Great chat with Amber, to discuss her new book, the Pretender which is the sequel to the very popular The Dragoneer on Author Ecke.

Hey, everybody.

Welcome back to Author Ecke today I have Amber Boudreau and because

I lived in Louisiana at one time, I can actually say that last name.

So I'm gonna let her introduce herself, talk about herself, and then we're

gonna just get into discussion about I'm pretty interested in the book that she

already wrote and is out and her next endeavor, which will be out very shortly.

So Amber take it.

Hi.

Thanks Travis.

Hi everybody.

Yeah, my name is Amber Boudreau and I am, , I write youth in adult fantasy books.

I've written a book about dragons called the dragon ear.

And I also, which is for young adults and I've written a book for adults, second

nature, which is more OLS and shifters.

And the next book that I have coming out is comes out October 3rd and

it is a sequel to the dragon ear.

I'm excited about that coming out and people getting a chance to read

it and sharing it with everybody.

So based on your background, I read You're a geologist or

into geology, is that correct?

Yeah I studied geology at university.

I got an, I got a BS degree in undergrad in, in GE geology.

And then I went on to get a master's in it as well.

So yeah.

Did you dig up something that said, I'm gonna write a

book about trying to drag it?

Come on, you can tell me about.

I would totally tell you absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely.

I wish I had, I wasn't that I wasn't that kind of geologist as they say I

studied more land forms and okay.

To get super nerdy, like Quaran geomorphology.

If anybody's really interested so that's like the last 10,000 years or so of

geologic time and mainly dealing with like glaciers and stuff like that.

But almost that almost feels like a another life now was just of so long ago.

Yeah.

I am glad I met Amber because I decided to go back to school and one of the

classes I have to take is geology.

Oh, awesome.

They're gonna have you identifying rocks and minerals.

It's gonna be great in my next book.

I'm writing.

I actually talk about a media CRA.

The thing is it's it's kinda center around a media CRA that's.

That's awesome.

I think that's great.

And the, we have those there's all over.

Yeah there's a site in specifically I can think of cuz I've been there.

There's a site in Indiana Kelin Qury and it is the, let's see at the

time our teacher, our instructor was like this supposed meteorite

impact site and she's I think we can just get rid of this supposed.

All right.

It's a meteorite impact site.

That's what it is.

So yeah, that was, it was it's really interesting visit.

Yeah.

What motivated you or how did you come up with the idea for your first book

and then your subsequent novel to try?

Because writing fantasy that's you got that's you gotta have a pretty good

imagination for that because there's things in there that I can't spell.

How did you come up and tell us about your writing style?

What kind of motivat.

Ah, yeah.

Thanks.

I appreciate that.

There's I, when you're looking for a character names, don't

you just do a keyboard smash and that's your fan fantastical?

The only, only ones I can.

That's how you name your characters.

That's I'm telling you that's right.

That's it right now.

Yeah, actually we spend a terrible amount of time on baby name websites.

So it's, we were just mentioned that the other day.

It's good to know that the babies are named up for dragons.

Yeah, right?

Yeah, definitely.

So yeah, my first book that I wrote was the dragon ear and

it it took me several rewrites.

It's not, it was not.

I'm gonna write this story and it was, and I wrote it and it was done.

It was, did not work that way.

It was not for me.

I'm not sure exactly how long, but definitely on this scale of years.

Okay.

All right.

Yeah.

I've heard that before.

Yeah.

It was not a one and done like quick thing.

It was at first.

I think when I had finally typed the end, I, it was like, I can tell you,

it was like 55,000 words which was.

20,000 words, light yes.

So yeah, so I had to go back and do some rethinking and add some scenes

and that helped move the story along.

I also it went through several people, saw it.

I have a couple of.

Critique groups, couple of writing groups that I belonged to and other

people had saw it and commented it.

And then I went via extra stuff of getting a developmental edit done as well.

So and I took all that feedback and scraped it together.

And then Did another rewrite because that's what you do.

And eventually, yeah, I was able to find a publisher, dragon street

press who was interested in it.

