Amanda Hocking

Amanda's Blog

Excerpt & Teaser
November 3rd, 2010 by
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Don’t forget to check out the big giveaway for paperbacks of Switched and Torn. – enter here. Also, Stacey Wallace Benefiel’s giveaway is only going on until Friday, and she has a lot of great prizes there, so be sure to enter her giveaway!

Yesterday, I posted the new covers for the Trylle Trilogy. Thanks to your feedback, I made some changes to the font color to make it pop more. Hopefully it worked.

I also put an excerpt for Torn. You can read it: here. I decided to go with the second chapter because the first chapter kinda works as a bridge between the two books. I think the first chapter is necessary to the overall story, but there’s more action in the second one. So there you have it.

Also, I posted a teaser two months ago from Torn. You can read that: here. I think I’ve changed some things grammatically from the teaser in the past two months, but it’s otherwise intact.

What you don’t know is that I had a character named “Ian” in Torn. In the first outline, he had…. a different role. Smaller. Then the character became larger, and I started thinking about how much I didn’t like the name Ian. At least not in the context. It just felt too small and whiny.

But I didn’t want to slow down working on the book, so I kept the name Ian and finished the book. I edited and thought about something different to call him, but I didn’t find anything that was right.

Then today, when I have hardly any time left to fix and tweak things, it came to me. And I found the perfect name. Bells chimed. Angels sung. A halo glowed over the computer.

And now I’m content.

This always happens to me in crunch time. I changed the ending to Wisdom like two weeks before it came out. I reworked a chapter in Hollowland right before it came out, adding a whole new scene. Inspirition only hits when the a deadline looms.

New Cover Art!
November 2nd, 2010 by
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I’m having a big giveaway for the upcoming release of Torn. Be sure to check to check out the giveaway: here.

So as you may or may not know, I’ve had issues with my cover art for the Trylle Trilogy. For the first cover, I used my friend Jenna Petersen, who is a part time model and ultra hottie. That’s the original cover for Switched. I like her. She’s pretty. But the cover didn’t feel magical enough.

I went on to talk to different cover artists. The first one did really amazing fantasy work, and while I totally loved her stuff, it didn’t feel right for my books. 
The second cover artist I actually hired and paid for. His name is Ronnell Porter, and he does really fantastic covers. I actually don’t have complaints about his work. He had a girl on the cover, and it ended up opening debates about Wendy looked like it.

So I finally decided to just make my own covers without a person on them. I purposely kept them similar to the My Blood Approves series, because I like themes. But I did a few things differently, and I tried to keep the Trylle Trilogy unique from the MBA books.

So… without further rambling…. here are the new covers:
Switched – Book #1

Torn – Book #2


Ascend – Book #3 (release date – early 2011)

So, what do you all think?

Trylle Trilogy & Giveaway
November 1st, 2010 by
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The second book in the Trylle Trilogy  – Torn – will be out in about two weeks*

(*I can’t control when Amazon will finally publish the book to the site, so I’m not setting an exact release date. Torn will be available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and in paperback)

Tomorrow, I’m going to unveil the new covers for the entire trilogy, as well as start dropping some info and fun facts about Torn and the trilogy as a whole.

Today, I’m going to start a giveaway to help churn excitement for the release of Torn.
Starting today and ending November 14th at Midnight, I’m going to have a giveaway with three level of prizes.

Third place winner 
Signed paperback of Switched


Second place winner
Signed paperbacks of Switched and Torn

Grandprize winner
Signed paperbacks of Switched, Torn, and My Blood Approves

Here are the rules for the giveaway: 

1. To enter to win, comment on this blog. Be sure to leave your email address or a way to contact you if you win. To earn bonus entries:
  • +1 entry – follow this blog
  • +2 entry – if you’re already following this blog
  • +1 entry – Tweet about it (provide link in comment)
  • +1 entry – Facebook it (provide link in comment

2. The giveaway runs from today on November 14th at Midnight. On November 15th, winners will be chosen by random.org and contacted. They have 72 hours to reply before the prize defaults to the runner-up.

