Amanda N. Newman

Indie Fantasy Author Currently Writing the Shrouded Curses series The Legend of Hunter and Luka: project to be started soon

[bookishly-andy]

Because of the title and cover, I had the slight impression that this was going to be a “Little Red Riding Hood” retelling of some sort, but actually, there’s barely any resemblance there other than a couple of easter eggs like the MCs cape or the great grandma living in a cabin in the forest. The book is a completely new concept of what the inspiration source could have been.

The story follows a big set of characters (we read through 7.5 different characters’ perspectives), which makes it hard to pinpoint who the real main character is supposed to be. Going by the cover, we could assume that Rosella is supposed to be the most central of them. And so we follow along as she tries to shed her ignorance cultivated by the many years lived away from the “real world”, motivated by her mother’s overprotective nature and fear of the unknown. It’s exactly this ignorance that makes Rosella the target of bullying, which results in some unnecessary cruelty from her classmates. There’s trauma galore in this book; there’s barely any light in any of these characters.

Later we discover some dark creatures looming in from the deepest parts of the forest, entangling the story between the cruelty of the real world, and the dark mysteries that the forest holds, with evil little creatures ready to take over. With the help of her wolf friend, and the wisdom of her great-grandmother, Rosella will venture into the unknown to take back the hope that they stole from her.

The book is written in a particular style that makes its characters behave in a way fitting of an anime show, with over-dramatic dialogue that, paired with the dark topics at hand, makes the characters seem unearthly cartoonish.

There were moments where I felt it could have been trimmed a little bit, since we get extra information that doesn’t seem valuable enough to point out (like a long explanation of how the fabric of a hoodie is fresh but also warm, and its soft and cute and the brand), but that’s more of a personal preference of mine.

Some of the ***trigger warnings*** are looser than others, but they’re definitely worth looking into before reading. There are many different traumas that are lightly discussed here and there, not necessarily adding to the plot in any way, but some of them may be upsetting to other readers.

[amanda-n-newman-author]

BIG NEWS for my upcoming urban fantasy series!

Mark your calendars because the cover will be revealed in exactly one month!

Want to help be a part of the big reveal?

Send me a DM or comment below!

[deadinternet27-deactivated20260]

NEW WRITELR POLL JUST DROPPED:

Please reblog as I want to get as many results as I can :D. Thank you!

Please read the options carefully before you choose them as well!

If your main story could be made into a form of mass media, which form would you prefer it to be?

Non-animated movie

Non-animated TV series

CGI animated movie

CGI animated TV series

2D/other forms of animated movie

2D/other forms of animated TV series

Comic/ Graphic novel

Video game

Podcast

Live theatre production

My story is already an alternate form of mass media

Results/ I don't want my story to be made into a form of mass media

Voting ended onAug 23, 2023

Please feel free to add anything in the tags!

[amanda-n-newman-author]

I'd take a 2D animated movie or TV series, and a comic/graphic novel, and a video game for Shrouded Curses. And...one of these might be more possible in the future than you may think 😉

[agaycabbage]

the writing process is more than just writing

I saw this picture on Twitter today, and I laughed. I think it’s funny, and I think we all like playfully bullying ourselves with things like this. 

But I also think way too many of us believe that the only acceptable part of the writing process is the actual writing. That’s…just not true. 

There are sooooo many non-writing or writing-extra things that can be part of your writing process. Making playlists? Writing process. Creating aesthetics on Pinterest? Writing process. Talking about your book part of the writing process! 

We all have a creative well that will run dry, a creative spark that will be snuffed out if we allow it. If we force it. You’ll force that if you don’t feed that creative energy, and that’s what you’re doing when you participate in all these non-writing pieces of the writing process. 

You’re involved in the writing process anytime you engage in storytelling–that means reading books but it also means watching movies or TV and playing video games. Daydreaming! Daydreaming is an excellent way to feed your creative brain, and it IS part of the writing process. Please, writers, I’m begging you to stop forcing yourself out of daydreaming and into writing. 

