An Interview with Sara Walter Ellwood

How did you get started writing?

I started writing in high school when I wrote my first novel—a historical romance set during the Civil War. I took a long break while I went to college and started my family, but about ten years ago, I got back into it when I began to write Star Wars fan fiction. I wrote my first published book in 2009. It was published in 2012.

What genre(s) do you write in and why?

Right now, I’m published in both paranormal and contemporary western romance—all of my novels have some suspense subplot. Lord only knows why I chose these genres! I tell people they chose me…LOL I wrote my first paranormal after reading my first vampire series—the Twilight books. I started writing westerns when I came up with my hero in Heartstrings, a country singer. It just seemed logical he’d be from Texas. I started reading westerns after I stared writing my story. My current work-in-progress is a Scottish Highlander historical. I also have an idea for a science fiction romance that I’d love to write someday. So who knows how many genres I’ll end up writing. I will write anything that I enjoy reading.

Tell us about your current series.

Singing to the Heart is my latest three-book series. Each book is a standalone novel, although book 1 and 3 are directly tied to each other. The first book Heartstring, first came out a couple of years ago and I knew I always wanted to write the hero and heroine’s daughter’s story someday, which is told in my June 2016 release Heartland. I tied my current release, Heartsong, to the series by making the heroes best friends in the music business. All the books have similar themes of coming home, self-discovery, and making amends. There is also a child/children involved in each story. In Heartstrings, Seth Kendall—a mega famous superstar country singer—comes home to his Texas Panhandle hometown for his father’s funeral and decides to make things right with this fourteen-year-old daughter. In Heartsong, Gabe McKenna comes home after his father and his father’s much younger wife are killed in a plane crash to fight for custody of his ten-year-old half-brother. In the third book, Heartland, country-pop mega star Emily Kendall returns home to rebuild her life after finding out she’s pregnant while in re-hab for her drug addiction.

What inspired your latest book?

Heartsong came to me out of a brainstorming exercise. I got the idea of Gabe’s ex-wife from the tabloid news of a country singer who divorced his much older manager wife. I knew I wanted to write a marriage-first type of story and wanted a child somehow involved. From these seeds grew the story of Heartsong.

What is your favorite part of writing?

The revision/editing process… I love polishing my story until it shines.

What is your least favorite part of writing?

Writing the first draft! Sometimes I really hate this part. Which probably would be resolved some if I could just learn to plot…LOL Yeah, I’m a pantser.

What are you currently working on?

I’m doing research for a Highlander historical romance. I plan to start writing in February.

What do you have planned for the future?

I hope to have the historical romance finished and start shopping it off to agents this fall/winter. I also have some contemporary westerns I’d like to write this year.

Heartsong

Singing to the Heart Book 2

Sara Walter Ellwood

Releasing January 5, 2015 in both ebook and print

Blurb:

Gabriel McKenna is living the dream. A rising country music star he’s no stranger to fame, money, or beautiful women. Despite his bad boy image, he’s also got a heart of gold, and when his ten-year-old brother is orphaned, he wants to take him under his wing. But the judge on the case is less than impressed by Gabe’s reputation and awards custody to the grandfather Gabe knows firsthand is abusive.

Michaela Finn is no stranger to heartache. Years ago she was engaged to Gabe McKenna, but two days before their wedding he ran off to Nashville with a female talent scout. Now Gabe is back in her life with an insane plan. Marry him, so he can get custody of his younger brother. Michaela can’t bear to think of any child being hurt, but she’s just not sure her heart can carry a happy tune when Gabe is playing lead…

Excerpt:

“Okay.” Michaela breathed the word.

“You’ll marry me?” Gabe didn’t bother hiding his surprise.

She drained her glass with a wince. “Damn, I’ve never liked champagne.” Michaela headed for the fridge. “Do you have any beer in here?”

He was more uncertain now than he’d been before he started thinking about this crazy idea. “Yeah. Lone Star. Get me one, too.” When she turned with the longneck bottles in hand, he chuckled. “A two hundred dollar bottle of fine French bubbly, but we’d rather drink Texas beer.”

“I’m a country girl, Gabe. You’ve always known that.” She handed him one of the

bottles. “I’ve actually been thinking the same thing–that if I were married the judge would’ve given me Jesse. But the only man I can think of is Cash Nelson.” She twisted the top off the beer and took a long draw. “But he would read too much into the agreement. I never considered you. Hell, the whole town knows I can’t even stand you. How is this gonna work?”

Gabe didn’t like the way his heart pinched at her words. He tossed the cap from his beer beside hers on the island top and took a drink. “We’ll have to convince them otherwise. We have a history and we’ve been working together”–he grinned as he remembered the custody hearing– “or against each other for weeks now. Everyone knows there’s a fine line between love and hate.”

Buy Links:

Kensington: http://www.ekensingtonbooks.com/author.aspx/29486
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Heartsong-Book-Sara-Walter-Ellwood-ebook/dp/B00VZZM6A6/

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heartsong-sara-walter-ellwood/1121727126?ean=9781601834928

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/sara-walter-ellwood/id576508680?mt=11

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/heartsong-11

Bio:

Although Sara Walter Ellwood 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 contemporary westerns. She’s been married to her college sweetheart for over 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. Sara Walter Ellwood is a multi-published and international Amazon bestselling author of the anthology set Cowboy Up. She also publishes paranormal romantic suspense under the pen name Cera duBois.

Author Links:

Website: http://www.sarawalterellwood.com

Blog: http://www.sarawalterellwood.com/blog/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sarawalterellwood.ceradubois/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sara_w_ellwood

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6869635.Sara_Walter_Ellwood

The other books in Singing to the Heart…