PLEASE MAKE WELCOME BEST SELLING AUTHOR AMANDA MCINTYRE

I have been a fan of Amanda's for several years. Not only is she an awesome author, but a fantastic friend.  I am so pleased she was able to stop by my blog for some insight into what she is like and what is coming up next when comes to her books!

Please tell us a bit about yourself.

My dad, as it happens was a regional rep for a large magazine publisher, so I grew up perusing such classics as Vampirella and Monsters, Inc. magazine. I love Alfred Hitchcock stories as well as Poe, so it’s a wonder that I don’t write more paranormal I suppose. My reading tastes, like my music has always been eclectic. But the one aspect of my writing that I attribute to my formative years is the delight I take in investigating the darker side of my storytelling, with lots of twists and turns added in;)

How did you fall into writing and becoming a published author ?

I think I’ve evolved into a storyteller. I am an artist and my dream was to be an cartoonist for Disney, but life happens (as it often does) and I like to think that I now paint pictures with words.

I was the last person in our house to think we needed a computer. (Ha!) I started out writing a weekly newspaper column on the importance of the Fine Arts in schools…from there, I found Lori Soard, then president of the online chapter of RWA (Romance Writers of America)and she was a wonderful tutor. I took some writing classes, and eventually did some reviewing of many genres before the writing bug bit me. That was about 14 years ago and the journey has been amazing.

Is writing something you’ve always wanted to do? 

Not at all. I loved to read. I loved to express my storytelling by way of my sketches and painting.  I think having kids also gave me greater incentive to write. We surrounded our kids with books—fiction and non-fiction—when they were growing up and too the newspaper column opened my eyes more to what was out there.  Once I began to let my imagination run free, I began to pen stories as though painting a picture. I’m still a very visual writer.

Out of all the books you’ve written, do you have a favorite and why?

I don’t have a favorite. Each one is like a literary tattoo on my soul of where I was in my life at that time.

If you could go back and rewrite the ending for one of your books which book would it be?  

None of them. LOL Is that weird?

Where do you get your plots and your characters from? 

Everything…one line in a song, observing people in real life, a news clip…its often said authors are like sponges absorbing the emotions around them…so true.

I know you’re one busy lady, so tell me what you do when you have some downtime.

I love spending time with family and friends. Getting back to nature, walking, traveling the backroads of this country, being near the Great Lakes-(yes, any of them, I’m obsessed)

Do have any particular authors who are your favorites? 

As far as reading, I have many. As far as who they are as people, there, too, I have many. I do make it a rule not to read in the genre that I’m currently writing and actually researching is one of my favorite reads!

Can you tell us what’s next on your schedule?

 My current WIP is RENEGADE HEARTS, Book III in the Kinnison Legacy series. I also have another series in the wings and a possible few more books to spin-off from the Kinnison books. I will be releasing my time-travel duet—Tales of the Sweet Magnolia-Wild & Unruly, Book I and Fallen Angel, Book II—on March 20(first day of spring!) as a boxed set! There may yet be more tales from the Sweet Magnolia as well!

And is there any type of advice you could give aspiring authors? 

There is tons of advice out there. Learn your craft. Nurture your imagination. Be kind. Be tenacious. Understand there will be hills and valleys, it’s about doing what you love.
And is there anything you would like to say to your fans? My heart is full of gratitude when I hear that someone has enjoyed one of my stories. My readers are my greatest inspiration!

Three men. One legacy.Meet the Kinnsions and the women who will tame them!

Rugged Hearts-Wyatt

Rustler’s Heart-Rein

Renegade Hearts-Dalton/Coming 2015

Amanda has been referred to as a "true artist in the writing realm' and her zest for life inspires her "character-driven" stories. Her passion is to take ordinary people and place them in extraordinary situations, delving into the realm of potential and possibility as she watches them become the heroes and heroines of their own stories. She counts herself fortunate to be able to do what she loves, aspires to stay fresh and unique to her voice and listen to her readers.