Meet the #Author - Anna Hackett

Please tell us a bit about yourself:

I’m Anna Hackett and I write action romance stories to thrill, excite and hopefully leave my readers inspired. I write about people overcoming unbeatable odds and achieving seemingly impossible goals to inspire you with the truth that the possibility exists for all of us to do the same.

I blame my parents for my insatiable need to mix action and romance. When I was young, I raided my mother’s romances and as soon as I could reach the shelf, my father’s action adventure thrillers. I love being exhilarated and left just a little breathless. I love car chases, explosions and spaceships…and of course when the boy wins the girl. Oh, and I’m a sucker for that moment when the team is walking in slow motion, shoulder-to-shoulder heading off into battle. I’ve been a sci-fi fan as long as I can remember: Star Wars, Star Trek, BSG, you name it.

I grew up in Australia—running around in the sunny weather and turning my mother’s outdoor furniture into spaceships. As a mining engineer, I’ve traveled the world from icy, subarctic Northern Canada to the heat of Southern Africa. On a work trip a few years ago, I ran out of books to read in the evenings (this was before the days of my beloved Kindle) and I decided I’d have to try writing my own. A passion was born.

I’ve been living in Africa for the last year—yet another adventure—but my hubby, son and I are now headed back to sunny Australia. Oh, and by the time this hits the SFR Brigade blog, I’ll have a new little bundle of joy (another son) in my life! 

Tell us about AT STAR’S END:

First off, today is release day for AT STAR’S END! I am super excited.

AT STAR’S END is a non-stop, action-packed adventure across the galaxy. It’s a good old-fashioned treasure hunt tossed a long way into the future.

A rogue treasure hunter and a rule-loving astro-archeologist team up to find the legendary lost colony of Star’s End…reputed to be the resting place of the last surviving fragment of da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Needless to say, the route to get there is hardly straight or safe and these two make sparks fly!

This is the first book in my new PHOENIX ADVENTURES series. There’ll be more action-adventure treasure hunts as the hero of AT STAR’S END, Dathan Phoenix, has two brothers in desperate need of their happily-ever-afters.

What inspired you to write this particular story?:

I’m a huge ancient history fan (I’ve visited Egypt twice) and I love reading about the exploits of treasure hunters, explorers and antiquarians of centuries past. Adventures like that aren’t possible anymore…we’ve either discovered it or the law doesn’t allow it. Then I realized I could write my own treasure hunt, set well into the future, with archeologists and treasure hunters searching for the artifacts that remain of our world.

Oh, and of course, I have this burning need to mix action and romance in all my stories. Put that all together and you get AT STAR’S END.

Please share a favourite snippet from your book:

A quick glance and Eos saw four armed men headed for them.

“Time to go.” Dathan gripped her arm. “Stay low.”

They ran along the line of the roof.

“Up there.” He pointed to some sort of tower topped with a small terrace.

She followed and resisted looking down. She wasn’t afraid of heights but she didn’t love them either.

Suddenly there was the loud roar of engines. Dathan’s salvage ship, the Infinitas, hovered above them. The ship’s body was shaped like a scorpion. A large movable tail was a powerful crane and the two large pincer claws at the front were, she guessed, excellent for in-space salvage.

In the angular synth-glass cockpit at the front she could just make out Zayn at the control screen and Niklas’s large frame leaning over him.

A line fell down in front of them. Dathan clipped the end onto a hook on his belt. “You’ll have to wrap yourself around me.”

She didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around his neck.

“And the legs. Don’t want to lose you on the way up.”

He helped boost her up and she wrapped her legs around his lean waist.

She forgot all about being chased. As the line retracted and they whizzed upward, she stared into his blue-green eyes.

That handsome, battered face was so compelling. So much life. Adrenaline and the flush of success zinged through her veins. It felt good.

He was hot and hard pressed against her in the most intimate way. If she moved her hips, she’d feel the hard ridge of him settle against the space between her legs.

