medical romance

And the countdown begins

I have a date. I have a cover. I have a blurb.

So maybe, just maybe, it’s time to share 🙂

A Love Worth Saving, the third installment in my Nights at St Mary’s series will be available from your favourite e-store on…

22 JULY

It’s gonna look like this:

And here’s a hint of the story:

Have you taken a night shift at St Mary’s yet?

Ana Reed has been offered her perfect job – managing a new portable diagnostic sleep service. The only problem: it means working with Dr Brad Lewis, the only man she’s ever loved, and the one man she can never keep.

Brad has always loved Ana, but when he’s around her, he’s constantly reminded of a past he desperately needs to forget. However, he knows Ana is good at her job, and he refuses to stand in the way of her passions. So he will put aside the past, so that she can have her future. After all, they are both professionals, both adults, and their patients have to come first. Surely they can work together without their shared history

Mark the date guys, and get the tissues ready for Brad & Ana’s emotional roller coaster is about to begin.

Australia Day Sale

Super stoked that A Heart Worth Mending has been included in Amazon Aus’s Australia Day Sale.

You can find out more about the Nights at St Mary’s series here or go straight to the purchase site here for the US or here for Australia

Happy reading!

XX Amanda

Does size matter?

I’m sure there are some ladies out there yelling “hell, yes!” and more than a few gentlemen saying “ahem, it’s the way it’s used, not the size that matters.”

But before we all go getting too excited, let me explain. I’m referring to the size of a book, not a… well, you know.

Forgetting about that other size issue, let’s focus on books.

There seems to be a huge push towards smaller size books lately. Or maybe it’s that I’m only becoming aware that we seem to be entering the age of the novella. Although there is no consensus about how long a novella must be, they generally seem to range between 10 000 and 40 000 words (i.e. from about 25 to 100 pages). Some books that are for sale on Amazon are even shorter (such as one dinosaur porn book I recently came across – don’t ask how I found it, and no, I’m not linking to it. It’s already sold way better than my sweet medical romances lol).

For me, personally, I don’t see the appeal (of either dinosaur porn or the novella). If I’m going to invest time and money in a book, I want to get at least twenty-four hours out of a story. I accidentally bought a novella once, only realising what I’d done when I found myself three-quarters of the way through the story in less than two hours.

I felt jipped.

But that’s just me. I grew up on chunky historical romances and epic fantasy series. I read Margaret Mitchell’s thousand-page Gone With The Wind novel when I was eleven years old (and yes, I do like to brag about that).

Maybe I’m an anomaly, though.

After all, more and more publishing houses are creating imprints for the short novels and novella length stories. The theory behind it is that in this technological age our attention spans are much smaller, the time we can commit to reading less than in previous generations.

Although that makes a certain kind of sense, I’d still much rather spend my limited book budget on novels I can sink my teeth into.

What about you? Is bigger better? Or do you like your stories short and sweet?

Amanda

Amanda Canham is a sleep scientist by trade, a mother by heart, and blogs for fun. She has published a series of sensual sleep medicine romance novels that you can check out here.

The Sleep Files: What is Sexsomnia?

Hey, you, get your mind out of the gutter. That is absolutely not what I’m-

Nope, actually, keep your mind right where it is.

Sexsomnia is exactly what you are thinking.

It’s a medical condition that causes a sufferer to perform sex acts while they are sleeping. Whilst that might sound like a fun way to get off, it actually isn’t.

In its mildest form, it involves a little bit of unconscious self-pleasuring that can cause undue embarrassment for the sufferer and their bed partner. On the more serious end of the scale, it can lead to rape and charges of sexual assault with the perpetrator having no recollection of performing the act.

When I first heard about this relatively new sleep disorder, I assumed it was related to REM Sleep Disordered Behaviour (RSDB). For those of you that don’t know a lot about sleep medicine, let me explain my thinking:

RSDB involves acting out one’s dreams and
During REM sleep, both the male and female genitalia can become engorged.

I think its only natural to assume that the act of sexsomnia would occur when these two physiological actions are combined.

But, and I’m not too proud to admit it:

I WAS WRONG.

Sexsomnia does not usually occur in REM sleep as an extension of RSDB. It is, in fact, classified as an arousal disorder that falls under the parasomnia branch of sleep disorders.

