One third of all fiction books are romances, and readers of romances it seems, can never get enough.
Amy Rose is the pen name of a local author with a passion for writing romance and suspense fiction. Amy is raising a family and working part-time in Barraba, whilst writing and publishing a succession of popular novels.
Amy was born and raised in Port Macquarie where she met and married husband Shane. Amy had a professional background as a real estate property manager and makeup artist but left that behind to move to Tamworth firstly, and now Barraba, with Shane’s career.
Throughout her schooling, Amy topped English classes and was always told her short stories were very good but having son Mason five years ago seems to have unleashed Amyís creative writing. ìA love of writing basically hit me once I had my son and I was up all hours of the night doing feedings,î says Amy. ìI have ideas running through my head, so I basically wrote all of ëSafer Aloneí on my phone.î These 75,000 words typed on Amyís phone became the110,000-word romance novel, ìSafer Aloneî, which has attracted an enthusiastic readership. Amy describes this book and the second in the duet, ìSafer Togetherî, as suspenseful, dark romance novels with a twist. The novels tell the love story of Angela and Elliot and are set in New York and Nashville. The settings for her novels are something Amy meticulously researches, with her latest novel set in England. Once travel restrictions ease Amy hopes to spend some time getting to know some more interesting locations for future stories. After competing ìSafer Aloneî Amy plunged into the world of publishing, eventually deciding that self-publishing suited her best. Amy says, ìI went down the avenue of Amazon because Amazon has Kindle Unlimited which allows people to pay a monthly subscrip- tion and discover new authors.î This method has helped Amy build up a community of loyal readers.
Amazon is one of the worldís biggest booksellers and the Kindle platform allows books to be distributed very cheaply. Amyís titles on Kindle range from $4.60 for the ëduetí of Safer Alone and Safer Together and $5.60 for ëThe Debtí.
Amyís first book ìSafer Aloneî is held in Barraba Libraryís collec tion and is available for borrowing. Books can be bought from Amy directly by contacting her through her social media accounts or web- site, ]amyroseauthor.wixsite.com. The novels are also available as Kindle editions on Amazon.com.au Amy started working at Inland Petroleum at the beginning of this year. Amy says working there is fantastic for a range of reasons, including Inlandís willingness to roster her for shifts when her hus- band can be at home. ìMy husband gets some one on one special time with the boys while Iím at work and that allows me to get out in the community and get to know people. Iím very much a people person.
Getting to know Barraba has been positive for Amy. ìI love this little town. I love the fact that everyone knows each other, and you can walk down the street and people will say hello to you and have a chat. Everyone in the town is just so friendly.î
All of this begs the question as to how Amy fits so much in. Amy has five-year Mason, whose arrival seemingly unleashed her first novel, and now two-year son Oliver as well. She good naturedly admits, ìThe only time to really get work done is when the kids are sleeping.î
ìI donít sleep much anyway. I do have insomnia, so I am a night owl. My husband will often come in at three oíclock in the morning to me on my computer and go come on itís time to go to sleep.î
Amy has eight more novels on the go, in various stages of comple- tion. These days she has a well- equipped home office, not just a phone to write on. But itís clear her most powerful tools are her cre- ative imagination and strong work ethic.
Amy Roseís third novel, ìThe Debtî, with new characters Rebecca and Alexander, will be published on November 30 and can be pre-ordered online.