Amanda McKinney is the bestselling and multi-award-winning author of more than twenty romantic suspense, mystery, and thriller novels. Her books have received over fifteen literary awards and nominations, including the prestigious Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence, and have been included in lists such as POPSUGAR's 12 Best Romance Books, and featured on the Today Show.

Amanda recently signed a multi-book contract with Montlake Romance, Amazon Publishing. Book two, Trail of Deception, is on sale now.

She is represented by Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

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AWARDS AND RECOGNITION:

2021 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, 2nd Place Winner
Winner of the 2018 Golden Leaf for Romantic Suspense
Winner of the 2019 Golden Quill for Romantic Suspense
Winner of the 2019 I Heart Indie Award for Romantic Suspense
2018 Maggie Award for Excellence Finalist
2018 Silver Falchion Finalist
2018 Beverley Finalist
2018 Passionate Plume Honorable Mention Recipient
2019 Maggie Award of Excellence Finalist
2019 Stiletto Award Finalist
2020 National Readers Choice Award Finalist
2020 HOLT Medallion Finalist
2020 Book Buyers Best Finalist
2020 Carla Crown Jewel Finalist
2017 2nd Place Winner for It’s a Mystery Contest

25 Fun Facts

  1. Favorite Movie? Braveheart, Lord of the Rings, Sound of Music, Dumb and Dumber.

  2. Favorite Song? Tuesday’s Gone (Lynyrd Skynyrd) Close seconds—
    Into the Mystic (Van Morrison)
    Learning to Fly (Tom Petty)
    More Than a Feeling (Boston)
    Country Roads (John Denver)
    Night Moves (Bob Seger)
    Where Rainbows Never Die (The SteelDrivers)
    (I like music)

  3. Favorite Singer/Band? Tom Petty, Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, ALL 90’s/00’s hip hop.

  4. Who is your hero? My mom, hands-down.

  5. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? I’m a Southern girl through and through, but I’ve always daydreamed about moving up north, deep in the mountains. Wyoming or Montana, maybe? Nature is my happy place.

  6. What would you change about yourself if you could? Definitely, more patience. I’m hardwired to have a lot on my plate. Relaxing does not come easily to me.

  7. What motivates you to work hard? My intense desire to make the most of this short time we have here on earth.

  8. Favorite book? The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. This book absolutely changed my life. On the fiction side: I’d like it to be an award-winning, epic book like War and Peace, but honestly, I love stories that draw me in and make me escape for a bit. A few books that come to mind are: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. The Search/The Witness/Naked in Death by Nora Roberts. Verity by Colleen Hoover. I’m also a huge fan of Laura Griffin’s Tracers Series.

  9. Favorite author? Nora Roberts. Close seconds—
    Gillian Flynn
    A.R. Torre
    Karin Slaughter
    Loreth Anne White
    Alice Feeny
    Lisa Gardner
    Toni Anderson
    Sandra Brown

  10. What did you want to be when you were little? A marine biologist, a veterinarian, and an archeologist. So I became a writer.

  11. Favorite season? Fall!

  12. Favorite holiday? Christmas!

  13. Spontaneity or structure? I laughed out loud when I read this. Definitely structure. I believe life runs much more smoothly with plans, schedules, and routines. Spontaneity scares the shit out of me.

  14. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? Chili. I’m serious.

  15. Biggest pet peeve? Laziness. And people who consider themselves “always the victim”. Get off your ass and do something about it.

  16. Introvert or extrovert? Introvert. I’m a fiercely private person. I’m someone who needs total alone time every once in a while or I’ll go nuts.

  17. Guilty pleasure? Booze.

  18. Five things you can't live without? Aside from my family—my cell phone, laptop (so I can write), a cross necklace that my mom gave me, vodka, and under-eye concealer. Damn the dark circles.

  19. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up? 3 a.m. alarm followed by a mad stumble to the coffee pot. Then, straight to the computer to get in as many words as possible before the kiddos wake and the circus begins. Sounds brutal, I know, but I love what I do, and also, I’m in bed by 7:30 p.m.. This is not a joke.

  20. Describe yourself in 5 words. Ambitious, Loyal, Passionate, Hardworking, Confident

  21. Top 3 things on your bucket list? Raise my boys to be good Southern gentlemen, travel the world, and pass my fifty-year wedding anniversary with my husband. And win the lottery.

  22. What makes you wildly happy? It involves my husband.

  23. Biggest fear? Not being there when my boys need me.

  24. What’s the most valuable life lesson you’ve ever learned? Always listen to your gut—thanks, Mama.

  25. Most influential person in your life? My mom, forever and ever. Everything good I am is because of her.

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