Daughter of Madness by Amanda J. McGee

Posted: May 28, 2018/By: achristay@aol.com

Please welcome Amanda J. McGee author of Daughter of Madness

Amanda J. McGee will be awarding a copy of both published volumes of The Creation Saga: MOTHER OF CREATION and DAUGHTER OF MADNESS, (after the June 2, 2018 publishing date, US participants only) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Daughter of Madness

by Amanda J. McGee

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Epic Fantasy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

INTERVIEW:

What or who inspired you to start writing?

I think I’ve been writing as long as I could hold a pen. But in terms of who inspired me to write I would probably have to say my dad. He started reading us books aloud from a very young age, and that was always my favorite part of the day. Stories lived for me from an early age and became really important to who I was, so it was only a matter of time before I started making them.

How did you come up with ideas for your books?

I have a huge list of ideas I keep saved. It’s actually usually an issue of finding the one idea I want to focus on, not coming up with an idea. Right now, for example, I’m juggling three or four ideas that I would really like to start working on. In terms of how I come up with them, they really come from all sorts of places. Dreams, images I see, concepts I want to explore. Recently I’ve had the very annoying issue of coming up with amazing titles but being unable to figure out what the story is. Usually it’s the other way around.As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

3. One of my fondest wishes would be to get a novella published with Tor.com. I’m loving everything they do recently. In terms of future plans, I hope to get to work drafting my next manuscript and I’m also working on a serial story – I’m trying to decide the best way to launch that one. I try not to think too terribly far ahead because writing is very luck based as a career, and I can’t account for luck.

Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?

Right now I’m between critique groups. I really enjoyed having a group, but unfortunately I was the one organizing. When I stopped having time to organize, the group went away. There are huge benefits to having one and I’d love to find a new one. I think the important thing is to make sure you still have time and energy to keep working on your own projects, not just editing things for other people or doing administrative stuff.

Do you outline your books or just start writing?

I outline, but I don’t always stick to my outlines. For Daughter of Madness, I outlined, deviated in writing, re-outlined to figure out why it wasn’t working, re-wrote, deviated again some, re-outlined…you get the idea. I think outlining beforehand is good, but outlining once you have a draft is really helpful for analyzing structural issues.

Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you’ve gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books?

I am a gardener and I like to hike. I like to say that hiking has taught me a lot about writing books, because overall I love hiking but there are moments where the hike itself is absolutely miserable. The same for gardening really. Both have taught me about slow work, perseverance, and the rewards of misery, which obviously doesn’t sound glamorous but lets me have the wherewithal to go back and do the hard work to bring my books tighter and stronger plots and characters.

Do you have an all time favorite book?

This is really hard. I can’t say that I have just one favorite book, but I can say that one of my favorites is Radianceby Catherynne Valente. It’s a weird tale about the disappearance of an alternate history silent film maker from the moon. It also happens to be a meditation on the nature of storytelling.

Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book?

I have not started in so many words my next project. I consider a project started when I sit down and make a commitment to it, and I consider myself committed when the file goes in my WIP folder. But I’m dabbling in several and making decisions about which one to pursue. It’s probably going to be the sequel to Daughter of Madness, which will close out this trilogy. I’ve already gotten the outline done and I’m very excited about it.

Can you tell us a little about the black moment in your book?

There are a lot of black moments in this book, I think. But the part I had the hardest time writing is actually referenced in the cover scene. It’s a moment when the protagonist, Liana, takes vengeance on people who have done terrible things to her, but in the process she becomes a monster herself. I intentionally made her monstrous, and I don’t regret that. But I always feel sad for my characters when they make terrible choices.

Can you tell us a little bit about what it was like to write a series.

This was my first time writing a sequel and it was definitely a learning curve. Every book is different, but I think I’ve hit the point in my career where I sometimes overthink my story. That’s really helpful in the editing process and not so helpful in the drafting process. Add to that the complication of trying to create a story that built off of the previous one without just being repetitive or boring, and it was a lot to juggle. Happily, I got some great advise from some local writing friends at a conference I went to and it really helped clarify some things. I feel like I’ve very much grown as a writer.

BLURB:

Liana has lost much to Herka’s manipulations, though nothing so precious as her sanity. Emerging from her madness, she finds the world changed – her body wasted, her son gone, and her kingdom still beyond her reach. Only the fires of vengeance remain, and she will build the flames high.

DAUGHTER OF MADNESS tells the story of a princess and her twin, a soldier and his king, and an oracle who is more than she seems.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT:

They came to the edge of the village. The houses hung in the darkness, smoke from cooking fires painted the air. There was no returning. The priest of the Quet’le-Ma appeared beside her, androgynous face unreadable in the shadows. The contraption of flame was pressed into her palm, and something else. A clay pot, its top filled with fine rushes, not the slower burning woven wick. Liana stared at it for a moment, feeling the fire closer than it had been since she had put the pieces of herself back together.

“Liana,” her brother said, “we don’t have to do this.” She started, looked back at him. It surprised her to see the look of anguish on his face. Her own lips were twisted up at the ends, smiling with sudden euphoria. This, at least, the song of the fire, this she could have back if only the children of Herka would die.

She turned, and lit the little clay pot. It flared in her palm. Her arm pulled back, and she threw.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Amanda J. McGee is fantasy author living in Southwest Virginia with the love of her life and two cats. She likes baking, gardening, and flights of fancy. You can find out more about her books and her blog at www.amandajmcgee.com.

Twitter: @skylit1

Facebook: facebook.com/amanda.mcgee13

Patreon: patreon.com/amcgee

Mother of Creation

https://www.amazon.com/Mother-Creation-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B00LQUHRV8/

Daughter of Madness

https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Madness-Book-Creation-Saga-ebook/dp/B07BPB2HK9

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:

“http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f2676