I think I, I wonder if the name had anything to do with it, but no.

Finally, we get copyrights and trademarks and everything.

You never know that's right.

Yeah.

That's right.

I was like, all right, dragon here.

Dragon street press sounds like a good match.

Perfect.

That's perfect.

Yeah.

They came to me and they it, so the dragon year came out in 2020, so yeah.

That's how the excellent came about.

Yeah.

Excellent.

Yeah.

And so I think as a writer you sort.

You're always keeping what works and get getting rid of what doesn't.

Yeah, it was very interesting to take what I had learned.

Have another idea, and then just be able to sit down and write about wear wolves.

do you do you outline or on what they call a.

Sure.

I don't outline.

I just write.

Yeah.

I always like to think I'm a bit of a combination of the two a pants

or a platter as they say, yeah.

Yeah.

So I'm.

I read somewhere once I'm or somebody said, if you want to write fast and

well, maybe you should have an outline.

And I was like I definitely wanna write fast.

And I definitely read a write well let's see how that works.

I will have an outline that I'm working from But it's definitely,

I definitely don't have any fear of deviating from that outline and

chucking it and then having a different outline and moving forward that way.

I, yeah, it's some combination of the two for me.

You're just total your total answer.

I think so.

So I, I have, I'll do a mind map of the book.

As, before, and as I'm writing it, because I wanna make sure that if I say something.

Action somewhere that action has to be completed by somebody or something.

So I just wanted make sure of all that.

I wrote my first novel in six weeks.

It was, I don't know how down for, I don't even know that.

Think I knew that many words yeah.

And then this one, what I'm writing now, I started writing after that one.

and I'll be done.

I anticipate.

And then next week the initial draft, I'll go through it.

Yeah.

I like to print it out and read it and piece cuz then I can make all the

annotations and everything and then go back and do it then have somebody read

it and go through that whole iteration.

Yeah.

I started 1st of March and I had a publisher in the middle of April.

Oh, excellent.

But by you.

And I think I was still married at that time.

And I'm still married now.

I just didn't see.

Wait a second.

I just didn't.

I was like, I just didn't see her.

No she was over there looking at me.

What are you doing?

You're pecking away yeah, no kidding.

Kidding family.

How'd your family take it's you gotta take, you gotta dedicate some time, just

like I have gonna write 20 words today.

Cause you'll never be done.

Yeah.

Writing that fast in six weeks, that reminds me of like nano Remo.

Have you ever participated?

No.

No.

Yeah.

NA nano Remo national.

Now we're writing month.

It's a thing it's and that's, it's it's usually the month of

November and it's the commitment to get 50,000 words in in 30 days.

Let me tell you that breaks down to about 1600, 1600 plus words a day which

is three times more than three times.

My normal amount that I can actually right.

Reliably get and yeah, I would never, I would, I was like, I can't

nano, I can't write a novel, a monthly crazy lemme tell you 2020 happened.

And it's not doing anything anyway.

so right.

Yeah.

Yeah, and I did it.

And so I've I've done that process.

And let me tell you I get the idea of nano Remo I think I've.

Before it's it's sexy, right?

It's like you get 50,000 words in a month.

And what really, what it really does is just help you with the

consistency that you need to write every day and or sure.

You can take maybe a break for weekends.

I don't know if you wanna have a family life.

I don't know.

It's really that getting your button, the seat and getting the

words on the page that is really, I think that's what it really helps

with re regardless of whether you.

1600 words or 500, that's how I've done.

It is like a little bit at a time every day.

I typically, I saved a bunch of money in that six weeks cuz we didn't go anywhere.

Oh, saved bunch.

Didn't

I'm familiar.

So what about your next book?

The second book?

Yeah.

Tell us about how that one came.

And I wanna know about the one you're gonna next month, like

two weeks or a week or two?

Yeah.

Less than two weeks is the next one comes out.

Yeah.

Second nature.

Yeah, it came.

I was just like, I had an idea.

