on to achieve a degree in psychology from ASU.

“While there, I did a study abroad program, so I lived in France for about five months in 2010,” Carlson said.

“That was very fun. I got to travel around Europe and find inspiration for my writing.”

Carlson said that a lot of the cities in “The Charismatics” are actually based on the European cities she visited and felt inspired by.

Following graduation, Carlson went on to work at a behavioral health clinic in order to put her degree to good use. In her spare time, though, she continued to pursue her passion of writing.

“I kept on working on these little side stories, jotting them down as they came to me,” she said.

“But I never completed anything. I’d either get bored with it or I’d get distracted and just never finish it.”

Last year, though, Carlson decided to buckle down and follow through on one of her projects, inspired by the National Novel Writing Month, which takes place every November.

“I pulled out this manuscript I had been working on during the summer of 2013 and said, okay, I’m going to write 50,000 words toward this story,” she continued.

“And then I did it. I ended up really enjoying it and learning more about the craft of writing and completing a story line.”

That led to something of a mental shift for Carlson, helping her realize how much she enjoys writing and deciding that it was something she wanted to do as a career.

Carlson said that she began researching the process of getting a book to market and quickly came to the realization that self-publishing, or “indie publishing,” was the route for her.

“I looked into what was going on in the publishing environment right now and decided that indie publishing was the way to go,” she said.

“I know that a lot of people query publishers or try to get an agent, but I kind of came into the industry when e-books and indie publishing seemed like a good idea.

“Now you can create a high quality product, with cover art and an editor and everything. I didn’t have to wait two years to see my book appear on the shelf.”

As for her book, Carlson said that she tried to keep it really exciting and have a lot of things happen at once.

“I wanted to have surprises throughout the book, including twists and secret motives and the things that hold my interest as a reader,” Carlson added.

She added that she feels extremely lucky to have discovered her passion, something she hopes to keep doing for the rest of her life. It’s a passion she hopes has bled onto the pages of “The Charismatics.”

“When people read it and tell me ‘I loved this scene’ or ‘when this thing happened, I cried,’ that’s amazing,” Carlson said.

“I can’t believe something I created had such an emotional impact on someone.”

“The Charismatics” is available for free through Kindle Unlimited on Amazon, or $2.99 for the e-book. A print copy is $12.99 through Amazon or ashleyrcarlson.com.

“The perfect reader is someone who enjoys fantasy elements, romance and a character who is making the decision to fight for what’s right,” Carlson said.

“I think those people would really enjoy my book.”