FEATURED AUTHOR: AMY M. READE

ABOUT THE BOOK

A dark presence had invaded the Jorgensens' house. On a spectacular bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, something evil is watching and waiting . . . 

Tired of the cold winters in Washington, D.C. and disturbed by her increasingly obsessive boyfriend, Kailani Kanaka savors her move back to her native Big Island of Hawaii. She also finds a new job as personal chef for the Jorgensen family. The gentle caress of the Hawaiian trade winds, the soft sigh of the swaying palm trees, and the stunning blue waters of the Pacific lull her into a sense of calm at the House of Hanging Jade—an idyll that quickly fades as it becomes apparent that dark secrets lurk within her new home. Furtive whispers in the night, a terrifying shark attack, and the discovery of a dead body leave Kailani shaken and afraid. But it's the unexpected appearance of her ex-boyfriend, tracking her every move and demanding she return to him, that has her fearing for her life . . .

 

INTERVIEW WITH AMY M. READE

Amy, do you have a writing routine?
Usually my writing routine is broken up into two parts: promotion and writing. Typically I do promotion in the morning (social media, catching up on emails, and visiting/reading/commenting on other blogs) and writing/revising/editing in the afternoon. I like to work in the evening, but by that time I’m just working on whatever’s calling my name.

Do you write every day?
I write at least six days a week, whether it’s a work-in-progress or a guest blog post or a post for my own blog.

Readers: Amy has a great blog. You should check it out! Amy, how often do you read?
I try to read every day. That’s not to say it actually happens every day, but I give it my best shot. I like to take a book or my Kindle with me wherever I go so if I’m stuck waiting for someone or something, I can spend that time productively. I would love to be able to read much more than I do, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

I hear you. What is your writing style?
I’ve been told I write like the old gothic authors: Daphne du Maurier, Phyllis Whitney, and Victoria Holt. That’s quite a compliment and an honor, as far as I’m concerned. I want to write stories that I wouldn’t mind my kids or my parents reading.


What books do you currently have published?
I have three books published as of April 26, 2016. They’re all standalones. The first is Secrets of Hallstead House, which is set in the Thousand Islands region of upstate New York. The second is The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, which takes place on an antebellum plantation outside Charleston, South Carolina. And the third, House of the Hanging Jade, is set on the Island of Hawaii, commonly called the Big Island. Each of my books is written in a gothic style, meaning there’s a spooky atmosphere with a pervasive sense of fear and suspense. They also include romance which is definitely more sweet than spicy.


What do you know now that you wish you knew then?
That bad reviews are a part of every writer’s life and it’s best to learn from them if possible and then move on. The first time I got a bad review I called my editor in a complete panic, and he had to talk me off a ledge. He said something that stuck with me: the great thing about being a published author is that your work is out there for everyone to see. The bad thing about being a published author is that your work is out there for everyone to see. That resonates with me.

That's very true. Do you have any secret talents?
I make a pretty mean Egg Fried Rice with Ginger. One of my kids is a vegetarian, and often I make that for her for breakfast.

Is writing your dream job?
Yes! I like to say I’m a recovering attorney. I liked the research and writing aspect of the practice of law, but the rest of it really wasn’t for me. What I tell people now is that writing is the best career I could dream of and I can’t imagine doing anything else. I love every single minute of it, from brainstorming to research to writing to revising to promoting.


Do you have any marketing tips you could pass on to indie authors?
I’ll give out the same advice I got: start promoting yourself and your work on the day you decide to write a book, not on the day you decide to publish it. I went from having no online presence whatsoever to having my own website, blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Goodreads, and Amazon author pages in under three years. I don’t necessarily post on all those sites all the time, but I enjoy all of them, and I’ve discovered the ones which work best for me. I would encourage other writers to try out different things—keep what works, discard what doesn’t.

How often do you tweet?
I tweet a few times a day, 5 days a week. I don’t usually tweet on weekends. The majority of my tweets are retweets of others’ posts because I try to live by the 80/20 principle: 80% of your tweets should be promoting someone or something else; 20% should be promoting yourself. I also use Canva.com and different quote sites to create images to post on Twitter.

What five things would you never want to live without?
My toothbrush, chocolate, books, cheese, and my glasses. Not necessarily in that order.

What’s your favorite thing to do/favorite place to go on date night?
Though date night with my husband usually involves a trip to Home Depot, I prefer to go to an Italian restaurant about 10 minutes from our house. It’s BYOB, so we take some time deciding what wine we’d like to have with dinner, and then we enjoy the food and the music at the restaurant.

What is your superpower?
Napping. Definitely napping. Also baking.


We must be kindred spirits. What’s one of your favorite quotes?
“Do unto others as you would have done unto you.”

Where is your favorite library, and what do you love about it?
My favorite library is the Cornell University A.D. White Library, located within Uris Library. It’s like something out of a storybook: beautiful and quiet with stunning views.

What is the wallpaper on your computer’s desktop?
My wallpaper is a slideshow of all the photos on my computer. I have no idea how it got there or how to change it, which is a good thing because I like it the way it is. If I ever do want to change it, though, I’ll follow my own advice: “When you need tech help, ask the youngest child in the family. He/she will know what to do.”

Definitely true. What’s your biggest pet peeve about writing?
When apostrophes aren’t used properly.

