Sorry folks,
Just seeing if you are awake.
I posted in error (a little premature. Yes, I think I am looking forward to 2013! Well, that’s my excuse.)
Check back on Jan 1 (in fact, you will get another email.)
Tag: Author Harvest
Author Harvest ‘bales up’ Alissa Callen
Author Harvest is turning out to be one big par-tay with so many debut release authors – like this week’s Alissa Callen. She has two books – Escape Publishing and Random House Digital (see below).
Alissa, let’s start by telling me if it’s scones and tea or some other homemade delight you have whipped up for me today. 🙂
Without a doubt scones and english-breakfast tea 🙂 Have been known to walk the South Downs in England in record time just to get a ‘cream tea’ at the end. My nine-year-old little master chef also makes the best scones out of lemonade, cream and flour. Needless to say they don’t last long!
At home with…
My mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?
Once a gnomer but not anymore. When attending university in the country town of Armidale I had a gnome who stood as a sentinel in my garden until he went on ‘holiday’. Courtesy of some other uni students, I received a postcard from a few of the places he visited but unfortunately he met a green-thumbed lady gnome in Nimbin and never made it back home.
(Oh no, I think I’ve heard about the Nimbin Gnome – the pint-sized, pot-smoking, party animal now populating the place with gnomettes!)
What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?
On our farm we inherited an extensive orchard (oranges, limes and pink grapefruit anyone???) and vegetable garden but one thing I’d love to grow is a passionfruit vine. Nothing beats fresh passionfruit on a summer pavlova.
(Ahh, it’s summer. Where is that mini master chef when you need him?)
If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?
Food. Lots of it. Four children can wipe out a stocked fridge in less time than a locust plague can eat a crop.
If you sorted your wardrobe by colour, what colour would stand out? (Ahh, do you sort your wardrobe by colour?!)
Depending on what is left behind after a raid by my teenage daughter, there would be a rainbow of colours in no particular order other than, ‘Hideous, so not wearing that and mum what were you thinking?’
(I am still struggling with you having a teenager when you look like one yourself!)
What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)
Pj’s 🙂 It is morning … well late-morning.
Whose home would you like to housesit and why?
The list is endless and would depend more on location than on who owned it. I’d love to have unlimited access to a remote cabin in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, right up to a historic Scottish house like Drumkilbo where I was fortunate enough to once live as a nanny.
Country curiosities…
We love a sunburnt country (slip, slop, slap and all that). What’s your ideal hat? Or are you a boots person?
Can I be greedy and say both? I love hats, especially for the local country races, but also wouldn’t be without my trusty R M’s.
If you were a tree (or animal) what kind of tree (animal) would you be?
We are so lucky in Australia to have such unique and beautiful animals but must say I’d love to be a stately red river gum that stands there dignified and tall and weathers whatever nature (and teenagers) throw at it!
Now for the big question… Why did the chicken cross the road?
To reach the bookshop on the other side for there in the window is the perfect Easter companion to chocolate and time off – a certain March release by a certain Simon and Schuster author.
(Oh you absolute treasure! But did just experience momentary panic as my brain grappled with: “Who is the ‘certain March release’? Who else is Simon & Schuster bringing out in March?” !! Oh dear! Suggest chook is cleverer than ‘certain S&S author’! Must be where the saying “clever chook” comes from.)
About you…
Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?
When I saw my first cover. RSI, or not, I had to keep going back and looking at it just to check that it was real and it really was my name on the cover.
(I hear ya!)
What is the hardest part of writing for you?
Doubt demons. I might polish my words until they are shiny and bright but still remain uncertain that what may be someone’s treasure might also be someone else’s trash.
(“The true treasure of a man is not in what he has accomplished or acquired, but rather the fragrance of his life that he leaves upon the hands of others when he is no longer in their presence” ― Julie Hardesty I’m sure your story will leave us lingering over the end and wanting more!)
If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?
Clueless 🙂
Fun stuff…
What food would you be?
Something sweet and that can be eaten around a campfire – marshmallow my kids are yelling in the background!
(Those kids have good taste!)
What was the best thing before sliced bread?
Old fashioned bread baked at home that fills the kitchen with that lovely ‘just been baked’ smell.
How weird are you? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (not) to 10 (very).
If you call reading the end of a book first, never having drunk a cup of coffee and tearing up in kid’s movies then I’m a 10!!
