I never intended to be a published author. It just happened. One night, when my husband was at work and the kids were in bed and there was nothing on TV, I sat down and started writing a book of my own, simply for the fun of it. I knew nothing about writing or publishing, but that didn’t matter, since I never expected anyone else to read what I wrote. I wrote three stories and hid them under the bed.
One day, when talking to a couple of girlfriends, one of them mentioned she was writing a book, and I blurted out that I had written one, too. She asked to read it. I was horrified. I couldn’t imagine letting anyone else read what I’d written. However, after much wheedling on her part, I gave in and let her read my book. It was COMANCHE FLAME. She said it was very good, very visual, and that I should try to get it published. Encouraged by her praise, I let my best friend read it. She loved it and said it was just as good, if not better, than a lot of books we were buying. After considering their words, I decided to try and find a publisher.
Well, that was no easy task. As I said, I had no knowledge of the book business. My friend suggested I get a copy of Writer’s Market and look for book publishers, which I did. Thus began six years of sending out query letters, being asked for the manuscript, being rejected. Eventually, after 31 rejections, I sold a book. My first sale was the third book I had written and was called RECKLESS HEART. I’ve been writing ever since.
After 14 historicals, I wrote a short story called MASQUERADE, which was published by Topaz in a book called THE TOPAZ MAN PRESENTS SECRETS OF THE HEART. That book is now out of print, but Masquerade was republished in an anthology titled AFTER TWILIGHT. But I digress. I loved writing about vampires, loved my dark, dangerous, tormented hero! I was hooked…or bitten, if you will, and knew I had to do more, and so it was that Amanda Ashley was born.
One of the great things about being a published author is all the wonderful people I've met because of it, both authors and readers (online and off), that I never would have met otherwise. These wonderful people include both of my critique groups, and my amazing editor, Alicia Condon.
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