I was given the incredible opportunity
to sit down and have some one-on-one face time with the attending authors at
the recent Houston event. It was a blast! I got to pick their brains for five
minutes each. Thanks to all of you who submitted questions, I was armed and
prepared. ~Nadine
We’ll be featuring a different author
and their interview here for the next several days. Make sure you scroll to the
bottom and enter the AMAZING Rafflecopter for your chance to win a SIGNED
paperback from each attending author and keep scrolling for another chance to
win various swag from the event. If you submitted a question on either My
Secret Romance’s Facebook page or Oh Whimsical Me’s Facebook page, you get
extra entry points.
Today’s spotlight is Amanda Bennett! You asked the
questions, she answered them. Enjoy!
What
inspired you to start writing?
I’ve always loved writing since I was
probably 12 or 13. I wrote a lot of poems and then from there I just decided 'oh
I’m going to write books'. And then luckily enough the self-publishing thing
came along. I had a lot of really bad past relationships that fed my desire to
start writing. That’s what started it for me.
What
are you planning to do next?
I have two books in the works. I have
The Likeness Within which is more of a supernatural. It’s vampires, but it’s
not your basic vampires. Then I have Protecting Lindley which is more of your
typical romance, but it’s fun. It’s about a U.S. Marshall and he’s super yummy.
I’m excited for that one. I’m half way through writing it. That one will be out
in May.
You
have a paranormal. You write contemporary romance. What other genres do you
have?
I have New Adult and college age.
Any
genres you’re wanting to dip into?
The supernatural and all that stuff is
what I definitely want to get into. I’ve always wanted to do it, so I was like
let’s try it. So the story is just like coming. So it’s next. It’s exciting.
If
you could turn one of your books into a TV series or a movie, which one would
you choose?
Probably the Raine series. It’s my
favorite. I like it cause it starts out more in the YA genre, then it moves in
to the New Adult and all that stuff. The storyline I think is really fun and
easy for younger people, and older people, to relate to.
Do
you have a dream cast?
I use to. The guy that I actually
pictured for him was the guy in Dolphin Tale. He’s not well known. He’s so
adorable. So adorable. Love him. So I see him for sure. Girl wise, I don’t
know, I really don’t. (Note: I goggled and I am now a fan! His name is Austin Stowell people. Austin Stowell. 6'2". Hot!)
When
you write and you picture these characters in your head, what do they look like
to you?
A lot of it is, some of the main
characters have my attributes like physical and stuff. It’s easier for me to go
off of that for the main character. But then a lot of the secondary characters
are friends or ex-boyfriends. Some of the guys are a mixture of my husband and
just random stuff. I tend to picture who I would like to play that part
famously people wise. But I don’t know them personally, so it’s kind of hard. I
take people from my everyday life and just oh I’ll add that there.
Coming
up with character names and book titles has to be hard. How do you do it?
It’s so hard. Titles, I usually will
start writing the book and then I just let it kind of come to me. The newest
book coming out is called Protecting Lindley and it was originally called
Hiding Desire, but I changed it cause to me sometimes if it sounds to romancy I
want to change it so it fits the characters. Character names, I go with
uniqueness. I try to think of the most unique names that other people haven’t
heard.
What
was the time frame from start to finish for your first book?
It took me a year and a half to write
my very first book.
Which
one was your first?
Time to Let Go and it’s based on actual
life.
Who
do you fangirl over?
I would have loved to have met the
Bronte Sisters and stuff like that. All the people I love are dead.
The chiming of the bells signaled it was time to move on again. I had so much fun meeting Amanda. She's a sweetheart!
About Amanda
Amanda currently lives in Utah with her
many men (her husband, two little boys, and two dogs). She is an avid San
Francisco 49ers and Dexter fan. In high school she developed a love for writing
and story telling, and in the past couple years has made it her passion, as she
just released her ninth book.
