1--What is the title of your latest release?
EXQUISITE RUIN
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A sorceress with no memory wakes up in a sinister labyrinth alongside a daemon who hates her, but despite their animosity the two must work together to overcome their past filled with passion and betrayal to make it out alive.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I’ve always wanted to write a book set in a maze, so the setting was decided from the beginning!
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Definitely – Sadaré would be a riot. I would just need to beware of the backstabbing.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Stubborn, ambitious, and clever.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
That spicy scenes are hard to write! (This is my first spicy book.)
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I absolutely must edit as I draft, or I can’t carry on. It feels to me like building on a shaky foundation if I don’t.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Sushi. I often get it as a reward for myself for reaching book milestones. (Drafting a tough chapter, turning in revisions, etc.)
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I have a desk on an open balcony overlooking my living room, with windows out onto the cobbled streets below and my favorite character art hanging on the walls next to me.
10--Who is an author you admire?
N.K. Jemisin. Her creativity and mastery of craft is simply mindboggling.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl and The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue by V.E. Schwab. They both helped me through difficult situations at very different times of my life.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
It was last spring for Exquisite Ruin, my adult debut. My editor quickly jumped on the book, offering after having it for only five days with a preempt that my agent and I accepted, so it was all quite a whirlwind! I had to lie down on the floor at one point.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Fantasy
14--What’s your favorite movie?
I have too many, but in this case, I’ll just say Labyrinth because it’s fitting.
15--What is your favorite season?
Summer, but only in Alaska (I don’t love heat)
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Cooking a huge meal with friends and family
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
For some reason I’ve been recommending The Last of Us to a lot of people recently
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Thai, Moroccan, or Korean (don’t make me choose)
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I dance, hike, travel, play video games, read (of course), and figure draw.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
My next YA fantasy, LADY DRAGON, is coming out this August!
The Labyrinth #1

In this darkly romantic reimagining of the Minotaur myth, a sorceress and a demon are entwined in sensual battle to escape a deadly maze and reclaim their freedom.
In this deadly maze, the most dangerous thing may be the passion between them.
Sadaré wakes in a labyrinth, remembering nothing except that she is a powerful sorceress. Her only companion is a hostile immortal named Daesra—beautiful, dangerous, and demonic—who bound his divine soul for power and revenge.
Despite their animosity, the two have no choice but to work together to reach the center and defeat the monster who prevents their escape. But the longer they wander, the more deadly and alive the maze becomes—and the more Sadaré finds herself drawn to Daesra in ways she can't explain.
As sorceress and demon develop a tenuous truce, the labyrinth gives Sadaré glimpses of their shared history of passion and pain that make her question everything she knows. Unlocking the secrets of her past may be the only way to survive and heal their entwined fates—but as she learns more about the betrayals that brought them to the labyrinth, Sadaré begins to fear that the monster at the center could be Daesra...or even herself.
Romance Erotica Sensual | Action | Fiction Adventure [Gallery Books, On Sale: March 25, 2025, Trade Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9781668077290 / eISBN: 9781668077306]
AdriAnne May/A.M. Strickland was a bibliophile who wanted to be an author before she knew what either of those words meant. She splits her time between Alaska and Spain with her spouse, her pugs, and her piles of books. She loves traveling, dancing, tattoos, and writing stories about sympathetic monsters. She is the author of Lady Dragon, Court of the Undying Seasons, In the Ravenous Dark, and Beyond the Black Door under A.M. Strickland, and Exquisite Ruin under AdriAnne May.
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