Hello there! I’m Amanda Geard and I’m delighted to visit the Books By Your Bedside blog; thank you to Victoria for the lovely invite.
I write multi-timeline novels, spanning generations and geography, and threaded with secrets just waiting for the characters (and reader) to uncover. My debut novel, The Midnight House, is about an Anglo-Irish aristocrat who disappears in 1940 and the disgraced journalist who picks up her trail eighty years later. It’s partially set where I live – in the beautiful wilds of County Kerry – but also takes the reader to Blitz London. My second novel, The Moon Gate, is the story of Grace who leaves London for Towerhurst, an old house thousands of miles away on the island of Tasmania (where I grew up), just prior to the outbreak of WW2. There, she finds her confidence, her love, herself … only to go missing at the war’s end. Many years later, Towerhurst is left as an anonymous legacy to Libby Andrew’s mother … and shy, reserved Libby goes on a quest that takes her to London (and beyond) to unravel the connection between her mother, Grace and Towerhurst.
When I’m not weaving complex webs, I can be found mapping the world’s remote places as an exploration geologist.
Meet Amanda Geard
Questions on Writing
What is the hardest part of your writing experience?
The confidence to face the blank page. I think in many ways, writing your first book is the easiest, as you’re only writing for yourself, there’s no expectation and everything is before you. Once you have contracts and deadlines, there is a shift in internal expectation and it is too easy to put undue pressure on yourself. Sometimes you need to step back from your manuscript in order to go forward … and that step can be a difficult one to take.
What have you learnt about yourself when writing?
To trust my judgement. When a scene, paragraph or character interaction doesn’t feel right there is always a reason behind that. I never fix these moments, just make a note and write on. I’m much happier editing it all later. My first drafts are messy.
Do you make yourself write everyday/regularly, or only when inspiration strikes?
Ideally I write every day, but sometimes life, and fear, gets in the way. In fact, fear is the biggest inhibitor of regular writing: fear of the blank page, fear of failure. However, I find that if I start early enough (I’m a fully paid-up member of the 5am writing club), I can often get down a few hundred words before fear wakes up!
What does literary success look like to you?
There is nothing more wonderful than hearing from readers who have enjoyed my books. To me, there is no greater success than that.
How much planning/world building do you do before writing, and how much comes along as you write?
I plan extensively, firstly by writing an outline, then transferring that chapter by chapter to excel. The problem is that with each book this strategy seems to go more and more awry! I listened to Alex Hay recently on the Writers’ Routine podcast (which I’d recommend) say just the same thing; within the space of three books he has gone from a complete plotter to a total pantser. I guess writing is like anything in life: it evolves as we do, and grows with us.
What is it that attracts you to write in a particular genre?
I have always loved reading multi-timeline books. I think they suit my brain in that I prefer to have many things going on at once than maintaining focus on a single task. It’s a very annoying characteristic! But it does mean that I can juggle multiple timelines and POVs in my head and it keeps me engaged until I finally type ‘The End’.
How do you celebrate when a book is published?
With family and friends, raising a glass and taking a deep, relieved breath.
Questions on Books and About You
Firstly, the most important question, what books are currently ‘on your bedside table’?
I have such an embarrassingly large pile of books on my bedside table that it has spilled onto the floor. I’m currently reading early proof copies of The Secrets of Blythswood Square by Sara Sheridan and Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge by Lizzie Pook.
What children’s book would you suggest every adult read?
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This story – which was read to me by my mum, and to her by her mother – becomes even more poignant when you learn a little more about the author. The story takes many cues from her own life; grief, loss, illness, as well as displacement from her own home as a child. And yet the novel is also full of hope. I think we can all learn from that.
What does your writing space look like?
I’ll write anywhere – in a car, on a plane, in the garden, sat on the couch, even in bed. I’m typing this at the kitchen table. I think it’s really helpful as writers to snatch time when we can. I renovated a room in our home and made it into a lovely dark blue office, with a big desk, full of books, but I mostly do my day job there, and editing.
How many books do you think you own?
Never enough! Our guest room doubles as the library, with floor to ceiling bookshelves, and people love coming to stay. They always leave with a novel or two.
Who is your literary icon?
I admire writers who persevere, and those who got their big break many, many books in. Kristin Hannah comes to mind. I believe she’d written twenty books before the phenomenal success of The Nightingale.
If you could own one rare/1st edition copy of a book, which would it be?
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s a special book to me as it was a favourite of my father’s and I read it endlessly as a child.
And finally, are there any plans for any new books? If so, what teasers can you give us?
My next novel is set on an Arctic archipelago in occupied Norway. I love that region, having lived off-grid on an island up there for a time. The wild landscape is beautiful and dangerous. As always, I’m weaving timelines together, and a mystery will wash up on the tide…
Thank you Amanda😊 don’t worry, I think we all have that embarrassingly out-of-control pile of books by our bed.
Amanda Geard’s Books
Books By Your Bedside 