You need activities other than writing within your writing process if it’s going to be fun, successful, and especially if it’s going to be repeatable. If you bully yourself into finishing this novel, great, you’re done…and now you’ll hate writing the next one. Your poor brain! 

The writing process is so much more than just writing, and you’ll be a better, happier, more productive writer if you don’t fight that. 

[amanda-n-newman-author]

What books* and/or characters* of mine are you interested in learning behind the scenes info and facts about?

*This includes my upcoming Shrouded Curses series.

I’m considering doing a video series on YouTube and/or blog posts dedicated to behind the scenes lore, worldbuilding, behind the scenes character facts/info, and behind the scenes info/facts about my books in general.

That being said, is there anyone or anything you’d want to learn more about or are curious about?

Also, if you have any specific questions or specific characters you’d like me to cover, feel free to let me know either in the comments or in DMs. 

[amanda-n-newman-author]

A new release and the end of an era!

Today marks the official release of the final Hybrid Empire trilogy book, making this my first complete series. And, the completion of this trilogy marks the end of an era for me.

For those who don’t know, Hybrid Empire was the first novel I ever published (my debut novel) and the first completely original novel I wrote (before this, I wrote fanfiction which I kept mostly to myself). I started the first draft of Hybrid Empire back in 2012 when I was in my senior year of high school.

To think that the whole series is finally out there for the world to read completely blows my mind. In a way, it’s a little bittersweet because the first series I ever worked on has drawn to a close, though I’m no less passionate about my current projects compared to this one. It truly is the end of an era.

[rtisticwriter]

Snippets from the prologue of "Wolf's Red", my upcoming New Adult novel in my dark fantasy/horror NA/Adult series, "Hollow's Vessels".

"Wolf's Red" will be 15-16+.

In this snippet, Chloe Bloom and her daughter Rosella are attending the private funeral of loving husband and father Benjamin Bloom.

One bloom out of three having wilted, two now remain. Drained of life from the inside out, he kept fighting the curse for his family, until he couldn't anymore.

[amanda-n-newman-author]

So excited for this book. If you like fairytale inspired dark fantasy horror books, add it to your TBR!

[kiraofthewind]

Merchants of Light and Bone release date

I HAVE ANOTHER BOOK COMING OUT

MERCHANTS OF LIGHT AND BONE will be available on August 8th, 2023. ARCs will be available upon request one month prior.

Featuring: Queer polyamorous adult MCs Adoption Tropical fantasy setting Living ocean Murder, kidnapping, cannibalism

[moondust-bard]

Would you Participate?

I don’t know how many of you are on twitter and involved in its writing community. If not— surprise! They have a pretty active one. One of the many reasons why, I believe, is due to their pitch events. These are scheduled day-long events wherein writers advertise their stories, make connections, and support fellow creators.

Now, granted, many of these pitch events are geared toward writers who wish to garner interest for their manuscript from publishing professionals. However, with the relatively new establishment of more writer-to-writer focused events, I thought, “why don’t we have something similar on tumblr?”

It would be:

• non-competitive

• encouragement-based

• mindfully planned and executed to ensure writeblr could easily participate

• maybe last a few days, with themes and goals for each day? I’d love, for instance, a day of story pitches devoted to poc writers and their poc characters

So, is there any interest for such an event?

[moondust-bard]

Tentatively, we’re planning this for March 2023. Stay tuned for the launch of a blog devoted to this event!

There, you’ll find important dates, helpful tips and resources regarding how pitch events function, useful terms to know, and more!

[kiraofthewind]

This interests me. I am with a publishing house, so the usual pitching events have never interested me since I'm not looking for an agent. I prefer the ones that are just "for fun" or to find new writer friend!

[amanda-n-newman-author]

I'd definitely be interested. I tend to only participate with the "for fun" ones on Twitter or the ones dedicated to getting the word out about my books (I self-publish and am currently not looking for an agent).

[amanda-n-newman-author]

Reflecting on 2022

At the beginning of the year, I set ten author/book related goals to hit this year. Looking back, I only hit two out of the ten, but that’s not to say that 2022 was a failure. It just didn’t go completely as I planned. So, lets do a little bit of reflecting...

Out of my list of ten goals, the only ones I hit were to publish my third dystopian fantasy book and to outline at least one book (I actually ended up outlining two books, but neither of them were the one I had in mind when I set the goal). Initially, when I set the goal to outline at least one book, the book I had in mind was the last (planned) Tales From the Outback book. Instead, I ended up outlining (and finishing the first draft of) what will be the third Shrouded Curses book (it was originally supposed to be just a standalone project) and outlined the second Shrouded Curses book (and managed to draft 85k of it).  

But that isn’t all I managed to accomplish this past year. In fact, 2022 has been quite a ride. I put the final Hybrid Empire book up for pre-order (it releases on January 7th). I’m now one step closer to graduating from college. I revamped my website using the knowledge I gained from one of my college classes. I committed to starting a new book series. And I made the tough decision of placing the remaining two Tales From the Outback books on indefinite hiatus.

As for 2023 goals, and more information on my upcoming Shrouded Curses series, I plan on making individual posts on each of those in the near future. So, stay tuned.

[kiraofthewind]

Villains in my Good Thyme Inn trilogy

Post about the villains, antags, and general annoyances to my heroes in my current wip

The Barons of Aleton:

Scalvonian (191-248 r. 215) Went to war during the War for Munil, lost bitterly, acquired a parasite that made him eat constantly, always tired, and had difficulty having children. Did not produce an heir until he was almost 40 years old. He sold the Good Thyme Inn to Yamma in 218 after the war, when he was broke and had to pay his soldiers. The queen demanded he pay them immediately or else he'd lose his baronial title and be sent to prison. Died of complications of parasitic infection in 248.

Duvela (230-263 r. 248) Spent much of her adult life building her coffers so she or her descendants could buy the inn back. She was careful to obey the queen’s laws, and thus never caused problems for Marmalade or Shallot. Her caution around the queen was believed to have been caused by a fierce argument they had once that tarnished their relationship. Her death (at age 33) was suspicious, and many believe the queen hired a merchant of dance to kill her.

Velderash (252-297 r. 263) A spoiled brat raised by the regent-steward, Mr. Cloth (219-292). As an adult ruling independently, he was greedy and increased prices/rents whenever he felt he could get away with it. Tried to gradually price Shallot out of the inn so he could buy it back from her. His death in 297 was a supposed “hunting accident,” but it's heavily implied he was killed by Grilled.

Mavolo (275-300) Notoriously corrupt, greedy, and all-around shitty. Increased rent and prices on everything to astronomical levels as part of Adviser Anya’s plan for Aloutia which included the dissolution of rent limits. In the year 300, he was buried alive by Shallot and her boys. The Anti-Greed Army, a revolutionary army comprised of soldiers who deserted from the Aloutian Imperial Army, came in and took credit for his murder.

Riova b. 295 During the revolt, she escaped to safety thanks to a servant taking her to Dawndorrel. She tries to reclaim her ‘birthright’ in 310 (this is part of the Greed Wars Cycle pentalogy, not this trilogy, but I would have been remiss to not mention her existence).

Mr. Cloth, the steward, is a minor book 1 antagonist who will die in a horrible way that only serves to show how badass the heroes are.

Captain Brewer, the Captain of the Guard, is also a minor antagonist who may actually turn to the side of the heroes. I haven't decided what his fate will be. He might die in the revolution, or he might turn traitor and help protect the town after the revolution. We'll see.

Imperial Adviser Anya is mentioned throughout the book, but she's outside the scope of the Bad Company's sphere of influence. She lives far away, in the Imperial Capital city, and she has magic powers that make her invincible to mere commoners. Her death occurs over the course of events in these books, but is not described, nor do the Bad Company have anything to do with it. Her tale is told in the Greed Wars Cycle pentalogy.

