1. SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE by Alan Bradley (a reread and one of my favorite books. Funny, clever, genius world-building; I adore Flavia)

2. SEA OTTER HEROES: THE PREDATORS THAT SAVED AN ECOSYSTEM by Patricia Newman (nonfiction wonderfulness; a Siebert Honor book)

3. SHE PERSISTED: RUBY BRIDGES by Kekla Magoon (an inspiring companion to the series)

4. WHAT I SAW AND HOW I LIED by Judy Blundell (post WWII mystery & love story; National Book Award for Young People’s Literature).

5. Josephine Against the Sea by Shakirah Bourne (Magical mischief maker in middle grade; very fun)

6. Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore (a choose-your-own-adventure-esque mind and genre-bending novel set at Tu Raviens, a magical mansion; NYTimes bestseller)

7. American Street by Ibi Zoboi (coming-of-age in America for a young Haitian immigrant; National Book Award finalist)

8. Greenglass House by Kate Milford (middle grade mystery in a mysterious smuggler’s inn where Milo discovers his new bff is a ghost; winner of the Edgar Award and National Book Award nominee)

9. Candace, the Universe, and Everything by Sherri Smith (my MFA advisor! A wormhole in an eighth grade locker connects three generations of black women; a terrific story and a Best Book of the Year by the Chicago Public Library)

Except for Sweetness, I read all of these books as part of my required MFA reading (chosen by me and my advisor). I didn’t love all of them, but there was something good to learn from each. My favorites were What I Saw and How I Lied and Candace, the Universe, and Everything. I’m amazed by writers, I truly am. Each book represents hours, days, weeks, months, even YEARS of time without any guarantee that it will ever be published. A book represents a great risk. And the writer did it anyway. She persisted.

With the conclusion of this reading list (and the bibliographies I wrote for each + a critical essay + 40 new creative pages), I have officially turned in my last assignment. In other words: I survived my first semester of grad school (please do a little dance with me).

Semester two starts July 9th in Minnesota!

I wanted to take a picture of me laying on the floor surrounded by papers, baby Hal, dogs, a computer, snacks littering the carpet, books, personification…you’ll have to imagine.

What to read for fun now? Any suggestions? It’s a little thrilling. What books do you turn to when they’re not assigned? I’m kindof in the mood for something like Gone Girl. It’s been awhile. Or maybe Judy Blume? What recommendations do you have for me?

Tomorrow I’ll start thinking about the the 15 new pages due on May 24 for the July residency and buy a round trip plane ticket. I’m scared to look at the flight prices…

What about you? Any good reads recently?

Amy 💕

the last part:

Last week, Hal helped me write a story and then helped me fold laundry. Such a helpful baby. Paige (home from college!) started calling him “Button.” We drove Button and his mama back to Montreal this past weekend. We miss Button. Babies are the best thing in the world.

Surprised to Like: after all of the unsavory headlines, I had zero interest in watching It Ends With Us, the movie version of the same book title by Colleen Hoover. However, I was persuaded to watch it (brownies and daughters!), quite sure I’d feel morally superior at how lame it was. However. I was very surprised…to like it. It gave us A LOT to talk about. Like how sneaky-slowly-insidious abusive/bad relationships can be. How easy it is to rationalize and excuse. How important it is to pay attention to the red flags and “spidey senses.” Hmmm.

PBS Masterpiece: PBS never disappoints. Gregor and I are watching both The Forsyte Saga and The Count of Monte Cristo. So good! We have to wait a week between episodes instead of binging. And I suppose this is also good for us.

Running: It’s perfect running weather. Mornings outside put the world in perspective. xoxo.

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read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

I opted to create this over writing a critical essay (anything to avoid writing another critical essay!!!)

I’ve learned quite a bit while researching, and the evidence is both fascinating and maddening.

Why do books get banned? It might be for reasons that surprise you:

According to Pen America, in 2021-22, more books were banned in U.S. schools than any previous year.1

The Evidence Says:

1. Banned or challenged books are disproportionally written by women and people of color and feature characters of color, both fictional and historical, in children’s books (but does NOT neatly align with descriptions of gratuitous sexual activity or dogmatic texts on race and gender theory).

2. Right-leaning counties who have become less conservative over time are more likely to ban books. Why? When a dominant group feels power slipping away (a shrinking voting bloc) they use book bans to push back and assert control.

3. National and state level of interest in books are largely unaffected after they are banned (meaning, if the goal really is to “protect kids” it doesn’t really work; it’s performative to make a political statement)

Book banning and other forms of “information censorship” is hugely undemocratic. Unfortunately, it’s become highly partisan and political.

I try to remember this: librarians and teachers love kids! They are highly trained to choose books that are appropriate for children and teenagers. As a parent you have every right to ask that your child not read a book, but please think about what those reasons are (and please, read the book first).

The HUGE majority of books that are “challenged” or banned are from political groups, and many have not read the book!

The ALA notes that “less than 3 percent of challenges originated from individual parents.”

Education scholars find little evidence that book bans protect children, but argue—

1. Bans infringe upon human rights and the ability to access information

2. Likely hinder development of critical thinking skills.

It’s children who suffer. So does democracy. Access to information is crucial for a democratic society to survive, and no group who has ever banned and burned books has ever been on the right side of history. EVER.

Think about how much harder it is to check out a book than access the internet - and kids are accessing. I’d much rather have my child in the library all day than in front of a computer or their phone. Any day of any week.

Leave Those Books Alone:

*Read ‘s latest post: 92 percent of book book come from pressure groups and government officials. According to a new report from the American Library Association, that’s a rise from 72 percent in 2024 (details).

*Here’s our New Hampshire girl, writer Jodi Picoult, on book bans. Nineteen Minutes is one of the most banned books today. It’s a hard book to read, and one I recommend.

Keep reading. And advocating for the right to read,

Amy 💕

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the last part:

Reading: Candace, the Universe, and Everything by Sherri Smith (my MFA advisor!)

Due this week: 40 pages of creative work, read eight books + bibliographies, critical essay on personification, my book ban zine! No stress, no stress, no…

Drinking: EAAs and I think they really help my energy after a workout

Seeing: daffodils are popping. This is happiness…

Baby Hal Takes a Ride: First time in a shopping cart. You could hear my cooing from across the store. More happiness…

read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

1. Finding Rhubarb Profound: when rhubarb is hibernating all winter, you may think it’s dead and gone. But there’s so much good work going on under the earth that we just can’t see. Suddenly, a green and red plant starts to pop up out of the earth. What a miracle! Life finds a way!

   

2. I keep reading about how Moving is the number one habit to keep us “young” as we grow older. It’s HUGE for brain/body health. In January I decided to train for a half-marathon. Exercise really helps me get through the long New Hampshire winters, both physically and mentally. My favorite running/walking shoe is the Saucony Triumph. Look for sales. Invest in your health!1

3. Great Literature: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. I keep talking about this book, but it’s front and center in my life right now as I’ve been attending two AP Literature classes as a back-up teacher. One, I wish everyone could watch and listen to teenagers discuss difficult and deep literature; it will give you hope. Second, reading and discussing literature is a fantastic way to understand a story. Together, you can deconstruct a novel to identify theme, character, literary elements, and “how does this contribute to the novel or humanity as a whole?”