Okay, yes, you can laugh at me now. The name is a bit of a giveaway – sexsomnia, parasomnia, clearly it was labeled as a “somnia”.Have you had your fun?

Good, because now it’s time to get down to the nuts and bolts of the disorder.

Sexsomnia occurs when one section of your brain wakes up before the other areas of your brain do. It primarily occurs towards the end of your slow wave sleep period (your deepest sleep), often in the first or second sleep cycle of the night. It occurs in the same way sleep walking, sleep eating and sleep talking occurs.

However, just because someone sleep walks, it does not mean they will sleep sex. Conversely, though, sexsomnia primarily occurs in patients with a history of parasomnias or other sleep disorders. As I mentioned before, it is a relatively newly discovered disorder and a lot more research is still needed to determine the causes (and possible cures) for this behaviour.

If you think you may suffer from this sleeping disorder you should talk to your G.P. and get a referral to Sleep Physician.

You can find further information on sexsomnia here.

XX Amanda

Amanda Canham is a sleep scientist by trade, a mother by heart, and blogs for fun. She has published a series of sensual sleep medicine romance novels that you can check out here.

7 Seriously Sweet Medical Romances

So it will probably come as no surprise that I’ve been a long-time fan of medical drama/comedy series. After all, I currently write my very own medical romances, with a wicked combination of emotional drama, laugh out loud moments, super sweet couples and sizzling sexual tension.

I have to get my inspiration from somewhere, and one of the most fruitful sources, I find, are the shows I enjoy. I watch, am touched and want to touch in return. It’s a wonderful creative cycle, and I wanted to share some of my all-time favourite couples with you.

Fair warning: I ❤ Grey’s Anatomy & there are just so many couples in that show to pick from that they’ve dominated this list. Feel free to add your faves in the comments below. I’d love to know who’s touched your memory banks.

Meredith & Derek – Grey’s Anatomy – Seasons 1-11
I couldn’t really start anywhere else, could I? So many moments, so many elevator rides.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J-mt26FiOU

Luka & Abby – ER – Seasons 6-15

Not the most conventional of love stories, but man, I just wanted these two to finally make it work!

He was the epitome of the brooding hero, but her life wasn’t the easiest either and the tension between them was incredible.

Carla & Turk – Scrubs – Seasons 1-10

Funny, real, stable, long-suffering – these guys were half the show and it was great to watch them grow from their first date through to marriage and children.

Callie & Arizona – Grey’s Anatomy – Seasons 5-11

OMG! I ❤ these two! The chemistry between them is awesome and they are two of the nicest, coolest characters you’ll ever meet. They’ve been through a lot, so I really hope they work it out (and please, no spoilers as I haven’t seen season 11 yet).

Alex & Jo – Grey’s Anatomy – Seasons 9-11

Okay, so this is a relatively new relationship, but Alex has been one of my long-time favourite characters. He had a tough life as a kid, and his love life hasn’t been much better throughout the show. Jo is the first love interest to get him, to understand where he comes from and it’s great to see things finally working out for him.

Izzy & Denny – Grey’s Anatomy – Season 2

It was the shortest of loves, but there aren’t many that are more powerful or emotionally compelling. I dare you to watch this clip and not cry.

Nina & Patrick – Offspring – Seasons 3-4 (& a ghost in season 5)

When I checked the seasons these two were together, I couldn’t believe it was only two years. This couple enamoured an entire nation (Australia) in a very short time with their love and their engaging personalities. It was a modern love story that ended in a tragedy that sent the entire country into mourning. RIP Patrick.

I can only hope only hope that my characters touch people’s hearts as much as these characters touched mine. Click here if you want to find out more about Cam & Stacey and Kelli & Travis.

Amanda

7 Seriously Sweet Medical Romances

Meredith & Derek – Grey’s Anatomy – Seasons 1-11
I couldn’t really start anywhere else, could I? So many moments, so many elevator rides.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J-mt26FiOU

Luka & Abby – ER – Seasons 6-15

Not the most conventional of love stories, but man, I just wanted these two to finally make it work!

He was the epitome of the brooding hero, but her life wasn’t the easiest either and the tension between them was incredible.

Carla & Turk – Scrubs – Seasons 1-10

Funny, real, stable, long-suffering – these guys were half the show and it was great to watch them grow from their first date through to marriage and children.

