Sarah Ballance

To date, HAWTHORNE has been my best-selling title, ranking #51 in Amazon ghost stories and garnering more reviews than anything else I've ever written. And the reviews … wow. They have been absolutely amazing and (eeep!) overwhelmingly positive. Between the readers and bloggers, it feels like this book has been everywhere, so I don't think I'm giving anything away to say HAWTHORNE ends with a twist—one that has left readers  with a lot to say. But the thing they say most often? They didn't see it coming.

Most folks are pretty surprised to learn HAWTHORNE and I got off on the wrong foot. There was a lot of glaring and some heels dug in, and I won't say who was more stubborn—myself or the characters. (*grin*) What I will say is I spent about a month trying to get the ball rolling, stuck in chapter one because something just didn't feel right. Finally I vented to my husband, and it was at that point he came up with the idea to add a paranormal element. (Only he didn't say it that way. It was more like, "You like ghosts. Add a ghost." LOL.) And can I just say my husband is brilliant? ;c)

Inspired  by his idea, I abandoned the first chapter and worked on the last scene. Once I had that down—once I knew the point to which I was writing—the rest of it FLEW. And just like that, HAWTHORNE was born. A vengeful ghost changes two lives forever, and every single moment of the story leads to that unforgettable twist at the end when the truth comes out. Muahhahaaaa! *rubs hands together with glee*

But wait! There's more! (Did I pull that off all infomercial-like? LOL.) The story of the stately old mansion resting on the banks of the Mississippi doesn't end there.  HAWTHORNE harbors many secrets yet to be revealed, and the mysteries uncovered in book two are shocking extensions of what Noah learns in his search for the missing documents in book one. So for now I hope you'll enjoy HAWTHORNE, and once you've read it I hope you'll join me in looking forward to the continuation of the story in HAWTHORNE: UPRISING. If you've enjoyed HAWTHORNE, you definitely won't want to miss the rest of the story, because, to quote the tag line, "When these walls talk, worlds unravel."

On HAWTHORNE:

"Ms. Ballance will absolutely blow your mind with this haunting tale." – Nikki (full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/207207102)

"When I finished it, honestly, all I could do was sit there - a little awestruck." – Laura Mcquillen (full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/204853663)

"Sarah Ballance does an amazing job of creating plot twists, subtle foreshadowing, and a sense of peace when you hit the end, that you're left speechless and dumbfounded" – Carrie-Lynn (full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/225592622)

HAWTHORNE is available for just $1 from Astraea Press, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. For more about Sarah Ballance, please visit her website at http://www.sarahballance.com/ or her blog at http://www.sarahballance.wordpress.com/, where all e-mail subscribers are automatically entered in a weekly gift certificate giveaway.