Darklight On... Anna Hackett

Many apologies to Anna and all of you - this was meant to appear at the end of September, but I totally missed it. So the info on Anna's latest release is actually incorrect but I will make mention in the text.

~Eleni 

Today's Darklight On is with Anna Hackett. Welcome, Anna!

How did you come to write speculative fiction? What attracted you to the genre?
I love reading paranormal and science fiction, I love watching spec fiction shows and movies and I’m a huge ancient history buff. I’ve visited the pyramids, wandered the Coliseum, stood at the Acropolis and gazed out over Troy. For some reason, ancient things get my blood pumping!

To take ancient mythology and legend and twist that into my stories makes me very happy. I love that anything can happen in the paranormal/sci-fi world and usually does.

Please tell us a little about your road to publication.
I started out writing novel length paranormal romance. I was targeting Harlequin’s paranormal line, Nocturne when I saw an online pitch opportunity for Nocturne Bites (15,000 word short stories). From that pitch, I sold my first short story, Savage Dragon. 

After five Nocturne Bites, I’ve branched out. I have a self published paranormal suspense novella, Time Thief out (and more to come) and my first sci-fi romance, Winter Fusion will be out with Carina Press in December. I love that writers have so many paths and opportunities open to them when it comes to publication now. 

You have recently gone into self publication. Can you tell us a little about this?
Self publishing has proven a successful avenue for many authors so I thought I’d dip my toe in and see what the water was like!

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 another avenue for my work. I will still publish with traditional and epublishers but now I have choices to find the best publishing fit for each story I write. 

Your current release is Time Thief. Can you describe this book for us?
Heroine who can stop time and is out for revenge. Hero who is an ex-Navy SEAL hunting her down. Add a bank robbery, some gunfights, and of course some sexy romance.

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!

 Here’s the blurb:

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?


You’ve had some lovely covers. Do have you any favourites?
Glad you like them (-: Hmm, tough question. Whenever I get a new cover it is so exciting and I always love that cover until a new one comes along. I am THRILLED with the cover for Time Thief and it was great to work directly with my cover artist (the fantastic Frauke from Croco Designs) to achieve exactly what I wanted.

Of course, I recently received my cover for my December release, Winter Fusion and I LOVE it. It is so pretty.

Are you a plotter? Pantser? Or somewhere in-between?
Somewhere in-between -- and probably closer to pantser than I’d like to admit.

I’m an engineer by day and thought I would definitely be a plotter when I started writing. But I’ve found that when I plot out a story in too much detail, I lose interest in it. For me, the crucial thing to nail down before I start writing is the goal, motivation and conflict for my characters. I also make notes on how the characters will change through each segment of the story. So I don’t plot scenes, rather I plot character growth.

Do have a favourite of your characters?
I knew you’d slip this one in somewhere! I could list something I love about every one of my characters but if I have to choose….my favourites at the moment are the hero and heroine of Mind Raider (the second story in The Anomaly Trilogy) which will be out in October. 

[Eleni~ it's out now! ]

Callahan is dark, powerful and a little scary and Mara is an opinionated, leap-before-you-look kind of woman who knows exactly what she wants.


What are you currently working on?
I’m having a blast working on a space adventure! I have a sexy rogue of a space treasure hunter who I’m trying to tame – add in a disapproving astro-archeologist, some spaceships and sand monsters – and its lots of fun.



What is your favourite part of the process of writing?
Those rare days when the words of the first draft just flow out in a big unimpeded rush. Doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does, it’s magic.


What can we expect from Anna Hackett in the future?
More sci-fi romance. More paranormal romance filled with action adventure. More short stories.



Who are your favourite authors?
When I was younger it was Nora Roberts and Linda Howard. Now my auto-buys are Nalini Singh, Meljean Brook and Pamela Clare.



What are you currently reading?
Meljean Brook’s latest Steampunk installment, Riveted.



Do you have a favourite spec fiction movie or TV series?
I couldn’t possibly just list one! I’m a huge Star Trek fan and I love Battlestar Galactica, Buffy, Angel, Falling Skies and Grimm. A couple of recent movies I saw and loved were Battleship and The Avengers. 



Do you have advice for emerging writers?
Just write. Do it every day. Stop making excuses.

I used to listen to published authors say this when I was a newbie starting out and I never truly understood it. Now that I’ve made writing a daily habit I’m much more productive and the more you write, the better your writing gets.

~~~

Thanks, Anna.

You can catch Anna at her website and blog.