Amy Makechnie's Blog

WARNING: Reading may cause intelligence and other hazards

In my early high school years, I began to have a nagging worry: that I was a shallow and superficial person. That I had no depth. That I knew next to nothing about politics or history or war. I recall having a conversation with my mother when I was around 13 years old. I can no longer remember what we were talking about, but I do remember exclaiming - “HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT?!?!””

My mother raised an eyebrow and very coolly replied, “YOU READ.”

Soon after worrying about my shallowness, I decided I must expand my reading life to more than Sweet Valley High (how I loved Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield) or I feared I would grow up to be a unsubstantial “brainless wonder” or “worthless lump” (expressions uttered frequently by my mother - though not necessarily about me).

My solution to being more substantial was to read something substantial. Knowing next to nothing about the book (but liking the title and knowing it was a tragic love affair), I plucked Anna Karenina off the shelf and made a go of it.

Although the long farming passages made me nearly pull my hair out (short attention span and I’m sure I skimmed most of the book to get to the love affair parts) I surprised myself by also liking it. It remember it was very long with tiny type (about 350,000 words long; the average length of a novel today is 80-100,000 words.) But boy was I proud of myself for reaching The End.

I kept reading. My brain grew. Neural pathways slowly formed. I read books for pleasure and books for school. Gone With the Wind, The Great Gatsby, multiple books about the Lindbergh kidnapping, Marilyn Monroe biographies, Of Mice and Men, V.C. Andrews, Agatha Christie, Huckleberry Finn, The Good Earth, and Anne Frank.

Reading has given my life depth. It’s changed me for the better. At the very least, I’m a little bit less shallow.

I worry about the rapid decline of reading that we are seeing among kids and adults. I worry about what happens to a world and a people who do not know their history and who cannot focus long enough to read words on paper - and who don’t really care.

How Digital Media Turned Us All Into Dopamine Addicts The Guardian. The solution? READ a book

Is the Decline of Reading Making Politics Dumber? As people read less they think less clearly, scholars fear The Economist The solution? READ a book

I’m a High Schooler. AI is Demolishing My Education: The end of critical thinking in the classrom. -Ashanty Rosario for The Atlantic The solution? READ a book

Dear reader, thank YOU for reading. For bringing depth and care to our world.

May we all pass it on.

Happy International Literacy Day (yesterday)

❤️ Amy

p.s. If you could only recommend ONE book to someone right this minute, what would it be??? I’d LOVE to know why…

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If you’d like to support my work with a paid yearly subscription, I will gratefully send you a signed copy of any one of my books 🙏 and then I will do cartwheels because you have made MY YEAR of writing possible <3

The Last Part

Watched: K-Pop Demon Hunters on Netflix. Seriously? Yes. Usually not my thing, but made me watch and I’m glad! Golden is now on my running playlist.

Eating: These apple cider donut holes (I actually preferred them before rolling in the sugar coating). Alas, no one else is here to eat them so…help.

Wearing: The love affair is going strong with these New Balance sneakers. So trendy, so comfortable (and you can throw them in the wash).

Reading: Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green and it’s so good

Visiting: Hopefully your classroom bc I love classroom visits - get in touch!

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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!

Lit With Amy Makechnie is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I am the passenger who takes constant pictures out the airplane window….

Greetings from a layover in the Chicago Midway airport. I have vowed not to spend any money on food but my flight is delayed and I’ve already eaten my Cheetos, banana, and apple. How long can I hold out?1 The person sitting next to me just pulled out a pulled pork sandwich…

I left Salt Lake City at 3 a.m. this morning after saying good-bye to three of my children who are starting college this week. THREE! I left three kids in Utah! I actually love that they are in the same state (two at the same school) and have so many glorious adventures ahead of them. No doubt some tough times, too. I also love that while we did go shopping The Atlantic confirms that American parents are out of control, my daughters are super into thrifting and wanted to scrap together their own rooms (cool artwork by the wonderful ). PARENTS: LET THEM.

What I’m reading on the plane? Compulsively turning the pages of Jodi Picoult’s Plain Truth. I had to download on my Kindle because Paige and I were both fighting over the paper copy, but she started it first, so... Plain Truth is a Jodi P. favorite. She lives in NH and is the author that made me want to write books.