What is your favorite movie?
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy.

What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on a new series set in the United Kingdom. I’m in the revision stages of Book One (which doesn’t have an official title yet), getting it ready to send to my beta readers. And I’m gathering plot ideas and scenes for Book Two, which I’ll start writing very soon.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amy M. Reade grew up in northern New York. After graduating from college and law school, she practiced law in New York City before moving to southern New Jersey, where she lives now with her husband, three children, dog, two cats, and a fish. She writes full time and is the author of Secrets of Hallstead House, a novel of romantic suspense set in the Thousand Islands region of New York, and The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, a novel in the same genre set outside Charleston, South Carolina. Her third novel, House of Hanging Jade, is set in Hawaii and was released April, 2016. She is currently working on the first book of a series set in the United Kingdom (expected release date in early 2017). She loves cooking, reading, and traveling.


Connect with Amy:

Website  |  
Blog  |   Facebook  |   
Twitter  |   Goodreads  |   Tumblr   |   Pinterest  |   Amazon 

Buy the book:
Amazon  |   Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo  |    Kensington Books

Terrible Ten with Amy Reade

Amy"s second novel, The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, is out today and she's here braving the Terrible Ten.

1.    What’s one thing that drives you crazy?
It drives me crazy when someone in my house doesn’t put something where it belongs. I spend waaayyy too much time looking for things that should have been put away.

2.    What is your guiltiest guilty pleasure?
Napping. I don’t do it that often, but when I do, I always feel like I should have been doing something else.

3.    What is your most embarrassing moment?
This happened about ten years ago. My two-year-old son had escaped, naked, onto our front yard and was running for the hills. I ran out after him as my neighbor (whom I’ve always considered absolutely perfect and who is, by the way, a wonderful person) watched the scene unfold in a mixture of dismay and pity. I had been cleaning, so I was barefoot, dressed in old baggy leggings and one of my husband’s shirts, and had my hair in a do-rag. I tripped over my own feet and landed on the ground like a felled tree. That would never happen to her. If she fell, she would land in a rabbit hole and emerge as a Disney princess.

4.    What is the stupidest thing you’ve ever done?
Once I was playing tag and I ran through a fire pit that hadn’t been doused. I spent a week in the hospital and never did catch the person who was “it.”

5.    What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?
I left my home in New York State to go to law school in Indiana, where I didn’t know a single soul.

6.    On what life choices would you like to have a re-do?
That’s a tough one because I believe there’s a reason for everything we do. If I had a re-do on something, I’d be missing part of me. That being said, I worked at a law firm in New York that managed to suck every bit of joy out of me. I might take a re-do on that. On the other hand, how else would I know what it feels like to absolutely hate my job?

7.    What makes you nervous?
Driving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania makes me nervous. I’ve driven in New York City a hundred times and I find that much easier than venturing into the City of Brotherly Love. For some reason I just can’t make sense of the street layout.

8.    What makes you scared?
Flying. Not a good fear to have for someone who loves to travel!

9.    When was the last time you did something for the first time?
I celebrated my eldest child’s seventeenth birthday two days ago. Time flies!

10.    One of your main characters has to die. Which one would you kill off?
I’d have to kill off Macy Stoddard, the main character in Secrets of Hallstead House. I love Macy, but Carleigh Warner, the main character in my second book, The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, is mother to a three-year-old and I can’t bring myself to kill her off. 
   

About the book:

"Do you know what stories Sarah could tell you about the things that happened in these little cabins? They’d curl that pretty red hair of yours."

Outside of Charleston, South Carolina, beyond hanging curtains of Spanish moss, at the end of a shaded tunnel of overarching oaks, stands the antebellum mansion of Peppernell Manor in all its faded grandeur. At the request of her friend Evie Peppernell, recently divorced Carleigh Warner and her young daughter Lucy have come to the plantation house to refurbish the interior. But the tall white columns and black shutters hide a dark history of slavery, violence, and greed. The ghost of a former slave is said to haunt the home, and Carleigh is told she disapproves of her restoration efforts. And beneath the polite hospitality of the Peppernell family lie simmering resentments and poisonous secrets that culminate in murder — and place Carleigh and her child in grave danger . . .

About the author:

After deciding that the practice of law was not as thrilling as she thought it would be, Amy found her passion in writing. Her first novel, Secrets of Hallstead House, was published in 2014. It tells the story of Macy Stoddard, a nurse who goes to work for a private client among the Thousand Islands in northern New York only to find that there are secrets reaching into both her past and her future. In the face of violence and threats, Macy must search for the identity of the person who will stop at nothing to keep those secrets buried.

Her second novel, The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, will be released on April 28, 2015. Here’s a brief synopsis: Peppernell Manor, an antebellum plantation near Charleston, has seen better days. But when its owner hires restoration specialist Carleigh Warner to oversee its return to grandeur, disagreements over the property’s future threaten to tear the Peppernell family apart. Carleigh is swept unwittingly into a whorl of secrets that she must face to protect her future and her daughter’s life.

Amy lives in New Jersey with her husband, three children, one fantastic dog, two cats who refuse to speak to her, and one tiny fish named Poseidon. She loves reading, traveling, and anything to do with Hawaii.

Amy loves to connect with readers online and in person. Connect with her at:
Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter