curious aliens, morally gray protagonists, other dimensions, rifts in reality, and all things playfully wicked. When she’s not working on something new, Amara can be found stargazing, collecting stuffed animals, and baking pumpkin bread. She grew up in Bronx, New York, and graduated summa cum laude from SUNY New Paltz in 2021 with a degree in digital media production, creative writing, and theater arts. In 2024 she furthered her storytelling journey at Queen’s University Belfast. Since then, her work in various genres has been recognized by film festivals and writing competitions across the globe.
Amara's new novel is The Bleeding Woods.
Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Amara's reply:
Reading is such a beautiful and inspiring part of my writing process. Not only does it illuminate unexplored parts of my own imagination, but it allows me toVisit Brittany Amara's website.surf the seas of endless imagination and connect with creatives outside of space and time. It is through our work that we forge bonds that would have otherwise been impossible. In some strange, inexplicable way, I can meet with Mary Shelley as she unveils the tale of Frankenstein. Centuries sit between us, and yet, we speak. I’ve never met her in person, but Stephanie Garber’s Once Upon A Broken Heart pierced my soul in a way no series has before. We are complete strangers, but in her work, I felt found.
The stories I read always become worlds I settle into, so I tend to fill my bookshelf with books that ignite in my highest happiness. I read about places I’d like to explore, places currently unavailable on our Planet Earth. I read about people I’d like to meet, befriend or fall in love with, even if they haven’t taken physical form on this plane. By some intuitive, indescribable magic, the stories I end up reading are always the ones I need most, exactly when I need them most.
I'm a feral fiction reader, just as I am a feral fiction writer. Most often, I read sci-fi, fantasy, romance, or anything that blends the three. Currently, I’mreading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. In it, we follow Violet Sorrengail as she strives to survive in a cutthroat academy for dragon riders, finding strength she never thought she had and love she never thought possible in the process. Before becoming an author, I worked at my local Barnes & Nobles, and witnessed the beautiful mayhem every time a new installment in her series was released. Still, back then, I never felt quite called to dive in myself. Then, on a random, dreary Autumn afternoon… my dog started pawing at the hardcover copy. I went outside, perched on a rock, and let myself fall into Yarros’s world right away. I am so grateful I did. The explosive joy she takes in building her beautiful, complex, expansive world is exactly the kind of joy I needed to reignite in my own writing. The sweeping, swoon-worthy romance is exactly the kind of love I needed to remind myself I deserve in my own life. Violet’s journey of self-acceptance, self-empowerment and self-discovery is exactly what I needed to embrace in my own heart.
As I continue to read, Rebecca Yarros’s work speaks directly to me. She may not know it, but from miles and miles away, the story she shared years ago is helping and healing me. That’s the magic of writing so that others may read, and reading so that I may find the courage to write.
My Book, The Movie: The Bleeding Woods.
--Marshal Zeringue