Authors to Watch: Andra Watkins, Author of I Am Number 13

Andra Watkins is a New York Times best selling author. She is author of five books: To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis (Word Hermit Press LLC, 2014), Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace (Word Hermit Press LLC, 2015; NY Times best seller, week of 18 October 2015); Natchez Trace: Tracks in Time (Word Hermit Press LLC, 2015); Hard to Die (Word Hermit Press LLC, 2016); and her latest, I Am Number 13 (Word Hermit Press LLC, 2018.)

Watkins is a popular motivational speaker and has been booked throughout the United States and internationally in Ecuador and the United Kingdom. She has appeared at Nashville’s Southern Festival of Books and on the faculty of the acclaimed Pike’s Peak Writers Conference. She was also selected as writer-in-residence at Stiwdio Maelor in Corris, Wales; the Trelex Residency in Trelex, Switzerland; and Buinho Creative Hub in Messejana, Portugal. She lives with her husband in Charleston, South Carolina.

Website Address: http://andrawatkins.com/

Twitter Address: https://twitter.com/andrawatkins

Facebook Address: https://www.facebook.com/andrawatkinsauthor/

When Emmaline Cagney's father dies on her graduation day, she foregoes college and heads to Honduras to volunteer with Nicaraguan refugees. It's 1986. The Sandinista-Contra war rages in the jungles all around her. But when General James Wilkinson reenters her life during a hurricane, can she trust him? Or should she flee?

Because of his unsolved death, Wilkinson is stuck in an in-between world called Nowhere, a place he's always used for his evil designs. Will he stick to his mission to help the Contras? Or will he ditch his mission to finally possess Emmaline?

As they fight to keep refugees safe and American involvement with the Contras secret from Congress, Em and Wilkinson careen toward a showdown that outstrips space and time, a place where nothing she knew about herself is true. And Em must confront the one person she never wanted to see again: her craven mother. Will Emmaline outwit the two people who peddled her childhood innocence before she runs out of time?

I Am Number 13 is the third book in the Nowhere Series, a speculative blend of riveting suspense, forgotten history, and a dash of paranormal fiction. If you like edge-of-your-seat action, compelling characters, and white-knuckle emotion, you'll love the latest installment in Andra Watkins' page-turning series.

"Teeming with creativity, Andra writes with grit, wit and lots of heart. She is an earnest, humble storyteller." Jenny Sanford, former First Lady of South Carolina and NYT best selling author of Staying True

"One of the most imaginative series I've ever read!" Jen Mann, NYT Best Selling Author of People I Want to Punch in the Throat

"Edge of your seat to the very end!" Jay Snook, The Good Men Project

Link to book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/I-Am-Number-13-Nowhere-ebook/dp/B07GJ7ZMMR/

Link to book on B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/i-am-number-13-andra-watkins/1129322081?ean=2940161761410

OTHER BOOKS BY ANDRA WATKINS


To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis

Hard to Die

Natchez Trace: Tracks in Time



Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace



All books can also be purchased direct from Ingram Lightning Source via the Word Hermit Press shop! Paperback and e-book format.

We welcome you to My Bookish Pleasures! Can you tell us how you got started writing fiction?

I started hearing voices in my head. No, really. A man and a little girl kept waking me up at night, insisting I tell their story. Their adventure became my debut paranormal historical thriller To Live Forever. 

I figured To Live Forever would be my only book, and I embarked upon an ambitious launch plan. I decided to walk the 444-mile Natchez Trace in 15-mile increments for 34 days to take readers into the world of the novel. I was convinced I’d sell thousands of copies. (Hint: I didn’t.) But I did get my New York Times bestselling memoir Not Without My Father from the experience.

I’ve also written the paranormal historical thrillers Hard to Die and my newest installment, I Am Number 13. 

Can you tell us about your most recent release?

When Emmaline Cagney’s father dies on her graduation day, she foregoes college and heads to Honduras to volunteer with Nicaraguan refugees. It’s 1986. The Sandinista-Contra war rages in the jungles all around her. But when General James Wilkinson reenters her life during a hurricane, can she trust him? Or should she flee?

Because of his unsolved death, Wilkinson is stuck in an in-between world called Nowhere, a place he’s always used for his evil designs. Will he stick to his mission to help the Contras? Or will he ditch his mission to finally possess Emmaline?

As they fight to keep refugees safe and American involvement with the Contras secret from Congress, Em and Wilkinson careen toward a showdown that outstrips space and time, a place where nothing she knew about herself is true. And Em must confront the one person she never wanted to see again: her craven mother. Will Emmaline outwit the two people who peddled her childhood innocence before she runs out of time?

I Am Number 13 is the third book in the Nowhere Series, a speculative blend of riveting suspense, forgotten history, and a dash of paranormal fiction. If you like edge-of-your-seat action, compelling characters, and white-knuckle emotion, you’ll love the latest installment in this page-turning series.

How did you get the idea for the book?

I wanted to give James Wilkinson a story that was worthy of his delicious awfulness. If he could have another adventure, he definitely would’ve been part of the Iran Contra Affair. Plus, I wanted Emmaline, the main character from my first novel, to confront him again when she was older. I was interested to see how a few years might change how she deals with him.

What was the most challenging aspect of writing your book?

I was diagnosed with an incurable parasitic disease and started chemotherapy and steroids as I started writing I Am Number 13. Medicines scrambled my brain. For more than a year, I wrote nothing but gibberish. I truly feared I might never be able to pull the story together and make it sing. Finishing I Am Number 13 is one of the biggest accomplishments of my life. You have a billion reading options, but I hope you’ll get I Am Number 13 if only to honor the hellish road I trudged to make it.

What projects are you currently working on?

I’m working on a travelogue memoir about living with an incurable parasitic disease that’s causing me to go blind. A doctor looked at me last year and told me he wasn’t sure how long I’d have quality of life. Anyone who knows me or has read my first memoir understands my power-through-anything personality. I didn’t quite know how to handle this news.

So I started traveling the world and trying new experiences, anything that might give me a wisp of hope or grant me a miracle. Whatever type of hopelessness burdens a reader, I want this book to give everyone who picks it up a big dose of hope.