Amanda Hocking

So I have some exciting new! I’ve been working with Regina Wamba at Mae I Design to create beautiful new covers for the My Blood Approves series. They’re totally redesigned with new images that perfectly capture the feel of the novels, and the interiors have been reformatted for both the ebook and the paperback versions.

For a long, long time now, I’ve wanted to update the covers, but I kept putting it off for a variety of reasons. But now finally, the My Blood Approves series has beautiful new covers that I can proud of. They are so stunning and I’m so excited! The covers at still updating at the retailers, but I can’t wait anymore and I have to share them with you all!!!

You can check them all out, with all the links to purchase at at various retailers on the series page: here. Or you can just look at them below!

Get the new edition of My Blood Approves in paperback at Createspace

Get the new edition of Fate in paperback at Createspace

Get the new edition of Flutter in paperback at Createspace

Get the new edition of Wisdom in paperback at Createspace

Get the new edition of Wisdom from Amazon for the Kindle

The new edition of Letters to Elise WILL be available in paperback for the first time ever, but it’s currently being proofed. I will update with a link as soon as it’s available, but for now, it’s out in ebook

I LOVE this song. Listening to it on repeat while I attempt to get some work done (in between my cat meowing loudly because she doesn’t have my undivided attention every second of every day).

So I haven’t updated the blog in a long while, and I haven’t been very active on social media in general. Not since Crystal Kingdom came out, and that was almost three months ago. (Which, by the way, thanks for being so supportive about Crystal Kingdom. It’s ended up being one of the best reviewed books I’ve ever written, and the Kanin Chronicles made the New York Times Bestseller List, so THANK YOU guys so much!)

The reason I haven’t been very active is because I’ve been really depressed lately. And you may be saying, “You just published your 17th book, made the NY Times Bestseller List, moved to a new house, got married, and got a wonderful new dog. What do you have to be depressed about?”

Well, for me, that’s how depression works. I get overwhelmed and stressed out really easily, and a lot of changes – even positive ones – leads to a total shut down. And that gets all wrapped up with guilt and shame and this weird determination I have to just will the depression away, even though that’s never ever worked, and I end up as a non-functioning blob who finds anything beyond taking care of  my pets unbearable.

On a good day, human interaction is difficult for me – whether it be in real life or online. Because every word I say is a chance for me to annoy, alienate, or offend the person I’m interacting, and I’m certain that everything I say or do is offensive and awful. On a bad day, the anxiety makes it almost impossible for to communicate with anyone outside of my closest circle, and even that can be difficult. (You can ask my husband.)

So anyway, I’m on a new medication now, because just “powering through it” hasn’t really been working. It’s actually really weird, because if another person has mental health issues, I’m like, “You should totally go see a doctor and get medicine. It’s not your fault, but finding the best way to manage your condition can help you lead a happier and fuller life.” But when it comes to myself, I’m like, “No. I won’t see anyone or take anything. I will fix this myself, even though I’m 31-years-old and I’ve never been able to fix this myself and things spiral up and down all the time, making my life very difficult and unpleasant most of the time.”

The moral of the story – I’m working to be in a better place. I’ll still have lapses from posts from time to time, because I need to take a break from online to keep myself reasonably sane. But this is just a little post checking back in, while I try to get back into the habit of posting on occasion.

I just finished up the first draft of a new book (it’ll be my 18th published, and something like my 23rd written, I think??). It’ll be out sometime next year, but I’ll tell you more about as things get closer.

And I think that’s all I have to say for today.

 

The wait is finally over, and Crystal Kingdom is released, and the Kanin Chronicles has come to an end.

My publisher sent out ARCs and had Crystal Kingdom on Netgalley, so I’ve been able to see early reviews of the book. And I can tell you in all honesty that these are the some best reviews I’ve ever gotten for a book. I’ve had good reviews before, but these are ones have been consistently good in a way that they haven’t before. So I guess that means that Crystal Kingdom may be the best book I’ve ever written, which is exciting.

Basically, what I’m saying, is that Crystal Kingdom is out now, and you should pick it up. I know some people like to wait until a series is complete until they start it, and now the Kanin Chronicles is complete. If you want to get the first two books in the Kanin Chronicles as well, click here for links: here. 

While you’re reading, you can also check out the soundtrack for Crystal Kingdom here, and you can also check out my dreamcast for the Kanin Chronicles over at Pinterest here.

And finally, here are some places you can get Crystal Kingdom. If you got to a physical bookstore, and they don’t have it on the shelves, ask for it. They might not have put it out yet, or if its not in stock, they can order it for you.

iBookstore – for ebook 
Barnes & Noble – for paperback, ebook, hardcover, & audio
Amazon – for paperback, ebook, hardcover, & audio
Indiebound – for paperback, hardcover, & audio 
Powell’s– for paperback
Books-a-Million– for paperback, hardcover, & audio
Audible – for audio
Target – for paperback
Walmart – for paperback
Booktopia (Australia) – for paperback 
Waterstones (UK) – for paperback

 

Last week, I posted a blog asking if anybody had questions about either the Trylle or Kanin series, and I got a lot of great questions! I’m going to be answering them with Nonspoiler ones at the top, and possible spoilers at the bottom.

