People love to ask me questions about my journey to become a published author. Here are answers to some of the most popular inquiries.
Getting Personal
What do you do when you’re not writing? If I’m not goofing off in the backyard with my family, or cuddled up with a good book then I’m probably helping to renovate my home. Sunday afternoons are my time to stomp my husband at Scrabble, a favorite pastime of mine.
Anything quirky we should know about your family? My husband was born and bred about thirty miles from London. (It’s my fault he now lives in South Carolina.) My son is an avid fan of any predator with sharp teeth (What 7 year old actually LOVES River Monsters?!) and he adamantly supports all of the bad guys in his cartoons.
Where do you live? My family and I have just packed up from Southern Illinois and moved to South Carolina.
What are your favorite books/music/tv/movies?
Books: I’m an avid reader of teen fiction. Gotta keep up with the market somehow, right? Favorite teen books that I’ve read in the past year are The Maze Runner Trilogy, Nightshade Trilogy, Firelight, The Fallen series and most of Amanda Hocking’s ebooks.
Music: I’m a pretty laid back kind of gal. As long as it’s not opera I can listen to it. Cd’s in my car include Daughtry, Safety Suit, Lifehouse, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, Muse, Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp, and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
TV: The Biggest Loser,The Big Bang Theory, Once Upon a Time, River Monsters, Two and A Half Men (the older seasons), Smallville (sob!), Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Disney Jr. morning shows. I’m a mom, give me a break!
Movies: This is a hard one because I’ve got so many. I’m an old school Star Wars Fan. I love action, romance, comedy and anything that’s gonna make me think.
All time favorite author? J.K. Rowling, hands down! I don’t care if you like the story line or not, the woman is brilliant!
How old are you? Eek! I’m inching my way towards 30.
Work Stuff
Are you full time writer? I’m a full time wife and mom who sneaks in as much face time with my laptop as I can manage.
When is your best time to write? I’m a recovering night owl. My new year’s resolution for 2012 is to be in bed by 10pm every day. I do the bulk of my writing during school hours.
Is it hard to juggle a writing career and a home life? Fitting any type of work into your family time is difficult, but being a writer comes with great distractions when you work from home. I can be sitting at my kitchen table typing away and out of the corner of my eye see a pile of clothes begging to be folded. Normally I don’t have too much trouble ignoring it.
Where do you get your book ideas? My brain never shuts down, literally! I get ideas from my dreams, from the grocery story, while playing with my son or lounging on the couch. Inspiration hits like a bolt of lightning and then coils around in my brain until I either get it all out or go into muse lock down.
Are any of your characters based off real people? Honestly, no. I might use a character trait here or there but each character is birthed right on the page. Makes it much more exciting to see how they turn out.
Is there a method to your writing madness?
This is a question I have asked myself over and over again.
I have never sat down and wrote an outline for any of my manuscripts. They just spew out until the well runs dry. Then I go back and fill in the outline to make sure the threads tie together. Editing is crucial!
Typically I will write the final chapters first and then write beginning to end from there. It helps to know where you’re going to end up.
Were you successful with self-publishing? I’m a firm believer that you have to work hard for what you want most in life. This is true for writing. Some people will publish a book and sit back to wait for their checks to roll in. No wonder they only end up writing one book!
Self-promotion is hard. I won’t lie about that. I spend time each day reaching out to my readers, meeting new people, reviewing, commenting, selling, and marketing. It’s hard work but I love every minute of it.
Are you working on any new books? I am always working on something, usually more than one book at a time.
Are you actively seeking an agent or publisher? I am currently represented by GH Literary Management but love being an indie hybrid author.
Would you be willing to critique my manuscript? Honestly, no. I’ve gone down that road of trying to help by critiquing and it backfired. I don’t want to say anything that might discourage anyone from their dream of becoming a writer. I wish you the best of luck and advise that you gather a group of people that you trust to help you look objectively at your work.
Will you read my book?
My schedule is always tight. Between my son’s activities, husband’s soccer, summer schedules, homeschooling during the summer, writer’s group, blogging, marketing and working on my own books, I’m left with little time. If you have written a teen fiction novel (sorry, it can only be teen fiction) then go ahead and send me an email with a description of your book. If I am interested, and have the time, I will let you know.
Amy Miles Books 
I loved your book defiance rising but it made no sends that she coundn’t be
With bastien when she was so in love with him his was the only person that
Can keep her in control of her powers. I think destiny can always change if
You want it bad . As much as she lovese eamon she didn’t love him in like that
an probly never will I think they were meant to only be friends
Hi becky,
You hit on the exact reason why Illyria couldn’t be with Bastien in this book, because love isn’t always easy or perfectly the way we want it to be.
I’m a sucker for a great love story but I also like to show that sometimes doing the right thing takes sacrifice, setting aside your desires for the greater good.
Hi this Kennedy. I read desolate and loved it. When do you think the next two books will come. Especially savage of the immortal rose trilology.
The next two books, Savage and Refuge will begin publishing this summer. I have a couple other books that are releasing between now and then so I am in the plotting and developing stage of both books. As these are set in a different country and time period I have to do a lot of research on clothing, locations and whatnot to keep it as accurate as I can so they take a bit longer to write than what I normally do.
Hello,
I’ve really enjoyed the Arotas Trilogy, Evermore and Desolate. I’d love to read Savage and Refuge but am having trouble finding them. Have they been released?
Thank you for such great stories!
Oh ok. We’ll I can’t wait till then
I am working on them as quickly as I am able but as with all of my books I want to make sure they are the best they can be when they publish. It’s very important to me that my readers not only enjoy the book but look forward to the next release 🙂
That’s good. It’s was nice talking to you.
And to you!
Why are there only 6 chapters in Evermore? Why doesn’t it go on to tell the story of the battle between the other world and theirs? Did I miss something?
Evermore is meant to give closure to the Arotas novels and segue into a spin off series that I will be releasing in 2015. It is a novella only
Hi Amy, I was wondering when the sequel (shadow lands) will air. The only reference I’ve found, was 2015, but I cannot seem to find it. Thanks!
I want to purchase refuge but am unable to find it anywhere. Help!
What did it take to learn how to write like you do and how did you decide you want to do it?
Amy Miles
MAY 8, 2014 AT 7:08 PM
The next two books, Savage and Refuge will begin publishing this summer. I have a couple other books that are releasing between now and then so I am in the plotting and developing stage of both books. As these are set in a different country and time period I have to do a lot of research on clothing, locations and whatnot to keep it as accurate as I can so they take a bit longer to write than what I normally do.
Hi, this is Arlene
I was just wondering if you are ever going to release the 3rd book?
It has been almost 3yrs sine your last comment on the previous postings. I really do hope you finish this series.
Hey I’ve been wondering the same thing. I’m such a huge fan of this series it would be a shame if we didn’t find out how it ended. Also is the Arotas prequel still on the horizon? Thanks 🙂
I am bad at looking through all these comments for my answer, lol! Was wondering about Book 3 of The Immortal Rose Trilogy
Where’s refuge??????
Hi! I have noticed that it has been quite a while since the last response on this page. I sRefuge ever going to be released? You have a lot of amazing fans that I feel deserve some kind of answer and there’s not one to be found…anywhere. We hope to find out one day. Until then…happy writing!