Guest Post: The Not So Secret Life of an Author by Amanda Brooke

THE NOT SO SECRET LIFE OF AN AUTHOR

By Amanda Brooke

I signed my first book deal in 2011 and ever since then I’ve been living a double life, not least because I write under a different name. I still work full time and for the most part, my home life and day job have carried on as normal, excepting of course I have to fit in a huge amount of writing into what I laughingly call my free time.

It might have been five years since I was given the honour of calling myself a published author, but I still find it thrilling, daunting and a bit of a surprise when I visit a library to give an author talk or take a trip to London to meet my editor or my agent and have to introduce myself as Amanda Brooke. I have the temptation to pinch myself every time because for the majority of my life, I’m still the same old me who has worked for the same employer for the last thirty years and does the weekly shop. If you live in Liverpool and have ever been in a supermarket and noticed a strange lady staring in shock at the bookshelves, it might have been me checking out my latest book. I’ve often been tempted to nudge whoever is standing next to me and whisper, ‘I wrote that,’ but I’m not that brave. Instead I take my shopping home, make myself a cup of coffee and then switch on my laptop so I can carry on working on the next novel.

There’s no denying that it is hard work, much harder than I could have anticipated when I signed my first book deal. Back then, the contract was for two books which would be published a year apart, and I’d already written one of them. Little did I know that the publishing industry was going through dramatic changes and  in a matter of years, it wouldn’t be good enough for an author to hide away writing all year and only reappear when the next book was being released.

These days you can regularly find me on Twitter and Facebook, not to mention the occasional guest blog and for good measure my latest book deal is to produce two books a year. It’s a wonder I have time to draw breath, but while it’s undeniably tough going at times, it’s also immensely rewarding. It’s a privilege to have someone pick up one of my books and invest their time reading it. It’s even more thrilling when I get lovely comments back from book bloggers and readers who make me realise it’s all been worthwhile. It’s the bloggers and the readers who spur me on to go home after a day in the office, open up my laptop and tell myself that for the next few hours I’m going to be Amanda Brooke.

♥ Amanda Brooke ♥ | Website | Twitter | Goodreads |

 

A huge thank you to Amanda Brooke and Jaime at HarperFiction. ♥

 

The Child’s Secret is released TODAY in paperback and ebook. I am reading this novel at the moment and it is shaping up to be SERIOUSLY good… Full review will be published next week.

 

A little girl is missing. Her parents are hiding something. Who will pay the price?

When eight-year-old Jasmine Peterson goes missing, the police want to know everything.

What is local park ranger, Sam McIntyre, running away from and why did he go out of his way to befriend a young girl?

Why can’t Jasmine’s mother and father stand to be in the same room as each other?

With every passing minute, an unstoppable chain of events hurtles towards a tragic conclusion.

Everyone has secrets. The question is: who will pay the price?

Advertisement