3. This contest is open to both U.S. and international residents.

Happy Halloween!
October 31st, 2010 by
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I wanted to put up a pic of a Zombie Jack-o-lantern, but this Death Star pumpkin is too awesome to pass up.
In celebration of this wonderous occasion, I’m posting a list of winners of the various contests:

Winner of David McAfee’s signed paperback of 33 A.D. –  Christina (cmeghanb at gmail.com)

Winner of paperback of The Fall signed by both Robert Duperre and the artist – Julie  (julie at brazealcats.com)

Winner of the paperback of Cameo the Assassain by Dawn McCullough-White – teawench at gmail.com

Winner of a paperback of Bloodlust by Zoe Winters – Pegeen (pkbrent at gmail.com)

Winner of a signed paperback of Thank You For the Flowers by Scott Nicholson – Emily (emilyking630 at yahoo.com)

Winner of an ebook of Down the Drain by Daniel Pyle – Becky (geckyboz at gmail.com)

Winners of ebooks of Cattitude by Edie Ramer – Julie ( julie at brazealcats.com) and Emily (ebdye1 at gmail.com)

Winners of ebooks of Jenny Pox by J. L Bryan – Amanda (manaface at gmail.com) and chickenherder at hotmail.com
Winner of a signed paperback of Hollowland by Amanda Hocking – Ginny (vshanno1 at mail.naz.edu)

Winner of  Halloween Care Package from Imogen Rose – jamalis1 at hotmail.com

Winners of ebooks of Space Junque by LK Rigel – bluefrog62 at yahoo.com,  Alice  (alicebrown636 at yahoo.com), and Laura (bl1nkfa1ry at aol.com)

Winner of House of the Dead 3 from MJA Ware – Brandy (brandyzbooks at yahoo.com)

Winners of ebooks of The River by Maria Rachel Hooley – Emily (emilyking630 at yahoo.com),  Mary (zenrei57 at hotmail.com), and Cassandra (cassandrarenee87 at gmail.com)

Congratulations to all the winners, and a massive THANK YOU to everyone that participated in Zombiepalooza! To everyone who contributed guest blogs and short stories, as well as donating prizes, and to all the people who checked in and entered giveaways. Thanks, everyone! Zombiepalooza was a hoot!

I’d also like to leave a quick reminder that Stacey Wallace Benefiel’s giveaway is still going on until November 5, 2010. She’s got a first, second, and third prize, and it’s kind of a big deal.

Also, don’t forget to check back in on my blog in November. I have some happenings going on here. 😉

Have a safe and happy Halloween, everybody!

One of Four
October 30th, 2010 by
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As Zombiepalooza draws to a close, David McAfee offers  One of Four – a short horror story that has nothing to do with zombies. It’s like the palette cleanser of Zombieaplooza, but it’s still definitely horror. 
As you may recall from the giveaway earlier in the month, David McAfee is the author of 33 A.D. and Grubs, a novella that gave me nightmares. For more info about him or his books, please check out his site: mcafeeland.wordpress.com

One of Four – along with fifteen other stories – is included in McAfee’s horror anthology, Pound of Flash. It also has bonus material from David Dalglish, Daniel Arenson, and Michael Crane.

