By Anna Skinner
Amanda Staley wanted to write a book since she was a little girl, and after she turned 27, she decided it was the right time.
“It was just one of those times thinking there’s got to be more to life,” the Westfield Police Dept. record manager said. “I took an idea and saw where it went. Originally, I wanted to do a short story, but it turned into a full length novel.”
“Dissonance” was published at the end of January. The main character, Malcolm, comes from an affluent family and decides to branch away from the money and find himself.
“I never figured when I first started writing it that it would be so entertaining,” she said. “There will be three books in the series.”
She is 12 chapters into approximately 30 total of the second book, which will be published in the winter. “I’m hoping the majority of the summer I can spend my free time writing,” she said.
Staley strives to write every day, but sometimes only manages an hour or so each week, as her career, college courses for a master’s degree in human resource management and family take first place.
“I try to put out about an hour a day, but sometimes I don’t get to it for a couple weeks,” she said. “I’m taking college courses and family takes priority, it was just one of those things that’s become a back burner. This year I’ve been trying to at least do an hour a week, but most time its closer to two or three.”
She self-published her work, as her series didn’t fit neatly into any genre.
“I’m surprised with the response I got,” she said.
“Dissonance” can be purchased at amazon.com/Dissonance-Malcolm-Stone-Book-I-ebook/dp/B01A3LKVYK.
