New Release

New Release: Healing Kiss by Amanda Uhl

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

I’d like to introduce Amanda Uhl. Her newest release, Healing Kiss, releases this Thursday April 27th and is the topic of this interview.

What inspired your story?

Once upon a time, I had a healing experience. I held the hands of a stranger–a young woman–I met at a baby shower. My older sister was hosting the shower for someone in her husband’s office, and I was there as a helper and didn’t know any of the guests. The woman and I began discussing the paranormal. I described experiences I had had in the past, including an ability to pull energy from someone’s arm and hand, so it would fall asleep. Curious, the woman asked me to hold her hands. I did as she asked, and when I closed my eyes, immediately saw an orange light surrounding a dark shape. The orange light pulsed and glowed as I inhaled and exhaled. 

Figuring I was the only one to experience the orange light, I let go of the woman’s hands and opened my eyes. The woman opened her eyes, giving me dazed look. “Wow. It felt like someone hugged me,” she said. 

Two weeks later, I learned the woman had been trying for years to get pregnant without success. After holding my hands, she discovered she was pregnant. She called my sister to tell her the joyous news. “Your sister who held my hands, she caused it to happen,” she insisted

This real-life experience inspired Healing Kiss, my newest paranormal romance. When I describe the heroines’ attempts to heal her sister in the first chapter, I’m drawing on that real-life incident to bring an authentic feel to the scene. 

What is your writing process?

I work full-time managing a creative team, so my day job often takes precedence over my writing life. The one rule I follow is to write a little bit every day, no matter how tired I feel. I am a panster, who has discovered the value of plotting, so I do a basic plot outline and write the book description before writing a single word.  

How much time did you spend on this project? 

I have written a book in as little as two months or, as in the case of Healing Kiss, four years! I am a bit of a perfectionist, which often sends me back to the drawing table as I attempt to make sense of the plot.

What is your writing schedule like?

Terrible. As I mentioned, I write a little every day. Due to my demanding day job, I do most of my writing late at night when the rest of the world is sleeping.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Healing Kiss placed in three romance-writing contests:

  • 1st place The Far Side
  • 1st place The Rudy
  • 2nd place Diamonds in the Desert

Award-winning author Amanda Uhl has always had a fascination with the mystical. Having drawn her first breath in a century home rumored to be haunted, you might say she was “born” into it. After a brief stint in college as a paid psychic, Amanda graduated with a bachelor of fine arts in theatre and a master’s degree in marketing. Over the past twenty years, she has worked as an admissions representative and graphic designer, owned her own freelance writing company, and managed communications for several Fortune 500 companies, most recently specializing in cyber security and data. Amanda is an avid reader and writes fast-paced, paranormal romantic suspense and humorous contemporary romance from her home in Cleveland, Ohio. When she’s not reading or writing, you can find Amanda with her husband and three children, gathering beach glass on the Lake Erie shoreline or biking in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  

To preorder Healing Kiss, explore Amanda’s other books, and follow her journey, check out her website: https://amandauhl.com/

To save her dying sister…

Lillian Milano channels energy from the healthy to heal the sick, which makes her an incredible nurse. But her gift puts Lillian and those she loves in danger from an organization that will stop at nothing to exploit her talent. When her sister becomes gravely ill, wealthy computer genius Tristan King is the one man with enough vitality to save her sister’s life. But being near him threatens to expose her secrets and destroy the walls she’s built around her heart.

She bargains with a billionaire.

Tristan doesn’t believe in the supernatural and is wary of emotional entanglements. But his beloved mother is dying, and his lying ex-fiancée won’t leave him alone, so he strikes a deal: In exchange for his help, Lillian must pose as his date for a hospital fundraiser. As the pair work together to save their loved ones, they confront a spiraling web of secrets that threatens their growing feelings for each other. The choices they make will either destroy their lives or heal their hearts. 

New Release: The First Born Son by Kaia Misk

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

A cross between The Sopranos and The Proposal, Frankie Renzi and Sofia Ciambetti’s story of love, forgiveness, power, and wealth culminate in The Firstborn Son. As an heiress, Sofia becomes prey to those who want her money once her father dies. Once she admits to herself that no one can protect her like Frankie, the madness begins between those who want her safe and those who want her fortune. 

Inspired by real people, characters drove this story. One was a mix of my uncle and an Italian tailor I knew. Another encompassed many of the matriarchal women in my family’s prior generations. My father’s love of cars, and his decree that all his children know something about them, inspired the chase scene. Colorful in life, these people demanded a written presence. It was easy to create them and build a story around them. Something fun, but exciting. 

I did not do a lot of research for this book, but rather created a story using places I knew such as a wretched onramp to the Parkway and Sofia’s apartment with a balcony toward the street like something in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside community. 

As my first novel, the editing process was new to me. For that reason, the book took at least one year to write. However, my writing became cleaner after the experience. I’m well into the next book in the Renzi Series called The Second Son. It is Joey Renzi’s story and his character is dear to me. Those who have read The Firstborn Son are anxious for more. Thank Heaven!

For more about The Renzi Series listen to my upcoming podcast appearances on the Ya Jagoff Podcast to be recorded on April 8, 2023, and Indie Reads Aloud Podcast on April 13, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.

Kaia Misk is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, otherwise known as a “Yinzer.” Her parents grew up across the street from each other in a small town where most people worked in the steel mills. Their Italian and Slovak families were a strong part of her childhood which included foods, holidays and religion. Several of her characters are based on her family members and other Pittsburghers. 

Kaia has a background in legal and technical writing including training manuals, training presentations and legal documents. She is also an excellent tailor and patternmaker. Her IMDb page lists her work on two full-length films as a costumer.

She is particularly inspired by the Hat Squad books of Karen Rose and Joe Lansdale’s novels, although her first love was Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. She follows numerous other authors and reads every day. She currently lives in suburban Pittsburgh with her Norwegian Elkhound, Boss.

To purchase The First Born Son and follow Kaia’s writing journey, check out her website: Kaia Misk, Author

Becoming a ruthless mob boss like his father is the last thing Frankie wants, but when Sofia’s father is gunned down, Frankie must become the very thing he loathes to protect the woman he loves. Sofia was a devoted girlfriend to Frankie, until he stood her up and she questioned his fidelity. Now that she’s alone and rich, mafia suitors slither around her. Marriage to him might be her only hope. They try to rekindle their love amidst a mob war. But can a hasty marriage withstand what the Mafia has in store?