Thanks so much for having me, Jenn J. Am off to sneak a scone before getting out of my pj’s.
(Bad news, Alissa. Scones all gone -*licks lips*)
Now for the book news… 
Connect with Alissa: www.alissacallen.com and on Facebook
Book release details:
Jan 2013 – What Love Sounds Like – Escape Publishing (What a gorgeous title!)
Feb 2013 – Beneath Outback Skies – launch title for new digital-first Random Romance list
The blurb – Beneath Outback Skies
A captivating rural romance featuring an indomitable young woman determined to save her family farm, and the city-boy who is not all he seems…
Paige Quinn will let nothing and no one distract her from caring for her crippled father, Connor, and fighting for her remote, drought-stricken property, Banora Downs. Least of all a surprise farm-stay guest named Tait Cavanaugh, whose smooth words are as lethal as his movie-star smile.
Except Paige can’t help noticing that, for a city-boy, Tait seems unexpectedly at home on the land. And he does ask a lot of questions…
It doesn’t matter how much he helps out or how much laughter he brings into her life, she soon suspects he is harbouring a big secret – the real reason he has come to Banora Downs…
Did you enjoy this interview?
Why not subscribe to my blog and have future posts delivered to your inbox.
See who else has taken part in the harvest so far – HERE.
Author Harvest is just getting started. There’s plenty more in store with, summer, autumn and winter harvest.
Author Harvest ‘bales up’ Eden Summers
Phew! Is it hot in here, or am I having a flush? Must be the summer season….or the name Summer…or maybe the red hot cover coming up!
How about while I compose myself, Eden, you start by telling me if it’s scones and tea or some other homemade delight you have whipped up for me today!
Hi Jenn, I’m so happy to be on Author Harvest. I’ve made some matchsticks, with fresh whipped cream and jam. I hope you enjoy.
(You had me at Hi!)
At home…
My mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?
My mum gave me a gnome a few years ago. It was sticking its rude finger up. Unfortunately, I have two small children and gnomes and children don’t mix. Poor Mr Finger only lasted a few months.
(How about a Mr Moon for the kids? This is my dad’s gnome. Yes, he is a mooning gnome! Aren’t parents like ours…err…interesting!)
What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?
Mangos! I lurve mangos and only treat myself to them occasionally. But now my five-year-old son loves them too, so I only get half 🙁 I’d love to have a mango tree so I had a never-ending supply.
(Jenn’s evil mum tip: Take mango. Drill small hole. Insert garden worm. Invite said five-year-old to take a bite of mango. You then scream just in the nick of time. You’ll be a hero and those sweet juicy babies will be yours…all yours…forever. Bwah, ha, ha!)
If I looked in the refrigerator right now, what would I find?
At the moment? Not much. There is always milk, cheese and fruit, for my boys, but depending on when the shopping was done last, there might not be much else. (I hide the goodies in the cupboard).
If you sorted your wardrobe by colour, what colour would stand out? (Ahh, do you sort your wardrobe by colour?!)
Purple! Without a doubt. I’m a lover of all things purple, specifically the darker shades. However, we did have a ‘Pretty in Pink’ dress-up theme for the last RWA Clayton’s conference and I easily dressed from head to toe in bright pink – including shoes and handbag.
What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)
Whenever I’m home, especially when I’m writing, I’m always in daggy, comfortable clothes. So at the moment I have on my grey ugg boots, black and white track pants and a bright purple t-shirt underneath a heavy pink cardigan.I won’t be setting any fashion trends, but I find it hard to get warm.
Whose home would you like to housesit and why?
I thought about going the intellectual route and picking someone smart who would enrich my life… but as per usual I took the visually stimulating path.
Raffaello Balzo or maybe Jason Momoa. I would lay in their bed, drown in their scent left on the sheets and come up with a lifetime supply of romance novel ideas. Every morning I would also pray they came home early – just so we could chat, of course.
(Chat? Oh, yeah, of course!)
Country curiosities…
We love a sunburnt country (slip, slop, slap and all that). What’s your ideal hat? Or are you a boots person?
I’m not much of a hat person, but oh do I love my boots. I have two pairs of knee high’s and I love them to death. I wish I could wear them everywhere.
Now for the big question… Why did the chicken cross the road?
Because there was a hottie on the other side.
(So you reckon there’s a Raffaello Balzo rooster?)
About you…
Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?