NonSpoiler Questions

From Ways2Fangirl: Who do you like more. Bryn or Wendy?

That’s really tough. I like them both for different reasons, and I really like the young woman that Wendy grows into over the course of series. But I think at the moment, I like Bryn a bit more. She’s just tougher.

From Ways2Fangirl: Are you going to do a signing?

I will only be doing one signing for the release of Crystal Kingdom – a local one at the Austin Artworks Festival in Austin, MN on August 22nd. You can find out more about the event: here. I’ve done several extensive tours in the past, and unfortunately, the turnout has not been large enough to justify being away from home so long, the interruption in my writing, and the high cost of travel. It’s great meeting fans, but as an introvert with social anxiety, extended tours can get very taxing on me.

From Marwa: Do you roughly plan how the series is going to go or do you right the first book and then just continue with the second book not knowing the ending?
Thank you.

I always know the ending of a series when I start. Before I even started writing the Kanin Chronicles, I had the end scene in my mind, and I knew exactly which characters would live, and which would die. I wrote a more extensive blog where I talk about my outlining process, and what I know about a series before I start writing: here.

From Marwa: Has anyone contacted you about making the Trylle series into a movie? If someone did, would you still want to do a movie if you didn’t like how they were going to do it?

At this time, there will be no Trylle movie or TV series, but I’ve covered the topic of a Trylle movie extensively: here.

As for the second part of your question, that’s tough. Once I sell my rights to a film company, they actually can do whatever they want with them. Some people have enough clout to have a say in casting (like JK Rowling), but most authors (like myself) do not. So basically we just hope they get it right, and if the film production gets things wrong, there’s not a lot we can do about it, except say we’re unhappy with it. So if you ever see a bad film adaptation or terrible casting choices of your favorite book, don’t yell at the author about it. They probably hate it even more than you do, but there’s nothing they can do.

From Marwa: Are you planning on writing a new book series after this? You’re my favorite author, and your books mean a lot to me. I hope you can continue writing for the years to come.

Thank you 🙂 My next book coming out is a standalone novel, actually. I’ve been doing a lot of series, and I wanted to do something that I can start and finish in one sitting. It should be out in 2016 with my publisher. After that, I have a paranormal duology coming out probably in 2017, but I don’t have titles or a good synopsis on that yet.

From Debbie Browdy: Your Trylle series has perfect pace, beat, tempo (any and all of those terms apply), love it! I was wondering if you use writer’s dice? or how do you pace the action in your books so well? (perfect absolutely perfect)

Thank you! I haven’t used writer’s dice before. The Trylle series (particularly Switched) went through tons and tons of edits. I cut over a third from the original draft. I think that’s the only trick I really use in terms of pacing. I just keep cutting things, or moving things around, if I feel like the story is lagging.

From Maddy: Dream cast for the Trylle?

So I wrote I originally started writing the Trylle series over six years ago, and most of the actors I envisioned for the roles are now much too old. It’s kind of hard to say anymore. But here’s who I would pick for the Trylle if it were being filmed tomorrow:
Wendy: Odette Yustman (even though she’s probably too old)
Finn: Ian Somerhalder (who is also too old probably)
Loki: Liam Hemsworth
Tove: Emile Hirsch
Willa: Alexa Vega
Elora: Famke Janssen
Bain: Logan Lerman
Oren: Michael Wincott
Sara: Jennifer Connelly

From Ashley Lovell: Is there anything you can tell us about what your next book series is going to be about?

My next book after that will be a standalone YA paranormal romance novel set in the 1980s that follows a travelling sideshow called Freeks. I pitched it as Pretty in Pink meets The Lost Boys (minus the vampires) meets Carnivale. It will be out sometime in 2016 with my publisher.

From Dahlia: Do you think you’ll ever add on to the Trylle Series? It would be AWESOME if you did!

No, I won’t be adding anymore to the Trylle series. The main conflict of that trilogy – defeating the enemy, finding true love, all that – is over. I know there’s still little details in life that some readers wonder about – like Wendy’s life looks like now, how her family is, will she get rid of some of the archaic rules. But with the main conflict gone, the story would be boring and dull. For those kinds of questions, the answers are best left to readers – and fan fiction.

From Sara: For both the Trylle and Kanin series, what would happen if a Markissina and a tracker were to have a relationship? (I’ve figured out everything else with how the kingdoms would react, except for this one) Also, who is your favorite character from the Trylle series?

