Friday, April 11, 2014

Houston Author Event Interview & Giveaways: Day 5 Spotlight on Amanda Bennett




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.

Connect with Amanda Bennett: Facebook | Website | Goodreads

 



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