Hello again! This week has flown by. FLOWN BY. I’m back again with another fabulous interview, this time with author Amy Campbell. As always, my comments are in brackets and italics. Enjoy!
Tell me a little bit about yourself!
I’m a mom, librarian, and author. I live in Texas with my husband, our two busy boys, and our dog. One of my passions as a librarian is to help bring more visibility to indie authors. [Shout-out to you and to all librarians! Such an integral part of the book business. So awesome.]
What got you into writing?
From the age of 7, I always wanted to be an author. One of the very first stories I wrote was a Black Stallion rip-off. I wrote all through my teen years, but I never had the knowledge to persevere with a story. And that was a time when self-publishing didn’t exist even as a dream, so I never thought I’d have a shot getting published. I stopped writing around 2005. Life got busy and I had other pursuits. But then when the pandemic hit in 2020, I needed something I could control. I dove back into writing in April 2020 and I haven’t stopped since.
What genres do you write in?
Fantasy. Will I ever write other genres? Maybe! But for now, fantasy. [Yasss, fellow fantasy author here. I LOVE fantasy!]
Do you write standalones or series?
I write in series. Once I get to know my characters, I enjoy them too much to leave them alone.
How many books do you have out right now? Tell me about them!
I currently have 2 out: Breaker and Effigest, with Dreamer coming out in June.
Which book did you have the hardest time trying to write? The best time?
Breaker was the hardest because I was coming off that 15 year period of not writing. Getting my brain trained to write again has been a task. I’m also not a planner – at all – and I desperately wanted some sort of outline that I could use as guidance because I was relearning this skill. That ended up doing more harm than good as I learned that I am very much a discovery writer. I’m just as surprised by what happens in my books as my readers!
I’ve had the best time writing Dreamer. Once I learned to let myself go, write that chaotic, awful first draft and go from there, it’s been a smoother process. And now I’m at the point where most of these characters are like best friends to me, so it’s fun to write about them. [I love this chaotic writing; it must be so freeing to write whatever! ]
Why do you keep writing?
It’s fun! And because of the particular types of characters I wrote about, it’s incredibly gratifying. Blaise is asexual, and it’s pretty rare to see an ace character in fiction. Or if you do it tends to be something more literary, focused on their aceness. Being ace is just a fragment of who he is, and I’ve received a lot of emails from readers who are really touched to see someone like them not only in a book, but being normalized in literature. [A fragment of who he is, love that statement.]
Which character of yours is your favorite?
This is like asking which of my children I love more. I have a special place in my heart for Blaise, though. Of the characters in my series, he and Emrys (his pegasus) have been in my head the longest. I first began writing about him (in a very different iteration) around 2000 or so. I stopped writing for more than a decade, but he simply slept in my subconscious and I was really happy to breathe new life into him!
What are your favorite tropes? Hated tropes?
I have so many favorite tropes. Found family, reluctant hero, masquerade, fantastic creatures, morally grey, unlikely friends, heroic last stand, from zero to hero – probably more I’m forgetting!
I don’t know that I hate any tropes per se. I would dislike a trope that’s not done well, or that is done in such a cookie-cutter way that it’s indiscernible from other books.
What kind of hobbies do you have outside of writing?
I don’t have a ton of time for hobbies outside writing at the moment. I work full-time as a librarian and I have 2 young children, so I’m pretty busy! I collect model horses, so they’re something that brings me a lot of joy. I used to play World of Warcraft, but I haven’t lately since I don’t have as much time to devote to it. [Phew, sounds like a busy household indeed. Model horses are cool, I bet you used one as inspiration for Emrys.]
What is your writing process like?
Chaos! As I said, I’m a discovery writer and I’ve had to learn my own particular crazy method. I tried outlines for my first two books and that just doesn’t work for me. Now I write a messy first draft where I only have a general idea of the things I’d like to see happen. (Sometimes they don’t happen!) Then I do a read-through where I only take notes and think about what needs to be added or changed. After that, I head back into the draft and add the missing parts and remove the things that don’t work. Then I do an edit in ProWritingAid and another read-through before it goes to my betas.
Have you ever traveled as research for your writing?
Sort of! I went on a Momcation with some other moms from my online Moms group in September 2021. We went to Breckenridge, Colorado and some of the tours I went on were things I can incorporate into my writing. We went on a horseback ride, which was so amazing since I hadn’t ridden a horse in years (despite how much I write about equines). I also went on a tour that covered some of the spooky historical aspects of the town and a tour of the historic saloons. [That sounds like a lovely time! I do love a good walking ghost tour.]
Last question, what’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten?
To just keep writing. I was really rusty when I started writing Breaker, and by the time I got to Dreamer I felt much more in the swing of things! Writing is like anything else – you can only improve the more you do it.
Find Amy Campbell on social media:
Facebook
Instagram
TikTok
Bookbub
Thanks to Amy for chatting with me; her books sound like such an adventure! I hope you all enjoyed learning about her and her work as well.
Warm regards,
Kellie
P.S. – If you have two or more books out and would like to be part of A Second Glance, fill out this form and I’ll contact you!
Have Pen, Will Pen 