She was attracted to him. To a man she wasn’t sure she even liked. But he was just so alive, leaped into adventure, into life, in a way she never had.

It had to be the adrenaline making her feel like this. Nothing else.

They jerked to a stop. Niklas hauled them aboard the ship. “You two okay?”

She nodded, releasing Dathan and standing on shaky legs.

“There a reason Eos was wrapped around you like a pleasure worker? You could have used the secondary harness I sent down.”

Her gaze dropped to the second harness rigged to the bottom of the line. She smacked Dathan in the stomach. “Idiot.”

Which comes first for you – a character's looks, personality or name?:

This is a hard question…I think it’s different for each character but most of the time it’s personality. Take Dathan Phoenix for example – I knew he’d be a rogue, a treasure hunter, a loyal brother, a little wild and daring – his name and looks came after.

Any tips for aspiring authors?:

Write, write, write. Write every day. There’s no magic secret to learning to write or to writing more except to sit down and do it.

Questions for fun:

If you had the power of time travel, is there anything you would go back and change? Why/why not?:

No, I don’t think so. I believe everything happens for a reason and we can learn from everything that happens to us. Besides, I wouldn’t want to mess with the time line and accidently change things I didn’t want changed!

What super-power would you choose?: Teleportation. I have far too many frequent flyer miles and have spent far too many hours on planes (and with a toddler). I’d love to zap myself wherever I needed to go.

If you could have three wishes, what would they be?:

Health, wealth and happiness. No, really. Good health for me, my kids, my family and friends. Wealth from doing the things I love to do and so I have the opportunity to give my children fabulous opportunities and experiences, and to help others. Happiness from seeing all my dreams become reality.

Coffee, tea or wine?:

Oh, a tough choice between my beloved red wine and my tea (Earl Grey, hot). I’ll go with tea.

What is your favourite book? (aside from one of your own!):

I don’t have just one! I do have favorite authors which include Nora Roberts, Nalini Singh, Pamela Clare, Wilbur Smith and Matthew Reilly. That said, I am a HUGE Pride and Prejudice fan.

Favourite genre and why?:

Action romance. I find good action romance spread across paranormal romance, science fiction romance and romantic suspense. But I definitely lean toward paranormal and sci-fi. It’s always fun, thrilling, exciting and leaves me inspired.

Favourite colour?: Red. A nice deep wine-red or blood-red, not red like a tomato!

Upcoming news and plans for the future?:

Book #2 of the PHOENIX ADVENTURES will be coming soon. It’s called IN THE DEVIL’S NEBULA.

The last three short stories in my WINDKEEPERS series will be out after Devil’s Nebula. These are action romance with a paranormal background (based on Roman mythology) and feature some sexy brothers.

And I have a brand new action romance series, TEAM 52, coming in the second half of the year. I am SO excited for these books to hit the virtual shelves.

Oh, and a new baby. That’s some pretty big news (-: <Congrats!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us!

So much fun to be here! I love the SFR Brigade and its dedication to all things sci-fi romance.

AT STAR’S END blurb

Dr. Eos Rai has spent a lifetime dedicated to her mother’s dream of finding the long lost Mona Lisa. When Eos uncovers tantalizing evidence of Star’s End—the last known location of the masterpiece—she’s shocked when her employer, the Galactic Institute of Historic Preservation, turn its back on her. Left with no choice, Eos must trust the most notorious treasure hunter in the galaxy; a man she finds infuriating, annoying and far too tempting.

Dathan Phoenix can sniff out relics at a stellar mile. With his brothers by his side, he takes the adventures that suit him and refuses to become a lazy, bitter failure like his father. When the gorgeous Eos Rai comes looking to hire him, he knows she’s trouble, but he’s lured into a hunt that turns into a wild and dangerous adventure. As Eos and Dathan are pushed to their limits, they discover treasure isn’t the only thing they’re drawn to…but how will their desire survive when Dathan demands the Mona Lisa as his payment?

Buy Links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes | ARe

Where readers can find me:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads