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Yay! Who doesn't love winning a contest? I know that I do. I'm preceding this with saying if you've won, you need to respond within 72 hours to claim your prizes. My email addy is hocking_amanda@hotmail.com, which is the way you'll prolly wanna go cause I need shipping info.    The three winners of these lovely pins Rachel Lees Susan Leigh Ann And the winner of the grand prize, paperback copies of the first three books in the series: Ronnell D. Porter! So congratulations to you all! I've also had a very, very excellent release day on Flutter , and I want to thank all of you for support!  And for those of you that didn't win, don't fret! I plan on having more giveaways in the future. ;)

Amazon, in its infinite trickery, has published my book today ! So yes, its more than a day early, but let's get this launch party going!  I posted the first chapter and links to buy Flutter under the My Books tab, but they're also right here: Kindle and paperback . (Amazon eventually links them together, but it takes like a month or so.)  The giveaway is still going until midnight on Friday the 28th, so enter while you have a chance!!! I'll most likely be doing the drawing somewhere around one or two in the morning, because that is how I roll.  I can't edit the product description yet or add any real info yet, but you can find all that on the My Books tab if you're not already familiar.  Anyway - if you're one of the people that have already bought it, I'd enjoy it you left a review - be it positive, negative, whatever, as long as its honest. If you hate Flutter or any of my books, don't be afraid to tell me so. And if you like my books, please tel

It's less than 48 hours to enter the giveaway . So if you want three free books or a couple sexy pins, you should enter while you still can. So, the page for Flutter is live on Amazon, but it's unavailable until Saturday. (Or at least that's my understanding of the process).  But as this contest draws to a close, I find myself wondering, what's next? Well, lots of things actually. I have some interviews, reviews, and giveaways lined up on other blogs (more info will come as it gets closer.) I'm going to be doing a giveaway for Richelle Mead's epically awesome Spirit Bound because I magically have an extra copy. This will happen sometime late June, but I haven't set a date yet. Also, my assistant will be having a giveaway for Fefe Dobson's latest CD and a copy of Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn in mid-June (exact date to come later). In July, it's my birthday, and since ebooks have been so, so good to me, I'm going to have a giveaway for a bu

Sorry for my absence. I had a long wonderful weekend (where I went canoeing and watched Flash Gordon ). It's currently about 110 degrees in my office, so trust me when I say I'm suffering to write this for you. It's less than 36 hours until the giveaway ends and the winner is picked. You get all three books in the series , including Flutter , which comes out this Saturday!!! For any of you that do buy a paperback copy, if you want, you can send it to me and I'll autograph it. Just for fun. (Buy paperbacks of My Blood Approves and Fate .) Also, I do have a poll so you can vote on what book you want me to publish next. The fourth book in the My Blood Approves series will be out in August 2010, but I'm planning on publishing another book in September or October, and I want to know what you all would like to read the most. For today's fun fact about the series: I just realized the other day that Violet (introduced to you in Fate ) has Sheri Moon's laugh. But

If I haven't expressed my undying love for e e cummings lately, I apologize. He's amazing.  I've added some more stuff to my blog, including a short story , some e e cummings stuff, a poll (which you should answer), and links to excerpts of the books . On Tuesday next week, as a teaser, I'm going to put up the first chapter of Flutter.    Until then,  I'll just leave you with some fun facts: The fight at the end of Flutter was originally meant to take place at First Ave, the most magical place in Minneapolis (well... magical's not the right word. But Purple Rain was filmed there.)  But I discovered this book War of the Oaks by Emma Bull has their big end brawl take place at First Ave. Its about musicians, faeries, and set in the 1980's, and I haven't read it yet, which is completely shameful. But I really will. Honest. The moral of the story is: its already been done, so I switched the location. If you wanna know where, you'll have to read the b

Today I've got a fun interview with an author, but before that, I'm reminding you that give away is still going on, with only 9 days left, so be sure to enter and tell your friends, if you haven't already! Joan Sween was kind enough to an interview with me the other day. She's the author of the campy Nice Girls Don't Bite about a pair of middle-aged antique dealers who accidentally become vampires. Can you tell me about a little bit about yourself your writing? I have written many different types throughout my life, but currently I am a published humor columnist and an unpublished novelist. Formerly I wrote "Bittersweet" for the ROCHESTER POST-BULLETIN. Currently I write "Dealers Choice" for Minnesota's antiques newspaper, THE OLD TIMES. I have a mystery novel in the trunk, ONE MINUTE TILL DEATH. I have a cozy paranormal mystery, NICE GIRLS DON'T BITE, that I am currently querying agents about. I am halfway through a horror/haunting no

First, I'd like to know if anybody has trouble commenting on the blog? Adrienne from An Addicted Book Reader gave me a heads up that she was having issues with being able to comment on the blog. I spent an hour tweaking things, and I'm hoping things have been fixed. But if you're having issues with comments and/or want to be entered in the giveaway but haven't been able to comment, please email: hocking_amanda@hotmail.com. Also, if anyone has noticed the issues and knows how to correct them, please email me and let me know. I like it when things are fixed. In the process of trying to fixing the comment thing, I finally figured out that I can add a My Books and About Me tab. The My Books tab is particularly exciting for me because you can find out the info on the books I have published and where to buy him. Which is fun. In more fun news - tomorrow I'm going to post the interview I did with Joan Sween, author of Nice Girls Don't Bite. And for your Flutter s

So, because of some confusion with the giveaway, I'm clarifying one point:  #2. To enter: Simply comment on this blog, saying that you want to be entered in for the give away. If you have read the series, please also say your favorite character(s). If you haven't read it, I'm not holding it against you, and still free to enter. :) In fact, I strongly encourage you to enter if you haven't read the books!!  For more information on the giveaway and what you can win, please see my last post. And remember, it goes until May 29th, and if you have a friend enter, you earn a BONUS entry for yourself! Spread the word, yo! Also, later on this week or possibly early next week, I'll post an interview with another author. (Me interviewing - them interviewee.) But you should definitely check it out, and I'll keep you posted on the details.   For Flutter fun facts, I'm posting the soundtrack to it (or at least the one I would make for it, if it were a film, and I got

I work a total of 32 hours this weekend, so I'm making this brief:  To promote the release of the third book in my series Flutter on May 29th, I'm running a giveaway!  Before I explain what you win, I'll tell you the rules: 1. The giveaway runs from Sunday, May 16th until Friday, May 28th at Midnight, with the winner announced on Saturday, May 29th.  2. To enter: Simply comment on this blog, saying that you want to be entered in for the give away. If you have read the series, please also say your favorite character(s). If you haven't read it, I'm not holding it against you, and still free to enter. :) In fact, I strongly encourage you to enter if you haven't read the books!!     3. Only one entry per person, BUT you can earn ONE bonus entry if you tell a friend about my books and have them enter in the giveaway. To confirm that you sent a friend, the should say their favorite character (if they've read the books - if not, that's

Th e good people at Coffee Time Romance & More reviewed my book. They actually did it incredibly quickly too, so I'm giving them double props there. You can read the whole review: here . (And you should. They have lots of other reviews and info on tons of other good books. So if you're looking for ideas of what to read next, they've got some ideas for you.) But here is a brief highlight: " Amanda Hocking spins a unique and entrancing paranormal tale. The compelling characters jump off the page - I loved Milo and Peter... There are some grammatical errors in this work, and overall the story could use some tightening, but I could not stop reading it. I actually read it in one sitting. I am looking forward to seeing how this young author's writing improves and matures with her next offering ." So that's fun and exciting.  Just now, I got major ADD because I know Spirit Bound will be shipping out in a few days, so I thought, "Hey, why not take ad

As promised, I come bearing the description for Flutter . But since some of the people reading th is might not have read the first book and it contains a spoiler (sorta), I'm blacking it out, and if you highlight the text, you'll be able to read it.  "Being undead doesn't make life any easier for Alice. Her younger brother's love life is heating up, while hers is... more complicated. Mae is falling apart, her best friend Jane is addicted to vampire bites, and if Alice doesn't get her bloodlust under control, someone will end up dead. Alice volunteers for a rescue mission with Ezra. But going up against a pack of rabid vampires might be too much, even for him." In other news, I did a bloggerview at this nice fellow Kipp Poe Speicher's blog yesterday. It's not too exciting, but you can check it out: here . He also interviewed a few other authors, and they had some interesting things to say. In news not about me, I just saw the trailer for Richelle

This kid is soooooo awesome.

To promote the release of the third book in my series Flutter on May 29th, I'm running a giveaway!  Before I explain what you win, I'll tell you the rules: 1. The giveaway runs from Sunday, May 16th until Friday, May 28th at Midnight, with the winner announced on Saturday, May 29th.  2. To enter: Simply comment on this blog, saying your favorite character in the books and that you want to be entered in for the give away. 3. Only one entry per person, BUT you can earn ONE bonus entry if you tell a friend about my books and have them enter in the giveaway. To confirm that you sent a friend, the should say their favorite character (if they've read the books - if not, that's fine), and have them say you sent them. (i.e. "I want to be entered in the giveaway and Jane Smith sent me.") 4. The winner will be contacted on Saturday, May 29th to arrange shipping. Three runner-ups will win one of each of the following: One Jack pin One Peter pin One My Blood Approves b

So, I've been thinking and a made a few decisions. For my giveaway, I'm going to give away one paperback set of My Blood Approves books 1-3. I'm also getting a buttons and bookmarks, so a few runner ups can get them.  Here are the button designs: And here is what the bookmark looks like:    I haven't figured out the complete details of the contest yet, but I'll know soon!

