Monday, April 11, 2016

Interview with Amanda K Byrne, BROKEN DOWN


Can you give us a brief overview of your latest book? Is it part of a series?
Broken Down is book two in the Hidden Scars series. Shane, lead guitarist and singer of the band Thieves, loses his brother and turns to his ex-lover, Krista, for comfort. She’s convinced he’s not going to stay; he realizes he never should have left. But Krista’s hiding something from him that may push him away for good.

Have you ever had a minor character evolve into a major one?
Did that change the direction of the novel at all? Sort of. Krista first appears in Hidden Scars (she’s Sara’s best friend), and while I’d originally intended for Hidden Scars to be a standalone, Krista decided she wanted her own story (yes, my characters are annoying voices in my head), and Broken Down was born, giving me the second book in the Hidden Scars series.

Are you currently under a traditional publishing contract for future books or do you have manuscripts that you will self-publish? Are you doing both?
I’m currently under contract with Lyrical Press, an imprint of Kensington. The first book in my New Adult romantic suspense trilogy will be released this summer! I’ll continue self-publishing, if the project’s right. Look for the next book in the Hidden Scars series to release in June of 2017.

What is your writing process? Do you listen to music or do you like silence?
I tend to bounce between projects when I’m in the drafting stage until one really grabs my attention. I usually write a 1000 to 1500 words a day when I’m drafting, but I’ve learned over the years that if my brain isn’t giving me new words, it’s better to turn the laptop off for the day and do something else. I make playlists for a lot of my books, though I rarely listen to music when I’m actually writing. I don’t like having someone else’s words in my ears when I’m trying to write. If I’m drafting a fight scene or one with a lot of action, though, I might listen to classical music. Morten Lauridsen (a choral composer) is a favorite. His pieces are gorgeous.

Do you outline your story or just go where your muse takes you?
Outlines scare me. When I get an idea, I may make notes or write out a synopsis to help keep it in my head, but that’s about it. Usually I just write chapters until I either reach the end of the story or I run out of steam. That means I have more than a few unfinished stories lying around, but I’m okay with that.

Do you find it difficult to juggle your time between marketing your current book and writing your next book?
Not really. I find the best marketing tool is to write the next book, and I would almost always rather be doing that. So I’ll set aside about fifteen minute in the morning to check in on social media and then do it again around lunch time and then again in the evening, but the rest of my time is spent on the next book.

What advice would you give a new author just entering into the self-publishing arena?
Take your time, learn everything you can first, ask lots of questions, and do not, under any circumstance, skip the copy editor. And keep your expectations reasonable. If you’re a debut author, it can take time to build your audience and make back the money you spent, so don’t give up!

Besides writing, do you have any other passions?
Reading. While everyone else is binge watching the latest season of Daredevil or House of Cards, I’ve got my nose in a book (though Underwood on House of Cards is a spectacularly manipulative son of a bitch. I kind of love him). I’m also a big baker. It’s relaxing.

Some fun facts about you, which do you prefer – dogs or cats? Chocolate or vanilla? Coffee or Tea? Talk or Text? Day or Night?
I’m a cat person. My partner doesn’t like cats (and he’s allergic to boot), and he gets irritated with my cat pretty easily. I would rather email than talk or text. I rarely talk on the phone with anyone, and text message notifications annoy me, even if the phone’s on vibrate. Give me hot cocoa any day over coffee or tea – Ghiradelli makes the best hot cocoa mix.

What’s next for you?
2016 is a busy, busy year for me. The first book in my New Adult romantic suspense trilogy, Game of Shadows releases in July, with book two, Game of Vengeance, releasing in October. I’m also in an anthology with Teresa Noelle Roberts, Tina Donahue, and several others, set to release sometime in August. Nine short novellas, all set in New Orleans, all pretty steamy. Mine is called Sultry; it’s a friends-to-lovers story about a guy who has a sort of embarrassing request to make of his closest female friend.


Book & Author Details:
Broken Down by Amanda K. Byrne
(Hidden Scars #2)
Publication date: April 12th 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary

Synopsis:
The one thing he could do for her was let her go. Until he couldn’t.
When Thieves’ guitarist Shane Jones lost his close friend to a freak accident, Krista Conner helped him through the worst of his grief. He kept their late-night trysts a secret to protect her from the tabloids, and when she broke up with him, he let her go.
But he never got over her.
Months later, his world is rocked again by the death of his brother mere weeks before the biggest Thieves album yet. Grieving and desperate for peace, he tracks Krista down, craving the salvation he found in her sweet spirit. Only this time, he’s determined not to leave.
Krista left Shane because her life was a mess. She’s rebuilt it, piece by challenging piece, making some hard decisions along the way. She’s settled into a new city and a new life, and for the first time in a long time, she’s content and happy. Then Shane turns up, promising to stay, promising to care. Promising everything.
Shane’s the one she wants, but the toughest choice she made could drive him away for good.


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AUTHOR BIO:
When she’s not plotting ways to sneak her latest shoe purchase past her partner, Amanda writes sexy, snarky romance and urban fantasy. She likes her heroines smart and unafraid to make mistakes, and her heroes strong enough to take them on.
If she’s not writing, she’s reading, drinking hot chocolate, and trying not to destroy her house with her newest DIY project. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and no, it really doesn’t rain that much.

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