Gone Feral Publishing publishes two to three books every year, mostly Texas-based mystery and elevating nonfiction.

Here are some of our titles.

 

 

 

 

A Quick interview with author, Amanda Albright Still

What is your writing process?  Do you start with an idea and just write or map things out first? 

I use a big old white board, make a single question to form the plot (Can a woman win over her potential mother-in-law and marry the man she loves?  That sort of thing).  I draw lines to separate the four sections (Act I, Act IIA, Act IIB, and Act III), jot down my plot points to end each of these on Post-It notes and stick them in place.  I toss in a few more scenes that I want to make sure I include on Post-Its.  Then, I write as fast as I can to keep at bay those thoughts that this writing isn’t good enough.  I believe that most people who could write don’t finish because of those thoughts, that evil internal editor who cannot be satisfied.  When I write, I try not to think too much.  Anything that isn’t good can be fixed in edits. 

Then, I edit, edit, oh yeah, and do some more editing.  Writers like Tom Robbins and, um, the Narnia guy, C. S. Lewis who could envision a story in their mind perfect and complete, without making a single change once they got it on paper.  I’m not like that. 

I’m more the J. R. R. Tolkien-type who revised, revised, and revised.  I have to see the end to know how the beginning will shape up.  I also need input from other writers and readers once the draft is fleshed out enough for me to be willing to let someone else see it. 

 

What’s next?  Where will you be in five years?

Similar to where it is now–writing historical mystery series–but with more people knowing about it.  One of my mentors told me that readers only start paying attention once you have five books in the series.  I like that idea since I have at least six in mind. 

 

Is there a message readers should look for in your writing?

Something more primal than a message, a feeling:  an anger at injustice done to a character and a happiness at the story’s resolution. 

 What are you working on now? 

I’m working on the third book in the Galveston Hurricane Mystery Series right now, a Christmas Carol where Scrooge dies and causes a great deal of trouble for the living.  I’ve got the fourth book in rough draft form and write ups for the fifth and sixth.  There will be another wedding amidst the confusion of Galveston’s grade raising, where they lifted the whole island.  I’ve also got a dark fantasy and a Civil War novel in the works, both of which are mysteries.  I would like to jump genres, but I always seem to write my best when there’s a dead body in the room on the first few pages.   

 What do you want to say to your readers?

Enjoy the ride.  When I picture my reader, I see a woman sitting on a plane, trapped in a seat, with bored and restless people all around her, but she’s smiling and turning pages because she’s with my heroine dangling from a building or dancing at a ball.  I write to create a world where people can go to find intrigue, adventure, and romance that they need for a moment before they get back to their life.