I was like, what about I, I like where wills, I'm a I read fantasy obviously.

So I'm a fan of their genre.

I was like, First of all, is there any thing that I could do with it?

That would be take it in a different direction?

Oh yeah.

Stuff that we don't already know.

And so I, so that's, I, it came into not just wear Wells,

but also into a shifters.

So I have other characters who don't necessarily change it to wearables,

but they change into other animals.

Including my main character who when we catch up with her at the beginning,

she's this is also people I've heard.

I only heard this recently I really wanna write in an amnesia novel.

I was like, really is the video.

We really wanna write one of those.

And then I realized that I had written one.

Because.

Doesn't actually remember who she is.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, we catch up with her about six months after she's woken up out of a

coma and she doesn't remember who she is.

She made peace with that, but she's got a job she's got friends.

But then all of a sudden she's getting drawn into this

conflict with the wear walls.

And in this case in my book, the wolds are out they've revealed

themselves to society and everybody knows them, knows about them.

And they've people are dealing with that, but just come to find out that

their leader their alpha of all the alphas or the Wolf went missing and

she might know what happened to him.

Oh, wow.

You wear the plot.

That's I know she's, , it's a bit of a genre of blending, a little bit of a

mystery there as well as urban fantasy.

Yeah.

So that sounds Wolf say that again.

The town, I bet there are razor blades everywhere.

Interesting.

Interesting.

it's not necessarily a town of wearables, but yeah, definitely.

There's that's cool though.

Yeah.

That's a whole new spin on it yeah.

I'm definitely a a fan of those urban fantasy type books that

have those characters in them.

Yeah.

So you're not for night, you're not afraid of night.

No.

Maybe I think a little, I think a little fear is healthy or of course.

Yeah.

So what about your, the one coming out?

Tell us about that one.

That's a pretty sure the next one coming out is act is the

sequel to the dragon ear.

It picks up right where.

The dragon ear ends.

My pub, my publisher called it a is calling it a standalone sequel.

So you don't necessarily need to have read the first one to

jump right in with the second.

But I don't look, it comes out in two weeks.

I haven't even got a poster yet, but I do have a picture.

I would love to share that with you of the cover.

I love that it's called the dragon ear and the pretender, and it should be

out October 3rd, where we're all fine.

Books are sold.

But especially Amazon and barn and noble.

Yeah.

so that is a beautiful cover.

Yeah.

They did a great job on that.

It was it's great.

Yeah so like I said, the sequel picks up right where the other one drops off.

It's a bit of a, it's a portal fantasy.

So our main character Mo re noble is traveling with.

Zephyr her dragon to where Zephyr came from so that they can get there

so that they can rescue their friends.

Oh, nice.

Yeah.

Sort of good book.

Yeah, they, yeah, totally.

A little bit of, a little bit of an on the road, adventure type book too.

Cuz you know, there's got you.

Can't just man magically.

Show up where they need to be, but a dragon has to fly.

Come on a dragon.

Just can't sit there.

Oh, you're so you're not gonna like my dragon cuz he doesn't fly.

It doesn't fly.

He does not.

He's not one of those.

He's not one of those dragons.

He's more of a battle dragon.

He does not fly yeah.

He's good with sword though.

And his tail is pretty cool.

A wicked, huh?

Cool.

So that's a standalone sequel.

Yeah.

And I assume you're probably thinking of something else to jot down.

Yes, absolutely.

Yeah.

So I actually, that's what I'm writing right now is working on the

third one for for the dragon ear.

Yes hopefully that.

I that'll be out sometime it's so it's very new.

It's not even 10,000 words yet, but right.

I think again, you just keep chipping away at it and I, hopefully I do.

What do you like to write you like to write in the morning,

the evening, the afternoon.

When do you find time to write what's your best, your most creative.

I dunno if it's most creative, but I find, I like to get up and write.

So usually typically very early in the morning, before this, before my kids are

up and before the day starts and people have to get to work and stuff like that.

That's when I that's when I try to get some words down.

And if I come back to it later in the day, great.