In late 2010 I sat down and thought to myself, “Hey, I love my kids, I love my husband, but I really want to do something for myself. I really want to bring joy to others like my favourite authors have for me.”
That’s when I turned from avid reader to writer. I’m not sure if writing will ever be a full-time career, but it is definitely a dream.
What is the hardest part of writing for you?
The emotional rollercoaster. One day I could be flying high, writing like a pro, feeling like I’m awesome (although that doesn’t happen often). Then the next day you could find me on the couch, in a puddle of tears, crying “Why? Why? Why am I doing this to myself?”(I’m very dramatic when it comes to my writing 🙂 I am and will always be my hardest critic, so it’s sometimes hard to stop editing, analyzing and perfecting my work and just simply let the words flow.
If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?
This Chick is Crazy.
Fun stuff…
What does your protagonist think about you? Would he or she want to hang 
out with you, the author, his/her creator.
Beth and Dean from Concealed Desire would probably be a little freaked out by my starry-eyed expression. Beth would be polite and smile when necessary, but she would be thinking that I’m bat sh*t crazy (cause frankly I am), and Dean would love the ego boost. He’d sit there with his “How you doin’” smile and lap up the attention.
If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?
I’ve been sitting here contemplating this question for over ten minutes. I’m interested in the lives of so many people that it’s damn hard to choose, so I will pull something out of left field and say – I’d like to be one of the female characters from Kresley Coles – Immortals After Dark series. Their world is fantastic, full of sexy shifters, vampires and magic. I couldn’t think of a more fun and fascinating experience.
If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?
Oh, Jenn. It would be embarrassing but I’d probably get up and do a silly little dance. Whenever I’m in a crazy mood, or my kids or hubby are grumpy, I tend to dance around like a wally until they smile. It would definitely be entertaining though.
(That biography title is starting to make sense, you crazy chick!)
What food would you be?
Something sweet and nutritious, like a perfectly ripe strawberry.
What was the best thing before sliced bread?
Highlanders. Enough said.
Name 5 uses for a stapler that has not staple pins.
- Pretend microphone. I love to dance and sing around the house and you always need a great pretend microphone.
- Argument stopper. “Stop fighting or you’ll get the stapler.” I’ve got a good arm, it would be a substantial threat.
- Decoration – Add some glitter, a few ribbons and it would be a great table centrepiece.
- Punishment – Instead of sitting in the corner for five minutes, you need to stare at the stapler until the time is up.
- Welcoming gift – For those new neighbours you know will keep you awake till 1am with loud music
(As opposed to the crazy chick they live next door to who sings and dances like a maniac — right!)
How weird are you? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (not) to 10 (very).
I’d have to say around the 8 or 9 mark. I’m not weird enough to need medical intervention, but it’s only a matter of time.
(I’d have to agree! Now pass me another matchstick and give us a sneak peek and your book Sneaking a Peak!)
Book Blurb – Sneaking a Peak, by Eden Summers
She’s either headed for jail…or for the best sex of her life.
Tarney Jensen has been crushing on sexy firefighter Ethan Reid, her best friend’s brother, since her sixteenth birthday. She knows acting on her attraction will ruin their friendship, but she can’t fight the temptation of his sweat-slicked skin as he works out. Every hot-blooded woman loves to drool over a sexy piece of man flesh, but watching one from the shadows of your porch when he has no idea you’re spying on him? Totally illegal.
For years Ethan has watched men go in and out of Tarney’s life, but how’s a guy supposed to put the moves on his kid sister’s best friend without looking like a perv? But when Tarney lets out an ear-piercing scream from her front yard, Ethan drops everything to rush to her aid. And finds out that the woman of his dreams has been sneaking a peek at his workouts…
Get the book: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance Ebooks
About Eden
Eden Summers is a true blue Aussie, living in regional New South Wales with her two energetic young boys and a quick-witted husband. In late 2010, Eden’s romance obsession could no longer be sated by reading alone, so she decided to give voice to the sexy men and sassy women in her mind.
Eden can’t resist alpha dominance, dark features and sarcasm in her fictional heroes and loves a strong heroine who knows when to bite her tongue but also serves retribution with a feminine smile on her face.
Did you enjoy this interview?
Why not subscribe to my blog and have future posts delivered to your inbox.
See who else has taken part in the harvest so far – HERE.
Author Harvest is just getting started. There’s plenty more in store with, summer, autumn and winter harvest.