Welcome!

This is probably the most “me” picture that has ever been taken

So, who am I?

I’m Amanda, and I’m a nerd.

I’m not ashamed to admit it. In fact, I’m quite proud that I can tell stories about Walt Disney’s inspiration for his park rides, or point out basically every Stargate actor who has also appeared on Psych. And don’t even get me started on how Hufflepuff is really the best Hogwarts house or the “Velociraptors” in Jurassic are really Utah Raptors and that’s why they just call them “raptors” in the newer films. 11th Doctor all the way, but I’d love to see him travel with Donna. Lightsabers are indeed the more elegant weapon, but are blasters more efficient? Maybe if the shooter isn’t a Storm Trooper. Beauty and the Beast isn’t about Stockholm Syndrome, but Hunchback and Tangled certainly are. I can do this all day. Who understood that reference?

So, that’s me. My mind lives in the fastastical worlds created by myself and others. And I’m excited to finally share of my worlds with all of you!

Further proof of my lifelong nerdiness, circa 2005

How did we get here?

That’s a great question, honestly! I wish I knew! This whole thing feels like a bit of a blur. I officially started on this creative journey in the middle of 2020, just like many others who were trying to fill the time and void of our very own covid-induced blip. I had tried to write this very story about four years before, and very quickly gave up. I guess I didn’t realize just how difficult it would be to translate the images in my head into actual words. As much as all that 2020 business sucked, it gave me a chance to finally try again. Somehow, three years later, I’m getting ready to self-publish my first novel, Wake of the Huntress. Mind=blown.

Only I would manage to find a Beauty and the Beast thing in a second-hand bookstore in Yokohama, Japan. It was literally the only thing I bought on that trip.

Where did this story come from?

I may have started this in 2020, but the story itself, or more specifically, the main character, came along ten years earlier, when I was seventeen. I wasn’t a typical teenage girl. And I don’t mean that in a romantic comedy cliché kind of a way. I mean, while everyone else was listening to Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, and Selena Gomez, (they were big in the mid 2000’s, right?) I was listening to musicals, film soundtracks and traditional Celtic groups. While others were playing sports, I was reading and playing my violin.

I don’t remember exactly when Xanya came into existence, but I do know she was the combined product of two songs- Midnight Well, by Celtic Thunder, and Hero, by Skillet. Okay okay, I guess I did listen to some contemporary music. Anyway, one morning on my drive to school, there she was, fully formed in my head- a very light-skinned, raven haired archer with purple eyes. I tried for a long time to get that eye color out of my head, because for some reason I was hung up on the realism of it. (HA!) Eventually I learned those eyes are an important part of her character. She was short, like me. She fought fiercely with bow and sword, though for what, I didn’t know yet. As I slowly discovered who she was and what she stood for, I learned more about myself as a person. She gave me a strength I didn’t know I had. She taught me how to treat those who’d wronged me with compassion, and not let their behaviors influence mine. She helped me through some tough times. If her story can do that for just one more person, all this work will have been worth it.

My little family- husband Russell, Raxtus the Havanese, and Luna the Aussie mix.

What’s next?

Self-publishing is no joke! I’m in the middle of the revision process, which I should be finishing at the end of the month. It’s gotten to the point where I’m trying to replace repetitive words, and Google has started auto-filling “synonym” when I search anything because I do it so often. I still have some combing through to do, but I’ve added almost 1,000 words to my manuscript, on top of the changes I made in all my initial rewrites. If you were one of my beta readers, don’t worry about spoilers because some parts of this thing are totally unrecognizable! Making changes continues to be a difficult process, but it only helps to make things better!

Once that’s done, I’ll get into the nitty-gritty kind of editing, punctuation and all that, and wait to hear from my cover artist! The technical book design stuff will come after that, then I just wait for review copies from Amazon and any other platform I decide to use. You’ll know as soon as things get rolling in that direction!

I just want to take a minute to acknowledge Kristina at Looseleaf Editorial and thank her for all her help! I don’t even know how I would have started my revisions without her expertise and kindness. I wouldn’t be where I am right now without her!

Stay tuned for more updates, and be sure to check out author.amandatullis on Instagram!