______________________________________________________
“You know who I am, Father.” It isn’t a question.
The priest looks at me, his youthful eyes brimming with idealistic forgiveness, and nods.
“I know who you claim to be,” he says as he steps past the nurse – a burly bitch named Swanson – and starts to close the door behind him.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Swanson says, holding up her left hand. She casts a meaningful glance at her missing ring finger. The scar is an angry red. “He’s a vicious old bastard.”
Her diamond ring had hurt like hell when it passed through my bowels, but the look on her face had been worth it. Maybe I wouldn’t do shit like that if they’d give me something to eat.
The priest ignores her missing finger. “He won’t harm me,” he says. “He can’t.” With that, he closes the door, while Swanson shakes her head and resumes her duties.
I can’t keep the snarl out of my voice. “Damn right I can’t.” I jerk forward in the bed, but the straps around my bare, sunken chest and arms hold me in place. I know it’s useless. I’ve been trying to break them for years now with nothing to show for it but raw, bleeding skin. They are too strong, especially in my pathetic state. They never feed me in this place, preferring to keep me weak and pliable.
He takes a seat by my bed, his soft white robe settles around him as though it’s made of air. On his finger a hefty gold ring winks in the dim light of my cell. I catch a faint whiff of cologne. I can’t place the brand, but it smells expensive. It probably is. The Catholic Church looks after its own.
I smile, revealing a mouth full of sharpened teeth. I had them filed to points long before the priest was even born. In my emaciated state, I must look like a fleshy skull smiling at him. He blanches, but doesn’t look away.
“They told me about those,” he says. “Do you think you frighten me?”
“Don’t I?”
He shakes his head, then reaches into a pouch at his side. He pulls out a vial of water and a rosary and sets them both on the nightstand. “Are you ready?”
I chuckle. A thick, wet gurgle. It’s all I can manage. “You can’t exorcise me, Father. I’m not a demon.” My belly growls. In the confines of the tiny room it sounds like an angry bear.
“We will see.” He pulls the stopper from the vial and begins to pray. I can’t understand a word of it. Must be Latin. He makes a motion with the vial that looks like a cross, then splashes the water on my face and chest. It’s cold, but that’s it. My skin doesn’t boil or blister, and I don’t scream.
He looks closer, his expression slightly puzzled. Then he reaches down and dips his finger into one of the drops on my chest, swirling it around in a circle.
“Careful, Father,” I say. My belly rumbles again, accentuating my warning.
His eyes shoot from my chest to my face, his disbelief plain to see. His finger raises off my flesh and hovers a few inches away. Almost close enough to bite, but not quite. He is probably thinking of Swanson’s scar.
“It’s true, then,” he whispers.
I nod. “But you already knew that.”
He looks at the vial in his hand. “I had to be sure.”
I nod again. “Of course.”
“We’ve been waiting for you.” His words are slow, deliberate. The fear that escaped him earlier now weighs heavily on every syllable. “How long do we have?”
I shake my head. “You should have come to me sooner.”
“We didn’t know.”
“Yes, you did.”
He closes his eyes and turns away, his face red. Maybe he didn’t know, but his colleagues did. They had plenty of time to fix things, and instead they went on as they always had. Only now, when it’s too late, do they think of me, locked away in their prison. Had they come to me sooner, I could have saved them. Any of my brethren could. But we waited. We wanted to see what they would do.
Now we know.
The earth begins to shake beneath us. His eyes snap open.
“Are the others here, already?” he asks.
“Not yet, but they are coming.”
He nods, tears sparkling in his eyes. He clutches his Bible and his rosary to his chest, and again begins praying in Latin. The only word I recognize is famēs, and only because it’s my name. A few moments later the roof of the building crashes down on him. The weight of the rubble snaps my bonds, and I am able to rise on shaky legs.
I leave the room and walk through the hallways, listening to the screams of people dying around me. Swanson is buried under a pile of debris. Her unblinking eyes stare up toward the ceiling.
The others are indeed coming, just as I told the priest. They have quite a distance to travel, of course. Currently, War is in the Middle East, Pestilence is in Africa, and Death…Death is everywhere.
I step out of the ruined building and look back just as the front, a huge brick and marble facade that sports a gleaming bronze Crucifix, tumbles to the earth. The Crucifix lands on a woman in a black and white habit, who sees me standing nearby and begs for mercy in Portuguese.
Too late, I remind myself.
I raise my thin, bony arms to the sky, waiting for instructions. They are not long in coming.
My name is Famine, and it’s time to go to work.
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