Tag: Writing

Countdown to Release: 7 days

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One week away!

A reviewer asked if there was a flyer she could share with her local homeschool group. Since I’m a homeschool graduate (AND my illustrator is a homeschooler), I’m totally in on that idea! I created a flyer for her… but if any of you would like to print it up and share it with friends, feel free to do so! It would mean a lot to me.

You may access the file here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qCiz8iXPc1mFNvgpsCk-m3hVnIheUVO-/view?usp=sharing

Also, if you’re a Pinterest fan, I’ve got a board up and running here!

Countdown to Release: 8 Days, How Many Words?

Published on by Amanda Tero2 Comments
The author in me is always interested in other authors’ word-counts. Usually when I write a story, I just write until the idea’s out. However, for “Quest for Leviathan,” I wanted to write at least 4,000 words so that it would be well above the flash-fiction category, but I didn’t think I had a novella-suitable idea. Sure enough, it totaled at…

Which of course, I realize after-the-fact that if I had added JUST one more word, we’d have an even 4, 350. But I don’t notice these things until too late. 😉

How does “Quest for Leviathan” line up in my short-story word counts?
Letters from a Scatter-Brained Sister – 7,000+ words
Quest for Leviathan – 4,300+ words
Coffee Cake Days – 3,250+ words
Hartly Manor – 3,000+ words
Letter of Love – 2,900+ words
Maggie’s Hope Chest – 2,700+ words
Noelle’s Gift – 2,700+ words
Peace, Be Still – 2,600+ words

That makes it my second-longest short story.

Countdown to Release: 9 Days, Favorite Quote

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I’m fairly certain I’m not the only author guilty of coming up with a quote that HAS to go into the manuscript and then working the story around the quote. Such was the case for “Quest for Leviathan.” The quote, in essence, is not a new quote nor is it original to me. It comes from a thought I’ve heard portrayed in sermons and stood out to me as mind-blowing and very necessary for us as humans to understand. I was very happy to weave it into the wisdom of Joed, as he counseled Anath.

Countdown to Release: 10 Days, What is a Trireme?

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Anath’s vessel, Valor, is based off the Minoam’s Trireme. I was first introduced to this war-vessel years ago, when I watched the classic Ben-Hur (1959 Charlton Heston version that I adored as a pre-teen; little do you know how much you glean as a child!). But it wasn’t until I was researching ancient ships that I realized that this was the perfect type of vessel for Anath to use. It took a bit of research to figure out how to portray this ramming-ship. I cannot verify that triremes were actually in use during Anath’s era, so I did use a bit of historical license there.
My illustrator, Natalie, did a fantastic job capturing the beauty of this vessel! If you’d like an even more thorough introduction to this ship, visit: https://www.dkfindout.com/us/history/ancient-greece/trireme/?_escaped_fragment_=&_escaped_fragment_=#

Countdown to Release: 11 Days, Some Q&A

Published on by Amanda Tero2 Comments
In preparation for “Quest for Leviathan’s” blog tour, I have been having several bloggers send me interview questions. I thought that it would be fun to pick a few of their questions and answer them here. So here are three Q&A’s about “Quest for Leviathan.”
Q) Do you think you will do more stories like Quest for Leviathan?
A) I have longed to write a seafaring story for years now. It actually wasn’t until after I was into “Quest for Leviathan” that I realized I was finally doing something I had dreamed of doing! I imagine that it will not be my last sea-faring story. As for the era, I have several other ideas for Biblical-fiction type stories. So it won’t be the last for those either, Lord willing!
Q) Since this is Biblical fiction, were you nervous about taking too much historical license?
A) Oh yes! I love historical fiction, but what I love most about it is being accurate in my portrayal of the era. Since there are limited resources for researching this far back I had to use my imagination a lot, and that definitely made me nervous. As for the Biblical-fiction side, because I don’t actually portray any Bible characters, I wasn’t nervous about that (actually, that was the reason I didn’t portray Biblical characters; I would be too nervous there!).
Q) What was your favorite scene to write?
A) Ooh, I definitely had a favorite scene, and that was when Anath actually faces Leviathan! I loved exploring Job 41 and then portraying Leviathan on the pages of my fictional story. Not to mention a sea-battle between man and monster! The confrontation between the two was definitely my favorite!
Now, readers, do you have any Q&A? Next Monday I might try to answer more questions! 

Countdown to Release: 13 Days, How Did it All Begin?