Callie & Arizona – Grey’s Anatomy – Seasons 5-11

Alex & Jo – Grey’s Anatomy – Seasons 9-11

Izzy & Denny – Grey’s Anatomy – Season 2

It was the shortest of loves, but there aren’t many that are more powerful or emotionally compelling. I dare you to watch this clip and not cry.

Nina & Patrick – Offspring – Seasons 3-4 (& a ghost in season 5)

I can only hope only hope that my characters touch people’s hearts as much as these characters touched mine.

Amanda

It’s time for some blatant self-promotion

October has turned into a very exciting month for little old writer me.

My second novel – A Heart Worth Mending – was published on the 8th October! Yay me 🙂
It’s a medical romance that is available from all good e-stores & if you like my writing I’m sure you’ll love my stories.

Getting busy with promoting this release means I’ve done some guest blogging and you can find these posts here: WIP Me Inspired & At My Desk

This has, unfortunately meant I’ve neglected my personal blog posts. Sorry! I’ve got lots of ideas bubbling away but no time to write them… fingers crossed I’ll get that time soon.

The other exciting news I’ve had is that some awesome reviews have come out about both my published novels. When my first book (A Life Worth Living) was released in December, I waited with nervous trepidation for the reviews. I waited. And I waited. And I waited. But none came out. Half of me was relieved. After all, reviews are a tricky double-edged sword. They could boost me up (if they were nice) or tear me down (if they were not so nice). But not having any… I was left kind of flat.

Well, in the last few weeks, that’s all changed. I’ve had my first official reviews appear on the web & I’m a little excited. I just had to share a couple of the snippets with you.

A Life Worth Living

“Why did I put off reading this book for so long?!?! What a sweet romantic story!!! The characters are so open and honest with their needs, wants and feelings. Stacey knows what she wants and pursues her own happiness. It was so nice to read a book where the characters acted their age!! No unnecessary drama.”

Posted by: Terri on Goodreads

“…I loved the novel. I loved the way the author wrote her story, the way the relationship evolved between our heroes. And I absolutely loved the last chapter before the epilogue.”

Posted by: Fabiola on Les Romantiques & Goodreads

A Heart Worth Mending

“Getting the balance between medical dramas and emotional dramas is tough…Amanda Canham nails both.” Posted by: Jenny on Goodreads

“The descriptions were fantastic and it was easy to see the flow of the story. There were a few twists but mainly this was a good straightforward sweet story…” Posted by: Valerie on Harlequin Junkie

That’s it for me & my blatant self-promotion. Next time we chat I’ll make it something more juicy, but in the meantime, be sure to add my books to your #TBR pile

XX Amanda

Nice guys, great sex, & the writing process blog chain

Guess what?

I’ve been invited to participate in something fabulously exciting in my newbie-author career – an international author blog-hop on “The Writing Process”. The lovely Jacquie Underdown, a fellow Escape Publishing author tagged me, and you can find her answers to the following questions here.

As some of you may be aware, my first novel, a contemporary medical romance entitled A Life Worth Living was published on 1^st December 2013 by Escape Publishing. You can purchase it through Amazon or your favourite e-bookstores (more links are available in the sidebar). It’s the first of my planned St Mary’s Sleep Medicine Romance Series.

Now, to the questions:

1) What am I working on?

I’m currently working away on the third instalment of my St Mary’s Sleep Medicine Romance Series. The working title is A Love Worth Saving, and it follows the tragic, seemingly doomed love of Dr Brad Lewis (a GP with a special interest in sleep medicine) and sleep nurse Ana Reed. Don’t be fooled by the clichéd doctor/nurse relationship, though. Brad and Ana are not your typical couple, and the complications that twist and entwine their lives will break your heart (trust me, it broke mine while I was writing it today). I’m hoping to release the second instalment (A Heart Worth Mending – currently awaiting review with my publisher) later this year.

