Wednesday 10 December 2014

Meet My Character Blog Hop + Giveaway Prezzies


Hi again, and happy holidays!

Yes, I know – this is the time of year we tend to go a little crazy.  School events, work events, family events, friends events…  All the Events.  In amongst this, I’ve been working with my amazing editors to prepare Every Move for publication.  And we’ve done it!!  I mailed back the final passes today.  There will be final-final passes, and other fiddly bits, but Sophie is putting all the changes and little corrections through now (Sophie – respect), in time to send it off to the printer.  Which means we’ll have a Real Live Book in our hands very early in the new year!

But today I wanted to say hi to crime writer friends, with the Meet My Character blog hop.  This tour was kicked off by the lovely Sandi Wallace, who launched Tell Me Why just recently.  I was invited to participate by Angela Savage, whose most recent book in the addictive Jane Keeney series is The Dying Beach.  Angela is a good friend, a righteous woman, and a great writer – she launched Every Word for me in June, and I was delighted to accept her invite for the blog hop, answering a few questions about Rachel Watts and Every Move.


For the next stop on the blog hop, I’ve invited Nansi Kunze and Candice Fox to join us – they’ll be posting up their answers on their own blogs here and here by Thursday 18 December.

Nansi Kunze is a mate – I’ve interviewed her once already here on the blog.  Nansi grew up surrounded by books in Australia and the UK. After studying languages and ancient history at university, she spent several years teaching overseas-trained doctors how to pronounce rude words and teenagers how to mummify each other, while cultivating a taste for manga and video games in her spare time.  Kill the Music is her third novel, following on the success of her previous two, Mishaps and Dangerously Placed. Nansi lives on a small farm overlooking the Victorian Alps with her husband and son, and is currently hard at work on her next YA book (assuming that ‘hard at work' is synonymous with ‘researching glamorous locations on the internet').

Candice Fox is the middle child of a large, eccentric family from Sydney's western suburbs composed of half-, adopted and pseudo siblings. The daughter of a parole officer and an enthusiastic foster-carer, Candice was constantly in trouble for reading Anne Rice in church and scaring her friends with tales from Australia's wealth of true crime writers.  Bankstown born and bred, she failed to conform to military life in a brief stint as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy at age eighteen. At twenty, she turned her hand to academia, and taught high school through two undergraduate and two postgraduate degrees. Candice lectures in writing at the University of Notre Dame, Sydney, while undertaking a PhD in literary censorship and terrorism. Hades is her first novel – it won the Ned Kelly Award for best debut in 2014. Eden, its sequel, was published in December this year.

Now on with the blog questions!

1/ What is your character’s name?

Rachel Maree Watts

2/ Is your character fictional or historical?

Definitely fictional – although she and I share a deep appreciation for flannie shirts and hot, intelligent men.

3/ When and where is your story set?

Every Move is contemporary – ie. set in the present day – and the characters travel from deepest darkest North Coburg to the Mallee area near Ouyen.  It’s the final book in the Every series; the first book, Every Breath, kicked off Rachel’s adventures in Melbourne, and the second book, Every Word, saw her travel overseas for the first time, to London, where she and her BF, Mycroft, investigated a murder and got into a whole lot of trouble.

4/ What should we know about Rachel?

Rachel grew up on an isolated sheep farm in the Mallee, and being raised a country girl has made her pretty physically tough and enduring.  She has a lot of practical skills – running a pump, driving a ute, shooting a rifle, climbing onto the roof to clean the gutters of dead possums…that sort of thing.  Her personal style runs to jeans, boots and t-shirts/flannies, and she generally ties her brown hair in a knot to keep it out of the way when she’s working.

She’s a fighter.  She’s also incredibly stubborn (what? Another character trait I share?  Certainly not - I’m not like that at all…) and her other defining personality quirk is that she’s fiercely loyal, and has a strong sense of family.

Rachel turned seventeen near the start of the first book, Every Breath.  Another important fact about her: she’s in love, with a certain dark-curly-haired, Sherlock-wannabe called James Mycroft.  Being involved with Mycroft has drawn Rachel into some hair-raising situations - murder, mystery and mayhem, not to mention the disapproval of her parents - but Rachel’s pragmatism and cool head in a crisis have generally seen her through.

5/ What are Rachel’s personal goals?

To keep her family together, and safe from Mycroft’s personal nemesis ‘Mr Wild’.  To recover from the trauma she endured in London – although she’s not sure how to do that.  To work out what’s going on with herself and Mycroft.  To discover who she really is and where she fits in. To pass her Year Twelve exams!

6/ What’s the name of the book, and can we read more about it?

Every Move is the title, and you certainly can!  It’s coming very soon. 

7/ When is it published?

1 March 2015 through Allen and Unwin.

If you haven’t checked them out already, you can catch up with the previous books Every Breath and Every Word here.  Hope you enjoyed this stop on the blog hop, and please do go and check out the other wonderful authors at their stops!

Giveaway
Now – in the spirit of holiday cheer, I’ve decided to give some stuff away.  And here’s the stuff!
Prize 1 is the North American edition of Every Breath














Prize 2 is a two-book set of Every Breath and Every Word











Prize 3 is a hot-off-the-press ARC of Every Word from Tundra (this prize only available to North American/Philippines readers).

