Guest Post : Author Elise K. Ackers

Today I am excited to share a guest post from author Elise K. Ackers. Enjoy her post and check out her new book Ask Me to Stay:

Guest Post 

Rushing to Relax

I’m writing this blog post whilst sitting in a crowded food hall in the middle of ever-exciting Melbourne. My heart’s still beating a little fast because I just bustled through the supermarket, hurried through the self-checkout and made a bee-line for one of the few empty seats. All for the purpose of a relaxing lunch break away from the office.

I left my desk wanting a change of pace, but honestly, I’ve done more charging than recharging.

I can’t remember the last time I just sat and thought. I always have my laptop or smart phone with me, or I’m in front of the television, or I’m doing something for the sole purpose of getting something out of it. I was sitting and thinking this morning, but I was at the gym. Even in the car I multi-task. 

I listen to audio books.

This isn’t to say that I wish I didn’t write my books on the train, or watch TV on the cross-trainer. And I love listening to books in the car – sometimes it’s the only way I have time to read. What I’m trying to say is that singular tasks have become a luxury for me.

Even walking the dog is about exercising, isn’t it?

But, when I can carve out time between being here and there and doing this and that to read a book; that is all I am doing. I am going exactly where the writer wants me to go and hopefully feeling exactly what the writer wants me to feel. I am in a whole new world. A world that, with any luck, affords me a little downtime.

I’ve taken to reading books which have a slower pace – books about the country, and the unhurried, more deliberate way of life there. Books about quests, because they take longer. Basically, I’ve given the fiction world ultimate responsibility for chilling me out.

Maybe it is because of the frenetic pace of my life at the moment that I wrote the Homeland books. The first in the series, Ask Me To Stay, has just been published with Destiny Romance, and it’s full of the country linger that I crave right now.

So if you're like me and you're rushing from one place to the next, wishing for more time and a chance to take a deep, cleansing breath, then this series might be for you. Ask Me To Stay is a novella – it’s a quick read with a strong focus on family, redemption, reputation and love. There’s romantic elements, a quaint country town in New South Wales Australia, and a cast of characters who may be just what you need to turn your eyes from the clock for awhile.

Me? I’m about to rush back to work. Then I’m going to the gym. Then a movie. But somewhere in there, I’m going to escape to the country again.

Ask Me To Stay
by Elise K. Ackers
Series: Homeland
Publisher: Penguin
Publication date: April 10, 2013
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Purchase*: Barnes and Noble/Amazon

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When family tragedy brings bad boy Ethan Foster home, he doesn't expect a warm welcome. In the small town of Hinterdown reputation is everything - and Ethan's was ruined long ago. Nobody wants him around, particularly not Sam O'Hara, the girl he left behind. There's still a powerful spark between them, but Sam is afraid to risk her heart again. And Ethan is hiding a secret that will have repercussions for his whole family. Will the townspeople ever forgive him? More importantly, will those he loves the most find it in their hearts to take him back? This tender tale of love and redemption is the first in a brilliant new series by Elise K. Ackers, author of Small Town Storm and the bestselling The Man Plan.

About the author:

Elise K. Ackers is from Melbourne, Australia. She writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense and is published with Destiny Romance and Escape Publishing. Elise is an animal foster carer, a magnet for unusual accidents and an enthusiastic couch commentator. Ask Me To Stay: A Homeland Book is her fourth book. The second title in the Homeland series will be available in July 2013. 

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Are you rushing to relax?