Amanda McNeill
Author of the acclaimed Haven series
Welcome! Amanda McNeill (a.k.a. A. Ramsay McNeill) is an American author of six novels. Five of her novels are a part of the acclaimed Haven series that focus on the mysteries and paranormal in small-town America. Her sixth book, Life Sketches, can be described as post-apocalyptical. She wants her readers to sit up and take notice, to say, ‘Whoa! I never considered that before!' She resides in Prophetstown, IL with her husband of 50 years, Rodney.
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PUBLISHED BOOKS
Oracle
Who was Cassandra Timmerman? When Mallory Timmerman returns to her hometown of Haven for her Aunt Cassandra’s funeral, she didn’t expect to face so much controversy and malevolence in the small town. Some of Cassie’s closest friends refuse to believe she died from a fall. They’re convinced she was murdered and they know who did it!
Infinite Chain
Cassie’s older sister Penelope. Cass had never mentioned having a sister. Temple offers to look for Penelope online, telling Mallory she could have cousins she’s never met. While Mallory is in Haven, an arsonist burns her store in Prairie Hill. Sacred Space was a store for the spiritually minded, providing not only inspirational books for all faiths, but candles and incense, yoga supplies, prayer beads, and meditation cushions. The primary suspect was a recently hired clerk who was openly hostile toward the merchandise and staff.
Menace
A dark entity disguised as a ministry invades Prairie Hill, spreading its misogynistic poison and threatening every woman in the city. Jordan's younger daughter, a senior in high school, has been the victim of a sexist-driven attack that left one student dead. She must decide if she should remain in school or transfer to a private school. When Mallory's former husband surfaces as an adherent of the ministry, he claims they are still married. Mallory's businesses and her life are in jeopardy. She resents her increased reliance on Jordan and his family for her safety, finding the boundary between loving a man and needing a man becoming ever more blurred.
Link
After receiving a threatening note on her door, Mallory Timmerman is forced to rely heavily on Jordan Fogarty and her book store staff for her safety. Mallory learns that her favorite author, Dr. N.E. Beckwith, is Jordan’s mother-in-law. When Dr. Beckwith visits Mallory’s store for a book signing, the sect pickets the store, attacking persons trying to enter. When Mallory is invited to the Fogartys’ for Sunday dinner, Dr. Beckwith reveals a painful secret that shatters Mallory and Jordan’s relationship and nearly destroys his family.
Ripples
Neither Mallory nor Jordan want to give up on their relationship. They agree to see each other in an attempt to restore what they once had. Mallory knows Jordan would marry her in a heartbeat, but she isn’t sure she wants another marriage. Mallory has learned that her mother is alive and she has family she never knew existed. The bogus ministry that has plagued Prairie Hill has sold its property. Mallory and the Fogartys celebrate, assuming the sect is leaving the city. But threats and harassment continue. Mallory receives a fake bomb at her store, and a major bridge in the city is destroyed. Mallory and the Fogartys ponder what drives men to commit heinous acts. Will Mallory ever be safe?
Life Sketches
Two hundred fifty years from now, pockets of society are recovering at varying degrees from a cataclysmic revolution. Simon Wakefield lives in a risk-free society ruled by the Advocacy. He oversees a unit of life sketchers, professionals who write the rigid agendas by which every individual in the UC lives. Simon is content until he notices flaws in the lives of those around him. Lillian Sorenson, a coworker, commiserates with Simon. He feels helpless to change the society in which he is trapped. The price to live in a perfect world is too high.
About Amanda
Amanda Ramsay McNeill is a novelist from Prophetstown, IL. She and her husband Rodney have been married for 50 years. She was a music major at Culver-Stockton College, which is why she writes books. She also has an LTA (library technical assistant) certificate. She has worked in two public libraries and an academic library. She is currently in the process of writing the sixth novel in the Haven series, but she would love to hear from you!
Orwell’s 1984 is one of my favorite books; I’ve read it several times. For many years we have been creeping toward a totalitarian society not dissimilar from the one Orwell envisioned. It’s so obvious…watch the evening news, read a newspaper. Stunning! Was this easy to write? Writing is hard work, but the ideas were everywhere. All I had to do was watch, listen, scribble some notes, and I had the basis for a novel.
The five-book Haven series is not dystopian. It refutes the ideas that small town life is safe or idyllic. I started writing this in the back seat of a Mustang on the way home from the funeral of Rodney’s Aunt Lora in extreme southwestern Missouri. I don’t recall what the first glimmer was, but I had paper and a pen and I could not get the thoughts down fast enough. Lora was the ‘trigger’ though and I wrote about her good works and generous spirit, the crazy things that had happened that day and the inappropriate things I had heard.
Lora was 80-something and I peopled the first two books with persons I had known who would have been her peers. These women were amazing! I was fortunate to have known so many intelligent, educated women—women who lived through discrimination and had few job options and no hope of equal pay. They lived through the depression and the war years, and I learned so much from them. I hope I honor (most of) them. I gained tremendous insight from them and I am determined to give my readers something to think about as they read my books.
I want my readers to sit up and take notice, to say, ‘Whoa! I never considered that before!’ Somedays, everything I see or hear or experience is a trigger for a story, that is an idea that through time and effort can be developed into a story or novel. I can’t write them down fast enough! But scribbling down the ideas is the easy part. Developing the ideas, creating the suitable/appropriate protagonists and characters takes time and they emerge as the story blossoms. I’ve used characteristics and quirks of persons I have known or create a composite from two persons. It is far easier to create a black-hearted slug than to develop a stable character who is a contributing member of society. They can be boring.
The Haven series is done, but one of the characters demanded her own book. I am working on a prequel to the Haven series. Someday I will complete the sequel to Life Sketches.