New in Town!

Posted on March 17, 2016 by escapepublishingblog

Dulili is suffering a people drought. Over the years more people have moved away than have arrived to stay in this old New South Wales farming town, and now only a handful of young families and elderly residents are left. The locals put a plan into action to entice newcomers: offering the town’s empty houses to people from anywhere in Australia. Who could resist renting a beautiful homestead for a dollar a week?

Three writers, one town, three stories…

How do you make a collaborative writing endeavour work? Take Catherine Evans, Lisa Ireland and Jennie Jones and have them like each other! Then have them wrangle the necessities of creating one fictional country town in need of help. Give them a few weeks of emailing back and forth across three states and hey presto! Dulili, a forgotten town in NSW is born.

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The series A Dollar for a Dream is made up of three stories, each a stand-alone book, but each set in the town of Dulili (which means Together).

All three stories will be available together in a paperback called Last Chance Country in all the usual places at the end of March.

We wondered what kind of inspiration our authors had for writing their story, and they said: ‘being new in town’. We couldn’t resist asking why…

Jennie Jones—A Heart Stuck on Hope

heartstuck Coming from a countrified town in Wales, my biggest ‘new girl in town’ moment was moving to London when I was 18 to spend the next three years of my life in drama school. London is a big city. It seemed to me like all the suburbs were simply one large town themselves.

And in all the 15 years I lived in London, I only got to know about seven or eight suburbs really well, although I could drive through London without a problem, and without GPS, I might add.

But that was when I was young—and everything is so much easier to handle (mainly) when we’re young, because we’re enthused and adventurous even if a bit shy, like I definitely was.

When I reached what people think of as ‘adulthood’ (I refuse to think I’ve truly grown up—where would the fun be if that happened?) it got a lot tougher.

Remember joining the new book-club group? The mothers and babies group? Or nodding hello to a group of women in the local grocers who were chatting, and having to walk on when nobody asked you to stop and talk because you were the new person and they hadn’t sussed you out yet?

Scary stuff! And yet everyday ordinary stuff that everyone has to go through.

Living in London taught me many things that are valuable to me now as both a person and a writer of small town country stories. For starters, I discovered that I don’t ever want to live in a city again.

But living in a big city taught me to venture out and discover what’s on offer when I moved to smaller towns. It taught me to see, understand and appreciate friendships, no matter how fleeting— even a great conversation in the local deli about the weather makes you feel part of something when you’re the new person in town.

I remember so many fleeting friendships or acquaintances from the varied new towns I’ve had to live in. People in corner shops. Odd characters who lived in my street. The lady I met on a bus. They all touched my life in some way. I thank them for that.

Lisa Ireland—Honey Hill House

honey When I took up a teaching position in the small town of Longford, Victoria, I wasn’t too worried about moving from the city to the country. In fact, I relished the thought of all that fresh air and beautiful scenery. I was sure I’d adapt easily. After all, I was from farming stock. My dad grew up on a dairy farm and I’d been holidaying in the country all my life.

Turned out, living in a tiny country town wasn’t quite as I expected! (Are you surprised?)

My introduction to the harsh realities of living in the bush came in my second week of teaching. I was at the school’s annual ‘Welcome Bush Dance’ when a lightning strike started a grassfire nearby. The fire siren sounded and half the school’s parent population disappeared to go fight the fire. I had no idea what I was supposed to do in such a situation.

Fortunately the grassfire was short-lived, because of the torrential rain that followed the lightning. Unfortunately this created a new problem—flooding that cut us off from the nearby regional centre. The usual ten-minute drive into town was now a 100-kilometre round trip. The locals were all well prepared for this, but with no groceries, a near-empty fuel tank and no petrol station in town, I was in a spot of bother.

It was then that I learned the true beauty of living in the country. Offers of help came from far and wide for the new girl in town. Sure, I had to cop a bit of good-natured ribbing about being such a city slicker, but my fridge was filled and I had a ride anywhere I needed to go for the few days the flood persisted.

Evolving from a certified city chick to a bone fide country gal took some time, but I had a lot of fun learning and, thanks to some old-fashioned country hospitality, I was never short of company (or advice!) along the way.

Catherine Evans—The Healing Season

healing When I was preparing to leave home I got some advice from my family that has always stuck with me—not saying it was all good though *big grin*.

Mum’s advice: It’ll take at least three months before anything feels familiar. You can’t come home for 12 months; you have to give it a fair go.

Grandma’s advice: Always have fruit cake in the cake tin so you can offer it to visitors.

Da’s advice: It’s bloody cold in winter so wear thick socks and have a damn good coat.

Those first few months in a new town were hard. Mum was right—nothing was familiar. I could have been in a foreign country for all that was recognisable to me. But I was desperate to learn, so I asked questions, devoured the local newspaper, shopped locally, joined clubs, and went out to events in town.