I’ll give you one of my favorite passages (spoiler alert!) Throughout the whole book, we have characters who are searching for someone - desperately! Agnes is the mother. She goes to see a play her husband has written called Hamnet2. At first she is angry! How could he? But then - she sees “the ghost” of her son on the stage. The playwright has brought their son back to life the only way he knows how, by writing a play.

The ghost turns his head towards her, as he prepares to exit the scene. He is looking straight at her, meeting her gaze, as he speaks his final words: “Remember me.”

And we have! 500 years later we are still reading Hamlet by William Shakespeare. We remember him. Hamnet is fiction, O’Farrell’s “idle speculation, and “inspired by the short life of a boy who died in Stratford, Warwickshire, in the summer of 1596.” We remember him.

Reading, deconstructing, and discussing this novel (with teenagers and an expert teacher named Shauna!) has had a profound effect on me. I truly believe that reading deeply is one of the best ways to become a better writer. I hope it’s helping <3

Keep reading. Love,

Amy 💕

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the last part: i guess it’s all about the running this week

The Boston Marathon: was yesterday! My running buddy, Maryn, ran. Americans Sara Hall won the Master’s Division, and Des Linden paced her husband. Wicked cool.

Spirituality and Running: I find this stuff fascinating. “From BYU sending five alumni to the 2024 Paris Olympics in distance running events, to @sifanhassan winning the 2023 London Marathon just three days after observing Ramadan, you don't have to look far beyond the finish line of any major race to see how religion and running are intertwined.”

Superwoman: In March, my childhood buddy, Ashley Paulson, broke the 100 mile record outside and on Saturday (just three weeks later!) broke the 100 mile record on the treadmill in Boston. Whut? But my favorite story about her is that she RAN seven miles to her c-section when she had baby #4. Some of us are just built differently.

Baby Hal Will Someday Run: this one’s for Jill, who, wrote after I neglected to include him, “Where’s baby Hal? Unacceptable.” haha. Here you go (he’s coming to see me on Thursday!)

read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

I’m reading a lot of books right now, and for each book I am to pay attention to craft: What literary element(s) is the author using, and How? What is the effect on the story?

Lately, I’m really digging personification. It’s suddenly ubiquitous, all over the page, and the result is so delightful.

Personification is when you give an inanimate object, emotion or idea sentient (living), human characteristics. Here are some examples of how it’s used to great effect:

From Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, pain is personified in 11-year-old Hamnet:

A pain enters the back of his head and crouches there, snarling, like a cornered rat (89)

Wow. That’s terrific imagery.

Here is more pain personified when Agnes is giving birth in the forest:

Her body is one of resilience, of power: she is all muscle beneath smooth skin. But this is something else. Something other. It laughs at her attempts to master it, to subdue it, to rise above it. It will, Agnes fears. Overtake her. It will seize her by the scruff of the neck and plunge her down, under the surface of the water.

See how pain is now an “it,” a living thing with POWER?! The effect is powerful imagery and deeper immersion into story.

Here is an example of Death personified from the point of view of 11-year-old Hamnet:

He can feel Death in the room, hovering in the shadows, over there beside the door, head averted, but watching all the same, always watching. It is waiting, biding its time…It occurs to Hamnet, as he crouches there, next to her, that it might be possible to hoodwink Death, to pull off the trick he and Judith have been playing on people since they were young…Could he pull off their trick, their joke, just once more? He thinks he can. He thinks he will…Turn away, he says to Death. Close your eyes. Just for a moment (168-9).

See how Death (capital “D”) has moved beyond a “thing” and feels like an actual character? In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Death was the narrator!

In classic Gothic literature, the house is often personified. The house becomes more than just the setting and moves into a living, breathing character that has agency. It’s often haunting, responsive to the main character, or can even turn into horror. Here’s a house personified in the YA novel, Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore:

The house moans and grumbles, almost as if in the sympathy with Jane’s feelings. As old houses do, Jane thinks to herself (33)

This house curled up with its back to the sky, shivering around the center it must keep warm, holding is skin against the driving rain.

She decides that the house is making protesting noises. Rumbles and groans, and something unplaceable, like the underwater echo of the laughter of children (49)

The house is suddenly still, like it’s holding it’s breath (81)

Here is life itself personified:

The wrong version of Jane’s life wrapped its arms tight around her, dove into the water, dragged her to the bottom, and held her there while she drowned (82).

Yikes. The visual is so effective.

In Middle Grade fiction, it will likely not be as dark. In Greenglass House by Kate Milford, here is a smuggler’s inn personified:

A different room in a creaky old house can be a little disorienting, even frightening…it’s not that they’re scary, but you get used to the noises and drafts in one and they start to seem friendly and comfortable. Then if you move to another, they don’t seem quiet as friendly at first. You have to get used to them all over again (123).

But the door opens only partway, and it gave a tremendous protesting squeal in the process (348).

Here is comforting imagery as the book comes to a close:

The wind shivered through the trees and sent pale clouds sailing across the dark winter sky. All around the house murmured its familiar goodnights, and Milo Pine drifted off to sleep to dream of blackjacks and smugglers and houses full of treasures and secrets still to be found (372-373).

As you write, think of how you can make your story come alive by using this technique. Personification goes beyond metaphor. It makes your sentences sing, sting, and sizzle! (see what I did there)?

Amy 💕

the last part:

Reading: She Persisted: Ruby Bridges by Kekla Magoon and still reading Hamnet in AP Lit; it’s a treasure.

Listening: This 11-minute interview with Arthur Brooks on finding meaning in your life. Fantastic.

Drinking: After reading this by (dang it, it’s now behind a paywall), I’m drinking these Kion Essential Amino Acids after workouts. Along with creatine, it’s supposed to help retain muscle mass and aid recovery. I think it making a difference…

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read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

1. VOICE OF FREEDOM: FANNIE LOU HAMER by Carole Boston Weatherford (excellent picture book; based on a true story!)

2. LUNAR NEW YEAR LOVE STORY by Gene Luen Yang (loved this YA graphic novel)

3. FAKE CHINESE SOUNDS by Jing Jing Tsong (MG graphic novel)

4. JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte, Annotated by K.M. Weiland (Weiland has made all of these fabulous notes in the margins which are basically “secrets of the writing universe.” I’m still reading through them, absorbing, learning; so good)

5. ALANNA: THE FIRST ADVENTURE by Tamora Pierce (my children LOVED this series and now so do I; a fun romp with lots of tension!)

6. HOLES by Louis Sachar (Terrific; a Newbery and National Book Award winner)

7. MEXICAN GOTHIC by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (moody, creepy, well written)

8. WITHIN THESE WICKED WALLS by Lauren Blackwood (a Jane Eyre retelling and Reese’s book club pick; just okay for me)

9. WATCH OVER ME by Nina LaCour (I totally believe in ghosts after this)

10. HAMNET Maggie O’Farrell (ya’ll, to use my daughter’s word of the month: this book slays. holy moly. Literary fiction at its best)

11. WHITE SMOKE by Tiffany Jackson (ghosts or is there a creepy family living in the basement? BLOOD IN THE WATER is better IMO)

12. THORNHILL by Pam Smy (little text, told with illustrations. Ghosts and creepy vibes in a old house across the street…)

13. STRANGERS by Belle Burden (audiobook via Libby. Could NOT stop listening; my favorite kind of memoir; family drama without too much sentimentality)

14. CRAFT IN THE REAL WORLD: RETHINKING FICTION WRITING AND WORKSHOPPING by Matthew Salesses (expand your writing circle to include all of the voices; now considered a classic writing book)

Whew, I read more than I thought. I’m both tired and more educated!