If not, I can be like I wrote today, so that's good.

You write the end before the middle.

Oh no, I'm one of those.

No, I'm one of those terribly straightforward.

I just go through and write the whole thing in order and it's awful.

Do you go to order?

Do you write the parts?

I do.

So what I do is to me, I have to get the beg I'll write, but I'll

rewrite the beginning because I have to write the beginning where.

Catching quick and then I'll write the ending, but I won't,

it won't be the one that I use.

It just allows me to think and to look at things because as the characters

evolve in the book, then I'll evolve the the ending of it because my, in

my the first book, the only book I've ever written plain to deception, there

was actually at the end, I had an amne.

Chapter in there.

It was all, then I said, oh, okay, let me change it around

if I added something else.

So I'm thinking about maybe putting just the second indie out as a separate

that somebody could switch, oh, go here.

Now I could read this ending and see how it ends up.

Interesting.

Just as a, you put it out to for one around

So that, but yeah, I don't and I'm, I like to right in the

morning, I like to walk, I walk like five miles in the morning.

Oh, wow.

Get down like eight and then I'll sit in the backyard, live in Texas.

So the weather's beautiful.

And I just sit down and I'll start typing until about 10 30.

Oh, wow.

And then I then by one o'clock two o'clock I'm like, oh, okay.

My mind is jello.

So I just kinda do something else.

And then I thought of this podcast, so well, because I

didn't know anything about pub.

What was the hardest thing that you find.

Outside of writing the book to get it out.

Yeah.

I think writing the easy part.

What, say that again makes I think the writing is the easy part.

Yeah.

After a while you're like, yeah, I'd almost give anything to just go back

and write and you're like, oh good.

It's good.

Hang on to that feeling for another time.

But yeah, I think the marketing and the promotion is not my favorite.

But there was, yeah, I've queried agents and you don't even.

Thanks.

But no, thanks.

You just, you get ghosted, right?

Yeah.

Yes.

You don't.

We read all our queries.

I'm like, do you because I never heard from you.

Yeah.

Tom Clancy at the end of it, they'll read it.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

Oh my gosh.

The, yeah, so they so yeah, I definitely got led to publishing in a secured as,

or in a non-traditional way because I found my publishers on Twitter.

Actually I think I, oh, interesting.

Yeah.

I pitched, I think it was pit mad or.

One of those events like that, where I pitched a dragon ear

and dragon street breasts liked it and I ended up querying them.

And that's how we, it came today.

Actually, there was another step to that because I think they said at the

time they were like, we are looking for novels that are 70,000 words or more.

And mine was, I.

Like just under or something like that at that time.

Of course it's got, gotten bigger now gotten longer since,

but I remember questioning that.

I was like it's this many words, is that okay?

And they said, yeah, send it along.

You definitely wanna follow those guidelines, the mission guidelines.

Yes, and absolutely to the T obviously, but I, that was one there.

I was actually once had some back and forth and it actually

worked out, so that was good.

And then the same thing with the second nature.

I think I, I tweeted something.

I during a pitch session and my other editor for.

Second nature, gen Z publishing liked it and I queried them and they're like, yes,

they got sent a full manuscript request.

And yes.

So I'm that's somewhat, I did, I guess I just looked on the internet

and I sent it to one, talked to one, sent it to another, I got a reply.

And then I was in Houston for work and they're clients press the publishing

based outta Houston, Conroe north.

I said, I'm gonna go buy this is because it's a big deal, so

I'm gonna by and check him out.

So I went by, drove up down the way back home and stopped, met the

Dave, basically the owner, president company, and some other folks.

And I said you know what?

I really like him.

They they had the same values that I have.

So I said, shoot, I'm just gonna go.

And.

I'm hoping that they're gonna publish this next one, cause

it's the sequel of the first one.

Not a se.

I know, but yeah, I guess it's same team, but different things.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Does it take place in the same world?

It does.

It does minor like military ESP, espionage and thriller and

government and thrillers and things.

Very cool.

But yeah, so yeah, marketing is definitely tough.