The Trylle are a bit more relaxed than the Kanin, so I think it would be possible to have a relationship without as much fuss. However, a Marksinna or Markis would have to give up their title if they were to marry a tracker. (A tracker can never be royalty, so the royals would have to lose their title).

In the Kanin, it would be dramatic. They would most likely lose their inheritance, their title, and possibly become ostracized from their social circle. It could be even greater if it’s a powerful bloodline, because they’re risking losing their abilities – they’re less likely to pass on the chameleon abilities to their offspring since they’re have children with a tracker.

From Helen: I would really like to know what would your dream cast look like,for both Trylle and Kanin.

I posted my dreamcast for the Trylle above, and I actually made a dreamcast for the Kanin Chronicles at Pinterest.

Follow Amanda Hocking’s board Dream Cast for Ice Kissed on Pinterest.From Megan Firth: I was just wondering how you came up with the character Wendy because I love her personality? Also how did you come up with the kanin series after the amazing initial ideas that took place in developing the trylle trilogy and their characters? In addition who is your favourite character in both the trylle and kanin series and which character would you like to be most and why?

With Wendy, I just started with the idea of a changeling that had a traumatic childhood, and built around there. The hardest part about writing her was making her likable, because she had hard edges and acted out from being a troll, from having an abusive (host) mother, and from feeling she never belonged.

For the Kanin Chronicles, I just thought about what I wanted to explore. What questions about the troll world weren’t really answered in the previous series (since they weren’t as relevant to the previous series). I created Bryn to be counterpart for Wendy, and I wanted her story to be complimentary to the one in the Trylle story but also sort of the opposite.

It’s hard to pick favorite characters. Elora and Konstnatin have had the most interesting story arcs for me to write, but Loki and Linnea were probably the most fun for me.

I don’t really want to be any of the characters. The kingdoms of the trolls all sound difficult (and dangerous), so I’d rather to stick to my safe, ordinary human existence.

From Thalita Motta: Have you ever thought that would be Trylle can turn movie or series ? And what’s your favorite person? My is the Loki.
I am Brazilian and I am in love with this series . Blow a kiss to me and Brazil. Thank You

I would love to see the Trylle series as movie, but as you probably saw in my previous answer, movie studios just aren’t interested. You can read more about it: here. Hello to Brazil!!

From Julie: Were some of the characters inspired by people you know?

No. I never base characters on real people. It becomes too limiting, because people I know in real life don’t usually behave the way I need my characters too.

Spoiler Questions:

From Lynette: SPOILER What kind of song did you think of when you were writing the scene where Wendy and Loki were dancing romantically in the ball room (my favorite scene by the way)?

I thought of this song specicially – “Don’t Wear Me Out” by Oceanship. It’s probably my favorite scene from the books, too. 🙂

From Marwa: Why did you decide to kill off Kasper?

I knew from the before I even started writing the books when and how Kasper would die. I had it in my notes in the outlines, that the conflict at the end of the second book would result in his death. It felt necessary to me because this was the action would lead Bryn to war, and in war, people die on both sides of the aisle. Good people are killed. It was something that changed Bryn’s perspective and forced to her reevaluate what she thought she knew about the Kanin and the Skojare, and more importantly, the Hogdragen.

In a lot of ways, Kasper is the ideal for Bryn. He’s an excellent guard, he’s a intelligent, and he’s managed to find a balance between his work and his personal life that Bryn hadn’t even realized she was missing. But he’s chosen a career that puts his life in jeopardy, and Bryn always saw honor in that. But with Kasper’s death, I think Bryn is able to understand more what Ridley said in the first book about why he would never be a member of the Hogdragen.

From Marwa: SPOILER Do Wendy and Loki have an other children besides Oliver? Thank you.

I don’t think they do.

From Marwa: Was Wendy ever able to make it okay for Willa and Matt to get married?

In my mind, not yet. But the thing about the end of the Trylle trilogy – and all my series for that matter – is that some point they have to end. Which means that some questions I can’t answer, and that’s where the reader’s imagination and fan fiction pick up. The Trylle trilogy ended with Wendy setting things on the right course, working toward a better world, but it’s up to readers to decide if and when she ever gets there, and what that world looks like.

From Jocelyn: How did the father of ryhs die? You never mentioned that!!! Did wendy kill him?:O

I actually do mention how her host father dies. In Switched, Chapter 8: Family, Elora tells Wendy that she is a changeling for money, and Wendy explains that her host family doesn’t have much money. She says, “My dad killed himself when I was five, so none of his insurance paid out. My mom never worked a day in her life, and she’s been in a mental institution for the past eleven years, which has eaten a lot of her funds.”

So that’s how Wendy’s host father and Rhys’s biological father died. He killed himself. Wendy doesn’t go into too in depth, because she was only five when it happened, but I always imagined hanging himself. As to the motivations for it, I don’t think Wendy knows, because she was just a kid, her host mother was too crazy to explain anythign to her, and in many cases, people never truly understand why people kill themselves.