I can’t tell you what an honor it is to have this week’s guest – Anna Hacket is one of my personal favorite Sci-Fi Rom authors, and her Phoenix Adventures series is one of my automatic one-click buys. Today she talks about how a weekend away turned into her contribution to this year’s Pets in Space anthology:
How Anna Wrote Desert Hunter (also known as a good excuse for a writing weekend away)
I enthusiastically agreed to join the other awesome authors for the Pets in Space 3 anthology, and loved knowing it would be contributing to a wonderful charity like hero-dogs.org. Then I realized I’d already set my writing schedule for the year and would work out how to fit in writing my story, Desert Hunter, which is part of my Galactic Gladiators series.
As it turned out, I used it as a wonderful excuse to get away for a writing retreat with some fellow authors (the gang included fellow sci-fi romance author Michelle Diener, urban fantasy author Lana Pechercyzk, and contemporary and romantic suspense author Claire Boston). The four of us headed to the gorgeous Margaret River wine region in Western Australia. We spent three full days writing. We woke up and wrote in our pajamas. We visited coffeeshops and teahouses and wrote. We walked on the beach and headed back to our cottage to write. I also made all my friends drink out of Galactic Gladiators mugs!
I wrote my entire novella over that weekend. My body was in Margaret River, but my mind was on the distant alien world of Carthago with its deserts, gladiators, and dangerous beasts. I had a big tough desert hunter hero (that’s Bren), a smart, determined heroine (that’s Mersi), and a shaggy, wild desert canine playing matchmaker (that’s Fiend).
Here’s a snippet of Fiend’s matchmaking skills after being forced into a dreaded bath:
“I like him.” Mersi rubbed the dog’s head, letting his fur drop. “You’re so goofy and friendly. Now, time to get out.”
She laid a rug down on the ground and pulled out some drying cloths. Fiend leaped onto the rug, and Mersi rubbed the cloths over him. He flopped down, like he was exhausted.
She glanced up at Bren to make a comment, and saw he’d gone as still as a statue. He was staring at her chest.
Glancing down, she realized she’d gotten soaked during the bath, and the water had made her shirt almost transparent.
Fiend suddenly leaped up, headbutting Bren’s knees, and knocking him into Mersi.
His arms wrapped around her, stopping them from crashing to the sand. Drak, his body was so hot and hard. His fingers brushed the skin at her neck and she shivered. Her heart was pounding, and she licked her lips. Their gazes locked.
Anna Hackett is a USA Today bestselling author who loves action romance. She loves stories that combine the thrill of falling in love with the excitement of action, danger and adventure. For more info on Anna and her action-packed romances, visit www.annahackettbooks.com