Yeah yeah.

Yeah.

You gotta market it.

If you gotta wanna, you've gotta wanna make it successful.

Yes.

Yeah.

And the first step is almost seems like the easy part, even though we all of

us know that it's not the easy part, but it's like writing the best book you can.

It's I've written the best book I can now I'm just trying to get people to read it.

So do you have any signings coming up or anything you wanna tell the folks

about or where they can find you?

Yeah.

And check you out and follow.

Absolutely.

Yes, I will be in at the twin cities book festival in Minneapolis on October 15th.

So I will be there.

I think it's from 10 to five, it's an open event.

There's no cost for anybody to come.

Anybody can, it's free to enter.

Everybody can show up.

And yeah, I'll be there with second nature and dragon ear and hopefully

copies of the dragon ear and pretender.

But I'm.

On Twitter, as I mentioned, I on Instagram and I have an

author Facebook page as well.

So I also have a website, author, Amber bre.com, where there's an

email there that you, that people can get in touch with with me through.

So yeah, what's your family.

Say that again?

What's your family thing.

I'm interested.

What's your husband and kids.

How and your family in general they're pretty supportive.

They're pretty support.

You do crazy.

does it make 'em crazy?

I think a little bit when I've done nano Remo, they're like

seriously as Thanksgiving.

What are you doing?

I'm like, I have to get my words in for today.

Like I'll eat the Turkey later.

So they it'll be, it's always good with man aids and bread, so it'll be alright.

Leftovers are just as good.

So they're mostly okay.

I think yeah.

Husband, the husband's proud of me.

Never fails to tell me how proud of it me is and the kids,

I think I they're little.

They're little young at this point, the 11 year old kind gets it.

And she's can I read this one?

And I was like, yes.

it was like, my granddaughter said the same thing.

She's seven.

She says, I'm gonna read your book grandpa.

And she looked at it.

She goes, those are big words.

I can't read that yet.

nice.

Any someday baby girl, someday.

That's.

So when you told your friends you were gonna write a book.

Sure.

What was the, what was their response?

Cause sometimes okay, we know you that both of you to assume I told anyone that

I was writing a book oh, you didn't?

No, I never, I don't think I'm not one of those people.

Who's guys, I'm gonna write a book.

I think I'm just one of those suffering silence types.

Like I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go over here.

What are you doing on the computer?

Nothing.

Don't worry about it.

Look over there.

Look over there.

Yeah.

Pay no attention.

Yeah.

So I don't think they knew that I had written a book until I was querying

and pitching and that kind of thing.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

Because I maybe part in part, because to take me so long to finish it,

but it got there, but I, in that means have I had been, I had started

attending writing conferences and I had joined my writer's group.

So there were people who knew that I was writing.

I, they were my writing partners and things like that.

But my family is like, Yeah.

You get that first, so what's it about?

And you're.

Dragons and they just like, okay.

We spent all that money getting education, you're writing about dragons.

I would like to remind them that I had a scholarship.

Oh, so yeah.

You write about anything you want.

Definitely.

Yes.

It comes through, I feel like there are rocks play a role in definitely

in the dragon ear as they should.

Yes.

And definitely land forms and.

Nature and stuff definitely plays a role in both books.

Yeah, definitely.

You mentioned I told people, oh, you told people, oh no.

I told em, I had to finish.

Yeah, then they have that expectation.

When are we gonna read it?

When, yeah when do I get to hold it in my hot little hands?

I know.

You're gonna ask something.

I'm sorry.

That y'all no, I was gonna, I was gonna ask you mentioned Tom Clancy, so well,

and you obviously write writing these military thrill thriller ask novels.

So what are you reading that type of genre or are you reading other stuff?

I have to tell you.

So I was in the army.

Okay.

And I read hump for red October, and I wanted to get outta

the army and join the Navy.

That's how that's so an impact on, but I didn't.

Thank God.

Okay.

but I can't swim.

I do.

I do.

I read him.

I like Clive Cussler.

Okay.

Okay.

And Dan brown.

