The Indie Showcase Presents, Amanda Baber

Today on the Showcase, the spotlight falls on author Amanda Baber. Away you go!

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Hi! I am Amanda Baber. A huge thank you to Richard for providing the opportunity to introduce myself. This is me with Missy and my first book in my Missy dog series.

 

Writing has always been with me. Since I read Dr Seuss books as a child, where the quote ‘Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!’ rings so clear now and still inspires me today. Then there were Aesop’s Fables in a beautifully illustrated book where morals in stories emerged such as in ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’. Shakespeare, Catherine Cookson and Agatha Christie are among my favourite authors, but I also love science fiction genre and fantasy.

Finding my creative flow after many years I picked up my writing again. Over time I have written poetry, short stories and novels, but why? What was I waiting for? Why did I do nothing with them? I was too young to listen to the fact that I had written the stories because I love to write. Back then, that wasn’t enough.

Finding the right time in my life and watching my gorgeous puppy dreaming I was suddenly hit with a thought. What if I could merge my love of history with Missy? Entering the world of historical fiction, I began writing my Missy dog books. The aim of these books is to support a good cause. My first book ‘Missy and the Whitts’ donates the proceeds to Charmouth Local History Society. The second book I am finalising is to support Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre.

 

 

Illustrating my books in pen and ink style I bring the words to life throughout. Missy dreams about real history and goes back in time, meeting characters, animals, their families and even ghosts. Everything I write is based on the real facts and I complete extensive research, delving into the historical archives.

In this section, Missy has just met Nemo, the real-life cat of the Whittington sisters. Nemo and Missy become friends after their initial greeting:

‘Missy ducked the claw which nearly, almost, but not quite caught her nose. She was good. After some thought she did what her humans seemed most pleased with and sat down to wait. This had a weird effect on the cat who floundered his claws in the air for five more complete minutes then spoke: “I am Nemo, cat of the Whittingtons. Descendant of Dick Whittington himself. How dare you come on the scene like this!”’

 

Blending humour through Missy’s antics with historical facts, I like to introduce fun into my stories whilst also presenting the educational points. To do this Missy has to experience lots of adventures, so I include my own visits to different places in her waking moments. Overall, this brings the present, past and characters which are old and new to life. There are many people, places and moments mentioned in my books based on chance encounters, who knows, you may even appear?

Then there is the question of age. Not being a fan of restraints, I suggest the reading age of my Missy dog books is for children aged 10 and above, but some children like to read at an earlier age and adults equally love reading historical fiction stories; so please don’t let a suggestion stop you and enjoy.

Available in paperback through my online shop, in local outlets and on Kindle I have been delighted to receive reviews including this one:

 

Writing about Missy’s dreams gives me the freedom to explore history in a different way. There is so much rich variety to discover about Charmouth and there are many titles waiting in my head to peek out onto the paper. Where will Missy go next in her dreams?

You can follow me through the links below to keep up to date with my work:

My Books are available from the links below through Missy’s Matters and through Kindle. https://www.amazon.com/author/amandababer

Missy’s Matters is my Conscious Crafties Shop full of creative, handmade goodies with many donating to good causes.

 

https://www.consciouscrafties.com/community/missys-matters/

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MissysMatters

 

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/amandababerauthor

Website: http://amandababerauthor.wordpress.com/

 

Facebook https://m.facebook.com/MissysMatters/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/missysmatters/

Twitter https://mobile.twitter.com/Missysmatters

Pinterest https://uk.pinterest.com/missysmatters/pins/

Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/161120523@N02/

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-baber-6094b9154/

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrqE6dmZJ3TXpsojksu2BFQ

Google Plus https://plus.google.com/u/0/101178345091869241968

 

My thanks to Amanda for a great post, I hope you all enjoyed it.

While you’re here, why not have a look around the site? There are FREE things and a whole lot more, just follow the links at the top of the page.

If you want to be featured in a future Showcase, where you can write about whatever (within reason) you want, then please let me know. Use the comment box below and I’ll get back to you.

Don’t miss next Thursdays Showcase post, and my musings every Monday.

Have a great week,

Richard.