When I finish Plain Truth? I have John Green’s new book Everything is Tuberculosis in my backpack!

Jenny Han’s Book to Netflix gold: I’ve watched the first two seasons of The Summer I Turned Pretty and plan on watching the third season asap. The show isn’t real but the people playing the characters are. When fans need to be reminded to stop bullying. geesh.

I saw a lot of parents in tears this week - kids too - as they said good-bye. While moving my youngest daughter into her dorm, we went to a BYU women’s soccer game - something I’ve been wanting to see live for years! I have to admit I wanted to be on that field so bad. It brought me back to my college days, club soccer, anatomy lab, so much dating drama, and cross-country try-outs. All of these young kids making small and big choices that will lead them somewhere…there will be successes, regrets, and no do-overs. Choose wisely.

I loved BYU President Shane Reese’s comments to the incoming class: you belong here. we love you. Paige: “Yeah, I knew you’d eat that up.” Our young adults are cynical, wise, savvy - and I hope - just as idealistic as I felt all of those years ago.

By the time this is published I will be driving my oldest daughter, Cope, and baby Hal to Montreal, Canada, to reunite with Kaden, who is starting at McGill’s graduate school program. I have already cried and have already called dibs on reading Charlotte’s Web to Hal for the first time. And then, Gregor and I will drive back home to New Hampshire and there will be no children in the house…2

I understand the midlife crisis. We’re content and/or maybe not. Our homes are a little closer to being paid off but we’ve taken on debt to get our kids through school. We’re worried about our aging parents, our young adults, the state of the world, politics, and retirement - which is suddenly and supposedly not that far away. We’re letting our hair go gray (maybe when I’m 60?) or fighting Father Time with botox and lips fillers (I refuse). I have friends who are happily married, but some are getting divorced. - we grew together or we didn’t. Jen Hatmaker and I are the same age: different life stories, but hers resonates; the choices we make really matter, and also, life throws so many curve balls. Every life choice has led us to exactly where we are.

An empty nest is a little terrifying. Who am I without being needed so much? The inimitable felt so lucky to reach 50. I’m going to embrace and lean into that feeling. We really are the luckiest. At 19 I had tons of angst, too, but I also felt we were all on the precipice of something really big and great: we could do anything. It kindof feels like that now.

I’ll see you on the other side - my flight and those little graham crackers are calling!

Amy 💖

Leave a comment

If you’d like to support my work with a paid yearly subscription, I will gratefully send you a signed copy of any one of my books 🙏 and then I will do cartwheels because you have made MY YEAR of writing possible <3

The Last Part:

Bye: All the kids in one week. Plus baby Hal. What the heck?

Wearing: This New Balance sneaker…so comfortable and cool! My kids call me “Grandma Influencer” when I wear them. They think they’re so funny.

Entering: Goodread’s Giveaway for Sue Monk Kidd’s Writing Creativity and Soul. Does anyone ever win Goodread Giveaways?

Giving: A copy of The McNifficent’s with - go to her Substack and win this book - yes, someone is actually going to win and I will personalize it!

xoxo

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!

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I was successful :)

2

but there will be two barking miniature schnauzers

First the books and then some brain food!

Here is what I read in August and highly recommend:

Beloved by Toni Morrison (Libby audio, read by the author; masterful, disturbing, and brilliant with a ghost child as a main character. This is a hard listen, but persevere. Frequently banned.)

Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson (Hoopla audio; a middle grade murder mystery and it’s fantastic!)

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (again) (Kindle; I read this again so I could write a critical essay for a MFA application1. It’s just such a brilliant book and now on Netflix.)

Stay: A Story of Family, Love, and Other Traumas by Julie Fingersh (Hoopla audio; not something I was looking for but was “recommended.” It irked me in the beginning bc of what I wrote about last week - woman and creativity can coexist! But Julie is a great writer and tells a wonderful & heartbreaking story. Blurbed by Anne Lamott.)

I guess it was an audiobook month for me, even though I have stacks of paper books on my bedside table. I’ve been holding baby Hal at night so my daughter can get some good hours of sleep before nursing. Hal and I fall into a half-sleep before I can even open a book. It’s such a treat to hold a newborn and how lucky that our reading can shift to “listening” as needed.

