Books-n-Kisses is pleased to welcome Sara Walter Ellwood to the blog today

Sara, can you please share with us a little about yourself

Thank you so much for having me today! I was raised on a small farm in West Central Pennsylvania and now live about 25 miles north of Gettysburg. After deciding teaching high school social studies wasn’t for me, I went back to school and became a medical assistant. I’ve worked for a large hospital in Harrisburg and currently work for the US Army as a medical secretary. I’ve been writing forever. For years I wrote Star Wars fan fiction until 2008 when I decided to write my first published novel—A Hunter’s Angel. Heartstrings (then titled “The Long Road Home”) is my second written novel, but my fourth one published.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

If someone would have told the pre-teen me that I’d grow up and become a published author, I probably would’ve told you to stop smoking crack. The first book I read on my own was in eighth grade. Shortly after that, I couldn’t stop thinking about a story that was circling around in my head. I eventually wrote that story in eleventh grade for a journal-keeping assignment in English. That’s when I caught the bug and decided I wanted to become an author.

What is your most interesting writing quirk?

I’m not really sure I have any. At least nothing interesting.

Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)?

Heartstrings is a contemporary western romance. The hero is a superstar country singer and the heroine is half Native American.  Here’s the blurb:

He’s determined to set things right, no matter the cost.

The last person Abby Crawford wants to face down is country music superstar Seth Kendall. Last time she did, she flat-out lied so he’d go to Nashville without her. She’s never understood why their mutual best friend proposed, but she went with it so her baby wouldn’t be fatherless. Now she’s a divorced mother of a teenager, and secretly Seth’s biggest fan.

Seth is home in McAllister, Texas for his father’s funeral…and a chance to meet the daughter he’s never known. He’s willing to face the music of his own making and admit he’s known about his little girl all along. For fifteen years he’s kept his distance because Abby told him to follow his dreams without her, insisting she didn’t love him. But now he won’t leave until he knows his daughter and she knows him, even if it means facing the woman who broke his heart for good.

Confessing she’s lied about her daughter’s paternity all these years won’t be easy for Abby, especially with her ex blackmailing her to keep the secret. And Seth doesn’t know the hardest truth of all: Every love song he plays on his guitar still plucks her heartstrings.

How did you come with the idea for this story?

Well, this is a long and complicated answer. Let’s just say it has very convoluted beginnings. I got the original idea from a Star Wars fan fiction that I wrote about five years ago, which in turn got its inspiration from the Rascal Flatts song “God Blessed the Broken Road.”

Can you share with us your current work(s) in progress?

Sure. I only have three of them. The first one is a contemporary western romantic suspense I’m hoping to finish by June 1st called Saving the Lonestar Princess, which is targeting Entangled’s new suspense line. I also am working on another country singer suspense, A Family for Jesse, which I may also pitch to Entangled, especially if they take Princess. The last book I’m hoping to finish this summer is Gambling On A Dream, book three of my Colton Gamblers series, which is with Lyrical Press.

Who is the one author that you would love to meet someday and why?

Linda Lael Miller. I’d love to meet her because she’s been called the queen of the western romance genre and because I love her stories. The other author I’ve always wanted to meet and got the chance two years ago at the New Jersey Romance Writers “Put Your Heart in a Book” conference was Rachel Gibson. She and I have a lot in common such as we both hated to read when we were younger and were both in special education for learning disabilities.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?

Learn all that you can, not only about writing, but also about the business of publishing. Don’t think you can start networking after you get the contract. Start immediately by joining writer’s groups. As hard as it is, try to see a rejection from the editor’s POV, especially when your rejections go from form letters to helpful. If an editor tells you why they rejected the book, take that into consideration—particularly if you start getting more than one similar rejection. And finally the most important thing is to NEVER EVER GIVE UP!!

Can you share with us something off your bucket list.

I’d love to take a road trip through every state. Yeah, I’m one of those people who’d love to give up my house for a RV in my retirement years… But the problem would be convincing my homebody hubby….LOL

What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?

I have so many books on my TBR pile, I don’t even know how to answer this question. I’m really looking forward to JR Ward’s next Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, which comes out at the end of March. And the next book from Rachel Gibson, which I think comes out in May. But I can’t wait to read some of my friends’ books either.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thank you for having me here!

Lyrical Press | Amazon |  B&N |  iTunes

He’s determined to set things right, no matter the cost.

The last person Abby Crawford wants to face down is country music superstar Seth Kendall. Last time she did, she flat-out lied so he’d go to Nashville without her. She’s never understood why their mutual best friend proposed, but she went with it so her baby wouldn’t be fatherless. Now she’s a divorced mother of a teenager, and secretly Seth’s biggest fan.

