Friday, February 04, 2011

Welcome author Amanda Brice!

I have good news and bad news today.


First, the bad news: One of our Killers, Lori Avocato, has had to bow out of blogging with us, due to previous commitment overload. We wish her the best with her new projects, and hope she’ll come back to guest blog often!

Now for the good news: We have a brand new Killer!

Please join me in welcoming Amanda Brice to the Killer Fiction roster!



I met Amanda years ago through the RWA Chick Lit chapter, and she’s been a great friend ever since, keeping me company both at conference parties and through cyber-support as we both navigated the sometimes choppy publishing waters. Amanda writes both YA and adult books, which are fun, clever, and always entertaining. In addition to writing, Amanda is a mom of one of the most adorable one-year-old baby girls on the planet (who my Baby Boy already has his eye on), and, inspired by motherhood, her most recent project is a cozy mystery about a pregnant sleuth. So you can tell that her brand of deadly humor will fit right in here. ;)

Amanda is a two time Golden Heart finalist, who has had several short works published in the past. She’s currently in the process of digitally self-publishing a YA mystery novella, a revamped version of one of her Golden Heart finaling projects, that I can’t wait to read. So, without further ado, I give you the fabulous Amanda Brice… take it away Amanda!

***

I'd like to thank the Academy for this honor...oh, wait. Wrong speech.

But seriously, when Gemma asked me if I wanted to join the Killers I think my jaw dropped. And then I giggled like my toddler and danced around the room.

OMG! Squee!

And then I called my mom and told her that her daughter would be blogging with some of her very favorite authors. I'm not sure she believed me at first, but soon enough she was excited.

It's like getting an invitation to sit with the Popular Girls in the cafeteria. They like me! They really, really like me!

OK, now that I got that out of my system, I'm going to act cool. After all, we're colleagues now. Yeah, this is no big deal. It's cool.

Anyway, like Gemma said, I'm Amanda Brice. And I approve this message.

In my day job, I'm an attorney. It's nowhere near as glamorous as it sounds. In fact, most of the time it's pretty dry, and that's why I write fiction.

My earliest endeavors...well, you can't really call them fanfic, since that would imply I was actually playing in the author's fictional world with established characters. And I was quite adament that Nancy Flew was NOT Nancy Drew. She was totally different, duh! She even had a completely different boyfriend. Ted Tickleson.

See -- totally different.

No, it definitely wasn't fanfic. It was just blatant copyright infringment. But I was 9. I didn't know any better. I thought I was brilliant.

Fast forward more than 20 years, and I'm still writing teen mysteries, although I like to think I'm a little more creative today.

Like Gemma said, I'm in the process of digitally publishing my YA mystery, Codename: Dancer. I describe it as "Veronica Mars meets Dancing with the Stars." :)

Back when I was a kid, I wanted to be either an author or a ballerina, but my dad wanted me to "do something practical" so I went to law school. But Codename lets me do both!

Oh, for the final bit of irony...want to take a guess at what type of law I practice?

Yup. Intellectual property.

So I guess that means no more "Nancy Flew and the Mystery of the Lady Ghost", eh?

~~ Amanda "Baby Face" Brice

22 comments:

Terri Osburn said...

I love the nickname. Congrats on landing at the cool girl's table and taking the plunge into self-pubbing. I'll be interested to hopefully "watch" your journey through the blog.

I entered the GH for the first time this year and it's quite daunting. Kudos on making the finals twice!

Jana DeLeon said...

Welcome, Amanda! I don't know whether I'm more excited that you're joining us or that I was believed to be sitting at the "cool girl's" table. :)

Christie Craig said...

Hi Amanda!

We are so lucky and tickled to have you join us. Thank you so much. I already love your humor and can't wait to lose myself in your books.

CC

Anonymous said...