In the middle of: Covenant of Water (hardback), The Trouble With Heroes (hardback), and a reread of Rebecca (audio).

And you? Any good books?!?

Writers Need to Eat:

The old and outdated stereotype of great writers drinking scotch, smoking cigarettes, and surviving on peanuts all day - while churning out pulitzers - is laughable. Let me tell you, that’s not going to work long-term, most esp not for humans with even a hamster to take care of. Long-term, our stories and sentences need our best brain function. And that means good food made with real ingredients!

I’m with Michael Pollen: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Pop tarts are out. Protein and fiber are in.

So I give you my latest breakfast go-to: Spinach-Egg Scramble.

It’s protein and nutrient packed, super filling, delicious, and fast.

Spinach-Egg Scramble (feeds two):

4 eggs, scrambled

Shredded Mexican Cheese (or whatever cheese you like)

A dash of Milk

Fresh Spinach (I like the pre-washed big tubs)

3-5 Mushrooms, sliced

One Tomato, chopped (straight from the garden if you’ve got it!)

Directions:

Heat your big skillet, pour in some Olive Oil, sprinkle Salt and Pepper. Throw in two big handfuls of Spinach and the sliced Mushrooms. Saute a few minutes. Add Eggs (previously beaten with Mex Cheese, Milk, Salt and Pepper to taste). Add the cut Tomato at the end.

That’s it! Cook and stir to your satisfaction (I like my eggs well done).

You can add ANY vegetables. Our neighbor brought us broccoli, zucchini, and squash that you can be chopped or grated. I’ve grated leftover baked potato into this dish, and really love olives and feta. This breakfast not only makes me feel full for a couple of hours, but also gives me great energy and doesn’t put me in a coma - which is helpful when you have things to do that require brain activity (re: everything).

Sadly, in my vast and repeated experience, pasta and sugar guarantees a full-blown coma. And thus, not my best (or any) writing.

Now, eat some real food and go forth and write that masterpiece!

What are you reading - and eating?

Amy 💖

Leave a comment

If you’d like to support my work with a paid yearly subscription, I will gratefully send you a signed copy of any one of my books 🙏 and then I will do cartwheels because you have made MY YEAR of writing possible <3

The Last Part:

Holding: Sweet baby Hal

goodness, babies are miracles

Packing: To take two daughters to college on Wednesday morning

Meeting: My son’s college girlfriend as soon as we step off the plane

Painting: Something for ‘s Substack. eek.

Writing: A young YA gothic romance in the vein of Rebecca…but scarier!

xoxo

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

I got into Hamline University’s Master’s Program for Children and Young Adult literature - wahoo! I’m mulling the financial cost/investment…

Today is my 28th wedding anniversary. I like to joke that marrying my husband was the best thing I ever did for my writing career. He was the English major in love with big words, while I majored in Science with the goal to “train athletes.” Now we do both, but our roles somewhat reversed. He’s the Athletic Director and I’m writing books. Maybe we both taught each other something.

I’m also a mom. I’ve spent the majority of adulthood taking care of my “sweet bambinos” as my mother would say (queen of the nicknames). I suspect most women of the same. And then the sweet bambinos grow up and have more bambinos! The world is not just a little thrill when there are babies. I’m also a writer. This is a post to celebrate that intersection.

At eleven days old, Baby Hal got his library card, making him the youngest card-holding member in New Hampshire :) I’m so proud.

Doesn’t baby Hal look thrilled? And he picked a classic first story!

The Fantastic Ursula K. Le Guin was a mother. From The New Yorker: “An artist can go off into the private world they create, and maybe not be so good at finding the way out again,” she said. “This could be one reason I’ve always been grateful for having a family and doing housework, and the stupid ordinary stuff that has to be done that you cannot let go.”

Some favorite Kidlit ers who write AND illustrate books for kids (the mothers are grateful) include , , , with and …who else?

Watching my daughter become a mother has me remembering my younger mothering days and the amount of writing (and cleaning and shopping and bill paying and etc etc) I did with one hand while rocking and nursing and singing to the babies…multi-tasking might be a myth, but IDK, mothers know how to do it. I have such tenderness for them.

This Olga Masters quote on writing and motherhood has always resonated with me: “Many people have said to me, ‘What a pity you had such a big family to raise. Think of the novels and the short stories and the poems you never had time to write because of that.’

And I looked at my children and I said, “These are my poems, these are my stories.”

Children are a fountain of never ending inspiration. They’ve made me a much better writer. Pay attention to all of the funny, obnoxious, sweet things that children do and you’ll get golden stories. Write down their funny quotes. Each one of my books have relied heavily on real life with kids: Using Real Life to Write Fantastic Fiction, Part I and Part II.

I loved reading about the poet ’s balancing act of creativity and children.

Joan Didion wrote Blue Lights after her daughter Quintana Roo died at age 39 from complications of flu and pneumonia. Quintana, she said, "had no idea how much we needed her. I needed her in the sense that she was ... simply the center of my life." Same, girl.

“In A Room of One’s Own (1929), Virginia Woolf argued that, historically, successful women writers have not been mothers. Jane Austen, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, and George Eliot - ‘not one of them had a child.’ Do children stifle creativity? Statistically, it’s not true. I concur. While it is challenging logistically, we can get more creative with our time! Here’s baby Hal on a towel in the middle of the table. I’ll concede that this gave me exactly four minutes of uninterrupted writing time before he was once again demanding attention.

Hal and his adoring mummy

There will be interruptions and spit up, exhaustion and too little sleep.

There will be days when you wonder where you have gone,

If you’ve been swallowed by a great whale of doubt and washed up dreams.

Go with the current

Fight against it when you must

Paddle

Swim hard

The tide recedes.

Find the quill

Put pen to paper,

believe you have words we need to read.

That’s your lifeboat.

And mine, too.

Amy 💖

Leave a comment

If you’d like to support my work with a paid yearly subscription, I will gratefully send you a signed copy of any one of my books 🙏 and then I will do cartwheels because you have made MY YEAR of writing possible <3

The Last Part:

Watching: Chiefs of War on Appletv about Hawaii’s native chiefs uniting against colonialism. I was surprised by how invested I am! Is it Jason Mamoa?

Listening: Dr. Stacie Sims on the Mel Robbins podcast: The Body Reset: How Women Should Eat & Exercise for Health, Fat Loss, & Energy. I learned a lot!

Reading: The Trouble With Heroes by Kate Messner. Loving it.

Smelling: The face and head of a newborn baby. The absolute best. Baby Hal and parents are moving soon so tell me how to bottle this new baby smell?

Wrestling: With onesies. And cloth diapers. The new parents are much more virtuous and earth conscious than I was.

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!

If you’ve ever wanted to write a picture book, read on. We’ve got Mia Wenjan on the stack!

Hello, Mia!

1. Picture books can appear so simple on the surface, but they're incredibly challenging to write. Can you walk us through how a tiny idea or a single character in your head transforms into a 500-word (or less!) manuscript? What's the most difficult part of that process for you?

For me, it all starts with the structure, but that is because I struggle to write lyrically. For example, I worked on a picture book story idea for years, but it finally hit me watching a Zoom picture book talk at a library in Long Beach, California, that I needed to rework my manuscript into a Reverso Poem format {Barbed Wire Between Us, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación, published by Red Comet Press}. Boxer Baby Battles Bedtime!, illustrated by Kai Gietzen, published by Eifrig Publishing, is about a stay-at-home dad trying to get his toddler to take a nap. It’s told as if a fight announcer is calling the match. We Sing From the Heart is centered around the lyrics to a song Simon Tam wrote about his nearly 9 year battle to trademark his band’s name.

Once I find the structure that works for a picture book, it’s easier for me to find the words to fill it in.

2. The adage 'show, don't tell' is a core principle of good writing, but it's especially true for picture books, where the art does much of the storytelling. What is a concrete example from one of your books where your words created a moment that an illustrator brought to life?

In Sumo Joe, illustrated by Nat Iwata and published by Lee and Low, I had this funny moment when there was a close-up of the brother and sister who looked identical, except for their hairstyles. This spread got cut because Nat’s drawing style was full scenes, and a close-up would have been weird.