I wouldn’t have read these many books if I wasn’t required to for school (except for the memoir; that was for pure pleasure!) I’m happy to be pushed to discover so many great reads and then write about what literary elements are used to make a book so effective - a great exercise for any writer to super-boost their craft.

I turned in my third MFA packet on Friday. It was such a relief. And then I started the fourth packet the next day! Lots of work, but it’s the last one until the July residency in Minnesota (I’ll be living in a dorm for ten days; don’t let me forget my own linens).

What about you? Any good reads recently?

Amy 💕

p.s. A writer’s got to eat! I made these Pot Roast Gyros from Half Baked Harvest…delicious. They lasted for days without any children to feed. I often want to make waffles, coffee cake and brownies but I only want one piece. Still adjusting to this empty nest thing (but baby Hal is coming soon to see me)!

the last part:

After a school visit, a teacher gave me a very special package filled with dozens of pictures of McNifficent and Guinevere book covers. It made my heart so happy <3

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read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

Hello my friends,

Mr. Rogers said his mother always said to, “look for the helpers.

In biblical studies, we look for “types and shadows” of Christ - someone who does something for another person that they can’t do for themselves.

In modern fiction, the hero is the protagonist, the main character. The person we root for.

But there are always the the helpers who help the hero.

I’ve been pondering these oft-overlooked characters while reading three very different stories: Exodus 1-6, the story of Moses in the King James Bible; Strangers by Belle Burden (memoir), and Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (literary fiction).

They are all so exceptional.

This is something to look for in your reading: those who enable and pave the way for the hero to rise and deliver others. In all three stories, those doing so much of this are the women.

In Exodus 1, Moses is a baby. He is not yet the powerful deliverer to the enslaved Israelites. The number of times he pushes back against God: I can’t do this, I’m not eloquent, you’ve got the wrong guy is both maddening and so human.

In Exodus, there was a decree by Pharaoh to throw the male Hebrew babies into the river (the are multiplying and getting strong; what if they come up against him)?! Moses is a Hebrew baby who is first literally delivered by women, the midwives.

But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

They refused to throw the babies in the river! They defied, resisted. Moses is saved.

Moses’s mother saves baby Moses by placing him into a basket and putting him in the river (because babies start making noise).

she hid him three months, and when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.

Sister Miriam saves baby Moses by staying close and watching her baby brother in the river.1 (I was obsessed with this story as a child). When the pharaoh’s daughter finds him, Miriam volunteers their mother to nurse baby Moses. Clever girl. The pharaoh’s daughter keeps and raises Moses, even whilst knowing he’s Hebrew.

Without these women, there is no Moses! These “side characters” deserve a standing ovation. They, too, are heroes. They are types and shadows, the helpers, the saviors.

So few women are mentioned in the scriptures, that when you come across one, dig in!

When not reading Exodus, I was listening to Strangers, by Belle Burden. This a completely different, modern-day situation. A wife finds out about her husband’s infidelity and he walks out on his family. It is completely shocking, devastating, crushing.

“Everyone has something. This is yours. Each life has a defining crisis.” -Strangers

Some women lean way out. Her story and situation embarrass them. She should be quiet. Maybe it’s contagious.

Some women lean in and literally help her get out of bed. One woman invites her to a memoir class. Belle begins to write the story of what happened. Three years later her article is published in The New York Times, Modern Love column. Three years later her story is a book. I don’t know Belle personally, and I’m so tears-in-my-eyes proud of her.

In Hamnet, we have the wild and strange Agnes who has gifts of intuition and healing.

“She is like no one you have ever met. She cares not what people may think of her. She follows entirely her own course…She can look at a person and see right into their very soul. There is not a drop of harshness in her. She will take a person for who they are, not what they are not or ought to be.” -Hamnet

This is historical fiction, a story about a young Shakespeare and his wife Agnes. In Hamnet, Agnes is actually the “hero,” never “Shakespeare’s wife.” He is not centered at all. The focus is on a character we might have once considered a side character making food for a great playwright - but she is anything but that.

Heroes often refuse the call the first time around, but eventually, heroes step up because of the helpers helping them do what they cannot do for themselves, often in very, very small ways,

As writers, who is helping your hero be the hero?

As humans living in 2026, we can be waiting for THE deliverer, and also, “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” A small kindness goes such a far way. Maybe it even parts the Red Sea.

Happy Easter.

Amy 💕

p.s. Yesterday, wrote about the case for hope HERE. “Optimism is the vague belief that things will probably work out. Hope is something more rigorous than that.” It’s all about people doing small things with great love (-Mother Theresa!)

the last part:

Read last week: Thornhill by Pam Smy, Exodus 1-6, Strangers by Belle Burden

Almost Done Reading: Hamnet (incredible and breaking my heart)

Due this week: My third MFA packet (almost done!!!)

Watched: The first two episodes of PBS Masterpieces, The Forsyte Saga and The Count of Monte Cristo

Tapering: For the first half-marathon I’ve run in two years…this Saturday morning!

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read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

Ooooh, said the writer in me. Say that again? If only he knew I was dreaming about paint and not my 401K.

Small hinges. Big doors.

A little writing every day gets a book written

A little drawing done consistently makes you an artist

A little exercise everyday has MASSIVE upside: sleep, strength, heart health, brain….

A small step forward, over time, gets you up the mountain

A little investing of 4% of your every-2-week-paycheck matched by your employer, and you can retire at 65 (god willing and the river don’t rise…)

A little reading everyday and you finish a book

A little piano practice everyday and you’re playing Chopin and Motzart

A little diplomacy prevents an argument in the kitchen. And quite possible - a war

SMALL things done consistently1 yields MAJOR progress

Small hinges swing big doors.

Amy 💕

p.s. what’s your small thing today?

the last part:

Read this week: Mexican Gothic and Watch Over Me

Wrote: A McNifficents chapter book!

Watched: The first and second episode of Scarpetta (I like medical mysteries; it’s also gory). Dr. Scarpetta (Nicole Kidman) insults her sister (Jamie Lee Curtis) because she “only wrote a children’s book.” I took offense on behalf of all of us.

Hair: Reader, I chopped it. And have decided I’m going into my Rosie the Riveter red bandana days. I know, it deserves a photo. Maybe next time.

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read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

1. For some craft talk magic, read this: The midpoint of your novel is a BIG DEAL.

   “What I found, to my utter delight and excitement, was that the true Midpoint is not a scene at all, but a moment within the scene. And not only that, this moment revealed the very heart of the story.” -K.M. Weiland

2. It’s still winter in New Hampshire and I’m still reveling in oranges. Isn’t it wonderful that oranges, grapefruit, and pomelos show up right when we need the Vitamin C? We are indebted to the universe and those who pick our fruit.