Hi Amanda! I'm laughing at your Nancy Flew...I did the same with Trixie Belden and I'm glad to hear I'm not alone!! Glad you're cool enough to be here with all these other lovely ladies. :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks again for inviting me! I'll try to keep the fangirl squeeing to a minimum. Unless you'd like for me to keep squeeing. Because I can do that if you want. I'm quite good at it.

Gemma Halliday said...

No way - we're the cool girls? I better practice my hair flip and mean snicker.

Since we're confessing our copyright crimes today ... I used to write stories about a cool crime-solving chick named Drew Nance and her boyfriend Nick Nederson.

~Gemma

Anonymous said...

Fortunately I don't think either the Carolyn Keene estate or the Julie Campbell Tathan estate are going to pursue action against any tween girls. And if they do, the statute of limitation has TOTALLY expired by now. LOL

Anonymous said...

Oh, and "Carolyn Keene estate" in my last comment should totally be in quotes, since there is no one Carolyn Keene. (Collective pseudonym)

So what has always bothered me is how come Nancy doesn't go to school or have a job or anything? She's 16 in some books, 18 in others, yet all she does spend her days doing various random things where she inevitably runs into some kind of trouble, so she offers to solve the mystery.

I totally want her life.

Gwen Hayes said...

You're gonna have a killer time here, Baby Face.

Anonymous said...

LOL, Gwen. I nearly spit out my Diet Coke when I saw the nickname Gemma gave me. Hi-lar-ious!

Kristen Painter said...

I think Baby Face suits you.

Chrissy said...

Oh, I see how it is. You're keeping another blog on the side.

Right. Well. I suppose we'll always have Paris.

Only you never took the Fictionistas to Paris, did you?

*sniffle-sob*

People who are all made of awesome really think they can blog with everyone.

Maggie Toussaint said...

Kudos on the new digs, Amanda. Wishing you the best with your self-publishing project.

Maggie Toussaint from WRW
maggietoussaint.com

Brandy said...

Will be keeping my eye out for your YA mystery for my daughter and myself! *g* Glad you've received such a warm welcome from the Killer Fiction ladies!

Anonymous said...

Awww, Chrissy, I'm not cheating on you! There's more than one Cool Girls' table for me to sit at. I sit with the Nistas on Wednesdays and the Killers on Fridays! LOL

Coolestmommy said...

Welcome aboard! You seem to fit in perfectly. I loved your article today and totally relate to other situations I've been in.

Welcome.

coolestmommy2000 at gmail dot com

Keely Thrall said...

Amanda!! You are definitely in some mighty fine company (waves to Robin!). Congrats on the new gig - can't wait to see your future posts...and just when is Codename: Dancer hitting the digital market, hmm?

Cheers!!
Keely
www.jkeelythrall.com

Keely Thrall said...

Amanda!! You are definitely in some mighty fine company (waves to Robin!). Congrats on the new gig - can't wait to see your future posts...and just when is Codename: Dancer hitting the digital market, hmm?

Cheers!!
Keely
www.jkeelythrall.com

Kathy Bacus said...

Howdy, Baby Face! And a killer welcome to KF where once again one blog and ten 'Killer' authors equals big trouble. And a whole lot of laughs...

This is gonna be so fun!

I was excited to hear about your upcoming YA digital release. I have a middle level YA series I plan to digitalize once I get all my Calamity Jayne mysteries up.

Once again, welcome, welcome, welcome! Grab a cup of coffee, put your feet up and make yourself at home.

Bullet Hole Bacus

Nichole Christoff said...

Amanda! Good to see you here! And can't wait to read more about your upcoming e-release, Codename: Dancer. Definitely keep us posted...

Anonymous said...

Hi there, Amanda! A fun blog! Your cozy mystery featuring a pregnant sleuth sounds so clever and promises to be hiliarious. Good luck with Codename: Dancer!

-Kathy Altman

Robin Kaye said...

I'm always a day late and a dollar short, which explains that little problem with my bank... but I digress. Welcome Amanda! I'm so glad you've joined us and like Jana, I'm psyched to find out I'm sitting at the cool girls table. LOL