2014 Australia Day Book Giveaway Blog Hop

Happy Australia Day long weekend to those who share this lucky country with me! I'm participating in the Book'd Out Blog Hop, and giving away one print copy of my latest release, Ask Me To Stay. Entrants must be an Australian resident, or be able to provide an Australian postal address. Make sure you visit the Book'd Out blog to see who else is on the blog hop, and I hope you're enjoying yourself - however you're celebrating!

A delightful collection from Elise K. Ackers, author of Small Town Storm and The Man Plan, available for the first time in print.

In Australian country towns, everyone knows everybody else's business. Nothing is private, and escaping the past is difficult if not impossible. But how much of the truth does anyone ever really know, even about those closest to them?
When family tragedy brings Ethan Foster home, he doesn't expect a warm welcome. In the small town of Hinterdown reputation is everything – and Ethan's was ruined long ago. His family and friends don't want him around, and nor does Sam O'Hara, the girl he left behind.

In this tender and heartwarming romantic trilogy, a funeral, a wedding, and a homecoming spark a series of events that prove that love can find a way, if only given a chance. 

Includes the stories Ask Me to Stay, Ask Me for More and Ask Me for Tomorrow.

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A Year in Review

As the 2013 Romance Writers of Australia annual conference approaches, I'm finding myself thinking back to this time last year, and shaking my head.

So much has changed. Relationships have strengthened and dissolved, my family has gone through some tough knocks and my work life has evolved so much that I'm struggling to capture it all in my annual review. But what I want to explore in this blog is how far I've come as a writer.

This time last year, I was hugging my first contract to my chest. Destiny Romance had yet to announce itself and I was practicing an excerpt from Small Town Storm, my first book and Destiny's debut romantic suspense title, because I was lucky enough to be doing a reading at the launch. I attended the conference with a blue first sale ribbon stuck to my name tag, and marvelled at how different it felt to be one of them. The authors.

Little did I know that I would return the following year with five published titles and a RUBY nomination for the very book I'd launched - my first baby, Small Town Storm. And instead of visiting the ARRA author signing event, I'll be signing at it. If you'd told me all of this last year, I wouldn't have believed you.

This last year has been a whirlwind. After Small Town Storm's release in August last year, I released The Man Plan in December, again with Destiny Romance. In January this year I released Unforgettable with Escape Publishing, then in April and July Destiny Romance and I released the first two novellas in the Homeland series, Ask Me To Stay and Ask Me For More. The third novella, Ask Me For Tomorrow,  will be released in October and something very special is coming in December.

It's little wonder I'm exhausted, but adrenaline and I have become really good mates. We go way back and it's a relationship I see myself embracing for the rest of my life. Amongst the countless things I've learned, I've also had to teach myself how to embrace down-time. I'm a planner. If you leave me to my thoughts for too long, I'll not only plot out the next few weeks of my life, but a book or two.

Yet for all my foresight and planning, I could never have guessed I'd be where I am now.

And standing here. looking around, looking back and looking forward - dreaming of what's to come - I can honestly say, I'm so, so happy.

For all of you presently standing in the shadows, I hope that you, too can look back in time and marvel. For those who dream of being published - it's never been a better time to crack into the industry - the opportunities are everywhere in both digital and print. And for those of you who have been on this journey with me this last year, thank you. From every inch of my swollen heart, thank you.

Here's to another year together.

Imagine where we'll be then!

An 'element' of reader beware...

Today is the official publication date of the first book in the Homeland series, Ask Me To Stay.

I am very proud of this book, and I'm endlessly grateful to those who have already downloaded it. This title was - incredibly - a buzz book on iTunes the day before its official release. I'd love to get the names of everyone who's bought it, knock on their doors and hug them. But, you know... invasion of privacy, and all that.

So instead, I'll say this.

Reader beware.

If you have read any of my other titles, or if you have downloaded this one expecting a certain degree of romance - I need to warn you that Ask Me To Stay is a little different. It focuses almost entirely on the fractured relationship between brothers Ethan and Dean. There is a romance subplot in this novella, but the first in the Homeland series is - to my mind - contemporary/rural fiction with romantic elements.

I think I'm incapable of writing a book which doesn't feature two people falling in love - that's just what keeps me interested in the story. But some of the early reviews of this title seem to suggest that the degree of romance took some readers by surprise.

Read this title to read about family. About redemption and reputation and second chances, both for the heart, and the soul.

Ask Me For More and Ask Me For Tomorrow are infinitely more focused on romance. Ethan and Sam's relationship arc continues throughout the second and third titles as readers explore Cal and Dean's stories; so you will get the romance that you crave. There will be stomach-dropping nerves, black-moments and soul-stirring intimacy.

I promise you all of this and more.

Destiny Romance's first series, coming soon.

I'm on a countdown. It's less than a month before the release of the first book in my novella series. It's been given a new town name, a new series title, and an official release date; and any day now, the cover should be arriving in my inbox.

Leonai has become Hinterdown. For various reasons, the top two being the ease of pronunciation and avoiding the hint of fantasy. This is not a fantasy novel by any stretch of the imagination. Ethan, Cal and Dean's stories are hopefully as real as fiction gets. Which is a strange claim to make. But I've aimed for natural dialogue, realistic timelines and reactions, a rich country atmosphere and people so friendly and complex that readers will hopefully feel like they know them.

The new town name was inspired by the Hinterlands, and in my imagination it looks very much like a town I visited once in the Upper Hunter Valley. I'll be talking about this town in a later blog post.

Because each novella features a returning character, someone who - for reason or reasons explored throughout the series - left the town and found cause to return - the title was shaped around the magnetism of home.

So without further ado, I introduce to you all, The Homeland Books and book one, Ask Me To Stay. It will be released on April 15, and will include an exclusive excerpt of book two, Ask Me For More.

I will be on a blog tour next month to promote and discuss the first title, and I would love to read your comments and share a bit of the story with you. My blog tour schedule is below, and there will be everything from interviews, to blog posts and giveaways.

15 April: The Book Vixen (link)
16 April: Book'd Out (link)
17 April: Sassy Book Lovers (link)
18 April: Ex Libris (link)
19 April: You Gotta Read Reviews (link)
20 April: Jenn J McLeod's Author Harvest (link)
22 April: Juanita Kees' Kees 2 Create (link)
23 April: Ros Baxter Ink (link)
24 April: Romance Australia Author Spotlight (link)
26 April: Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer (link)
27 April: Satin Sheets Romance (link)
28 April: Susanne Bellamy's All The World's A Page (link)
29 April: Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries and More (link)
              Nas Dean's Romance Book Paradise (link)
30 April: Lily Malone's Left Field With Lily (link)
1 May: Page Flipperz (link)
4 May: Bookish Ardour (link)
5 May: Nicki J Markus (link)
6 May: Clean Romance Reviews (link)
7 May: Ramblings From This Chick (link)
22 May: Louise Reynold's Cooking The Books (link)

I can't wait to introduce you to Ethan and Samantha. And if you read the series, you may understand why I'm also so excited to introduce you to little Nina.

ARCs will be on NetGalley within a few weeks. If you're a reviewer or blog host and you would like to know more about the series, I would love to hear from you. I've also launched a newsletter, so sign up through my web page (link) if you want to know things before anyone else.

The list above is subject to change. Hopefully the kind of change that makes for a longer scroll! ;)

Happy writing and reading. I'm off to sail around the bay.

Elise