[rtisticwriter]

Hi everyone! My name is Sam, but my username is RtisticWriter (I'm actually working on a funny little persona character for a cool project w

[raevenlywrites]

Reblog this if you're a writeblr and you wouldnt mind:

Random asks about your wips

Being tagged in tag games by people you don't know yet

Strangers complimenting your work

Fellow writeblrs striking up conversations

Interaction with new writeblrs in general

I see so many folks afraid to jump in to the community, so hopefully this post will lay out like a welcome mat for new folks to come say hi :)

[amanda-n-newman-author]

Differences between the Tales From the Outback series & my new series

After my big announcement about my new series and my hiatus from working on the Tales From the Outback series, I’m sure a lot of you have questions about how this new series is going to be different from Tales From the Outback (besides not being as dark or set in dystopian societies). Well, fear not, because that’s what this post is going to be all about. So, without further delay, follow me and we’ll dig into it.

First off, since the world in the new series isn’t dystopic and my characters aren’t fighting to survive the whole time, the characters in this series actually have time for *GASP* hobbies. In the series, the main character (who I’m not revealing the name of yet) has several hobbies and interests. Those hobbies include the Conflict Cryptids collectable card game and warhound riding. Throughout the series he rides warhounds in “rodeo style” competitions and races. In the second book he also dabbles in a DnD-esq TTRPG called Moors and Monsters. 

The “cozier” or “more relaxed” atmosphere leads to the series being a little more slow paced than the Tales From the Outback books. There’s still plenty of internal conflict in these books but the external conflict isn’t as prominent as in Tales From the Outback (meaning there’s not really an overarching “societal big bad” that’s looming over the characters at all times). Rather, the main character’s conflict is mostly internal (ex: battling his own anxieties and insecurities) with some external (ex: some other characters don’t like him for reasons). To be honest, I’m a little afraid that the slower pace in this book might be boring to some readers, though I hope that’s not the case and they still give it a chance.

And that “coziness” leads me to my next point. The Shadowed Curses series books are definitely “anime inspired” (meaning there’s a bit of a “power of friendship” vibe going on). While the Tales From the Outback books do emphasize found family, it’s not quite the same as in Shadowed Curses. 

Finally, one of the big differences between the Tales From the Outback books and the Shadowed Curses books is that the point of view. Now, before you get excited, I don’t mean that in the sense that I’m writing a third person point of view book (at least not yet...I might write one in the future, but I don’t know yet). So, both of the series are told from a first-person point of view. The Tales From the Outback series is told from multiple first-person points of view in each book. The Shadowed Curses books, however, will be told from only one first-person point of view per book (something I haven’t done since writing the Hybrid Empire trilogy) and most of the books in the series will be told from the same character’s point of view (the only exception to this are the companion books, which will be told from a single point of view of a different character per book). 

[amanda-n-newman-author]

A Tale of Two Bitzers COVER REVEAL!

Today is the official cover reveal for my upcoming dystopian fantasy novel A Tale of Two Bitzers. The book’s release day is NOVEMBER 13th, 2022.

Credits to Gabriela from BRoseDesignz for the amazing cover.

And let’s not forget the book trailer.

https://youtu.be/fgMblt2q2q4

(Book trailer was made in Adobe Premiere using stock video footage)

Blurb:

Sometimes friends can be found in the most unlikely places.

After spending the last two years confined to the Republic’s prison, Trapper Cayuse wants nothing more than to walk free again. The conditions for his supposed freedom: simple, tell the Republic’s Army where the rest of his Bitzer gang is. However, when the opportunity to escape presents itself, Trapper takes the chance and pays a heavy price. Injured and shackled with a device that makes him unable to use magic, Trapper now faces a long road out of enemy territory, a road that just happens to lead him to an unlikely ally, a Republic teenager named Ara.

