~Author Spotlight ~ Amanda Dick ~

Amanda Dick is a night-owl, coffee addict, movie buff and music lover. She loves DIY and has tried pretty much every craft known to man or womankind.

She believes in love at first sight, in women's intuition and in following your heart. She is rather partial to dark chocolate and believes in the power of a good vanilla latte.

What lights her fire is writing stories about real people in trying situations. Her passion is finding characters who are forced to test their boundaries. She is insanely curious about how we, as human beings, react when pushed to the edge. Most of all, she enjoys writing about human behaviour - love, loss, joy, grief, friendship and the complexity of relationships in general.

After living in Scotland for five years, she has now settled back home in New Zealand, where she lives with her husband and two children.

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Q & A with Amanda Dick

What do you want people to know about you and your process?

My process relies heavily on inspiration. Once that spark hits me, I can happily write 2000 words a day, split into 3 sessions - one half hour session after breakfast, the same during my lunch break from my day job, and the same when I get home from work. I have a really busy life, with my family, my day job and various other things, so my time is precious and I've learnt to utilise it wisely. Working this way, I can have a first draft finished within 2 months. It usually takes me another month to edit it before sending it off to my lovely beta readers (of which Kat is one!), then I await their feedback. If there are any plot points that flag as problematic for the majority of them (not just one or two, but over half - I do allow for readers having their own opinion, which may be different to mine!), I'll look at them with a view to altering them. Once that's done, I send it off to my lovely editor, and we work through any other issues that may arise. After that, it's all publication stuff, which is very different to writing stuff :-)

When did you know writing was what you wanted/needed to do?

Writing was something I've always done. It's an outlet for me. I picked it up when I was about eight years old, writing stories in notebooks that I'd hide under my mattress so no-one would find them!

Does any music/situations/media inspire your writing process? If so, what?

Mostly, I write in silence - I have to concentrate. But to set the scene, I sometimes listen to music that will get me in the right frame of mind for the scene I'm about to work on. Movies have been known to mend writers block, as has the occasional TV episode. I think, when I'm writing and fully immersed, the story is mostly already in me, so I can happily work away at at. But when I get stuck, that's when I walk away from writing for a while and allow other influences to bolster my creativity. A spark can come from absolutely anywhere, so it helps to be open to it!

Will we see any new works from you soon? What will they be?

I've just spent a month in Scotland, visiting family and friends, and lapping up the atmosphere. My next novel will be set there, and is due out around April/May 2017. It's a return to the romantic suspense genre and I can't wait to get into it!

Favorite wine and favorite chocolate :)

I'm a bubbles girl, so anything bubbly will suit me, particularly if it's sweet! Prosecco, Lambrusco, Spumante - absolutely anything that sparkles ;-) As for chocolate, I love dark chocolate in particular, but honestly, I've never met a chocolate I didn't like...

Favorite movie/television programs?

Far, far too many to mention! I watch a lot of movies and TV. On the plane to Edinburgh (that's one long-ass haul from New Zealand, let me tell you - 23 hours!), I watched 11.22.63 - loved it! I tend to binge-watch a lot - love Netflix!

Top five reads? (all time or current, your choice)

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Outlander - Diana Gabaldon (yes, love that TV series too!)

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

The Heart and the Fist - Eric Greitens


What are your favorite foods?

Mexican, Italian, Thai, Turkish... and chocolate. Have I mentioned chocolate?


What’s the best way fans can reach out to you?

I'm not fussy - I love hearing from fans! Either by my author page on Facebook (amandadickauthor), via Twitter (amandadick_), Instagram (amandadickauthor), by email (amandadickauthor@gmail.com) or via my website (www.amandadick.com).


Will you be attending any signings or conventions? Where and when?

I wish! No, unfortunately living Down Under (New Zealand) has it's disadvantages. One day, maybe. I'm kinda shy though :-)

Book Sales Links

Absolution - Amazon US Amazon UK

Between Before and After - Amazon US Amazon UK

The Trouble with Paper Planes - Amazon US Amazon UK

Sliding Down the Sky - Amazon US Amazon UK

In the Shadow of Satellites - Amazon US Amazon UK

Absolution

Jack McKenna is a man with two very distinct pasts.  One ended with a car accident involving his girlfriend, Ally, and a split-second decision with horrific consequences.  Desperate to escape the guilt, he disappears, beginning a new life - four years of hiding in the shadows, fighting strangers for money and punishing himself for not having the courage to go back to her.  One past filled with love and friendship and family, the other filled with violence and shame and relentless loneliness.

Ally Connor’s life was split in two - before the car accident that shattered her spine, and after Jack’s sudden disappearance.  Abandoning her when she needed him most, offering no explanation, she fought hard to make it back from the brink.  The face she shows to the world is strong and courageous, but behind the mask, the pain is burrowing deeper.