3. A bike ride on a random 60 degree day last Monday. Sun on the face. Heaven.

   

4. Agatha Christie and her Author’s Note in AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, the book that she said was hardest to write:

   

5. I adore ’s literary deep dives. Here’s one the Bronte sisters and their scribbling habit. They wrote on everything, all of the time! …

6. with some easy peasy examples of how to “pass the time” in your fiction. I’ve been playing with this a lot.

7. I’m back in school getting my MFA, but there are other (and much less expensive) ways to get educated. proposes a DIY MFA program. Examples: Set aside some money (which is A LOT less than an MFA) to attend workshops, buy books, and experimental materials. Stay in touch with instructors, take free online tutorials, practice with a group, find a walking buddy to debrief with, create your own retreat. Embrace being a student. None of this is free. It’s just cheaper than an MFA.

8. HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!

   

9. Good thoughts from , who quoted a great picture book:

   “Sometimes it’s better not to go fast. There’re beautiful sights to be seen when you’re last. Shouldn’t it be that you just try your best and that’s more important than beating the rest? Shouldn’t it be looking back at the end that you judge your own race by the help that you lend?

   So take what’s inside you and make big, bold choices. And for those who can’t speak for themselves, use bold voices.

   And make friends and love well and bring art to this place and make the world better for the whole human race. -Jamie Lee Curtis from “Is There Really A Human Race?”

10. Democracy. As bravely writes:

    “But at some point, as Trump continues to repress criticism of him and his regime, American democracy is compromised beyond repair.” Edward R Murrow’s bold and brave reply to Senator Joseph McCarthy, April 13, 1954. Class act.

Stay strong, friends. Do good.

Amy 💕

the last part:

Reading: Just finished Alanna, starting Holes and Mexican Gothic.

Writing: A critical essay on Jane Eyre and a rewrite of Act I of lastest manuscript. Again.

Saw: the sun! we finally saw the sun in New Hampshire!!!!

Watched: Hamnet (sob) and The Woman in Cabin 10 starring Kiera Knightley. I thought the book was about a cabin in the woods, but the cabin is on a ship. I enjoyed the movie - edge of my seat enjoyed the movie!

Ate: Cope tells me if I eat a brazil nut every day, my hair will grow luscious and strong. Speaking of hair…

Gray Hair: I’ve been contemplating going gray for years, but instead of actually doing it, I watch a lot of “gray blending” videos. Oh well.

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read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (which also gives a persuasive case against using adverbs) talks about “the creatures upstairs” working all night as one lies down to slumber. That’s why when we wake up, we so often know what the next step is.

I begin to picture neurons in the brain; what they look like - and how exactly do they work? How do they keep working when I’m subconscious? How do we keep thinking when we’re not even aware we’re thinking? It’s such a mystery. It’s so amazing.

I’ve learned that at 2 p.m., when I’m feeling absolutely DONE, that lying down for 20 minutes will get me through the rest of the afternoon. The brain needs rest to be creative.

The mind keeps working even when I’m sleeping (is that why I’m so tired when I wake up? :)

This is a little reminder that rest is good. It makes us more productive and more creative (and the daytime hours so much more pleasurable). This year I’ve been trying to climb into bed a little earlier. It works wonders.

A book I want to read: Why We Sleep. I suspect it’s doing more than improving my fiction.

Have you ever had the solution miraculously appear after sleep? Tell me your stories!

Amy 💕

the last part:

Reading: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. The perfect Bildungsroman2 novel!

Submitted: the second packet for my MFA program (HALLELUJAH!!!) Now I get to start my third….

Writing: a McNifficents chapter book; I laughed a lot, always a good sign

Traveling: to Montreal this morning!

read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

The following is from A Weapon for Readers by Tim Parks:

“...from now on always read with a pen in your hands, not beside you on the table, but actually in your hand, ready, armed. And always make three or four comments on every page, at least one critical, even aggressive. Put a question mark by everything you find suspect. Underline anything you really appreciate. Feel free to write ‘splendid,’ but also, ‘I don’t believe a word of it.’

A pen is not a magic wand. The critical faculty is not conjured from nothing. But it was remarkable how many students improved their performance with this simple stratagem. There is something predatory, cruel even, about a pen suspended over a text. Like a hawk over a field, it is on the lookout for something vulnerable. Then it is a pleasure to swoop and skewer the victim with the nib’s sharp point. The mere fact of holding the hand poised for action changes our attitude to the text. We are no longer passive consumers of a monologue but active participants in a dialogue. Students would report that their reading slowed down when they had a pen in their hand, but at the same time the text became more dense, more interesting, if only because a certain pleasure could now be taken in their own response to the writing when they didn’t feel it was up to scratch, or worthy only of being scratched.

Looking back over the pages we have already read and marked, or coming back to the novel months, maybe years later, we get a strong sense of our own position in relation to the writer’s position. Where he said this kind of thing, I responded with that, where he touched this nerve, my knee jerked thus. Hence a vehicle for self knowledge is created, for what is the self if not the position one habitually assumes in relation to other selves? These days, going back to reading the books that have remained since university days, I see three or four layers of comments, perhaps in different colored pens. And I sense how my position has changed, how I have changed.”

I sat in an AP Literature classroom last week and this was one of the quotes from the syllabus, included by the class’s brilliant teacher, Shauna. She is teaching them to READ and WRITE. To think, pen poised in hank like a hawk ready to swoop. I love it.

Bless her. Bless the teachers.

Do you hold a pen in your hand when you read? It’s one of my favorite activities.

It’s made me a much better reader - but also a writer.

Do good. Read books. Pen in hand,

Amy 💕

the last part:

Reading: Chinese Sounds by Jing Jing Tsong

Watching: Love Story. it’s fine. a little slow.

Writing: and rewriting…

Learning: How to write a thesis statement (again). oh, and include some supporting paragraphs.

Visiting: Baby Hal :)

read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

Young Adult Non-Fiction that reads like a thriller:

Accountable: A True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whole Lives Changed by Dashka Slater* (absolutely incredible)

Middle Grade Fiction:

The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko (oh my heart)

Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano (cute and witchy)

When We Ride: A Novel by Rex Ogle* (fabulous and told in verse)

The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson (gay cabaret during the rise of Hitler)

From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks* (the wrongful conviction of a father)

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (a clever, witty hero)

The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf* (haunting and totally original)

Twenty-Four Seconds from Now by Jason Reynolds (teenage sexuality & a whole novel compressed into 24 seconds!)

Craft Book:

WRITING FICTION: A GUIDE TO NARRATIVE CRAFT by Janet Burroway* (a classic)

Picture Books:

The Rock from the Sky by Jon Klassen (always good and dry humor)

Saturday by Oge Mora (Caldecott winning author-illustrator)

LOVE, VIOLET by Charlotte Sullivan Wild (cute with crushes)

WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS by Carole Lindstrom (Caldecott winner & Hamline faculty)

*favorites

How to Read Like a Writer

Whew! That’s a lot of books read - and a great way to learn how to write. I’m just starting to dive into Jane Eyre (a book I love love love - what writing techniques did Charlotte Bronte use?)