Bitzers aren’t supposed to get involved in conflicts between slaves and their masters, let alone get involved in ways that end in blood. Nickel Cly has known that ever since he joined the Bitzer life, and never questioned it, until a chance encounter preys on his sense of honor. With a single arrow, he saves Alura, a non-magic wielder, from the master that almost killed her. But Bitzers don’t normally keep slaves for themselves, and acts of mercy aren’t always simple, especially when they make him question himself and the life he’s lived for the past decade. Now, he has a choice to make: send Alura back to the Republic, send her back to the slave trade, or protect her from those who wish to harm her, all while threats from her past close in.

The ebook version is available for pre-order on Amazon and the paperback should be available for pre-order from Barnes & Noble soon. If this book interests you and you want to pre-order it, the link is below

https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/eb43bf6a-3b72-11ed-af8a-97b67a0b6711

[amanda-n-newman-author]

On Switching to a “Different Kind of Project”

Okay, so the title of this post might sound a little strange. You’re probably asking yourselves “does she mean going from writing novels to writing something else, like short stories or poetry?” The answer to that is no, I’m still writing novels and will be continuing to write novels for at least the foreseeable future (and beyond because I honestly can’t imagine writing anything else, unless it’s purely for bonus or expanded lore content). So what do I mean by “switching to a different kind of project”? Well, basically, it means that I’m going to be switching to working on a different series (which also means a bit of a different kind of fantasy mixture).

Now, you’re probably wondering what this means for my dystopian fantasy series. If you’ve been following me on social media for a while, or if you know me in real life, you probably know that I’ve been working on a dystopian fantasy series known as Tales From the Outback and that I’ve already released two “companion books” for the series (which take place concurrently with the second book) and that I’m releasing A Tale of Two Bitzers (book 1 of the main part of the series) on November 13th this year. Don’t worry, that release date will not be changing. I’ve actually started writing book 2 of the main part of the series but, honestly, getting through it has been like pulling teeth (even with a full outline, which is not common for me at all). The only reason I can think of is that I might be a bit burnt out on the series. And the reason for that burn out could be a few reasons.

First off, this series tends towards being very dark (I’m talking having a content note at the beginning of every book dark). That could be one reason (especially considering all of the dark, depressing, and dystopic type things going on in the real world lately). Another possible reason could be the length of each of these books. For those who don’t know, all of the books I’ve currently written for this series are over 150k words each (for reference, the minimum word count for a novel is typically between 50-60k words). And each of the books is told from multiple first-person points of view. Both of those factors combined with the dark themes means that each of these books is a huge undertaking. To be clear, I don’t mind this undertaking...usually, but it might be wearing on me lately, especially when combined with reason number three. Reason three, these books, as much as I love them, are not easy to market (at least not for me). That could partly be because of the state of the world (and a bit of me not wanting to bring down anyone’s mood with the dark & dystopic). Yes, people are often intrigued by darker fiction, but not necessarily when they’re living in uncertain and borderline dystopic times. And part of the marketing difficulty might also be that these books don’t really have much of a “crossover” to photo or video opportunities I can realistically set up (in everything from genre, to setting, to symbolism, etc). This leads into my next point, the content, plus the length, plus the difficulty marketing makes these books a very hard sell (even being enrolled in Kindle Unlimited). And finally, I first started Children of the Outback (the first book I released set in this “world”) in 2014 (& then released it in 2019). I’ve been writing in this world (or part of the world) with all of its darkness for almost ten years, and I think I’ve just gotten tired. 

Now, none of this is to say I’m giving up on this series, because I’m not. This series is still very important to me (and to a few others who I know love these characters as much as I do). I won’t be giving up on it, but I need a break from it. At this point, if I keep trying to force the draft for book 2, all I’m going to do is make more work for myself later when I have to go back through and edit and I run the risk of reduced quality and building resentment for the project (yes, I know it sounds crazy). This is not a decision I’ve made lightly or without thought (I’ve thought a lot about it over the past few weeks/months because it goes against a lot of self-publishing advice I’ve read/heard, mainly to write within one series or write closely connected books until you’re more established). But when I was watching a YouTube video last week, it was the final “nail in the coffin” when I heard the advice that “your wants and needs are important too. If you’re not enjoying writing the book, your readers won’t really enjoy reading it” (yes, I’m paraphrasing. So, it’s with a heavy heart that I officially announce that the Tales From the Outback series will be on hiatus/the backburner following the release of A Tale of Two Bitzers. 

