Do you have real life bookish friends?

Until the last year or so, I hadn’t discussed books with someone in my life since high school. Even when I was “just” a reader on social media, with larger platforms on both TikTok and Instagram than I have now as an author, I didn’t make the authentic connections. However, as an author I have made some really incredible friendships, not just with other authors but with amazing readers, editors, and people generally adjacent to the book space. These online relationships are bleeding into “real life” friendships and it’s a very cool experience!

This past weekend, I attended the Adult Book Fair at Austin Beerworks, and finally got to meet Stacey LP in person! Quick recap for those who haven’t been around as long. Stacey and I met in an author group on Instagram while we were each writing our debut novels. We unknowingly scheduled our releases on the same day and have had some really cool parallel experiences along the way, including having each of our debuts nominated for Indieverse awards! So getting to meet her in person was so special, and my teenage daughter has heard me talk about her so frequently that she was excited to meet her as well. She’d now like to take over as Stacey’s BFF!

While we’re talking about Stacey… She writes sci-fi fantasy, and her Afterglow Rising Trilogy is a post-apocalyptic dystopian series, post alien invasion. If you love The Walking Dead and aliens, it’s for you. It’s even set in Austin and surrounding areas, and features a diverse cast. She also has an open ARC call for book 2.5, a companion novella to the series!

All of that to say, I look forward to meetings like these in the future and getting to know some of you just as well! If you haven’t found your bookish besties yet, I know they’re out there!

Falcons MC Series

If you’ve read my books, then you’ve met Bull Creek’s motorcycle club the Falcons. I’ve known from the very beginning that they would get their own series and writing book one has been so much fun, and also allowed me to grow even more, which I love.

I’ve shared a little about book one and I’m excited to give you early access to the official title! Untamed will release in the spring of 2026!!

What else can I tell you about the series? At this point, I’m fairly confident in six books. Excluding one, the MMCs are characters we meet in The Fallout Duet and A Penny For Your Thoughts. The rest of the cast will be new to the series.

These books will include MF romance, FF romance, polyamory, childfree HEAs, not his baby pregnancy, and more. I anticipate BIPOC characters as well.

I’m currently about half way through the first draft AND I will be getting with my cover designer in the coming weeks to start working on the series, so hopefully I can reveal that to you soon! I’m looking forward to working with Novel and Navy Designs again. Alex is also the designer for the Bull Creek series.

Indieverse Award Updates

It was crazy enough being nominated for FIVE awards, but now voting is just a few short weeks away! There are so many amazing books, authors, and bookish nominees. You can find the entire list at Indieverseawards.com.

When Sparks Fly and I are nominated for:

• Twists & Page Turners

• Books I Would Re-Read

• Put A Ring On It (Most Engaging Social Media)

• Newsletter I Love To Read

• Underrated Indie Author

The reader challenge is still going on, so get in on that while you can! Voting begins November 7th.

In case you missed it…

I had such an amazing time chatting with Veronica and Lizzy on Spill the Spice Podcast. You can listen to the entire episode on Spotify. Well, except for some spoilers which you can gain access to via their Patreon.

They always have an amazing line up, but their October set is really cool! They are ALSO nominated for an Indieverse Award and have a recent episode with Kristina Carmela, author and creator of the Indieverse Awards.

Bookish Spotlights

Most editions, I bring you one or two fellow authors and books to check out. In the next few editions, you can also expect to see additional lists of books for new holiday releases!

Reminders & Updates

You can find my books in several indie bookstores now!

• The Crafty Bookstore in Bloomington, IN

• The New Romantics in Orlando, FL

• Sweet Nothings (Plant & Book Store) Baltimore, MD

I will be adding a dedicated page to my website for where to find my books, as well. Don’t forget to request them through your libraries! Paperback copies may be harder to come by, though not impossible, as each library has requirements about where they can order and I do not offer my books via Ingram Spark (which many require) as it’s royalties structure is predatory at best. However, the e-books are available through major platforms like Libby and Hoopla, it may just take requesting them.

If you’ve been wanting to read Rage Is My Love Language: A Queer Feminine Rage Anthology now is the time do it! The anthology is a limited edition, and will be leaving both Kindle and paperback in December. The anthology supports The Trevor Project with 100% of the profits going directly to them.

And lastly, I have openings on my content team (street team) and my NEW permanent ARC team. You can check out requirements at the links below. Teams will mostly communicate on a Discord server. All readers are welcome! However, teams do have private channels.

XOXO, Amanda