Bar Yarns w/ Gracie Macgregor & ‘Hearts on Hold’ Giveaway

I met Gracie at her Calypso Bar. Now here she is at Calingarry Crossing pub having a bar yarn and a …. warmed olive? Oh well … Find out about the Calypso Bar below, along with details of how to WIN a copy of Gracie’s novel Hearts on Hold.

Come on in, Gracie. Grab a pew. What can I get you to go with your beer nuts? (Shandy? Wine Spritzer? Pink Lemonade?)

I have recently discovered this amazing Swedish strawberry and lime cider: it’s the very essence of harvest time! Tall glass, lots of ice, please!

Okay, well, here’s a beer coaster. How about a beer coaster blurb for Hearts on Hold?

The strongest sunshine casts the darkest shadows…

Cate Boyd is searching for a place where nobody knows her name. The sleepy Maltese village of Xlendi offers privacy, anonymity, and the serene life she craves, far from her former world. But her peace is shattered when monolithic development company Vena announces its plans to level her village, and threatens to expose Cate’s secrets if she stands in its way. The arrival of seductive, nosy professor Brandon Blackshaw seems too coincidental for comfort — especially when she discovers that Vena is his research partner. As the pressure mounts, Cate must decide which is more important: her hard-won privacy, or the future of her beloved Xlendi.

Hey, did you hear the one about … Tell us a joke (preferably one that comes with a punch line you actually remember!)

A footballer walks into a bar. You’d have thought he’d have seen it.

I’m a beer nut nut! What bar snack would you be and why?

Sadly, I can’t “do” nuts, or I end up doing a run to the nearest hospital. It gets pretty ugly. Instead, I’ll be perfectly content with a lovely bowl of mixed olives – warmed, if you wouldn’t mind. I don’t want much, do I?!

Ahh, that beer hit the spot. Let me slip a drink coaster under your glass while you tell us: are you a messy desker or tidy desker? (NB: 1 = “I am a neat nut case” and 10 = “What desk? Where? Is there a desk here somewhere?”) Are you game to post a working space picture right now?

Sure. Happy to post a picture of my desk. It’s not where I work, though, because it’s got a bit of other stuff on it at the moment. I wouldn’t necessarily call it messy. “Messy” seems like such a pejorative term. I think my desk is… industrious. Really? You’re really going to make me rate it? Ok. I’m a 1. Just not where my desk is concerned.

The publican offers you free drinks all night if you will:

• Dance to Gangnam Style
• Sing John Denver’s ‘Take me Home Country Roads’ on the Karaoke machine
• Spend an hour washing dishes

Which do you choose?

Can I have the drinks before I have to sing for my supper? John Denver all the way, baby. Why should my poor little Mazda be the only one to suffer?

Time to liven the place up. Got a buck? We can crank up the old jukebox in the corner. You get to pick three songs. (FYI- Links to You Tube clip)

1. Merry Clayton’s “Yes” from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack:
2. The Finns’ “Anything Can Happen”
3. Wendy Matthews’ “If Only I Could”

An author, an agent and a chicken walk into the bar… how do you know which one crossed the road?

It doesn’t matter. The author’s going to have the best story about what happened next.

There’s a stapler on the bar. Tell me what it’s doing there.

Keeping a tight grip on its (bank)notes?

The pub is the heart of a small town and most locals would be lost without one. What are three things you’d be lost without?

1. Choc-coated coffee beans. They’re sometimes the only things that keep me sitting at the space-which-is-not-my-desk pounding on my keyboard. Until I have to      get up to refill the bowl. Then all procrastination bets are off.
2. My iPad. I do not like Macs as a rule (heresy, I know), but I do love my iPad.
3. My gorgeous teenaged son. I’ve left him until last in the list just so he doesn’t get too embarrassed. Or too full of himself. He’s already far too confident in his ability to get me to do pretty much whatever he wants!

Shhh! The last race of the day is on the TAB screen and I reckon I’ve picked a winner. I browse the race guide with the jockey colours influencing my bet. When browsing a bookshop, what influences you? (Order this list: Author. Cover design. Title. Tagline/blurb. First chapter. Last page!)

1. Author
2. Author
3. Author
4. Tagline/blurb
5. Tagline/blurb
6. Author. I have no memory for titles, I rarely notice covers and I NEVER read first or last pages before I can sit down and read the book from go-to-whoa.

There are a few good prizes up for grabs in the bar jackpot. Do you have a lucky number?

Your lucky number is: 7. No, 8! No! 3! Sorry, I’m not being greedy. I used to be indecisive but now I’m not so sure.

Last drinks, my friend! It’s been great. But before we go, tell us how we can find out more about you and your writing/books.

Jenn, thanks for asking, and thanks for inviting me along to the harvest, I’ve had terrific fun!

Readers can find me in these places:

Website & The Calypso Bar!:  www.graciemacgregor.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GracieMacgregorAuthor

Twitter: @graciewrites

Escape Publishing: http://www.escapepublishing.com.au/product/9780857990594

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/GracieMacgregor

BOOK GIVEAWAY TIME!

Jenn, I’d love to give away a copy of “Hearts on Hold” (epub format or PDF) to your choice of the best answer to this question:  One of the least-recognised benefits of choc-coated coffee beans is …

Okay folks, over to you. You have about two weeks. Gracie and i will still be in the bar so we may need a nudge!