Almost to the day of being three months in Wagga Wagga, I was doing the groceries and I met a lady from work also shopping. I almost fell over myself saying ‘hello’. She must have thought I was nuts but to me it was a sign that I was beginning to settle in. And that was a huge relief!

Winter was cold, and thick socks and a coat were a good thing. Not so sure about the fruit cake, though it may have been applicable if you were the new bank manager’s wife, as Grandma was in her day. But country hospitality was amazing—it just took a while to kick off. I think Mum’s advice was the best I was ever given…except she should have said those first three months could feel like years!

Feed Your Reader: new Feb releases

Posted on February 25, 2016 by escapepublishingblog

Released February 25…

A small town romance sent against the romance of the beautiful Dandenong mountains about loss, lies, and the courage to live true.

There’s nothing left for Adele Devereux in Sydney: no job, no relationship, no hope, and no diagnosis for her shy, uncommunicative daughter. So she packs her bags, takes her meagre savings, and moves her small family to the country. She never expects to meet Tom Wade, a man facing his own hopeless situation, but whose kindness reaches her daughter in an unexpected friendship. Adele finds herself drawn further in to the community – and into her attraction to Tom.

Introducing the new Dollar for a Dream rural romance series

Move to the country for $1 a week…

Dulili is suffering a people drought. Over the years more people have moved away than have arrived to stay in this old New South Wales farming town, and now only a handful of young families and elderly residents are left. The locals put a plan into action to entice newcomers: offering the town’s empty houses to newcomers from anywhere in Australia. Who could resist renting a beautiful homestead for a dollar a week?

A Heart Stuck on Hope

Honey Hill House

The Healing Season

Adversaries to Lovers

Posted on February 3, 2016 by escapepublishingblog

In ‘Enemies to Lovers’ week of our romance-literature tropes series, Jennie Jones tells us about the version of the trope that made its way into The House at the Bottom of the Hill.

The House at the Bottom of the Hill stars Daniel Bradford and Charlotte Simmons.

Are Dan and Charlotte enemies? More like adversaries, although one of them doesn’t know that. Then they become lovers and it gets a whole lot more complicated for both of them—and everyone around them.

I found inspiration writing the adversity in The House at the Bottom of the Hill. It gave me a whole new platform of scenarios—and not only for Dan and Charlotte.

You see, Dan knows he’s doing something that will affect Charlotte’s new business. Problem is, the townspeople don’t know about Dan’s secret to upgrade his business. And nobody knows that newcomer Charlotte isn’t intending to go through with her proposed business. So the Enemies (or Adversaries) to Lovers trope gave me heaps of interesting and sometimes humorous scope to weave in the secondary characters and have the whole issue affect everyone in town, and even the town’s future.

Charlotte is the new owner of the pink B&B in Swallow’s Fall and Dan runs Kookaburra’s— the local pub. Now, even though Charlotte only intends to stay in town long enough to find answers about her mother’s death many years ago, she can’t stand looking at that flamingo pink on the B&B walls and wants to repaint it yellow. Cue outrage from those on the town’s committee who don’t like change and don’t like Charlotte much, either.

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So Charlotte is in a muddle about the B&B because she doesn’t want to leave it looking old and sad. Dan is in a muddle about whether or not he should come clean with her about his about-to-happen upgrade to the pub (which will put them in opposition and probably wipe her out of business), and the townspeople don’t know any of it. Yet.

There are challenges in writing, full stop. But there are also challenges involved when choosing which trope you want to write. I always try to grow my story (and therefore the heroine’s and hero’s journey) through the trope – which means it’s got to affect everybody in the story and cause conflict for more than just the heroine and hero.

Oh—and sometimes, I don’t think about the trope. It simply finds me and the story as I write—usually from whatever dilemma the heroine and hero have in their hands and in their hearts when I first put chapter one together and discover who my main characters are.

(I must add that by use of the term ‘heroine and hero’ I refer to the woman and the man who are my main players—the woman and man I cheer for while writing. And given that they come through sometimes hard, sometimes exasperating, circumstances, they are my heroine and hero for simply getting through it all and out the other side. Much the same as we all do in life—we do get there, wherever ‘there’ is. It’s not easy, but isn’t it wonderful to relax, sit back and read about our fictional heroines and heroes doing it their way while giving us a break from our reality? And maybe giving us inspiration to keep chasing whatever or wherever it is we’re meant to be too…)

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Whatever the trope, it can be used to great effect, and I believe this is the way a writer can understand and get around that perfectly correct adage, ‘It’s all been written before—what are you going to do to make it fresh?’ We weave the trope into the storyline in such a manner that it’s ultimately important to our main characters, and yet simultaneously reaps an awful lot of conflict or problematic scenarios for the people in their environment—which means our heroine and hero have to grow, commiserate, reflect, re-charge, renew previously held ideals, and ultimately, in the case of a romantic story, find their own way to their own happy ever after.