While I was sad to lose the visual joke, Nat surprised me with a visual joke of his one when the pillows used to make the sumo ring turned into a pillow fight. It was the perfect ending to the book!

3. Practical advice for writing a picture book and actually getting it published???

It’s easier to get a picture book published than to get an agent.

It’s easier to get a picture book published than have the first printing run sell through.

Creating an author platform will help with both getting an agent AND getting your book to sell. An author platform is basically the author’s influence that can include a website, newsletter, nonprofit, and social media followers.

It’s never too early to grow your audience EVEN if you are pre-published. It’s also helpful for picture book creators to have some kind of cause to champion. It can be anything from helping writers get published to promoting banned books. I think that authors feel more comfortable promoting something besides themselves and a cause helps them create a community.

Thank you, Mia!

Mia Wenjen blogs at PragmaticMom.com. She is the President and Co-Founder ReadYourWorld.org, a nonprofit that puts diverse children’s books into the hands of readers. Her picture books include The Traveling Taco, We Sing from the Heart, Sumo Joe, Food for the Future, Changing the Game (as someone who is passionate about female athletics, I’m all over this!) and the forthcoming Fortune Cookies for Everyone.

Honors for her books include: ALSC Notable Children's Book, Carter G. Woodson Book Award Honoree, Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, Massachusetts Book Award Long List, Julia Ward Howe Prize for Children's Literature Winner, California Eureka Non-Fiction Award Honor Book, Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner, Bank Street Best Children's Books of the Year, and Junior Library Guild Gold Selection.

To learn more, check out Mia’s website, MiaWenjen.com, and follow her on social media @pragmaticmom.

Questions about picture books? Readers, write that book!

Amy 💖

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The Last Part:

August Book Recommendations: featuring The McNifficents! (it really is a good summer romp). Thank you,

Holding: baby (I’m obsessed and in looooove)

Pretty much all I’m doing these days. And I’m reminded that this is really really GOOD work.

If you’d like to support my work with a paid yearly subscription, I will gratefully send you a signed copy of any one of my books 🙏 and then I will do cartwheels because you have made MY YEAR of writing possible <3

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!

Inspired by a New York Times Opinion reel entitled, “How to Read Like a Human Being” and ‘s recent Ireland post - she sent postcards to her paid subscribers (brilliant!)1

I will send these to my nieces and nephews (who will owe me big time :).

If Books Were Our Friends, postcard edition:

but clean up with your friends :)

If books were our friends…we would have a lot to love! They are everywhere; in the library, grocery store bins, little free libraries, school, and are born from other friends - the trees!

Treat your books like your friends. Some you see all of the time and some you hang out with only once in awhile; both are special.

New books are new friends! Dive into different and then feel the shock of seeing yourself in books (and friends :)

Be a messy reader (but help your friends clean up). Nonfiction for facts and fiction for truth. Classics and fantasy, silly and serious. Read alone and together.

Read with your children for as long as you possibly can…you may be surprised how long that is.

Like all true friends, books will be there when you need them.

If you’ve ever asked, “I wonder what it’s like to be be another person?” you’re reading like a human. And a friend.

Amy 💖2

I love that one reader (hi Connie!) is on a mission to collect all twenty-nine Judy Blume books (whose books are some of my best friends). Deenie and Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great sit on my bedside table for a reread.

In case you missed it, here’s what I read in July. My new (and old) friends:

What are you reading? I always love to hear…

Leave a comment

If you’d like to support my work with a paid yearly subscription, I will gratefully send you a signed copy of any one of my books 🙏 and then I will do cartwheels because you have made MY YEAR of writing possible <3

The Last Part:

Watched: Killers of a Flower Moon. I was disappointed. We didn’t even finish it. From a storytelling perspective, I think it really missed the mark. Every story needs a hero and this one had no hero to root for! Thoughts? I’m told I should read the book.

Visiting: Gaffney New Hampshire this week. This was a paid library visit, but funding was cut. I’m still going bc I will travel to my readers when I can!!! Support the arts!

Eating: All the blueberries everywhere. Summer produce <3

Biking: Lots of bike rides with Gregor.