Seth is home in McAllister, Texas for his father’s funeral…and a chance to meet the daughter he’s never known. He’s willing to face the music of his own making and admit he’s known about his little girl all along. For fifteen years he’s kept his distance because Abby told him to follow his dreams without her, insisting she didn’t love him. But now he won’t leave until he knows his daughter and she knows him, even if it means facing the woman who broke his heart for good.

Confessing she’s lied about her daughter’s paternity all these years won’t be easy for Abby, especially with her ex blackmailing her to keep the secret. And Seth doesn’t know the hardest truth of all: Every love song he plays on his guitar still plucks her heartstrings.

CONTENT WARNING: Spicy sex.

Excerpt:

Seth leaned in. His lips were close enough to kiss, and his scent of sandalwood and something exotic enveloped her, taking her back to that night on the beach. His eyes flashed with the dangerous fire of his temper. It was similar to the flame of the passion she’d once seen in the green depths. Abby didn’t expect or want the heat curling in her belly, and shivered with a sudden and fierce desire.

“I’m her father, Abigail. I wanted to be her father after she was born. It was you and Mike who insisted I had no business messing things up.”

“I never said any such thing. You never tried. You just left.”

He pounded a fist on the counter top so hard she jumped. “Yes, I left! I wasn’t welcome at home. Dad ran me off with a shotgun. Mike wouldn’t even let me see my daughter. He made it quite clear you and he were happily married, and I had no place in your life. I was under contract to be in Nashville to start recording my first album.”

What did he mean, Mike wouldn’t let him see Emily?

Before she had a chance to voice her question, his eyes darkened as the pupils dilated, obscuring the stormy green. “But I’m no longer nineteen and scared shitless. I could make things very rough for you and this fantasy you’ve got working.”

A cold lump quickly replaced the tangle of heat in her belly. “What-what do you mean?”

He backed off and tapped the countertop. “I’m talking a custody battle. I could have a judge order a paternity test. I think we both know the media hoopla the results would cause.”

Her heart slammed into her chest wall. “You wouldn’t do that.”

“Try me. Now that I’ve met Emily, I want to get to know her.” He walked over to look out the kitchen window. The hard line of his jaw melted, and he swallowed so hard his throat moved up and down. “I was a fool when I let Mike talk me out of being in her life after she was born.”

“What do you mean?”

He glanced at her. “Don’t pretend you don’t know.”

The strings of guitar music provided a soft counterpoint to the hard tension in the kitchen. Emily was outside on the patio playing around with her guitar, waiting for them to finish with the dishes she and Seth had insisted on doing.

“All I want is to have some time with my daughter. That’s all I’m asking for.” When he looked over his shoulder at her, sadness replaced the anger in his eyes. “I’ll keep your little secret. I’ll just be her favorite singer. The family friend who made it big in Nashville. I don’t want to hurt her. As much as it galls the hell out of me, I see what Mike means to her.”

He moved toward her and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Besides, I don’t want to hurt Carolann or Frank any more than you do.” He glanced outside again, his voice husky as he spoke. “But I’ll sue you if I have to.”

A part of her wanted to give in to him, but a larger part wanted to punish him. Let him take her to court; she’d make sure the world knew what kind of jerk Seth Kendall really was.

She gritted her teeth and fisted her hands by her sides. “I’ll let you have tonight, Seth. But don’t ask for more.”

She turned away and strode through the French doors.

Bio:

Sara Walter Ellwood is an award winning author whose novel Gambling On A Secret was named by bestselling author Carolyn Brown in the Happy Ever After Blog on USA Today as one of her favorite romances of 2012. Although Sara has long ago left the farm for the glamour of the big town, she draws on her experiences growing up on a small hobby farm in West Central Pennsylvania to write her stories. She’s been married to her college sweetheart for nearly 20 years, and they have two teenagers and one very spoiled rescue cat named Penny. She longs to visit the places she writes about and jokes she’s a cowgirl at heart stuck in Pennsylvania suburbia.

She also writes paranormal romantic suspense under the pen name of Cera duBois.

Author Links:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter |  Goodreads

Giveaway:

***Please leave your email address to be eligible***

~~Sara is giving away two ebook copies of Heartstrings at the end of each week of the tour, so make sure you leave your email address.

~Tour Grand Prize is a swag pack full of goodies! A signed copy of Carolyn Brown’s Just a Cowboy and His Baby, an ebook copy of my last release Gambling On A Secret, a notebook, a pen, custom jewelry set, $5 Starbuck’s gift card—all tucked into a keepsake box.

(Sorry, only US residents are eligible. Comparable International Prize: $25 Amazon Gift Card.)

*Swag pack(gift card) is for the entire two-month tour. Winner will be announced on June 1, 2013