Wednesday 26 September 2012

Writing Buddy Wednesday: Anna Hackett interview


You may recall that I'd done a overview of Anna's work in December (check the blog post here). Today, however, I have Anna visiting my blog - yay! And I've asked her a few questions.

Welcome Anna to the Taverna!




Thanks for having me, Eleni. I always love hanging out at the Taverna.



Was it a conscious choice to publish shorter fiction? What is it about it that attracts you to it?

No, it wasn’t a conscious choice. I started out writing novels and was targeting Harlequin’s paranormal line, Nocturne. I saw an online pitch opportunity for Nocturne Bites (15,000 word short stories). I thought it would be a great foot in the door.

I sold my story, Savage Dragon and ended up falling in love with writing short. Since then, my focus has been short fiction (generally under 50,000 words). My latest release, Time Thief is 25,000 words.

I love to write short fiction and read it. I’m a busy working mother, so having something I can fit into a crazy busy lifestyle really works for me. I love the intensity of a short – the story starts with a bang and draws you straight in. And there’s nothing like sitting down to read an entire story in one sitting!



What or who inspired you to write?

Usually answers to this question include something about always dreaming of being a writer or of writing stories since I was three. Not me.

I never grew up wanting to be a writer, I’ve always been a voracious reader. When I was younger, I couldn’t get enough of books by Nora Roberts and Linda Howard. That love of reading is what sparked my desire to write. I was away on a work trip at a gold mine in Quebec, Canada and had read all the books I’d taken to read. I thought I’d try writing my own romance!


You were recently on the ‘Not Your Normal Paranormal’ panel at the Romance Writers of Australia. What is ‘not normal’ about your paranormal fiction?

It was such fun being on the panel with some fabulous paranormal authors and an editor from St. Martin’s Press. We got to discuss some very interesting paranormal beasties!

I am a huge ancient history buff and my idea of a fantastic holiday is wandering around ruins. I love to put mythology and myth into my paranormal stories. I have written some vampires, werewolves and dragons but I’m very attracted to unique mythology.

My WindKeepers series is based on Roman mythology about four sexy brothers who can control the wind. I’m currently working on the last few stories in the series, so watch this space. My current series, 
The Anomaly Trilogy, features humans with mutated genes who have extraordinary abilities, like the ability to stop time. I love that in the paranormal world, anything goes!


You have now delved into self publishing with Time Thief. (Love the cover btw). How did this come about?


Well, I figured everyone else was having a go at self publishing, so I would too!

So pleased you love the cover for Time Thief! The Anomaly Trilogy was written exclusively to self publish and see what the process was like. I have loved working with my freelance editor and cover artist. There is something very refreshing about having ultimate control of your product. I’ve done my utmost to create a quality book. The downside is that you have to sacrifice some writing time for all the “extra” work your publisher would ordinarily do – editing, proof reading, conversions, writing copy, uploading etc.

I see self publishing as just another avenue for my work. I will still publish with traditional and epublishers (I have a novella, Winter Fusion coming out in December from Carina Press) but now I have choices to find the best publishing fit for each story I write.



 Can you tell us a little about Time Thief?

The idea for Time Thief sparked from the image of a woman about to rob a bank by stopping time. No idea where the idea came from but I knew I needed to work out how she was able to stop time and what she was there to steal! I’ll let the blurb do the rest of the talking:

Hunted for her ability to steal time, Bay North lives a life on the run. All she wants is to make the crime lord who slaughtered her family pay. But now he's set the ultimate hunter on her trail and Bay will need all her skills to carry out her revenge and survive.

Ex-Navy SEAL Sean Archer saw his team killed by a time thief in Afghanistan and came back a broken man. He's made a dark deal with a criminal to hunt down all time thieves and now Sean's tracked the wily Bay North to Denver where he plans to rid the world of one more dangerous mutation.

But during a shootout, hunter and hunted find themselves depending on each other for survival. Joining forces to exact payback by stealing a priceless treasure, their reluctant alliance shatters both their defenses. Can Bay find the courage to trust? And can Sean convince a woman honed in revenge that she can have more than vengeance, blood and killing?


Where can people find it?

Time Thief is available for download at: Amazon | Smashwords | All Romance. You’ll also find it at the Apple ibooks store and very soon, Barnes and Noble.



Thanks again for having me. I love to hear from readers and can be found at all the usual places. To learn more about Anna, visit her website, www.annahackettbooks.com, follow her on Twitter or like her on Facebook.

~~~


Thanks Anna! I know I'm looking forward to reading Time Thief.

5 comments:

Mel Teshco said...

Hi Eleni and Anna *waves*

I happen to have read Time Thief, and loved the concept, the writing and the action, not to mention the attraction between the h/h.

Great interview :)

Emmeline Lock said...

Hello lovely ladies!

Great interview, Anna and Eleni.

I've got to say, I'm so proud and excited for Anna--just love these books!

Congrats.

E xx

Anna Hackett said...

Hi Mel --
Ahh, it means so much that you loved Time Thief.

And we have Booked for the Weekend starting tomorrow: both Time Thief and Mel's book, Identity Shift will be 99c just for the long weekend!

Anna Hackett said...

Hi lovely Em --
Without your fantastic input, Time Thief wouldn't exist! Thanks for being a fab CP.

Eleni Konstantine said...

Hi Anna, Sorry to be late. So happy that you are doing well.

Thanks for coming along to cheer her on, Mel & Em :)

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