Interview with Amy Anguish and a Giveaway!

Welcome to Readers Write to Know! I asked you, my readers, what questions they would ask their favorite authors if given the chance, and the authors visiting my blog answered them! This week, I’m so excited to have author Amy R. Anguish as my guest. I love how, like me, Amy gets ideas for plots and books during worship service. That happens to me all.the.time. I’m convinced it’s because that’s when I relax my control and really let God speak to me. Amy’s book, Saving Grace sounds incredible! Read on to see how you can enter to win a copy!

Tell us a little bit about yourself. I am a mom of two, a wife of 16 years, married to my college sweetheart. I love cats, butterflies, polar bears, and happy flowers like zinnias, sunflowers and daisies. I eat way too much chocolate, love pop music from the 90s and 70s, and prefer my socks to be patterned instead of white. I read way too much and still have over 500 unread stories on my kindle. I am a people person.

Tell us about your current release. Saving Grace is a friend-to-romance story, but not a typical one. Through the whole book, Michelle doesn’t realize that Greg loves her and always has. And there are several moments when he begins to doubt chasing the dream of having her as his wife is worth it, especially considering she wants to adopt an orphaned child as her own.

Book Blurb:

What if saving Grace doesn’t mean what she thinks it does?

Michelle Wilson’s one goal in life was to become a top journalist at the local paper back in her hometown of Cedar Springs, AR. But on the way to bringing that dream to reality, a life-changing wreck interrupts Michelle’s plans and adds an orphaned baby into the mix. Now, she has tough decisions ahead—did God put her in that accident to save baby Grace? And if so, why is it so hard to convince everyone else she should be the baby’s new mommy?

Greg Marshall has been Michelle’s best friend his whole life. He’s thrilled she’s moving back home, but not so sure about her sudden desire to be a single mom. His feelings for her have grown through the years, but she’s never seemed to notice. Can he help Michelle with the adoption and grow their relationship at the same time?

What is one thing that you “never saw yourself doing” and either do it now or have done? So many things. One time, before we started dating, I told my now-husband, “I’d never marry a guy like you.” Talk about eating those words!

I also said I would never live in Texas, but we lived in Round Rock for five years and Tyler for 6. And loved it.

And being on YouTube. Add that to the list. I am one of three authors who run the channel Once Upon a Page, and we’re about to celebrate posting videos for a year. It’s been a lot more fun than I thought when I first agreed.

I also have had pink streaks in my hair about four times now. And I’d do it again. It’s really fun.

Where’s the strangest place you’ve ever had a great writing idea? I don’t know about strangest, but I can honestly say the most annoying place to get an idea is during worship services. Especially when it’s one that won’t leave you alone until you scribble something down on the edge of the bulletin. I sort of have to send up a “Sorry, God” as my mind takes me away from the sermon every now and then.

Do you have pre-determined length in mind when you first begin a book? Fun fact, I started writing full-length novels during Nanowrimo. The goal for that is 50,000 words. Once upon a time, I thought that was long enough. However, the last three years or so, I’ve upped my goal to closer to 75,000 words … and actually accomplished it in the 30-day timeframe. Novembers are brutal for me, but so worth it. Every single one of my novels that has been and is being published have come from participating in Nanowrimo.

How did you determine whether to self-publish or seek a traditional publisher? Partly, I think I wanted to be published traditionally for the validation. Granted, the editing and having someone else pay the upfront costs that come with publishing are also major perks. But to have someone else look at my story and agree it was worth it to put out there where people could pay money for it? That was amazing. And I’ve had it happen four times now!

I assume when you start a book, you pretty much have the plot laid out. Do you ever change your mind later on in the book, and go in a different direction? You assume a lot! Ha! I will say, when I start to write down a book, most of the time I know the beginning and the end, along with several scenes between. Other than that, I don’t always know what’s going to happen. I started out a pantser, allowing my characters to dictate what happened in my story. I’m more of a “plantser” now, planning more of it, or at least scribbling down the ideas as they come so I can arrange them in an order that makes the most sense. But my husband just shakes his head at me, because every now and then I stop writing and say, “Huh. I didn’t see that coming.” Why? Because one of my characters just said or did something that makes perfect sense, but it hadn’t even crossed my mind when I started writing the story. I’ve learned that if you develop your characters well enough early on, they’ll write the story for you. All you have to do is point them in the right direction.

Do you remember where you were or what you were doing when you started this story? Honestly, I was probably in bed. A lot of times, while trying to sleep, my mind wanders through story ideas, plotting out scenes, wondering what a character would do in this or that situation. I think the way this story got started was the idea, “What would happen if the best friend you’d been in love with forever finally came back home, but she didn’t come alone? Instead, she came home with a baby.”

Here is where you can find Amy online:

http://abitofanguish.weebly.com

https://www.facebook.com/amyanguishauthor

https://www.pinterest.com/msguish/my-books/

twitter.com/amy_r_anguish

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEiu-jq-KE-VMIjbtmGLbJA

Amy is giving away a copy of her book, Saving Grace to a reader! See below how to enter to win:a Rafflecopter giveaway

7 comments

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    • Paula Marie on October 22, 2020 at 09:16
    • Reply

    This story is wonderful, so glad to have found Amy’s books!

      • Amy Anguish on October 22, 2020 at 13:02
      • Reply

      Paula Marie, you’re the best!

    • Trudy on October 22, 2020 at 16:19
    • Reply

    Oh, wow, this sounds amazing!!!

      • Amy Anguish on October 23, 2020 at 09:50
      • Reply

      Thanks so much!

    • bn100 on October 22, 2020 at 21:56
    • Reply

    interesting interview

      • Amy Anguish on October 23, 2020 at 09:51
      • Reply

      Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to get to know me a little bit.

    • on October 23, 2020 at 10:15
    • Reply

    First of all, that’s a beautiful cover! Second, that story sounds so good!

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