My brain just shut off. I could feel it. One moment, I was fine, and then it was like a switch. My brain is off. And I have Jonathan Coultan's "Re: Your Brains" stuck in my head, so its not all bad. Apparently, my total lack of sleep is turning me into a zombie. But I just wanted to ask a quick question before I watch Vampire Diaries and then go off to eat your brains. I mentioned earlier today that I planned on giving promotional items away in conjunction with the release of Flutter at the end of this month.  And my question is: What kind of stuff would you like? My beloved roommate Eric suggested Fefe Dobson CD's, but I'm putting that as a plan B right now. Paperback copies of the books are the most obvious choice. But if I do that, should it be books 1-3? Or Just the 3rd one? Do you want them autographed? I mean, I don't really feel like my autograph is a valuable commodity, but that's mostly because its horrible.  What about bookmarks? Collages? I do

This blog title is misleading because I don't know Gary Busey. It should be "know of." But I'm leaving it. I'm hoping to entice you with misinformation. But here's some accurate information, along with the explanation of the title: The Rochester Post Bulletin ran an article about me yesterday. Egads! I'm famous! (not really) But it is a good article (and a not-so-good photo - I look terrified or pissed off or sad). The next photo op I have, I'm making my good friend Hannah do it and take good pictures. So I look happy and normal and less serial-killer-y. Anyway - the article is good. But I felt uncomfortable talking about my book. I never felt like modesty was my strong suit, but I don't like anything that sounds like bragging. And going, "I wrote this and its so great and look what I can do" feels so... wrong.  So I spent the majority of the interview rambling about things. I also mentioned Red Bull. A lot. But this is all part of my pl

The feature in the paper about me will be printed today, but it hasn't happened yet, so I'll talk more about that later. What I've decided to talk about, instead, is what I'm passionate about: Muppets.  I've just been getting a lot of Muppet news lately , which excites me to no end. (Click the links for details.) May 16th will mark the 20 year anniversary of Jim Henson's passing. His legacy is amazing and brilliant. With puppets and imagination and a real understanding of wonder and magic, he's gone onto to inspire generations of people, and I'm sure he will for generations after.  If you're wondering how this ties into my writing, I'll tell you how: I can't think of any other person that had such a profound effect on my ability to imagine, dream, and tell stories. When I was young, all my stories were basically fanfaction to the works of Jim Henson. (The only one I remember vividly involved a British princess named Isabella going through a

When I was an avid Myspace blogger (and before that, an avid Xanga blogger), my titles were always song lyrics. I missed that, so I'm bringing it back. (Today's lyrics are from People In Planes "If You Talk Too Much.") I was just now reading my old Myspace blogs from January of 2009, and I found some interesting facts that pertain to My Blood Approves . Here they are:  "If you're wondering what said book is about, I will tell you this: I wrote a book about my favorite things. So here a list of things that are directly referenced or vaguely based on: -Minneapolis (it's like magic to me) - my grandma (she's pretty fancy) -Heath Ledger (is subtly referenced about a million times) -turrets (not tourette's) -fancy, fancy cars (I could've written a book on just them) -Laundromats (there's just something about them) - Mystery Science Theater 3000 (take it) - The Lost Boys (twice) -gay people (they are my people) -e e cummings (his blood

I'm gonna start off by saying that everyone should listen to Nina Simone's "Feeling Good" if they haven't. If you go and do it now, you can come back and read this and listen to it, the way I am now. It's an amazing song. (There's a reason Mae listens to a lot of Nina Simone in my books.) So, the other day a woman reviewed My Blood Approves on Amazon, and she gave it three stars, but I love the review . I think its really honest and accurate and describes all the pitfalls and high points of my writing and the book itself (without giving away key plot points.) You can (and should) read the full review here: review . The one point I'd like to discuss (although not necessarily disagree with) is this:  "I don't think anyone could get through the first scene with Jack, let alone the second, let alone looking at the cover, let alone the title, without knowing Jack's big secret. I'm not sure it's to Alice's credit that she doesn&