Here’s what my MFA advisor is really pushing me to do: identify WHAT the literary element is, and HOW the author uses it effectively (or doesn’t).

Try it. Because once you can identify the technique, you can start using it in your own work.

Most of these books have major awards attached to them, and the only book I didn’t love was The Thief, but it won the 1997 Newbery and turned into a series of six. So…it must be me!

Due March 9th:

If you’re interested in what an MFAC degree looks like and how you can DIY, my second packet is due March 9th:

Read ten books + write annotated bibliographies for each

Write two, 2-3 page craft essays

Revise the beginning of YA novel and submit twenty new pages

Revise first 3-5 pages of chapter book and write rest of story (about 4000 words)

Write a 1-3 page personal response letter (how it’s all going)

Stay strong. Do good. WRITE!

Amy 💕

the last part:

Surprise! It snowed again!

At least it’s super pretty and we will have water in the well come summer…

read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

says that when she teaches her plot structure class, she talks about the work of Dr. Barnes1 who did research into what makes fiction pleasurable for readers.

There are SIX UNIVERSAL PLEASURE BUTTONS you can push to LIGHT UP the “id” in your reader’s brain.

What’s “id”? The irrational pleasure seeking part of your brain that wants what it wants. Dive in here. I love this stuff.

Ironically, Leigh says, the better we become at writing, the more we start editing out the pleasure. Our inner critic says don’t put that in - that’s a cliche, that’s overdone, that’s unoriginal…

My writing friends, push the buttons!

Watch Leigh talk about how each of these buttons get hit in THE WEDDING PEOPLE, a #ReadWithJenna book pick.

I thought about my recent Charlotte’s Web read. Does this advice also apply to children’s literature? Is that why we love it?

Let’s see…

Danger: (the very first line is about baby pig Wilbur being killed with an ax! The danger of being eaten continues throughout the book. The stakes remain high.)

Wealth: (hmmm. Fern’s family can’t keep a pig as a pet; it’s too expensive. Eventually, Wilbur goes to the Zuckermans, also practical farmers. Is it Wilbur’s “low status” and lack of wealth that helps us feel concerned and protective?)

Beauty: (Wilbur thinks Charlotte is very beautiful and says so, and the more words that Charlotte weaves into her web, the more the whole town thinks Wilbur is beautiful).

Sex and Touch: (This doesn’t have to mean romantic or sexual love. It’s also chemistry, a hug, or petting an animal. There’s love and touch between Fern and Wilbur, and of course the loving, sacrificial friendship between Wilbur and Charlotte).

Status and Power: (The words that Charlotte spins into her web increases the status of Wilbur, so much so that eventually - he isn’t turned into bacon).

Competition: (Will Charlotte be able to save Wilbur or won’t she? There’s also the competition at the fair. Will Wilbur win the grand prize? Will that raise his status further and keep him out of danger?)

Okay, I’m on board.

What about classics such as Rebecca or Jane Eyre or Pride and Prejudice? What about recent bestsellers that are on the “quiet” side like The Correspondent?

Are books that don’t sell as well missing one or more of these elements?

Leigh says it’s important to remember that you don’t have to “maximize” these elements, they just need to be present.

Try it! Go through your own book scene by scene, chapter by chapter and see how many of the buttons you’re hitting.

Fun stuff. Thanks for the writing advice !

Stay strong, friends. Do good - and WRITE THAT BOOK.

Amy 💕

the last part:

Turned in: my first MFA packet of work! Now I’m working on my second packet, due in one month (read ten books and write ten bibliographies, write 40 pages creative work, write two critical essays)…let’s go!

Cold: it’s still so so cold in New Hampshire

But: baby Hal is visiting and lifting my spirits

Share

read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

Do you remember the phrase “The more you know!”?

It was a famous 1989 public service series1 to “promote education and social awareness.” Whenever there was a Saturday morning cartoon commercial break, we wee lads and lassies learned something new.2

Words are my business so here’s my public service announcement.

Do you know what “habeas corpus” means?

Teacher Amy asks: Could you explain it to someone?

If not, here’s little drawing…

Recently, during a 2025 senate hearing, there was some confusion on this term:

Actually…that’s not the definition.

This is a hot button phrase right now. For good reason.

To recap:

• Habeas corpus is Latin for “you have the body”

• It’s a legal protection (for all persons) that forces the government to bring someone who is detained before a judge to explain why they are being held

• It prevents unlawful or secret imprisonment

• It ensures that confinement is legal

• A fundamental American right

• Often called the “Great Writ”

• A check against tyranny that demands authorities justify holding a person, otherwise they must be released.

Writ: a form of written command in the name of a court or other legal authority to act, or abstain from acting, in some way.3

The habeas corpus exchange between Secretary of Homeland Secretary, Kristi Noem and New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan can be viewed here.

Further:

• Since the War of 1812, courts have allowed immigrants to file habeas petitions to contest their detention or potential removal under the Alien Enemies Act

• Habeas corpus applies to immigrants

• Under the 5th Ammendment, the U.S. Constitution protects "persons," not just citizens, from unlawful detention

• These rights are restricted for those apprehended immediately at the border if a person is deemed a threat

• Habeas petitions have challenged the current administration’s immigration policies, particularly the president’s invocation and use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a law that authorizes sweeping detentions and deportations of immigrants in wartime4

Recently, under the Trump administration, the president has floated the idea of suspending habeas corpus.

Further reading: ACLU: What is Habeas Corpus and Does it Matter?

And that concludes my public service announcement. The more you know!

Next, may I suggest that we all read this book about a foot.5 Yes, a foot. A very famous foot. Thanks

Stay strong, friends. Do good.

Amy 💕

Baby Hal’s Book Club

Baby Hal and I have deep discussions on his reading: bunnies, babies, and habeas corpus.

the last part:

it’s so cold.

but for all of my grumbling,

psychological angst,

and resistance

-against the treadmill-

which I’ve named

gloria,

she and i

have had to

make peace.

the war is past,

not friends at first,

but friends

at last.6

happy february.

Share

read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

1. Doing Small Things with Great Love: How Everyday Humanitarians Are Changing the World by Sharon Eubank (global humanitarian director for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.) This is all about the power of one person doing good. Want to feel hopeful? Read this.

2. The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden. I was critical of some of the writing, but couldn’t put it down, so what does that say? And the ending? It’s actually terrific. Oh, and the real-life author is a physician specializing in brain injuries, whut?!?

3. Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World’s Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself by Rich Roll. I have mad respect for Roll - and also considered going vegan for five seconds. This is fantastic inspiration! Libby, audio

4. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Extraordinary research and a captivating listen. Imagine going through a bitter campaign, winning, and then surrounding yourself with all of your former rivals for the good of the nation. Libby, audio

Books Read for MFA Required Reading:

1. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (Newbery Honor Book): a perfect story

2. Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin (Newbery Honor Book & National Book Award Finalist): Fascinating nonfiction that reads like a spy thriller!

3. Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee: LOS ANGELES, 1932. Lulu Wong is the star of the silver screen, the pride of Chinatown, and found murdered. Sisters May, Gemma, and Peony, Lulu’s former classmates and neighbors set out to solve the crime amidst a backdrop of racism. Wonderfully descriptive writing and I’ve discovered a new favorite author (added to my “favorite YA” list).

