Amanda McIntyre

I was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and moved when I was barely five to a rural town in Southwest Iowa. Known for its farmers and ranchers—corn, pork, dairy and beef cattle were the mainstays of the tiny community of less than 7,000. In what seems like not that long ago—kids could play outside from dawn to dusk, and oftentimes after dark. We rode our bikes everywhere, walked for blocks to play at a friend’s house. Folks rarely locked their doors. The storekeepers in town all knew who kids belonged to. The pool was the place to be in the summer. The drive-in when I was a teen, and scooping the loop as a senior. It was by all standards an innocent way of life.

Fast forward several years and, my husband (we are high-school sweethearts) and I decided to move back to our hometown, start his career and raise our kids near their grandparents. I started writing a weekly newspaper column when my twins were babes, and that evolved into reviewing books for a magazine online, which after having a great many wonderful mentors and online classes, I took the step over into fiction writing…

I’ll answer the second question-no, certainly not more than an occasional poem. I was and am an avid reader still, but I am an artist at heart. I give my art teacher the credit for helping me recognize my gift of artistry—my eye and empathy, as it were—she taught me to tell my stories with oils and brush, with clay and camera, to I tend to be a painter at heart. I give credit to my art teacher for helping me see the world around me and to own the gifts I was blessed with and share them as my visual stories for the world. I say that where I once painted with oils and brush, I now paint with words.

I think it’s the attitude and lifestyle of folks in the Heartland. There’s a basic strength and loyalty to family, respect for hard work, and an appreciation for those who have gone before us, making it possible to believe if we work together, we can overcome obstacles.

What got me into writing at all was seeing a need in our local paper for recognizing the importance of music and the Fine Arts in our schools. That began a weekly column that spanned over seven years in my hometown. From there, it was getting back into reading, then hopping online to learn the craft of reviewing all types of book genres. At one point, the bug bit me to learn more about the craft of fiction writing. The idea of overcoming obstacles to achieve a happily ever after, or happily for now intrigued me. In truth, I’d also just had twin sons about this time and wanted to find a way beyond the newspaper column to write from home. Online classes, great writing mentors, getting involved in an online chapter of RWA, and meeting other authors—new and seasoned just added fuel to that passion to learn more. And it made me realize that there were these visual characters in my head that had stories that needed to be told. I love to write about ordinary characters who face extraordinary challenges and overcome them with grit, faith, family support, and love. My mantra for my writing is #lovewillfindaway.

It turned out that after writing my successful Kinnison trilogy (as much of a humble surprise to me as anyone) that readers wanted more. I already had the ranch and its premise to use the horses and the setting as a form of physical and spiritual healing. And I had the town of End of the Line, Montana that just naturally lent its characters, businesses, and emotional support for bringing others to the ranch. Pulling in American Indian tradition and belief was also natural to the area.

Georgia on my Mind was actually a part of a special project designed for a specific reader/author conference that was held in Atlanta, Ga. A number of authors each wrote a book with its roots in Georgia and we put it out as a collection, with the print premier being at this Atlanta conference. It was great fun. I wanted my characters to have a connection to End of the Line, Montana, and their story turned out to fit very nicely into that world. As far as believing in second chances—I do, and not only in love. My feeling is this, if God can give me grace, then why shouldn’t I do the same for others? But I especially love writing second chance stories. In a way, I think those characters have even more to overcome in their rocky road to romance. You have to be able to work hard, not only on your own perceptions, but also your perceptions of others and be able to forgive and see the gift of being given a second chance.

I’ve been published with small press, traditional big publishers and now am about ninety percent self-published. Its been a journey so far that’s been about twenty-one years in the making, not counting the newspaper and non-fiction side of things. I’m still open to traditional publishing, but I have more freedom in writing what I want to write and not necessarily being limited to one particular genre.

I’ve always tried to keep a Monday-Friday, 8-5 pm schedule, treating it like a business. But that’s hard when the mood strikes, or there is a deadline. As an artist at heart, I like to strike when the idea is hot, and doesn’t always coincide with a schedule.

Understanding what the characters were going through emotionally and then having the emotional aspects of the child they’d fostered and grown close to as well as dealing with the danger and tragedy and how that could be turned into something good. That was hard, but I do believe that #lovewillfindaway.

I suppose that depends on your reason for wanting to write a romantic story. There are rules/a craft to writing romance, though those have loosened up considerably over recent years. I would consider myself about a 4 on the romance scale, only because I have a lot of life experience under my belt. Certainly, there have been times when I didn’t “feel” like writing romance. I think my definition of romance writing tends to lean more on the realistic side of romance. There are potholes on the road to romance, certainly.

I’m not sure I can pinpoint a single person that has inspired me as an author. There have been many over the years—authors, editors, agents, publishers, mentors, family members, friends—far too many to name. My pen name of McIntyre is an homage to my grandmother, a woman whom I’ve always admired for her tenacity, joy, faith and love of her family. Within the industry, I’ve met many, many people. I believe to learn from every person you meet—either what you admire, or not so much-either way it can serve to be an inspiration.

I have seen and been through so many obstacles in my life and through it all my faith, my belief that God is bigger than my circumstances, that prayer can move hearts and mountains and do remarkable things.

Starting out, reviews could affect my entire demeanor—from the mountaintop highs to the valleys in-between. I have learned that while reviews are welcome, they are subjective and what one person may obtain from a story, another may not. I do consider the craft of writing I see in a review—you can tell a well-written, thoughtful review from one that hasn’t taken much time.

Know that there needs to be a balance, and you can’t beat yourself up if you’re not trekking on any given days with your peers. Everyone’s life situations are different and most authors know that and give grace and encouragement to each other in the more difficult times. I’d also encourage you to write the stories you want to tell. Don’t write for the money or for the fame. Write because those characters, or a particular story is chomping at the bit to be put down on paper—to be shared out there with maybe just one person whose life might be changed by reading your story. That, to me, is the true measure of success—to hear from someone how much your story/writing meant to them.

I love the mock ups for marketing. Those are great! And I appreciate the tweets! As an author, its hard to make the rounds on all fronts consistently, so it’s great that AllAuthor has your back! So, thank you!!