Once I’ve finished A Love Worth Saving, I’ll jump straight back into my epic fantasy novel – think Game of Thrones with a little more romance – that I’m approximately a third of the way through writing. This is the first of six planned books – two linked trilogies set in the fictional land currently called Kandelhar and I’ve got so many thoughts for it buzzing through my head at the moment, I can’t wait to get back into it. If you want a little sneak peak, check out my Pinterest page.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

It’s the first medical romance to be set in a sleep medicine laboratory. You’ll learn new medical facts while you fall in love with my characters. See, learning can be fun!
My stories explore the deeply emotional issues that we all keep hidden. A Life Worth Living explores the pain and heart-rending after-math of the loss of an infant. A Heart Worth Mending looks at the crippling effect of guilt, grief, and misplaced blame. And A Love Worth Saving… well, I might keep that one to myself for now.
My heroes are nice guys. Whilst the flavour of the moment seems to be bad boys and alpha males, if you took one of my heroes home, your mother would probably fight you for him.
Most sweet romances brush over sex scenes in very little detail, but not mine. You’ll get the touching, heart-warming story and plenty of sauce to keep your bed warm too. Because, seriously, nice guys have great sex too!

3) Why do I write what I do?

Personally, I want to read stories that make me laugh, that make me cry and turn me on. I want characters I can fall in love with and stories I can lose myself in.

If that’s what I want to read, well, that’s what I’m going to try to write. It’s that simple.

Why the medical focus, you might ask?

My two all-time favourite shows are Grey’s Anatomy & Offspring, both medical dramas with a healthy splash of romance, and, well, a book is always better than a show, right?

I’ve focused primarily on sleep medicine because it’s what I know – I’ve been a sleep scientist for almost ten years now, and it’s a growing field of medicine that few people know a lot about. The prevalence and long-term effects of sleep apnoea are not widely known in the general community, and if I can raise awareness of this disorder through my novels, whilst leaving you thoroughly entertained – that’s just an awesome bonus.

Why the sweet stories & nice guys?

I don’t set out intending to write sweet stories, they just… kind of… happen. Apparently, it’s because I’m a super-sweet person married to the ultimate Mr Nice Guy 😉

And finally, why the fantasy? It’s as far removed from medical romance than you could possibly get, surely? It is, but it’s always been my passion. It is the ultimate escape, and I’ve been hooked since I read my first Sara Douglass novel – BattleAxe. My all-time favourite character was Damon Wolfblade, from Jennifer Fallon’s Hythrun Chronicles and I can only hope to one day write as consuming stories as these two legends in the field.

4) How does your writing process work?

There is much debate in the writing world about planning vs pantsing (i.e. nutting out every inch of the story versus running by the seat of your pants).

Me? As with most things in life, I seem to be a little from Column A, a little from Column B.

I start out with the germ of an idea, whether it be about the characters, or the situation, or the world. I let it ferment in my mind until it’s just ready to tap, then shift into planning mode. I nut out the character profiles, write myself a strict chapter-by-chapter breakdown. And then I start writing, and all the planning goes out the window. Characters get scrapped, others are created, scenes are written and rewritten and then deleted if they don’t work.

What’s often very hard for someone who doesn’t write to understand is that a writer is often just the tool by which the characters come to life. They rule us, they talk to us, and if they don’t like what’s being written, they’ll just shut right up and there’ll be no more writing until you get it right.

Please, please, please, let me get it right!

Thank goodness that’s over! Now comes the fun part. As part of this blog-hop, I get to tag other authors to face the same drilling. The following authors will be posting their answers to these questions on the 3^rd of March:

Marianne Curley (my Mum) – Marianne’s debut novel, Old Magic, and her Guardians of Time trilogy established her place as an exciting and original voice in the world of young adult literature, and are sold in 14 countries. Marianne was then absent from the writing scene for 8 years due to a terrible battle with bone marrow cancer. A battle that she fought and won, and which helped inspire her latest stories “The Avena Series”.

Over 500,000 copies of Marianne’s books have sold around the globe so far. Hidden, the first instalment of “The Avena Series” was released in 2013. Broken, the second book in this series will be released in Australia & New Zealand on the 1^st of March, shortly followed by the UK, with the US release scheduled for later in the year. To celebrate the release of Broken, Marianne will be attending the Book Launch & Signing at Marks & Gardner Café on Tamborine Mountain on Sunday 2^nd of March. All are welcome.

Maggie Gilbert – Maggie can’t remember a time when she didn’t want to be a writer, even when she was otherwise occupied. She’s been an executive editor, an equestrian journalist and worked with horses for the Modern Pentathlon event at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She has an Equine Science Degree and wrote for Hoofbeats Magazine. Currently she’s an administration officer with an Agricultural Society by day and a writer of romantic stories by night, an ideal combination. Maggie lives on a property in country NSW with her family and dogs.

Have fun & we’ll chat again next time.