Ask the Author: Amanda Hamm
Answered Questions (14)
Amanda Hamm
Before goodreads removed that feature, I copied and linked all the excerpts to the corresponding book pages on my website. www.amandahammbooks.com
I'd like to make a page with a list of the excerpts similar to what used to be available here, but I've not yet found the time to create something like that. It's possible that's also available on the site if you're reading this long after I answered it.
I'd like to make a page with a list of the excerpts similar to what used to be available here, but I've not yet found the time to create something like that. It's possible that's also available on the site if you're reading this long after I answered it.
Amanda Hamm
I have four books planned for the Love in Andauk series. Everything Old and Into the Fire are already available. I'm hoping to have the third book released by the end of November.
Amanda Hamm
No. However, there is a short story that precedes it called The Study Group. This is Annie's story. It is available only as an ebook, but it is free on many sites.
Amanda Hamm
I wrote about that bonus meet cute shortly after I released the book. However, that was three years ago. Amazon has since deleted discussion forums from their product pages. The story still exists here though I expect that may eventually disappear as well.
Amanda Hamm
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)
Amanda Hamm
I’m not sure yet. I want to call it Sofie Waits. When I told my husband, however, we had a conversation that went something like this:
Him: She waits? She just waits? That makes it sound like nothing happens.
Me: You’ve read my books, right? It’s not a thriller.
Him: Yeah, but she waits? That’s not even an action word.
Me: Something happens when she waits. It makes sense when you read it.
Him: It doesn’t matter how clever it is if no one reads it.
Me: Do you know how long it took me to come up with that?
Him: Do you want people to read the book?
Me: Yes. And I like that title.
Him: That doesn’t make anyone want to read it.
Me: I would read a book called Sofie Waits. If it had an interesting description and a good cover and…
He was just shaking his head at me at this point so I gave up trying to convince him. Now I’m trying to decide if being stubborn about the title would be tenacious or just pig-headed.
Him: She waits? She just waits? That makes it sound like nothing happens.
Me: You’ve read my books, right? It’s not a thriller.
Him: Yeah, but she waits? That’s not even an action word.
Me: Something happens when she waits. It makes sense when you read it.
Him: It doesn’t matter how clever it is if no one reads it.
Me: Do you know how long it took me to come up with that?
Him: Do you want people to read the book?
Me: Yes. And I like that title.
Him: That doesn’t make anyone want to read it.
Me: I would read a book called Sofie Waits. If it had an interesting description and a good cover and…
He was just shaking his head at me at this point so I gave up trying to convince him. Now I’m trying to decide if being stubborn about the title would be tenacious or just pig-headed.
Amanda Hamm
The first three things that come to mind are:
1. In Andrew's Key, Andrew tells a story of his brother jumping off a garage roof. That actually happened to my dad. He was being Superman, not a paratrooper. There was glass and turpentine involved. He has a nice scar.
2. Two young boys in Jealousy & Yams call each other “you old lady” when they fight. I watched my daughter and my nephew doing that when they were I think 3 and 4 years old. I have no idea who started it or what made them decide that was an insult. I thought they were cute.
3. A friend of mine told me about a time her mom came to visit and accidentally made cookies with salt in place of sugar. No one ate those cookies but I turned it into a story of siblings being mean to each other in Said and Unsaid.
1. In Andrew's Key, Andrew tells a story of his brother jumping off a garage roof. That actually happened to my dad. He was being Superman, not a paratrooper. There was glass and turpentine involved. He has a nice scar.
2. Two young boys in Jealousy & Yams call each other “you old lady” when they fight. I watched my daughter and my nephew doing that when they were I think 3 and 4 years old. I have no idea who started it or what made them decide that was an insult. I thought they were cute.
3. A friend of mine told me about a time her mom came to visit and accidentally made cookies with salt in place of sugar. No one ate those cookies but I turned it into a story of siblings being mean to each other in Said and Unsaid.
Amanda Hamm
Of course. I have never based a character on a real person and the primary plots are pure fiction, but many of the minor incidents or stories that my characters tell are loosely based on my own reality. It was the large crazy family that made My Big Fat Greek Wedding so entertaining. At one point, the main character says that she has 27 first cousins. I have 28. I also have 3 siblings, 4 kids and 10 nieces and nephews. It would be a shame to let all that material go to waste.
Amanda Hamm
I’m excited and nervous about the next one because it contains a lot of flashbacks and that’s something I haven’t done before. Chapter 1 tells us that Sofie is avoiding someone named Austin, with whom she has a fairly long history. Every other chapter shows a scene from that history, gradually working up to why things are awkward between them.
Amanda Hamm
In this book, the reader gets to know all the things that the heroine thinks but doesn’t say. There was actually very little of that in the first draft so I was pretty far into the editing before Said and Unsaid presented itself as a fitting title. I had been getting concerned about naming the book because the only possible title I thought of before that was Something Borrowed, and I was not happy with that.
Amanda Hamm
Because she doesn’t look like the main character from the front. Very few of my books have people on the covers and there are no faces. That’s deliberate. It really bugs me when the person on the front of a book doesn’t match the picture of the main character that I get in my head. I remember once reading a book about a woman with brown hair. Every time her hair color was mentioned, I had to stop reading to think, "Then why is there a redhead on the cover?!" I try not to do that to anyone else.
Amanda Hamm
The most honest answer to this question is "I don't know." I plan to delay the first book until I have at least notes on the full series so I can release the books closer together. I haven't had much time to work on it because I have a side project that is refusing to remain on the side. My best guess is that I'll have a new book ready in the summer of 2015. Possibly the end of the summer.
Amanda Hamm
All of my books start in my head. I need to imagine a scene before I can write it down. This means I can sit and daydream and call that work. “Do you mind putting the kids to bed by yourself tonight, honey? I’m really busy staring at this notebook.”
Amanda Hamm
I’ll answer this one backwards. There is no description on the book page because it’s due to release in November. It is barely August. I’m still working on it.
I took the picture when I was visiting family last Christmas. I grew up in that town and while I’m not going to tell you its current name, it was originally called Hartford. That’s where I got the name for the town in the books so it seemed appropriate to use it on the cover.
I appreciate the rare compliment on one of my covers. (see here for details) More often I end up with stories like this one:
After I put myself on the cover of The 4th Floor Lounge, I was afraid I’d be given a hard time for being vain enough to think I’d pass (even from the back) as the gorgeous college student described in the book. But I ended up zooming in more than I originally planned and a surprising number of people didn’t even notice there was a person on the cover. My husband showed it to a friend at work who happens to be a graphic artist. Just in case it wasn’t embarrassing enough to have my work in front of a professional, my husband told him that I was on the cover. Then the other guy actually said, “She’s a chair?”
I took the picture when I was visiting family last Christmas. I grew up in that town and while I’m not going to tell you its current name, it was originally called Hartford. That’s where I got the name for the town in the books so it seemed appropriate to use it on the cover.
I appreciate the rare compliment on one of my covers. (see here for details) More often I end up with stories like this one:
After I put myself on the cover of The 4th Floor Lounge, I was afraid I’d be given a hard time for being vain enough to think I’d pass (even from the back) as the gorgeous college student described in the book. But I ended up zooming in more than I originally planned and a surprising number of people didn’t even notice there was a person on the cover. My husband showed it to a friend at work who happens to be a graphic artist. Just in case it wasn’t embarrassing enough to have my work in front of a professional, my husband told him that I was on the cover. Then the other guy actually said, “She’s a chair?”
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