For each of these books, I’m required to write a bibliography, meaning: write about something the author did well in terms of craft. Not “what” they wrote, but “how.” It’s terrific practice to read like a writer.

Due February 9th:

If you’re interested in what an MFAC degree looks like, my first packet is due Feb 9th:

Read ten books + write annotated bibliographies for each

Write a 5-7 page critical essay (I’ve got a bomb-diggity idea :)

Read three critical essays + write a response1

Write a 1-3 page personal response letter (how it’s all going)

*well right now I’m behind!

On the Manuscript Front:

I’m back to querying three manuscripts…stay tuned.

Stay strong, friends. Do good.

Amy 💕

the last part:

My word of the year has been decided and painted…

Share

read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

It’s cold in New Hampshire, but is inspiring me to embrace it. Winter heaven essentials: soft scarfs, cozy socks, burrowing under soft and heavy comforters with a good book. More sleep.

Also, this homemade hot chocolate recipe:

Here are ten things so lit(erary-ish) to brighten your January.

1. A house can be a library2: “I’ve often joked that if I were to write a parenting book I’d call it Parent Like A Librarian. At the library, there are strict rules for behavior that create an environment in which anyone can learn, but there is no agenda, no plan — only time, space, and resources.”

2. Now all I want to do is eat this lemon cake: the “best” lemon cake has ever baked. Citrus is especially essential in the winter.

3. What Comics Can Do When the News Is Your Neighborhood: A powerful call to action by , a Minneapolis resident.3 My MFA residency was in Minneapolis, but several faculty members and students attended virtually because they were afraid to attend in person. Their skin color? Black and brown.

   

4. Aren’t we so glad she kept writing? The Correspondent was the eighth novel Virginia Evans’s had written, but the first one published. I loved this book. writes: “twenty years of writing, submitting, failing, and writing some more. She never gave up. She never gave up.” NEVER GIVE UP.

5. Middle Grade Lit Lovers: Nicole Melleby was my MFA residency workshop leader. Her new book just dropped: Brady Mason’s Perfect Fit (foster kid meets Anna Wintour). Sherri Smith is my advisor with a must-read new book: Candace, the Universe, and Everything4 (What if your school locker was a wormhole to the past?)

6. I painted a color wheel using gouache paint and this book: Gouache For Beginners by Kate J. Birch. IT WAS FUN. Try it!

   

7. BRAIN FOOD. My winter energy is way better when I’m eating MORE VEGETABLES throughout the day, including salads packed with olives, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, english cucumbers, (and feta). Sadly, bread and pasta is a guaranteed afternoon crash. Brains like vegetables. This week I baked two different types of Superhero Muffins5 (almond flour, oatmeal + vegetables, fruits + nuts) from this cookbook: Run Fast. Eat Slow: Nourishing Recipes for Athletes. You could even buy the Superhero Muffin Mix instead of making from scratch.

8. My go-to-never-get-sick concoction: As soon as you feel the sick coming on, try: Oil of Oregano, Vitamin C6, and this special winter elixir: hot water, lemon, honey, finely chopped ginger, a dash of cayenne7. I SWEAR BY IT.

9. Nature. Get outside in the winter. Notice the beauty; it is everywhere. And moving helps our immunity.

   

10. Post-it Notes. After successful finishing the MFA residency, I rewarded myself with an 18-pack of pastel post-it notes. It made me deliriously happy (and will surely make me an A+ student).

Stay strong, friends. Do good.

Amy 💕

the last part:

• Yes, the Christmas tree is still in the living room

• I like buying and trying different facial products8, but always come back to this Face Serum Oil (my very dry skin looooves it and it lasts me nearly a year).

• I’m mulling hosting monthly write-ins and teaching classes…stay tuned. Free for all subscribers or only paid?

Share

read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

Even E.B. White struggled to write Charlotte’s Web - and not in a romantic, windswept, genius-at-work-pulling-at-his-hair way. He doubted and worried and couldn’t get that first page right. He even put it away for a year.

Here’s fabulous book for you to read: SOME WRITER!: THE STORY OF E.B. WHITE by author-illustrator Melissa Sweet (who I had the good fortune of meeting last month).

E.B. was born Elwyn Brooks White in 1899, the youngest of six children.

His brother taught him to read by sounding out the words from The New York Times (I love this).

His father loved words and limericks.

His mother was gentle and spent time in gardens.

E.B. went to Cornell1 where he met William Strunk, author of the classic, THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE, which E.B constantly referred to. (It’s close at hand in my office, too, and I should use it more rather than Google.)

E.B. White enjoyed stories, but he also worked on his craft constantly.

He earned a living writing essays for the newly formed The New Yorker magazine.

He also tried his hand at children’s books, the first being Stuart Little (pub 1945).

He loved his farm and animals, and wrote about the joys of every day life. He spent time in his barn observing the animals and a spider…

Here are some early first-page drafts of Charlotte’s Web:

He tried writing the story from different points of view, including Charlotte’s. He tried starting the story with Wilbur, the barn, Charlotte, and finally -

“Where’s Papa going with that ax?”

Yes, there it is. Perfect.

Charlotte’s Web has been named the best children’s book of the 20th century. Not bad.

Let this serve as inspiration. It’s not supposed to be easy. Nothing really good comes easily. Oh, and my favorite: E.B. White was a procrastinator.

He called his procrastinations ‘delays’, during which he’d walk around the room tidying things up until the only thing left to do was sit down and write.2

If you forgot, let me remind you: writing is hard work and requires a tedious amount of editing and rewriting and the belief that your story matters even though while you’re writing it, it matters to no one.

It’s a complete act of faith, even for the “masters.” I imagine every writer experiences great doubt along the way with every story, but once you finally get it, what a thing it is…

Be a little delusional about your writing and what you can create; be unreasonably optimistic. While everyone else is listing the reasons why they can’t do it, you’re already out there doing it, making something real and alive and new.

-

Amy

If You Want to MFA With Me…

I have just completed the first week of a Master’s Degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults! It’s a lot of work and my brain is exploding,3 but wow, I’m learning.

Interested in a DIY version and supercharge your writing? Try this:

• Listen to a lecture on the craft of writing (this semester we are focusing on “Character”). Write a reflection paragraph about what you learned (we listen to two a day.) Tell someone about it bc when you say it, you remember better.

• Workshop your own writing with another writer or a group. If it’s a group, choose two manuscripts to critique in one meeting, one hour a piece (PB, MG, YA, or Adult). Read the pages (up to 15 DS pages) ahead of time. Tell the author three things they did well, and three things you have questions about without the author speaking. Give the author time to speak or ask questions for 10-15 minutes.

• At the end, each person highlights a sentence they really liked from the author’s work (it reminds the author you liked something!)

the last part:

• All of the Christmas decorations are put away except for one thing: the tree. It’s artificial and so it’s not dying or dropping needles. I sit by the fire and feel so cozy next to its twinkling white lights, which is most welcome during this cold bleak January. Do I have to take it down…?

• Running and writing are very closely connected for me: GO DOT. So inspirational.

