Amanda Lynn Petrin Books In Order

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Publication Order of Gifted Chronicles Books

Publication Order of Owens Chronicles Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Amanda Lynn Petrin is a relatively new author, having published her first novel, Shards of Glass, in August 2019. Born in Montreal and residing in Toronto, Canada, she started her life as a child actor. As a toddler she was in local advertising commercials and then was in local stage productions after she started school. Summer camp allowed her to stretch her acting doing the part of Dorothy Gale in “The Wizard of Oz”.

When she attended McGill University in Beloeil, Quebec, Canada she didn’t major in acting but rather in Psychology and History. She was inspired to do this unusual double major to be able to write her novels. She wanted to have the insight to accurately write her characters with depth and in various time periods of history.

Her writing focus has been on the “Urban Fantasy” genre which are set in the 19th century of the Industrial Revolution period through the 21st century with our modern electronic age. The historical time frames allow her to place her characters in situations with specific historical relevance.

As an adolescent, the tragic mass shooting in April 1999 at Columbine High School, in Littleton, Colorado had a profound affect on her. The death of so many students and the wounding of a large number of students and staff was the deadliest school shooting in the United States. It brought the harsh reality of gun violence to children, who typically were blissfully unaware of the dangers. Her first novel, Shards of Glass came out of her awareness and angst of that horrible incident.

In 2020 she swiftly wrote and released several more books. Her series “Owens Chronicles”, a trio of urban fantasy books came quickly after Shards of Glass.

In Shards of Glass Ms Petrin starts in an emotional teenage voice; the story starts with the horror and heartache of a mass school shooting. The protagonist, Rachel is sharing a family dinner with her older brother, older sister, niece, and her mother Sierra. She has plans to meet up with her best friend Alex after dinner and she and he are going to see a movie to put a positive finish to their summer vacation. School starts in the morning and they want the last relaxing time together. After dinner the whole family goes to get ice cream and on the way home they pass Rachel and Alex’s high school and Sierra notices the crowd of cars. Rachel hadn’t mentioned the new school year orientation to her. They’d been to many before and she thought it no big deal. When a student runs into the street and was nearly hit by their van, her mom stops to talk to the girl. The girl is terrified and crying. She tells Sierra there are shootings going on inside. Sierra, who’s a police officer, goes immediately into cop mode. She tells the kids to call the incident in, tells them to stay in the car, she’s going to check it out. “This is what I do, babe. It’s Okay.” She goes running into the building… The fear, the heartbreak, the gut dropping grief is palpable from the beginning. Ms. Petrin has connected us to the horror of the fictional incident but we readers can connect with it because of our shared experiences, particularly over the past decade. The ripple effect of such an incident on a family is explored and we are brought closer to its effect on a particular young woman.

Her release of the Owens Chronicles shows us her other voice- that of a young adult in an urban fantasy setting. Prophesy, Destiny, and Legacy we are introduced to Lucy Owens, a typical eighteen-year old who is thrown into a life of adventure and danger with Embry and Gabriel, a “subset of humans with supernatural abilities.”

On her website (https://amandalynnpetrin.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-self-publish/https://amandalynnpetrin.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-self-publish/) Ms Petrin generously shares, in wonderful detail, her knowledge and experience of self-publishing. She outlines each novel’s costs to publish, who did the editing, how she promoted her books, and other writing costs such as writing and formatting software, and the costs for cover art. Producing and launching four books was a total cost of 1507$ Canadian, $1117 US. A very reasonable sum that doesn’t reflect the immense amount of work actually involved.

Ms Petrin goes on to share the specifics of costs to consider if you are considering to self-publish. Research is listed first. Depending on the genre, story line, etc., there may be historical or other facts to be accurate. Research also entails knowing categories and keywords that your potential book will tick, the competition for them, and how to craft your writing for the best hits on Amazon, etc.

Writing, editing, formatting, and cover art are discussed with recommendations. Other topics, ones that aren’t usually, mentioned when thinking about writing a book are addressed- ISBNs (free to register in Canada), IngramSpark, proof copies, and launch are further detailed. The depth and detail of her sharing of this experience is incredibly generous.

Her books started as self-published ebooks but many have been published as hardbacks and paperbacks as well. Some of her books have been published in French, a nod to her French-Canadian citizenship.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Amanda Lynn Petrin