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Every story begins with an idea. Sometimes, they’re big ideas, and sometimes they’re small. Sometimes, I get an idea that has great potential, but I have absolutely no clue where it’s going from there. That was what happened with “Quest for Leviathan.” 

It was June 2017 and I was reading through Job when the idea came. I jotted down a thought in my phone and saved it for later ponderings. The entirety of the idea? “A boy whose father was killed by Leviathan. He is angry at L, and he is angry at God—yet just like Job needed to realize the power of God, so does he.”
Little did I know that this idea was one that would take a full year to get from idea to publication (“Just a short story” should be easy, right? Not so with “Quest for Leviathan!” but looking back, God’s timing is impeccable and He knew that June 2018 was exactly when I needed to publish this story!)

Countdown to Release Day: 14 days, ordering print copies!

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The time is getting nearer and nearer… “Quest for Leviathan” is getting ready to be launched. 🙂 I’m super excited for this release and am looking forward to a fantastic blog tour (more on that another day).
I don’t know how faithful I’ll be with the countdown, but today marks just two weeks until release! Readers have already been reading and reviewing it on Goodreads and I am blown away by their kind words. God is so good!
Today I’m preparing to make my first paperback order! Would you like to reserve a signed copy? They are $8 plus $2.75 shipping (USA only). Send me an email at amandaterobooks@gmail.com and I’ll be happy to be sure to order enough to send one your way.

I’m still working on getting 99 reviewers. I am just three away! So if you’d like to read a free e-copy of “Quest for Leviathan,” hop over and sign up and I’ll send one your way! Or, if you’ve already read it and can think of a reader friend who also might enjoy it, then send them to the sign-up form.

Until later!

Christmas in July release!

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You may remember me mentioning this story a few months back: 

Well, I’m hoping to get my act together and prep for a Christmas in July release! To start things off, I’m gathering readers who are interested in reviewing it come July. If you’re one of those, the sign-up form is here: https://goo.gl/forms/4ZHEUh3lvkYD7qvC3

And… I’m still looking for a few more Leviathan reviewers. Sign up here: https://goo.gl/forms/4boHDMO5D0s8T0ls2

I’ve just been hopping on and off the blog lately, and haven’t really sat down to write anything in depth… just know that life continues to go at a crazy-busy rate with cramming in Algebra studies to take a college-prep test and then preparing for two upcoming recitals (my students’ recitals). It’s been great, but busy. 😉 What have you been up to?

Reviewers needed: "Quest for Leviathan"

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“Quest for Leviathan” is preparing for release… and I need some influencers. If you’d like to read it (for free 😉 ) and review it or if you’d like to feature it on your blog, please sign up here.

And please, if you know another reader or blogger who loves Biblical fiction, share the link with them! I’d love to reach 99 reviewers to go with the 99 rowers on Anath’s trireme. 🙂

Writing Goals and Blog Break

Published on by Amanda Tero3 Comments

Last Friday, I posted a life update.

Life has suddenly taken a pretty crazy turn. I’m not only trying to get a whole Algebra book complete before April 23 (or, as much as I can to hopefully test out of remedial math, so I only have to take the one college Algebra required for a music major), but I’m also preparing for recital in May as well as teaching piano and violin and somewhere, in the midst of all that, dreaming about getting “Quest for Leviathan” published and “Protecting the Poor” written.
So… 
I’m going to get off pretty much all social media platforms for a month or so. Since I won’t be updating my blog with regular writing progress, I’ll just mention the goals I hope to accomplish in the next few months.
My main goal is to get “Quest for Leviathan” published! I have gotten the illustrations from my illustrator, and have reminded my final editor (aka, Mom) that the story is in her hands (my fault as much as hers that she forgot).

I would love to have it ready to hit the shelves for July.
Also for July, I want to get this other short story edited and published:
Yes, I’ve kind of forgotten about this gem, but my beta-readers have gone through it and given me wonderful feed-back. I just need to polish her up some.
And added to all of that is “Protecting the Poor,” which I still haven’t completely finished a draft for. I wrote about 75% of a first draft then decided to go back and change the beginning… and that is where I am still working. The first half of the 75% of the story.
So, those are my hopes and goals for the next few months in writing. At the same time, I realize that writing may need to go a little more on the back burner than usual, so I can’t promise that these stories will be done in that time frame. I would really appreciate your prayers as I work through this season of life and find the balance that I need!
Farewell for now! I’d still love to stay in touch, so shoot me an email at
amandaterobooks(at)gmail(dot)com if you’d like!