Now, you’re probably wondering what I’m going to be working on in the interim (because, let’s be real, we all know I can’t sit still or not be writing something). Well, back in the spring (when I took my first hiatus from writing TFtO Book 2) I drafted what I thought was going to be a short standalone new adult urban fantasy type book, and... only one of those criteria ended up not getting met. It’s still urban fantasy, still new adult, and still short (compared to the Tales From the Outback books). But it’s no longer a standalone. I ended up falling hard for the character (big surprise because that’s how it usually starts for me) and wanted to spend more time in their world, and ended up finding out more about their stories. So, for now, I’m going to be working on a new series tentatively called the Shadowed Curses series. 

Now, I don’t have covers for any of the books yet (though I will be getting a cover for one of them made in November), so the graphic doesn’t look the best. But, this graphic gives basically what you can expect (a series structured similarly to the Tales From the Outback series). Only this time I have much more of a plan than I did for Tales From the Outback (probably because I figured out much earlier how the series will go and acknowledged much sooner that this won’t be simply a standalone). As it stands right now, I have book 2 completely drafted and have started drafting book 3 (I decided to go back to book 1 last because it takes place several years before books 2 and 3). As for the companion books, companion book 1 takes place at the same time as book 2 and companion book 2 takes place at the same time as book 3 (which is why I haven’t started on those yet). Other than that, all I can really say for now is that these books will be much “lighter” than Tales From the Outback (there will still be some darkness, but these characters aren’t fighting to survive in a dystopian world every second of every day. They actually get the chance to breathe and have hobbies and interests). Also, if you like the idea of “learnable magic” (to a degree), slow-burn romance (of course), a “hybrid” school system [for high school and college] (meaning both magic and non-magic subjects are taught), and mythical creatures being commonplace, you’re going to want to keep an eye out for more information on this series.

Also, bear in mind that I have a ton of other book ideas to write (a whole google doc full of them). But going through those could be a post in itself ;)

[amanda-n-newman-author]

First update in a while

Okay, so let me start off by saying that my hiatus from this blog was completely unintentional. The fact is a few real-life things got in the way, along with not having many post ideas. But I’m back now and have a bit to share.

The first thing I want to address is where I’ve been for the past several months. As I’ve mentioned on here before, I’m a college student studying New Media Communications and I work multiple day jobs outside of writing. All of those things (college, work, and writing) ended up picking up over the past several months (some more than others), leaving me with very little time to add to this blog. That, coupled with the lack of post ideas basically killed my productivity on here. But things are starting to settle down a bit and I’ll be able to commit more time to updates (especially ones about new projects).

My next big announcement is in regards to my dystopian fantasy series. I’m pleased to announce that book 1 of the main part of the series (Children of the Outback and Piker’s Retribution are now companion novels to a main trilogy that follows the same main characters throughout) will be released on NOVEMBER 13th 2022 and the cover will be revealed on October 1st 2022. I’m very excited (and a little nervous) to see how this book does since I’m doing several things differently regarding its release. The pre-order will be coming soon too (right around the same time as the cover reveal) but for now, here’s the blurb.

As for my YA Paranormal Romance trilogy (the Hybrid Empire trilogy), I’m happy (and a little nostalgic) to say that I have finished the first draft of the final book and am currently preparing it for an early 2023 release. I should have the cover soon to share with you all.

In other writing related news, I’ve begun work on a new Urban Fantasy series. I won’t be revealing much about it yet but I will say I have three main series books and two companion books planned for it so far. So, in that regard it’s similar to the Tales From the Outback series, but the books in this new series will be written in first person single POV instead of having multiple first person POVs.