About the Series
The Amra Thetys books started with an image: A thief, starving and staring out at a ruined city from a ruined tower. I wanted to know what her story was, and what came out was a 15,000 word short story called Thagoth.
It won an editor's choice award in 2001 on the then Del Rey Digital Online Writing Workshop. I turned it into a novel, and that novel won the Del Rey Digital First Novel competition. The book was published as THAGOTH in 2002, but only as an ebook, which at that time was the kiss of death for sales. Del Rey/Random House had no interest in publishing anything else Amra related, and I wrote nothing more, fiction-wise for about six years.
Then I got the rights back to Thagoth, re-edited it, and re-released it as The Thief Who Spat in Luck's Good Eye (now Amra #2). People liked it well enough, so I wrote what is technically a prequel: The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids (Amra #1). People seemed to like that one more, probably because it was a better book. Then I wrote the Thief Who Knocked on Sorrow's Gate (Amra #3) and at the same time entered Amra #1 into Mark Lawrence's first SPFBO, which it won.
Some unpleasant things happened with an indie publisher, but eventually Amra #4 was released - The Thief Who Wasn't There. Then some more unpleasantness happened but finally Amra #5, The Thief Who Wasn't There was born.
Then I started work on Amra #6: The Thief Who Wanted More. Then Covid hit, and my life kind of got blown apart. I'm, uh, still working on #6. It will happen.
About the Author
Michael McClung was born and raised in Texas, lived in Southeast Asia for twenty years, and currently resides in Poland. He has published nine novels, a novella and a short story collection. His first novel was published by Random House in 2003, and in 2016 he won Mark Lawrence's inaugural SPFBO contest with The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids. He goes by @mcclungmike on Twitter, but doesn’t do the Facebook anymore, because reasons.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: When does X book come out?!?!
A: As soon as possible. But seriously, I don't know. Sometimes mental health allows and sometimes it doesn't. Everything changed for me after Covid, so I'm taking things one day at a time. I wish I could be more precise. Believe me, I really do. If this changes, so will this answer!
Q: How many books will be in the Amra Thetys series?
A: I plan for 10-12 books total. We're (nearly) halfway there.
Q: Will you discuss [spoiler]?
A: Nope.