Amanda Kyle Williams has contributed to short story collections, written small press novels and worked as a a freelance writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She was a house painter, a property manager, a sales rep, a commercial embroiderer, a courier, a VP of manufacturing at a North Georgia textile mill, and owned Latch Key Pets, a pet sitting and dog walking business. She also worked with a PI firm in Atlanta on surveillance operations, and became a court-appointed process server.
“We do what we have to do to keep the lights on while we’re waiting for that big break. Working as a process server and with PI and courier firms in Atlanta was wonderful preparation for developing the Keye Street character. It takes time and work to find that unique voice as a writer, and for that voice to reach pitch. And more time to then develop a character that’s the perfect vehicle for that voice. Keye Street is that character for me. She’s slightly damaged, seriously flawed; a sober alcoholic with a mighty Krispy Kreme doughnut addiction. She makes jokes to avoid intimacy. She’s more afraid of heartbreak than she is of whipping out her ten millimeter Glock. She feels real to me. The series is dedicated to my deeply southern Chinese-American niece, Anna.”
In order to lend authenticity to her Keye Street series, Amanda took courses in criminal profiling and practical homicide investigation, and frequently consults with professionals in law enforcement, bond enforcement, criminal profiling and forensics.
Crime Fiction author Amanda Kyle Williams’ journey with cancer
In February 2014 Amanda was diagnosed with stage 3 edometrial cancer. “I was going into my 4th chemo treatment when I called photographer Kaylinn Gilstrap and asked if she’d be willing to do a project with me, something to document my journey. I just has this sense I would beat it. And I wanted to do something that might give others hope. Kaylinn was all in. BALD is the result of our combined efforts.”
Amanda burst on the thriller scene in 2010 with her first crime novel, The Stranger You Seek, which was hailed by Publishers Weekly as an “explosive, unpredictable and psychologically complex thriller that turns crime fiction clichés inside out.” Stranger In The Room (Bantam 2012) is the second book in the Keye Street series and book 3, Don’t Talk To Strangers (Bantam 2014), has been called the strongest, most exciting book in a series that keeps getting better. Amanda has been shortlisted for both the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Townsend Prize for Fiction. She is currently at work on the 4th book in the series, A Complete Stranger.
Amanda is passionate about animals and has been active in the humane community for many years. She is one of the founding directors at Lifeline Animal Project, a nonprofit, no-kill animal welfare organization. Amanda is also a supporter of The Fugees Family. Please click the links below to learn more about these wonderful organizations:
http://lifelineanimal.org/
Lifeline Animal Project is an Atlanta-based non-profit organization working on collaborative solutions to end pet overpopulation and stop the euthanasia of healthy and treatable dogs and cats in shelters. Lifeline’s focus is to promote the adoption of homeless pets and to initiate and support effective spay and neuter programs.
http://www.fugeesfamily.org/
Fugees Family, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to working with child survivors of war.
