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From My Mind


Vicious Vikings!
Before I ever wrote the first page of my Viking series, I had to answer a question that had bothered me for years. Who were the Vikings really? Not the horned-helmet warriors from movies. Not the mystical giants of legend. Not the larger-than-life figures who seem to stride through mythology with lightning in their hands and destiny at their backs. I wanted the people. To prepare for the series, I spent months surrounded by books on Viking lore, sagas, archaeology, and Norse
Amanda Blackwood
Apr 152 min read


Prepare for Pirates!
Preparing to write my Pirate Women series was not something I approached casually. If I was going to tell the stories of real women who lived, fought, and survived in one of the harshest environments imaginable, I wanted to do it properly. That meant research. A lot of it. Before I wrote a single chapter, I spent months immersing myself in the world of the Golden Age of Piracy. I wanted to understand not just the legends we all grew up hearing about, but the daily realities o
Amanda Blackwood
Mar 112 min read


The Day My Husband Became My Publicist
We went out to dinner to celebrate, and when the server asked if we were celebrating anything special, I froze. I didn't want to answer, I hadn't even thought about that being a quesiton we would be asked. I am not naturally inclined to brag about myself. But, of course before I could answer, my husband leaned forward with the calm seriousness of a man reporting important global news like the birth of a new monarch and said, “Yes. My wife just published her first novel.”

Hilmarj Torgrim
Feb 253 min read
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