Blog Shout Out - Carmen Amato's Author Blog

In this week's blog shout out we visit Carmen Amato's author blog. Discover more about her blog in her own words below:

Thanks so much for the invitation to stop by and chat about my blog at carmenamato.net. The blog is a little over 2 years old and was started to introduce readers to my books and the issues that inspire me to write. Originally from New York, I have lived in some unexpected places and Mexico and Central America provided the impetus for my writing career.

So far all of my books are set in Mexico, including political thriller THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY and the EMILIA CRUZ mystery series set in Acapulco, and the blog is a place to show readers the culture and history that inspires my writing. For example, the third book in the Emilia Cruz series, DIABLO NIGHTS, draws on the story of Padre Pro, a martyr of the Cristero War, a religious upheaval in Mexico that took place in the late 1920’s. DIABLO NIGHTS just came out in Kindle format, with paperback to be released later this summer. In addition to posts about my research, I announce new releases there and link to the free stories I periodically publish. Right now readers can get the first Emilia Cruz story, THE BEAST, free.

I love reading mysteries as well as writing them. Besides issues related to my own books, I write a weekly book review. Some of my recent reviews are of IN THE WOODS by Tana French and THE BAT by Jo Nesbo.

But the blog is more than just Mexico and mysteries. It’s a place for readers to enjoy all things related to reading and book discovery. I’ve done two series that readers have really enjoyed. The first was the Book Savor series in which people from all walks of life answered 5 unexpected questions about the books they savor, such as a book they’d give as a gift and what they’d serve for dinner to their favorite author, living or dead. The dinners were so terrific that I wrapped up the series with a “best of” dinner post! The series meshed well with other posts about culture, history, and travel, much of which is based on my experiences living and traveling around the world.

The second series asked the question “How can bookstores survive in the era of ebooks and ecommerce?” I asked the question of authors, store owners, book bloggers, and publishing insiders. The results were extremely interesting. I wrapped up the series, after 7 months and more than 800 emails, with 5 Lessons Learned. That was a real eye-opener, although the most-read post from the series was entitled “25 Influential Authors Weigh In,” and included quotes from Guy Kawasaki, Tim Grahl, Dale Brown, and Bernard Cornwell, among others. It is also the most widely shared blog post of all, although the page with the dream cast for THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY (starring Eva Mendes, Sophia Vergara, and Andy Garcia) is far and away the most popular page on my entire website!

An issue that keeps coming up for both my readers and fellow writers is one of time management. I think my next series will be about using time effectively. Why? To make more time for reading, of course!

Thanks for stopping by carmenamato.net and I hope readers enjoy the free story, THE BEAST.

All the best, Carmen