Share

read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

What are you doing to celebrate 2026? I’m going back to school. Here’s a backpack I drew in honor of the great occasion. Do I have the right one? Will the other kids like me? Do I wear the backpack on one shoulder or two? When I was in middle school, it was super dorky to wear a backpack on two shoulders. Hahaha. I could totally crush middle school now.1

So yes, here we go! I’m now a student at Hamline University getting a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults. I filled out the FAFSA form. I’m taking out loans alongside my children. It makes me sweaty to think about. The road of life is strange, twisty, and topsy-turvy. Two years ago I was still teaching Anatomy and Physiology - and I still miss it! Just six months ago, I was also researching medical programs…my indecisiveness can be maddening.

If you’re interested in what getting an MFA looks like, I’ll be writing all about it here. You can follow along and get an MFA for free :) (unless you’re a paid subscriber, which seriously, I’m GRATEFUL for your financial support).

My residency begins this Thursday, January 8th and goes through Sunday, January 18th.

Ideally I’d be in Minnesota for residency, but this is a hybrid, low-residency program and having a virtual option is how I’m able to swing it. The next residency is in July for ten days. Road trip?

Here’s a sample of classes and workshops I’ll be taking for the next ten days:

“Archetypes and Creating Character”

“Getting Unstuck: Finding Your Way When Writing is Difficult”

Visiting Editor: “Connecting the Writer’s Desk to the Publishing Marketplace”

“The House of the Spirits: Understanding Magical Realism, Surrealism, Fabulism”

“A Trash Can Falls Over and It’s the End of the World: Layering Conflict in Fiction”

Students will also be “workshopping” their own work, getting feedback, and critiquing other student manuscripts. We turn in written reports for every lecture. I’ve heard it’s a lot of work. After the residency we will each be assigned a faculty advisor who we work one on one with for the semester (which goes until May; second semester is July-December). We read a lot of books, write a lot of essays, and turn in our own original work.

I’m nervous and excited. I’m going to learn a lot and work hard. And hopefully have no regrets…!

Here are potential scholarship opportunities (IDK, I haven’t gotten any, and applying for scholarships is so hit and miss…)

Poets and Writers Grants and Awards
AWP
FundsforWriters
SCBWI Grants
Loft Literary Center Grants and Awards
Grants.gov
The Foundation Center
Lee and Low Awards and Grants for Authors of Color and Indigenous Writers

Know of any others? Let me know!!!

My mother went back to school when I was in in high school, and in college she received her Ph.D. I’m still so proud of her. Keep learning, friends.

Amy 🕊️

the last part:

Reading: Doing Small Things With Great Love by humanitarian worker Sharon Eubank. It’s SO GOOD.

Feeling: Cold. It was 5 degrees this morning. Wah!

Sitting: In a dorm common room at the moment because I’m a dormitory parent for the winter term. Hey, I gotta pay for school somehow. Also, I plugged in the Christmas tree and menorah for cozy dorm vibes. All the lights! Where’s the popcorn?

Painting: Nothing. I’m frozen. Well, I did draw that backpack…I also just ordered this gouache book!

Running: On the treadmill. It’s been kindof fun. And strength training has been HUGE for easier running.

Wearing: This facial oil in citrus. My skin is very dry but this is loooovely and makes me glowy. I’m a big fan of Just Ingredients.

Share

read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

Here are some happy things that brought joy to the world this year.

Books! Did you read? I read 38 books this year, including the incomparable Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier (which I’m not including as a favorite because it was a reread), and since I don’t read anything I don’t like or want to finish, narrowing my top five was extremely difficult. So difficult, that I included six…add these to your list!

Runners up include Heartwood by Amity Gaige, Tuck Everlasting: The Graphic Novel by , Outlive by Peter Attia, Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green, The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben, The God of the Woods by Liz Moore.

Art(!) made me happy.

Art made me happy, but it sometimes made me sad to draw

Inspiring Artists at Christmastime:

Finally, “notwithstanding a world in turmoil, I’m grateful that we can pause to remember the birth of the Prince of Peace, the Light of the World.” -artist Rose Datoc

“If an immigrant dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The immigrant who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself.” -Leviticus 19:33-34, NKJV -artist Melissa Tshikamba

Art can be simple, complex, beautiful and reflective. It can be resistance against injustice. It sends powerful messages. It makes a difference in our world. It brings joy. Let’s create in 2026!

Writing

Highlights include finishing two manuscripts this year (YEARS in the rough draft making) and sending one to a literary agent *yesterday*. I also wrote fifty newsletters and stuck to my goal of publishing every Tuesday. Keeping a promise to yourself is a really big deal. Count on yourself.

Rejections (that will someday make us happy)

My most wonderful literary agent resigned this year so I’m querying again. It’s brutal. I thought it would be easier having published books, but ya’ll, I’m still getting rejections.

Someday, we will look back and talk about the loads of rejections we got and how we could have made furniture out of all of those rejection notices and how we almost gave up, but instead WE KEPT GOING.

Health and Body

I’m still moving. What a freaking blessing. I don’t take it for granted that I can still run and ride my (new!) gravel bike. To get outside with running buddies, to traverse the roads with pink shoes, to play soccer, to sweat is one of my GREAT JOYS. I love my body.

New regimes started this year:

• 5 mg creatine daily + pre-workout powder drink mix (Just Ingredients),

• Magnesium L-Threonate (crosses the blood-brain barrier!)

• Progesterone

• Estrogen patch

• Biotin

• I’m also lifting heavier. HUGE difference.

Make your appointment. Get your mammogram, pap, and annual physical this year! Get lab work done. You might be low in testosterone, which my sister was, and now she gets a “testosterone pellet” in her hip every few months and she’s a NEW AND ENERGIZED WOMAN. Did you know women have testosterone? We do. We need it, and like everything else, it begins to decline as we get older.

Family

We need a new roof, garage doors (after child crashed into them), and a new vehicle (again, child), but friends, WE’RE ALL ALIVE and we love each other. Gregor remains dashing, he cooks and is kind, always, so that’s it right there. This year we became “empty nesters,” moved kids to college, went for lots of bike rides, visited Hawaii for the first time, and welcomed baby Hal - who I’m quite obsessed with. I’m almost adjusted to “grandma.” Also, my son proposed and Hannah said YES!!!

Looking forward to: more baby, more books (Maggie O’Farell), a wedding (!), teaching and studying the Old Testament with teenagers every morning at 6 a.m. (yes, seriously, they get up for this class and it’s amazing),

and…

starting a MFA program in writing for children and young adults at Hamline University this January. It’s low residency, hybrid, and includes reading a lot of books, writing about them, and workshopping my own work. Besides the tuition cost (three kids in college, no I’m not freaking out at all), I’m super psyched.

I chose this program because of the high praise from Hamline alums-turned-faculty: , and Meg Medina. It’s an investment, and will be sure to keep you updated week by week.

Good People Making the World a Better Place:

• My parents. They are the “young adult” hub for my children and their cousins and I couldn’t feel luckier.

• “I really take ‘love your neighbor’ seriously.” Yay for RICK STEVES!!!

• ‘s Anti-Diet plan

• Builders

• Jeffrey R. Holland, 1940-2025

• Just Serve

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO?