Then, fate threw a curveball that neither expected.  A funeral, a homecoming and a journey of self-discovery that would change both their lives - if they let it.

Suddenly, the secrets they want to hide from each other are the very secrets that could make them whole again.

Genre: Contemporary/Romance/Suspense

Release date: First Edition - 29 October 2013, Second Edition - 7 January 2015

Between Before and After

Five friends. Three days. One heart-stopping discovery.

Three years ago, Danny Morris left behind a gun, a tonne of questions and a gaping hole in the lives of those who loved him. What he didn’t leave was a suicide note.

On the anniversary of his death, his closest friends gather at his parents’ beach house in New Zealand's idyllic Marlborough Sounds. Danny’s girlfriend, Kate, is fighting valiantly against her blossoming feelings for his best friend, Finn, afraid she is somehow betraying his memory by moving on. Max is self-medicating with alcohol, fighting off nightmares he refuses to talk about as the memory of finding Danny’s body continues to haunt him. While Finn is finally ready to admit to himself that he is drawn to Kate, trying to save Max from himself dredges up long-buried anger and frustration that threaten to overwhelm him.

Three years ago, a single bullet ricocheted through all of them. But instead of time easing the pain, it has created a new set of problems.

How do you leave the past behind when it's right in front of you?

Genre: Contemporary/Romance/Suspense/NA

Release date: 31 May 2014

The Trouble with Paper Planes

I’ve always believed in what I can see, what I can hear and what I can touch. Surfing was my religion and destiny was just a fairy-tale. But one summer, over ten days during the hottest February on record, all that changed. I found hope – the kind of hope that sustains you, even when you don’t want to be sustained.

The night Emily disappeared, I was branded. She became the girl on the ‘missing’ posters, and I became the one trying to keep everyone from falling apart. I thought that somehow it would keep me from being devoured by the emptiness inside me. Five years later, I was beginning to appreciate how deluded I really was.

Then Maia showed up. New in town, with a past as mysterious as she was, she reminded me so much of Emily that I couldn’t stand to be anywhere near her. What I didn’t realise was that there were forces at play that neither of us could possibly understand.

It takes a determined soul to alter destiny. There is a loophole, a back door, and the events that unfolded during those ten days showed me how that loophole can change everything.

Do you believe in fate? If so, let me tell you my story. If not, what happened to me might change your mind.

Genre: Contemporary/Romance/Suspense

Release date: 14 July 2015

Sliding Down the Sky

Callum Ferguson has grown up in the shadow of the sins of his father. The worst moment of his life came not at the age of sixteen, when he threw his father out of the house, but later in life, when he realised he was just like him. With a predilection for alcohol and violence, he sees his destiny every time he looks in the mirror.

Sass Hathaway, hell-raiser and successful musician, thrived in the limelight – until one night she lost it all. Drowning in an ocean of uncertainty, nursing a crippling case of self-loathing, her brother offers her a chance to find herself again.

His idea of salvation is a dilapidated bar. His proposal; she help him and his wife renovate and run it. However, when she and Callum cross paths, they both discover that salvation comes in many forms.

You can’t escape your past, you can only come to terms with it so that you can move on – but accepting your past is only the beginning. Then you must decide whether you’re strong enough to follow your heart.

This can be read as a stand-alone, but reading ‘Absolution’ is recommended in order to get the most out of this story.

Genre: Contemporary/Romance

Release date: 8 April 2016

In the Shadow of Satellites

Memories are precious, and for Sian Bennett, they are fleeting. On 22 February 2011, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake rocks Christchurch, New Zealand. Sian was there, along with her husband and baby son. What happened that day is a mystery; all she remembers is waking up in hospital five months later, alone.

Two long years pass, and the memories continue to disappear into the black hole that was opened up the day of the quake. Life becomes a perilous journey lived on a tightrope that stretches between the past and the present. Retreating to a lakeside cottage in Rotorua, she shies away from a world she no longer understands.

When Luke Lancaster moves into the derelict cottage beyond the trees, he respects his reclusive neighbour’s silent plea for privacy. Now half a world away from his native North Carolina, he has seen war, misery and chaos. Along with his dog, Geezer, he lives with a few ghosts of his own.

What begins as a fragile friendship leads to a much deeper connection, in which truth, lies, love and pain are intimately bound. Even in paradise, shadows lurk.

A slow-burning tale of loss and love, stoked in the flames of fate and superstition, it is ignited by the power of hope.

Genre: Contemporary Romance (stand-alone)

Release date: 22 August 2016

1x Kindle copy of each book (so that's 5 giveaways),
along with one set of signed postcards of Amanda's books
(open internationally)

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