No heroine or hero in a good romance story is delivered their happy ever after. They have to chase it.

From the best-selling author of The House on Burra Burra Lane, comes a story about opposites, attraction, an outback pub, and a pink house…

Christmas Titles

Posted on December 24, 2015 by escapepublishingblog

If you love them, we’ve got them!

Contemporary Christmas!

We can recommend all of Rhian Cahill’s holiday titles, but her latest is super fun.

For a man called Chris Kringle, Christmas is the most magical time of the year. But this year, there’s something about a certain elf that’s grabbed his attention in the best of ways.

Christmas Magic!

Like your Christmas with a bit of sparkle? Try this funny, sweet story about a ghost, 12 Daves, and true love…

A beautiful, uplifting holiday story from bestselling author Juliet Madison about a lonely writer, her grandmother’s ghost, a road trip, and twelve different Daves.

Country Christmas!

The small town of Swallow’s Fall will make you feel the Christmas spirit, even if they have to force it upon you…

From the author of the internationally bestselling The House on Burra Burra Lane comes a Christmas story — country style.

Heart-warming Christmas

Not everyone gets to spend Christmas with their loved ones, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be special…

What began as an impersonal-but-cheerful holiday gift for a soldier far from home becomes so much more…

Sweet Christmas

Because what’s Christmas without a special treat?

It’s going to take more than a few pieces of chocolate to fill this Scrooge’s heart with Christmas cheer. Luckily Candice Cane has a whole shop full…

Christmas that’s out of this world

For SFF fans – we haven’t forgotten you!

What if your only chance at survival was to seduce the man who broke your heart?

December Recipes – Decadent Delicate Shortbread

Posted on December 4, 2015 by escapepublishingblog

by Jennie Jones

My favourite Decadent Delicate Shortbread biscuit recipe to enjoy any time of the year.

Jennie’s note: The biscuits will be thin and crunchy to the bite, but still have that buttery melt-in-your-mouth shortbread-gorgeousness – and beware, the pastry is so delicate that when you roll it out, you won’t be able to pick up the pastry to turn it once it starts to get thin.

JJones_ProcessPic_Shortbread

Makes 30 biscuits

Oven temp: 150C

Two large baking trays greased with butter or lined with baking paper
100 gm icing sugar
200 gm unsalted butter, softened
200 gm plain flour
100 gm cornflour
(Optional: 50 gm of finely chopped crystallised ginger, or finely grated zest of one large lemon)
Castor sugar for sprinkling

Method:

Cream butter and icing sugar very well using an electric mixer.

Add sifted flour and cornflour and fold with a metal spoon. (At this point, also add crystallised ginger or lemon zest if using.)

The metal spoon will only do so much, so get in with your hand and knead in the bowl until all the flour has been mixed, then take half the pastry and roll out on a very well-floured surface to ½ centimetre thickness. (This pastry is soft and will be difficult to move or turn while rolling.)

Cut into preferred shapes – scone cutters are perfect, as are star and heart cookie cutters.

Use metal baking spatula to slide off the floured surface and onto your prepared baking sheet.

Repeat with the other half of pastry.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes, but keep a careful watch after 25 minutes to ensure they don’t brown too much. They should be golden in colour.

Remove from oven and transfer to wire cooling racks.

Sprinkle with castor sugar while warm.

Devour when cool.

JJones_Finished Shortbread

Bestselling Australian author Jennie Jones takes us back to Swallow’s Fall for one more story: Gemma has a burning need to stay and make a home. All Josh has ever wanted is to get out. Now he has the chance, and all he needs to do is tie up a few loose ends…

Try one of Escape’s Rising Stars of Romance – for Free!

Posted on August 26, 2015 by escapepublishingblog

Apple iBooks Australia is promoting the Rising Stars of Romance for the next two weeks, and many Escape Authors are featured. The best part? You can get the first book in one of their series for free!

Most of these titles are also free on Amazon AU. So check them out!

House on Burra Burra Lane – Jennie Jones

Just ten days after her fresh start in the isolated Snowy Mountains, Samantha Walker trips over a three hundred pound pig and lands in the arms of Dr. Ethan Granger — and the firing line for gossip. It was hardly a ‘date’ but sparks of the sensual kind are difficult to smother in a community of only 87 people. Now there’s a bet running on how long she’ll stay and what she’ll get up to while she’s in town.

Ethan has his own issues — Sammy’s presence in his childhood home brings with it painful recollections of family scandals and a bad boy youth. When the gossip around them heightens, his life is suddenly a deck of cards spread on the table for all to see. Then Sammy’s past catches up with her… and it looks like all bets are off.