Amy Sanderson's Blog
August 4, 2015
'The Sky Below' now available!
I've been holding off on my latest release for a few months now, waiting until I had the second in the series almost complete. Finally, though, it's time to share my newest series, a steampunk fantasy adventure titled The Flight of the Lady Firene. Each of the books will work roughly as a standalone, whilst continuing key characters and a few plot strands across the entire series. Below are the details of book 1, 'The Sky Below':
My name is Fleet Manteios and I'm a pirate. It's a cut-throat life, sure enough, but it gives me the one thing I crave after a stuffy upbringing and a disastrous arranged marriage: freedom.
When Fleet and her brother Daryus raid the airship of a rival pirate, the last thing they expect is to end up fleeing for their lives with only a single trinket to show for it. A return to the floating city of Numara in the hope of a safe haven also turns sour, as the city comes under siege from within. Shape-shifting wolves, sea monsters, and strange murders committed by even stranger creatures plague Numara, and Fleet's 'trinket' seems to be at the heart of it all.
Soon, she's attracting the wrong sort of attention from every quarter: vengeful pirate captains, priestesses, her estranged husband – and the mysterious Shan, who knows more than he's letting on. As Numara fractures around her, Fleet is left facing the possibility that the item she carries is the greatest threat she's ever known, and it's going to tear the city apart.
'The Sky Below' is currently available for Kindle only (which you can find here), but that does mean if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you can read for free. If you're not a Kindle reader (or you just fancy a free copy!), get in touch, as I'm happy to send out review copies of the book in other formats.
My name is Fleet Manteios and I'm a pirate. It's a cut-throat life, sure enough, but it gives me the one thing I crave after a stuffy upbringing and a disastrous arranged marriage: freedom.
When Fleet and her brother Daryus raid the airship of a rival pirate, the last thing they expect is to end up fleeing for their lives with only a single trinket to show for it. A return to the floating city of Numara in the hope of a safe haven also turns sour, as the city comes under siege from within. Shape-shifting wolves, sea monsters, and strange murders committed by even stranger creatures plague Numara, and Fleet's 'trinket' seems to be at the heart of it all.
Soon, she's attracting the wrong sort of attention from every quarter: vengeful pirate captains, priestesses, her estranged husband – and the mysterious Shan, who knows more than he's letting on. As Numara fractures around her, Fleet is left facing the possibility that the item she carries is the greatest threat she's ever known, and it's going to tear the city apart.
'The Sky Below' is currently available for Kindle only (which you can find here), but that does mean if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you can read for free. If you're not a Kindle reader (or you just fancy a free copy!), get in touch, as I'm happy to send out review copies of the book in other formats.
July 24, 2015
The Wanderer's Word - free this weekend!
I've been slow at getting my latest releases added to the Goodreads catalogue recently, but my newest title is a historical fantasy short story, The Wanderer's Word - and, this weekend only, it's available as a free download for Kindle.
You can find the story HERE, but be quick, because it'll only be free until Sunday 26th July!
If you're still wavering (although, why would you? it's free!), here's the full blurb:
Where king and his conquered subjects collided, only trouble could follow.
England, 11th century. William of Normandy has taken the crown and is travelling in procession across a land he now rules, but which continues to resist him.
Alden, newly widowed blacksmith of a village barely worth a name, has greater cares than a single king. His world fell into tatters the night he lost his wife and child, and now his only concern is to protect their grave.
Except Alden’s family were denied a Christian burial, and the site he chose instead is under threat from the king’s men. He’s not the only one who would see that ancient and hallowed place protected, but if Alden is to gain their aid, he’s going to have to make a deal with the Old Spirits who still haunt the land – and he might lose more than he knows in the process.
The Wanderer’s Word is a 6000-word short story, and a glimpse of a historical England that never quite was – but easily could have been.
You can find the story HERE, but be quick, because it'll only be free until Sunday 26th July!
If you're still wavering (although, why would you? it's free!), here's the full blurb:
Where king and his conquered subjects collided, only trouble could follow.
England, 11th century. William of Normandy has taken the crown and is travelling in procession across a land he now rules, but which continues to resist him.
Alden, newly widowed blacksmith of a village barely worth a name, has greater cares than a single king. His world fell into tatters the night he lost his wife and child, and now his only concern is to protect their grave.
