Faye Shepherd was born on October 5, 1933 in Ohio, USA, daugther of Dolly Tolle and Dave Crockett Shepherd. She married Lawrence Ashley, with whom she spent 52 wonderful years, and had three children: Debbie Ashley (Clayton), Larry Ashley, and Susan Ashley (Brumwell). She enjoyed biking, aerobics, reading and traveling. She was fortunate in being able to travel the country and world with her husband and children. Faye led an active and creative life and surrounded her family with the beauty of her garden and flowers. After she raised her children, she started her own landscaping business and delighted in making things more beautiful. An incurable romantic, she then pursued other activities including writing romance novels. Her book has been published since 1982, first as Faye Ashley, and later under the pseudonyms of Ashley Summers and Diana Rivers. She lived in a house that overflows with family and friends in The Woodlands, Texas, where she died at 76, on March 29, 2010.