So I would think my books are between a Tom Clancy and a Clive.

I think there is a lot of stuff that is very, could be in real life yeah.

From a technology and other perspective.

But I put a kind of a Clive customer kind of humor and just

not all seriousness in a boat.

So you can have fun as you're going through Russia, look into why what's

going on with Russia and your oil fields.

So you can have fun doing it.

The whole thing could have fun.

So I, I think it's kind those.

I like Dan brown because everything in Dan Brown's book taste place in 24 hours.

That's true.

Not mine, but I just like reading that quick makes you go quicker.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I would say those two.

Cool, excellent.

I was just curious.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Neat.

It's just just interesting.

And I do a lot of research for my books, so I will like, and my

book now you could actually trace.

The entire operation that they went on in Russia and go to every place

they went to are all real places.

That's cool.

That's neat thing.

I, now that I would recommend doing it right now, however,

in the future, I right.

I hope, yeah.

I've read a couple books like that where it's we're mentioning real places

here and like people can go to them.

Yeah.

It's very interesting.

Yeah.

Excellent.

I do like it.

Oh, God, we can make so much up yeah, it helps.

It's like people are real.

Yeah.

That's cool.

So you're you got two out one in the hopper?

Yeah.

And then you got one in the cranium and starting to whi Whit at that one.

So do you go for a work count or do you go until the thought is Wow.

Yeah, it's a little bit of both.

I do in the back of my mind, have a word count that I'm shooting for.

If I make it there.

Great.

If not, I don't agonize over it, but I do go back and look

like maybe I should maybe should add another scene or something.

Yeah.

But not necessarily I will say the nano rim of the 50,000 words in a month.

That's that seems light to me.

So I'm always usually way over 50,000 words.

I.

Not in that month, I get the 50,000 words by the 30th day.

But I'm usually writing for another week or so after that, cuz I'm in the

cuz I'm in the the rhythm of yes.

Writing.

There's a rhythm.

There is a rhythm.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

So I just keep going.

So I, and then I typically yeah, 75 80, those I seem to like those numbers.

Yeah.

That's which typical novel link.

Yeah, I think over 50,000, I think 50,000 to 90 thousands of

novels are, is a fiction novel.

And I'm at fiction.

Yeah.

I think my first one was 83,000.

And this one right now, I'm at 81,000.

Ooh, you say right now, is it not done yet?

Oh, it's not completely done yet.

I got it all in my mind.

I just I have to take a break, but I, because my mind will.

Oh man.

This people, let me figure out where I can put this in here to make sense.

Yeah.

Like yesterday I came up a whole new kind of spin to it.

slightly dangerous, but okay.

I know.

I live on the edge say you, right?

If you're not living on the edge of you're taking up too much space that's right.

Somebody said that's exactly right.

Maybe who.

Talking to you, and it's nice talking to you too.

Yeah.

Get the names of your books again and tell you where, tell us where to be.

Everybody can find you one more time.

Sure, definitely.

So I've got the dragon ear and the sequel of the dragon ear and the

pretender comes out October 3rd.

And then I also, if if you're into dragons, obviously and then if you're

like WWS and shift, We have second nature.

And that both, everything can be found on Amazon or Barnes and noble.

You can go to your local bookstore and have them order it for you.

I'm sure it's they're available anywhere.

You would like to find it yeah.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Excellent.

Amber, it's been a pleasure.

I wish you the most success and now I have a Christmas present for my grandson.

Yay.

I appreciate that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Great.

Thank you.

I might read first and just box it up later.

You never not like ever scribble it or.

That's right.

they never know I've may have done that once or twice.

So yeah.

When you guys look out for Amber, you look out for her books.

And go out there and check him out and it would be a great Christmas gift because

it's only 90 some days away and you don't have to worry about supply chain.

It's something nice.

man.

Wow.

I it's crazy.

Crazy.

Yeah, that, that is, I can't believe it's.

Thank you, Amber.

And I appreciate it.

And the best of luck.

Thank you very much.

Thanks Travis.