Thank you all so much for subscribing, reading, sharing, and interacting. I love my newsletter crowd. I want to do more here, and have so many ideas to make reading worth your while (classes! write-ins! teaching!).

Thank you with an extra dose of gratitude and whipped cream if you’re a paid subscriber - for investing in me. YOU ARE ACKNOWLEDGED <3

Tell me your good things.

I’ll see you in the new year,

Amy 🕊️

Share

read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

Ten share-worthy stories and quotes of the season:

1. Howard Thurman1

   

2. The beauty of Advent is its timing. We light candles because it’s dark.

   Because we’re still waiting.

   Still hoping.

   Still believing that even the smallest light means—God is coming.

   -

3. “Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!” ― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas

4. Christmas morning broke on a beautiful white world. It had been a very mild December and people had looked forward to a green Christmas; but just enough snow fell softly in the night to transfigure Avonlea. Anne peeped out from her frosted gable window with delighted eyes. The firs in the Haunted Wood were all feathery and wonderful; the birches and wild cherry trees were outlined in pearl; the plowed fields were stretches of snowy dimples; and there was a crisp tang in the air that was glorious. Anne ran downstairs singing until her voice reechoed through Green Gables.

   “Merry Christmas, Marilla! Merry Christmas, Matthew! Isn’t it a lovely Christmas? I’m so glad it’s white. Any other kind of Christmas doesn’t seem real, does it?”

   -L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

5. “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.” — Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

6. “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
   Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…”― Clement Clarke Moore, The Night Before Christmas it was this story that inspired the whole Santa thing!

7. “I heard the bells on Christmas Day
   Their old, familiar carols play,
   And wild and sweet
   The words repeat
   Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
   ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

8. "Christmas is a season of excess. Excess presents, excess eating, excess relatives. Not to mention the excess of murders." — Agatha Christie The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (hmmm…not this year, I hope…)

9. 

10. "And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I come with good tidings of great joy." -Luke 2:10, King James Bible

May you have a wonderful holiday, and feel the joy and light of the season (and experience zero murders)…

Amy 🎄

Share

read with me:

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖

Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽

The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!

1

Howard Thurman was a good friend of my husband’s grandfather, which I’m so proud of!

The year was 1843, and a 31-year-old writer named Charles Dickens was not only in need of money (his latest novel had been a flop), but he was greatly distressed about the child labor problem across the United Kingdom.

Dickens was well familiar with the crushing labor forced upon children. As an 11-year-old working in a factory assembly line, he was one of many unskilled cogs hammering the same nail or pasting labels on boot polish hour after hour, day after day to pay off his own father’s debt.

But the boy was smart and industrious (and maybe this trial was a blessing). He did get to school, and later worked as a clerk, journalist, short story writer, and novelist. Oliver Twist was published in monthly installments from 1837-39.

At the time, it wasn’t uncommon for young girls to be sewing dresses for “16 hours a day, six days a week, rooming-like Martha Cratchit-above the factory floor” or for 8-year-old children to work 11-hour days dragging coal carts through tiny “subterranean passages.”

The population of England had ballooned, with workers leaving the countryside for the manufacturing companies in the cities. The value of an unskilled laborer was measured by the ha-penny, or how many nails one could hammer in an hour.

The 1840s in England became known as “The Hungry ‘40s,” with the poor taking whatever work they could get - and who worked for the lowest wages? Children. Death came early for many.

In the spring of 1843, Dickens wandered the streets of London as he prepared a pamphlet he thought of calling, “An Appeal to the People of England on behalf of the Poor Man’s Child.”

In less than a week, he had worked out a more effective delivery for his message: a story.

I like to think of his mind brewing with all of the details and plot points and characters all of that summer and into fall until the ghost of Marley, Tiny Tim, and Ebeneezer Scrooge appeared. When Dickens began to write, he finished A Christmas Carol in less than six weeks.

That story, they say, wasn’t what the people were asking for - it was the story they needed.

“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.

Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

For writers, what Dickens did is immensely inspiring (and something I mention quite a lot): our own true-life experiences can lead to powerful and beloved fiction.

Fiction can also be a damning report, a powerful record and/or motivator of societal change.

Though the old language makes it hard to read today, A Christmas Carol is as popular now as it was one hundred and eighty three years ago in 1843, and ushers in Christmas as much as the nativity does. We know what Scrooge needs, that miserable miser, because his human nature is also ours.

And the answer for so much that ails our human nature might still best be told with a story.

“You are fettered," said Scrooge, trembling. "Tell me why?"
"I wear the chain I forged in life," replied the Ghost. "I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Who doesn’t feel Scroogey some of the time?

'If I had my way, every idiot who goes around with Merry Christmas on his lips, would be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. Merry Christmas? Bah humbug!'

This is terrific plot and character development - we have a problem! And without a problem, we have no story.

Thankfully, Scrooge has his ghosts reminding and warning him to get out of his own way. And due to some extreme measures, he finally comes to himself - a turkey for Tiny Tim (medical care and fair pay for his employees, including holiday paid leave)!

(fun fact: Tiny Tim was based off of Dickens’ nephew).

The ultimate plot twist is one of irony: it is only in the doing for others that Scrooge finds joy.

It models what Christianity and every major religion teaches, another great irony: we find ourselves only in the losing of self.

This realization delights readers because we love a great plot twist. Especially one that’s counterintuitive to our selfish natures, but resonates so completely as truth.

Scrooge is the representative of how we sometimes talk about “self-care” these days, but how much are we really caring for self if it doesn’t leave room for caring for others?

Even our literature is extremely self-centered (see Jennifer’s excellent piece here). Literature can serve many purposes. Not everything needs to move us profoundly, but our favorite stories will. In those stories there are answers to the plagues of our time. Like this one: Love always wins. Every single time.

“And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

I think yes, A Christmas Carol was better than a pamphlet. And yes, non-fiction speaks with facts, but fiction speaks truth.

To the keepers of Christmas…

Amy <3

p.s. Some of my other favorite Christmas stories include Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl Buck, The Legend of the Poinsetta by Tomie dePaola, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, and The Gift of the Magi by O Henry (remember when Della cut off her beautiful hair?!) Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva. Historical Fiction. 1843 London. Audiobook read by Euan Morton in the most perfect British accent via free libby.app

Notes:

https://time.com/4597964/history-charles-dickens-christmas-carol/

https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2020/ten-things-know-about-charles-dickens-christmas-carol#:~:text=Like%20many%20of%20Dickens'%20other,and%20work%20at%20a%20factory.

https://www.writerstheatre.org/charles-dickens-biography

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3097440-a-christmas-carol

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/1173418268/loneliness-connection-mental-health-dementia-surgeon-general

Good News and Fun Stuff…

ICYMI: Last call for signed books that arrive in time for Christmas. Happy to autograph a book you’d like to gift

WRAD: World Read Aloud is on Feb 4. You get first dibs. I have a few afternoon spots left. Get in touch if you want me to zoom into your classroom!

LIGHT THE WORLD: Make December “acts of service” a fun game with your classroom or family: see how many “kind things” you can do together or individually. Report back at the end of the day. Christmas cookies, caroling, taking out the trash, writing a letter to grandma, forgiving a friend, a turkey for Tiny Tim. SO MUCH LIGHT, SO MUCH JOY. Less Scroogey.