Except Alden’s family were denied a Christian burial, and the site he chose instead is under threat from the king’s men. He’s not the only one who would see that ancient and hallowed place protected, but if Alden is to gain their aid, he’s going to have to make a deal with the Old Spirits who still haunt the land – and he might lose more than he knows in the process.
The Wanderer’s Word is a 6000-word short story, and a glimpse of a historical England that never quite was – but easily could have been.
May 1, 2015
Joining the 21st Century (aka Facebook)
It feels almost archaic, somehow, to talk about joining Facebook in a world that seems to have so comprehensively moved on to Twitter and Instagram and whatever else the flavour of the month social media is (probably not Twitter and Instagram any more, to be honest!). However, after being on Facebook for years in a personal capacity, I’ve only recently embraced the site as a means of sharing book and writing news.
As a result, I’ve now got a new, official Facebook Page, where I’ll be posting writing updates, cover reveals, tidbits of story and anything else that takes my fancy. You can find it at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amy-Sa...
So, if you want a quick and easy way to keep up with my fiction, and you’re already on Facebook, come and find me there!
As a result, I’ve now got a new, official Facebook Page, where I’ll be posting writing updates, cover reveals, tidbits of story and anything else that takes my fancy. You can find it at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amy-Sa...
So, if you want a quick and easy way to keep up with my fiction, and you’re already on Facebook, come and find me there!
August 21, 2014
'Star of the Everlasting' Now Available!
I've been terribly remiss at updating this blog recently, although it's fair to say that's because I've been writing madly and blogging elsewhere, not out of laziness! I'm actually working on the sequel to my most recent fantasy novella - Star of the Everlasting - which is now available on Amazon HERE.
Unlike 'Sanguine', this is adult fantasy, set in a cliff-top city full of scheming criminals, ancient magic, and our two protagonists - Ark and Fable - who are about to break all the rules that help keep them alive. It's a twisty, turny, action-packed story, and I hope my readers will enjoy it!
Unlike 'Sanguine', this is adult fantasy, set in a cliff-top city full of scheming criminals, ancient magic, and our two protagonists - Ark and Fable - who are about to break all the rules that help keep them alive. It's a twisty, turny, action-packed story, and I hope my readers will enjoy it!
July 3, 2014
Free SANGUINE Review Copies!
It’s over a month now since I self-published my YA fantasy novel Sanguine. It’s fair to say that I haven’t done everything I could to promote it, mostly because I haven’t exactly had a surfeit of time (starting a new business venture will really do that to you). However, I’d really like to get Sanguine out there a bit more. More than that, I’d really, really like to start seeing some reviews. This, then, is my offer to my lovely blog readers and anyone who stumbles across my Goodreads page:
I am giving away free copies of SANGUINE, in your choice of digital format. All I ask is that you post an honest review after you’ve read it.
And yes, it really is honest reviews I’m most interested in, though of course I hope no-one hates the book enough to throw their electronic device of choice across the room.
At this stage, I’ve keeping the giveaway fairly open. I don’t have a limited number of copies to give away (although if I get an absolute deluge of requests, I may cap the number). There’s no time limit on the giveaway. You can live in any country, and you certainly don’t have to be a professional reviewer or blogger. As for the reviewing: of course I can’t force anyone to read the book, let alone review it. However, if you read Sanguine and feel compelled to write a few short lines, on Amazon, Goodreads or your blog (or all three!), I will be hugely grateful. You’ll also go to the top of my list for free copies next time I release a book (and I hope to have at least one more novel and a novella out this year).
Interested? Leave a comment here or on my blog (where this post will also be going up), or send me an email at amy[dot]sanderson42[at]gmail[dot]com (replace the square brackets with the appropriate symbols, of course). I can’t promise I’ll get back to everyone immediately, but I’ll do my best to reply as promptly as I can.
I am giving away free copies of SANGUINE, in your choice of digital format. All I ask is that you post an honest review after you’ve read it.
And yes, it really is honest reviews I’m most interested in, though of course I hope no-one hates the book enough to throw their electronic device of choice across the room.
