Amanda Roberts News
Shades
Shades, a short story by Amanda Roberts, features in a new collection launched to celebrate independent authors in Oxfordshire. The collection was compiled by Oxford Independent Authors (OxIA) and released at the Wolvercote Literary Festival in June. It includes short...
The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2025 Finalist
“Richly immersive, page-turning historical suspense novel” Lady of the Quay was a finalist in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2025. It didn’t win, but the feedback from the 15 readers who judged the competition is pretty amazing. This is what our readers thought:...
Finalist – The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Hot on the heels of its Bronze Medal award in the Coffee Pot Book Club 2025 awards, Lady of the Quay has been confirmed as a finalist in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2025. These awards are judged by readers, with two reading groups marked entries according to...
Bronze Medal winner
The winners of The Coffee Pot Book Club’s 2025 Book of the Year Awards have been announced, and Lady of the Quay has won Bronze in the Tudors/Stuarts category. The Coffee Pot Book Club promotes historical fiction. Its Book of the Year Awards is an international...
Join us at WolvLitFest
It’s been an incredibly busy autumn, which is set to get even busier as the biggest season for craft, gift and book fairs kicks into gear. It was thrilling for me to return to Berwick-upon-Tweed in September when I was invited by the organisers of Berwick Heritage...
Lady of the Quay goes on tour
Next week, from June 11- 13, 2025, Lady of the Quay goes on tour and will feature on some of the best blog sites celebrating historical fiction. Thank you to all of the fantastic hosts who are taking part in this event. Full list here.
Finding new books
My list of ‘The best dual timeline novels you will ever read’ is now live on BookDNA.com. I love dual timeline fiction and read a lot of it, so singling out just five books that I’ve enjoyed for inclusion on this list was one of the hardest tasks I’ve ever had to...
Lady of the Quay Reviews
The first reviews for Lady of the Quay are trickling out and so far this new novel has been awarded nothing but five stars by bloggers, readers and reviewers. The Coffee Pot Book Club calls it “an exceptional work of historical fiction” and a “mesmerising tale that...
Local stores support local authors
Any author knows how hard it is to sell books, especially when you are relatively new and unknown to readers, and even more so when you’re an independent author. That’s why I’m really delighted that The Woman in the Painting has been accepted onto a new scheme in...
Happy reading
Thank you to everyone who came along to one of the Xmas markets or book fairs and bought a book or two from me at the end of 2024. It was a hectic end to the year, with at least one event every weekend from late October through to the big day itself. Many of these...
The Woman in the Painting – Another Great Review by The HNS
The Historical Novel Society (HNS) has published a new review of The Woman in the Painting. It’s live on the website now and in the November 2024 edition 110 of the Historical Novels Review. Reviewer, Bonnie DeMoss calls it: “An intriguing dual-timeline...
Historical fiction lovers gathering in Devon
Reflections At the beginning of September, I had the privilege of attending the Historical Novel Society’s 2024 conference at the very historic and beautiful setting of Dartington Hall in Devon. I’ve attended many conferences during my career in magazines, but it was...
Learning from your favourite authors
It’s now just over a month before I’ll be attending my first ever Historical Novel Society UK Conference, at Dartington Hall in Devon. Going as a delegate, it is so exciting to think I will be at an event where I will be ‘rubbing shoulders’ with some of the authors...
When everything happens at once
It had been a really quiet start to 2024, and then, with the impending arrival of Spring (apparently), that all changed. It was like the old London bus scenario that I remember well from my student days – waiting at the bus stop for what feels like hours and could...
2024 Writing Goals
I’m not normally one for New Year resolutions and the like. Maybe I know myself too well and understand that I won’t keep to them so it all just feels like a waste of time. When it comes to writing goals though, well, that’s something else entirely. Early in January I...
Silver Medal winner
The Woman in the Painting has won a Silver Medal in The Coffee Pot Book Club Historical Fiction Book of the Year 2023 Awards in the Time Travel/Time Slip/Dual Timeline category. The Coffee Pot Book Club promotes historical fiction. Its Book of the Year Awards is an...
A bridge, a battle and a rebus
The inspiration for a new novel can come in many different ways. At events I’ve attended recently I’ve listened to authors Celia Rees and Erin Green talk about the inspiration behind some of their novels, and at the recent BPA Away Day with Emma Darwin we practiced...
Enjoyable Away Day
Being a writer of any kind can be a lonely occupation, with hours spent every day concentrating on nothing other than the words you are committing to screen or paper. That’s partly why it was so good to step away from the computer and return to a BPA (Blue Pencil...
South Warwickshire Literary Festival
Thanks to everyone at the South Warwickshire Literary Festival for a fabulous event on Saturday (September 23). It was my first time at this festival and it was very worthwhile. It’s a small event, friendly and with a delicious choice of home-made quiches, soup and...
The Woman in the Painting – 5 Star Review
“I Highly Recommend” The Coffee Pot Book Club has reviewed The Woman in the Painting and awarded it five stars. Reviewer, Mary Anne Yarde, also says: “The Woman in the Painting by Amanda Roberts is a book I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end. This is one...
Book Launch – The Woman in the Painting
It was one of the hottest evenings of the year – even though it was September. The smoked salmon and cream cheese canapés were melting on the plate and even with all the windows and doors open, the Terrace Room at Islip Village Hall resembled a furnace. Guests spilled...
Novels
I really loved this book. It’s a great story and a real page turner. It’s the story of one family’s response when a devastating secret comes to light.