If you’d like to win one of these prizes, please comment here on the blog, or on Facebook, @elliemarney on Twitter, or @elliemarney on Instagram.  Tell me what is your personal goal for 2015 (do you want to pass your Year Twelve exams, like Rachel?) and which prize pack you’d like to win.  My son will pick a name out of a hat I’ll choose a winner next week, and let people know before Christmas.  All prizes will be mailed out in January 2015.


That’s all from me for a while, folks.  We’re heading off on our annual family camping trip the day after Christmas, so I won’t be back online until January.  Many thanks for reading, and for keeping me company this year – it’s been a blast!  Lots of love and hopes that you all have a lovely Christmas and holiday season (may you receive many books!), and all the best for the New Year
See you in 2015!

Xx Ellie


19 comments:

  1. I'm hoping this isn't AUS only, because this American is salivating! My personal goal for 2015 is to find a paying job in publishing. (Fingers crossed.) And I'd love to win prize pack #2, pretty please. :)

    Thanks for the giveaway, Ms. Marney, and for telling us more about the awesome Watts!

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  2. My goal for 2015... probably the easiest one I have will be to read 250 books next year. I almost hit that this year, but I think I'll end up being a bit short.

    I'd live to win prize #2 - Thanks so much for the giveaway and I seriously can't wait for book 3!!

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  3. Thanks for the fantastic giveaway, Ellie!! I've been dying to get my hands on a copy of the North American edition of Every Breath! While I love my Aussie editions, the Every trilogy is one of my favourites, so I need to add that beautiful edition to my collection as well. :) My personal goal for 2015 is to make it through my first year of university studying forensics and a well-organised manner. :D Thank you so much for the giveaway chance once again and I hope you have a merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy your camping trip with your family, too - it's been too long since I've been camping.

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    1. Also, I loved reading more about Rachel! Her and Mycroft are such wonderful characters! :D

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  4. Yay Ellie! Thanks for this blog and the enticing glimpse into Every Move! I can't get enough of these characters, I swear. My personal goal for 2015 is to finish my current manuscript which has taken longer than I expected due to the amount of research needed, and I'm interested in prize pack number 2 :)

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  5. Thank you for this opportunity. My goals in 2015 are to successfully finish college and get a degree. I would also like to get a driving licence! :)
    My choice is prize pack number #1.

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  6. Eeeeek, thanks for a fabulous giveaway! It would be the BEST Christmas present EVERRRR, to win this brilliant prize! ;) I have pretty much worn my library copies of Every Breath and Every Move to worn little tatters of frazzled, fangirled over papern! ;)

    Personal goals for 2015 is to be more organized, strive to make my writing better, and knuckle down with school!

    Merry Christmas and have a lovely time camping with your family! :D xx

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  7. My 2015 goal is to tackle my finances and maybe stuck to a budget. Or, you know, just buy more books. I've been trying to find a local copy of Every Breath so prize 1 would be fantastic!

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    1. Hi Laura, you won! Congratulations! Email me at elliemarney[at]gmail[dot]com with your details and I'll post your copy of the North American edition of Every Breath out in January. Have a cool holiday season! xxellie

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    2. Hi Laura, I'd love to send out your prize but I don't have your addy! Quick, let me know so I can send it! xe

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  8. My 2015 goal is to be more productive in general. Life has not been the kindest to me in the past year so I'm hoping it'll be better next year and can actually fulfill my dream of starting my own business. *fingers crossed*

    Thank you for the very cool giveaway! I have heard SUCH great things about your book(s)

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    1. Ooo, and I choose prize pack #2!

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    2. Hi Lisa - you won! Drop me a line at elliemarney[at]gmail[dot]com with your deets, and I'll send that lovely two book set your way in the New Year! xx Ellie

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    3. Hi Lisa, quick, drop me a line so I can send out your prize! xe

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  9. I have had some big things happen in my life this past month so I've been looking at my life and seeing things I'd love to change. This question hits home for me. I want to make each day count and focus on the good this next year. I allow my emotions to get the better of me and let little things get me down. I want to stop doing that. As for which prize pack--HOW CAN I CHOOSE??? I think I'd prefer prize 2. No, prize 3. All of them?

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  10. Hey Ellie! My goals for 2015 is a series of goals so I can become a badass at life. Nah, I'm kidding, I'm already pretty cool. These goals are just for me to have a bit of a constant shin diggle in my life. Like watch the sunrise everyday for 30 days. Not sure if mission impossible, but it wouldn't be classified as impossible if it was actually possible and always achievable. (Which every mission impossible movie was, mind you.)

    Anyway, I really want prize 3 because I love your series so much and I really want to find out what happens. It's so well done, so very very well done.

    I hope my comment is still valid, I've been away for 2 weeks and didn't have internet access. Keep doing what your doing!

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    1. Hey there - congrats, you won! Pass on your deets via my email addy - elliemarney[at]gmail[dot]com - and I'll ask Tundra to kindly send you the ARC for Every Word! xx Ellie

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  11. My goal is to apply for and get in to grad school. I want to study social work, hopefully with a focus on HIV.

    What a great giveaway! I've been trying desperately to find your books, but no libraries in my state have them yet. So I guess I'd prefer prize 2!

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