At this stage, I’ve keeping the giveaway fairly open. I don’t have a limited number of copies to give away (although if I get an absolute deluge of requests, I may cap the number). There’s no time limit on the giveaway. You can live in any country, and you certainly don’t have to be a professional reviewer or blogger. As for the reviewing: of course I can’t force anyone to read the book, let alone review it. However, if you read Sanguine and feel compelled to write a few short lines, on Amazon, Goodreads or your blog (or all three!), I will be hugely grateful. You’ll also go to the top of my list for free copies next time I release a book (and I hope to have at least one more novel and a novella out this year).
Interested? Leave a comment here or on my blog (where this post will also be going up), or send me an email at amy[dot]sanderson42[at]gmail[dot]com (replace the square brackets with the appropriate symbols, of course). I can’t promise I’ll get back to everyone immediately, but I’ll do my best to reply as promptly as I can.
May 31, 2014
Rating on Goodreads
As I've been browsing the (rather small, so far) collection of books added to my Goodreads shelves, something immediately jumps out: I've rated everything five stars. This is not standard practice, I'm aware (and I've read some truly blistering one star reviews on this site!), but I wanted to say a quick word on why it might become standard practice for me.
First of all, I've added a few of my favourite reads from recent months, simply so I can give them high ratings and show the world how much I love them. I'm hoping this will not only improve my recommendations from Goodreads (as if I needed to buy any more books...), but get a few more readers interested in them, too.
The second issue is more complicated. Having joined Goodreads primarily as a writer, not a reader, I don't feel it's my place to trash books on here, no matter how much I hate them. I'd be pretty depressed to see people doing that to my books, you see - and whilst I'm aware it goes with the territory of putting your work out there, it's not something I'm going to personally delve into.
So, most of my ratings here will be fairly high. That's not to say I won't occasionally write more in-depth critiques of books I had mixed feelings about (I feel lower ratings are more appropriate when a reader has really thought about what they didn't like, and why), or that I hated every book I didn't rate. Instead, this is just a brief explanation of why you'll see a lot of high ratings on my bookshelves, and not a lot else!
First of all, I've added a few of my favourite reads from recent months, simply so I can give them high ratings and show the world how much I love them. I'm hoping this will not only improve my recommendations from Goodreads (as if I needed to buy any more books...), but get a few more readers interested in them, too.
The second issue is more complicated. Having joined Goodreads primarily as a writer, not a reader, I don't feel it's my place to trash books on here, no matter how much I hate them. I'd be pretty depressed to see people doing that to my books, you see - and whilst I'm aware it goes with the territory of putting your work out there, it's not something I'm going to personally delve into.
So, most of my ratings here will be fairly high. That's not to say I won't occasionally write more in-depth critiques of books I had mixed feelings about (I feel lower ratings are more appropriate when a reader has really thought about what they didn't like, and why), or that I hated every book I didn't rate. Instead, this is just a brief explanation of why you'll see a lot of high ratings on my bookshelves, and not a lot else!
May 28, 2014
Hello World!
It seems appropriate to start a new blog with a generic intro post, but I'll keep this short and sweet. You can find my mini-bio further up this page, of course, along with links to my webpage (where I blog more comprehensively about what I've been up to and writing in general) and my Twitter handle (where I witter - in short bursts - about writing progress, music and the weather). You can think of my Goodreads blog, on the other hand, as being the edited highlights: just news about my new releases, what I'm working on and other Major Stuff.
On the subject of new releases, I have a book out! Sanguine is my first foray into self-publishing, and is a stand-alone YA fantasy featuring necromancy and blood magic, assassins and illusionists, banished gods and demons, and a pair of female protagonists who know how to stand up for themselves! If that sounds interesting, I hope you'll check it out - the book has its own Goodreads page, of course, and is available for the Kobo and Kindle.
Other than that, I just want to say 'welcome to my profile'! Have a look around, and if you like what you see, be sure to say hi!
On the subject of new releases, I have a book out! Sanguine is my first foray into self-publishing, and is a stand-alone YA fantasy featuring necromancy and blood magic, assassins and illusionists, banished gods and demons, and a pair of female protagonists who know how to stand up for themselves! If that sounds interesting, I hope you'll check it out - the book has its own Goodreads page, of course, and is available for the Kobo and Kindle.
Other than that, I just want to say 'welcome to my profile'! Have a look around, and if you like what you see, be sure to say hi!
