Aloha to Anne Ashby and WILDERNESS LIAISON - a special guest from New Zealand

Yesterday was ANZAC Day - a day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand.  From the Australian War Memorial (AWM) website (at this link):

ANZAC Day goes beyond the anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli in 1915. It is the day we remember all Australians who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. The spirit of ANZAC, with its human qualities of courage, mateship, and sacrifice, continues to have meaning and relevance for our sense of national identity.

In honor of ANZAC Day, I invited Anne Ashby - a New Zealand writer and a New Zealand veteran! From her bio (at this link),

I grew up in the tiny town of Colac Bay, in New Zealand's most beautiful province, Southland. Books and my widowed mother's storytelling filled a huge part of our family life when I was young, mainly because it felt like we were the last family in New Zealand to get a television set. I guess I'm a chip of the ole block.

Kim:  We love international travel here at SOS Aloha! Tell us about New Zealand - your favorite sight, smell, and sound! 

Anne:   If you’ve ever heard of New Zealand, I bet you’ve heard some interesting tales. You’ll know our beautiful little island nation is populated by 40 million sheep and little else. You’ll know people pop across the Sydney harbour bridge to New Zealand for tea. You might also know we bred the best rugby players in the world. I wonder if you can pick which sentence is actually true? In case you’re not sure, I’ll tell you. We do have 4 million people so we’re catching up with the sheep. The Sydney harbour bridge might be quite big but I don’t think any engineer has figured out how to bridge 1200 miles of water yet. So, yep, you’ve got it, go to the head of the class – NZ has the best rugby players in the world. Come visit us anytime from February until September and you’ll find a rugby game happening somewhere. 

Kim:  What kind of stories did your mother share while you were growing up?

Anne:  I was so fortunate to have a mother who is a born story-teller. Before television stole much of family interaction, she filled our heads with stories, mostly of her family and childhood. Some were tragic and poignant while others were hilarious. My intense interest in genealogy began at her knee and has never waned. It’s taken me across to the other side of the world to joyful ‘reunions’ with cousins so far removed we lost count. But the best thing Mum shared with us was the joy and satisfaction a book can bring by reading to us until we were old enough to read ourselves. 

Kim:  You are a Navy Vet - can you share a reward and challenge of being a woman in the New Zealand Navy?

Anne:  Gender issues never concerned me during my 21 years in the RNZN. I found working alongside men and women equally rewarding. The 70’s and 80’s were changing decades, both in the world and in the Navy. The transformation and integration of women into former male roles was the most dramatic during my service. Fortunately I was too senior to be eligible for re-training for sea service – I’d always hankered to try sea service, but only for a couple of weeks, I’d never wanted a two year posting to a floating unit. Where would I put all my books? Remember this was pre-ereaders. I was fortunate to have served in all RNZN shore communication stations including Singapore where I spend a wonderful two years. But my heart lay in training and I spent much of my service in this challenging role. My greatest reward? An invitation to the thirty year reunion of a class of new trainees, where 12 of my 14 girls congregated to celebrate their own varied service time. I was a very proud mother hen. 

Kim:  Who or what helped you become a published author?

Anne:  I accredit my achievement to Silhoutte author, Loree Lough from Maryland. I was a closet romance reader before attending a “writing romance” course she ran in MD. Within a few months I had written my first story, “Worlds Apart” and had found the courage to accept Loree’s offer to edit it for me. Along with her mass of red pen scribbles on my virgin work was her encouraging comment “this will get published” – it took eight years circumnavigating the planet numerous times between publishers, but finally it happened. I’ll never stop being grateful to Loree for giving me the confidence to pursue my dream. 

Kim:  Tell us about your new book!

Anne:  My latest release is called Wilderness Liaison and was released by The Wild Rose Press in March. I’ve been finding my writing feet a little, I thought combining US/NZ characters and playing on the many varying differences between our customs and language (as I did in Worlds Apart) was a solid idea, but since I returned from our sojourn in USA I’m hankering to include more of NZ in my stories. Half of Wilderness Liaison takes place in a generic bush (forest) setting where my heroine is in her element as the guide for a team-building exercise. Her hero is a city boy, born and bred, and initially sees nothing interesting about the wilderness. We see another side of Jodie when the story shifts to the city, she’s confused and uncertain, volatile and determined to ignore her handsome hero, but guess what? It ends happily. 

  
Kim:  What's next for Anne Ashby?

Anne:  I needed to avoid the favourite “lose weight” New Year’s resolution so instead I pledged to submit at least four stories this year. I started with a hiss and a roar and got one away in February (I have to admit it was finished late last year – but my pledge was four submitted stories, I was very careful with my resolution wording lol). I’ve just been offered a contract so I’m very happy. In my current WIP, I’m taking a secondary character from Worlds Apart and writing his story. He’s been bugging me for years, and it’s about time to find out why he was so unhappy. Only problem is, being ‘part’ of another story, I have no choice about the setting. Justin’s Story (working title) takes place in Washington DC.

I have other ideas for stories set in NZ, showcasing our natural environment while pitting my characters against the elements/terrain/each other. And somewhere along the line, genealogy will certainly raise its head in a story or two. 

Mahalo, Anne, for joining us at SOS Aloha!  To learn more about Anne, check out her social media:

www.anneashby.com
www.facebook.com/AuthorAnneAshby
Twitter @AuthorAnneAshby
Plus her books from The Wild Rose Press at this link.

Anne's website offers an excerpt of WILDERNESS LIAISON at this link.  I am giving away an ecopy of WILDERNESS LIAISON to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about your New Year's Resolution - what was it?  Have you been successful so far?

I'm still battling the bulge ...

2.  This giveaway is open to all readers.  

3.  Comments are open through Saturday, April 28, 10 pm in Hawaii.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, April 29.

Mahalo,

Kim in Hawaii

April's month long giveaway is CLEAN OUT MY CONVENTION STASH. I will select one US reader, one Canadian reader, and one International reader from all my blogs posts in April at SOS ALOHA, THE READING REVIEWER, and ALOHA ON MY MIND. The US winner can select up to 10 books (to fill up a small flat rate box) from my current convention stash to make room for new books coming from RT 2012. The Canadian and International readers can select one book, too!

CLEAN OUT MY CONVENTION STASH is open through Monday, April 30, 10 pm in Hawaii. I'll post the winner on Tuesday, May 1.