News June 2008Long time no update!! Anyway, I've been busy on my Zombie revisions and I've had a sneak peek at the cover and it's gorgeous!!!!! I've also been working on some other projects and will keep you posted! I'm heading out to the RWA San Francisco conference at the end of the July and will be taking part in the literary signing on the Wednesday so if you're there please swing by and see me! Then the RWNZ conference is on in Auckland and Sara Hantz and I are presenting two workshops. One on releasing your inner teen and the other marketing and networking on the internet. January 2008 My Zombie contract has finally arrived. Tres excitement at having it in my hot little hands (for a minute that is, since I actually need to sign it and send it back!) December 2007 Woot!!!! I've been nominated for The Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award in the Contemporary Paranormal Romance section. To say I'm thrilled is a complete understatement. Fingers crossed for April please!! The lovely folks over at Chicklit Club have not only given me a lovely review, but A Pink Thong Award as well for best new character (Australian). "Holly Evans has just been watching her own funeral (and she certainly wouldn't have wanted to have been caught dead in that particular polyester dress). The 22-year-old drowned in her bathtub on the night her boyfriend Todd was going to propose. Unable to keep her mouth shut in heaven and with much mortal baggage still to deal with, Holly's spiritual realigner decides to send her back to earth in the body of another recently departed. As luck would have it, one of Holly's work colleagues, IT geek Vince Murphy, shows signs of dying and she is put into his six-foot body. But Vince had only fainted and wakes up to discover he has to share his body with someone with only two days to sort out her life. As Holly embarks on a mission to prove she didn't kill herself, she discovers that not everyone in her life was who they seemed. An engaging, comic read that keeps you turning the pages to find out if Holly will resolve her issues and find out why she died in time. And Holly just seems made for the big screen." October 2007 You might think I'd be getting sick of posting reviews by now, but you'd be wrong! Here is another one from Melissa Kammer at Fresh Fiction: "A dazzling debut about second chances" "Amanda Ashby has written a delightful debut. It is a light, heart-warming romance. Her characters are perfectly suited for each other. Holly is a girl out to right past wrongs that gets more than she bargained for. Vince is a down to earth guy who has a very high tolerance of people and spirits. Together, they are a barrel full of laughs as they compete for control of Vince's body. YOU HAD ME AT HALO is a gloriously, charming tale." September 2007 I've changed my photo gallery around so that it is now the halo hall of fame - check out all of my angels! I've just got another lovely review from I Love A Mystery were they said: Amanda Ashby has a wicked sense of humor and, assuming you can suspend disbelief on the whole death and inhabiting another body premise, you will be chuckling out loud at Holly’s misfortunes. At the same time, Holly makes some pretty interesting discoveries about her life, her relationships and the people she thought she knew well, including herself. RECOMMENDED. September 2007 Wow, I just got a shout out in the New York Times about blog touring and you can read the full article here. I also got and another four star review from Curled up with a Good Kid's Book where they said: You
Had Me at Halo August 2007 - I've just got back from the RWNZ conference here in New Zealand where we had Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart and Kristin Nelson as guest speakers. It was amazing and I'm all fired up and ready to do lots of writing. My book was also on sale so I got to do quite a few signings which was fun and scary all rolled up together! Click here here to have a look at some of the photos. August 2007 - You Had Me at Halo is out in the world!!! It's been a busy week doing blog tours with the Girlfriend's Cyber Circuit and also visiting the online homes of a lot of other writer friends who have taken me under their wing. Fun, fun, fun! July 2007 -I just got my second review, this time from Publisher's Weekly! "It's The Lovely Bones meets Bridget Jones in this fluffy take on what happens after death. Holly Evans, an airy 22-year-old recently deceased by supposed suicide, lingers in Heaven's "Level One, having to put up with all of the horrid rejects while people like her parents were up on Level Three probably wearing lovely white togas and bathing in chocolate." Luckily, her afterlife "spiritual realigner" (think: shrink) sends her back to Earth for two days to purge her soul, clear up the circumstances surrounded her alleged suicide and confess to her boyfriend Todd that she wants to marry him. The catch? Her vessel is Vince Murphy, a guy from the IT department. As the clock ticks, Vince and Holly psychically chat in Vince's head while ticking off the items on Holly's to-do list. The peachy conclusion isn't unexpected, but it's not quite expected either. It's a fun, witty traipse through the afterlife. " June 2007 - I sold my young adult novel, Zombie Queen of Newbury High to Puffin in a two book deal (what a week!!). Here is the Publisher's Lunch announcement! Amanda Ashby’s THE ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEWBURY HIGH, about a teenage girl who accidentally turns her school into zombies and is forced to work with a stuck-up zombie hunter and a best friend who keeps trying to chew off her arm in order to find a cure before prom night, to Karen Chaplin at Puffin, in a nice deal, for two books, by Jenny Bent at Trident Media Group (world). June 2007 - I got my first review from Romantic Times. They gave me 4 1/2 stars and made me a top August pick! This book has a delightfully quirky concept that develops into a fun and interesting story. Peopled with a fascinating variety of characters, it also has an intriguing mystery and a charmingly different type of interaction between the hero and heroine. Expect a delightful tale with a wonderfully distinctive ending. April 2007 - We moved from the UK to New Zealand January 2007 - My first interview is up at Divine Diva November 2006 - My book is up on Amazon for preorder!! September 2006 - I got my first author blurb from Allison Rushby, I got my release date and I got the most gorgeous cover in the whole of the known universe. What a month! October 2005 - We got an offer from Anne Bohner at NAL (Penguin US) which means I've sold my very first book! August 2005 - Jenny Bent from Trident Media took me on. Hooray! July 2005 - I started writing the book that was to become You Had Me at Halo
|
,
Amanda Ashby’s first novel, is a comedic look at the afterlife, one of
those change-of-pace novels that seem to come along at just the right
time. Ashby, who lives in New Zealand, began writing the book just three
weeks after the death of her father and, with the book’s lighthearted
approach, she has created a world that others who have experienced similar
losses should find comforting.
|
|