And FINALLY:

Holding: The sweetest little baby in all the land. In the early morning hours this past Sunday, my daughter and son-in-law brought home the most darling baby boy. They will call him Hal. Extra special is that we live in a place called “Halcyon Valley” that translates to “heaven.” This is it, friends. We are so in love…

Baby Hal. Heaven.

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

I’m super critical of my handwriting and don’t feel like I know what I’m doing with lettering and paint. I want everything to immediately look like ‘s work. But I also know that this is a craft and requires PRACTICE. We just have to start and go from there.

A shout out to my author/teacher friend Kari Allen who is taking painting classes this summer!

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The third postcard down is a nod to some favorite classics AND fellow authors on Substack. I love their books so they must be my friends :) Harper Lee, Daphne DuMaurier, Stephen King, Caroline Starr-Rose, Charlotte Brontë, (memoir forthcoming!)

Need a book? This is what I read and enjoyed in the month of July:

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben: An incredible non-fiction account of trees and how they feel, think, and behave in social networks. Groundbreaking, astonishing stuff. I only read it for book research, and ended up loving it. I’d also love the graphic novel version.

Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary: What would you do if your rowdy mouse cousins wouldn’t keep their paws off of your beloved motorcycle? Go to school with a third grader! It’s been decade since I read this and it was delightful.

Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great by Judy Blume: As a kid, I thought Sheila the Great was a brat, but my perspective is now more appreciative. Judy Blume gets kids and I love everything she writes.

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman: Clare is the undead fox of Deadwood Forest - not quite dead, but not quite alive. As he hovers between life and death, he ushers wandering souls into the Afterlife. It’s profound, ghostly, and marvelously told!

Currently: rereading We Were Liars and marking the story structure, and The Covenant of Water which is remarkable and wonderful.

What are you reading? I always love to hear…

Amy 💖

Leave a comment

If you’d like to support my work with a paid yearly subscription, I will gratefully send you a signed copy of any one of my books 🙏 and then I will do cartwheels because you have made MY YEAR of writing possible <3

The Last Part:

Re-Watched: The Devil Wears Prada. What a classic. Much of the original cast (Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci!) is returning for the sequel twenty years later (releasing May 2026). I’m always fascinated by books inspired by real life. In this case, Lauren Weisberger (the author of the novel) actually did work for a demanding fashion magazine boss (Anna Wintour)…and then turned her story into a massive bestseller. You go, girl. The film earned the queen (Meryl Streep!), and Anne Hathaway their highest-grossing films to that point. Streep also earned a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination as Miranda. Juicy good.

Driving: To Vermont to talk to camp kids about books. It was so fun! We talked about how books are like friends and then everyone picked two books to take home. Thanks to the CLIF program for making this happen.

Eating: All the blueberries everywhere. Summer produce <3

Biking: Lots of bike rides with Gregor. I really really love my bike. What a good sport to go into my later years with…

And FINALLY:

Waiting: For baby! Cope (my daughter) is now five days overdue…exciting and come on, baby!!!

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,

Happy Tuesday. I hope you are enjoying some slow days of summer, even as you are inevitably getting the work done.

I’m definitely feeling both of these things in the middle of July with a baby coming (my daughter and son-in-law’s!1), a manuscript due, family reunions, and so many house projects. But I’ve also been out paddle boarding, having late dinners in the sunroom, and sleeping in.

I found inspiration for both of these things - the getting fired up and needing to slow down - by two of my favorite speakers and storytellers.

If you need to get FIRED UP, listen to this story. It’s one of my absolute favorite Barack speeches (in NEW HAMPSHIRE!!!)

FIRED UP and READY TO GO (bless you, Edith Childs in the back of the room).

And if you need to move into slow down mode, bless you. It’s summer, the middle of July. Rest, rest. Be still. Do what calls Holy Underachieving (my new favorite phrase?!), here is what she writes:

“God's version of rest? It’s not productivity in disguise. It’s not something you earn.

God’s rest says: You are loved before you’ve done anything at all. You can stop. You are allowed to stop.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if rest weren’t simply optional but mandatory? That’s what the Christian tradition has always understood. After creating the entire universe, God took a break.

God. Took. A. Break.

God called it the Sabbath and declared it holy, set apart, necessary.”

Read “The Summer of Too Much” here and may you have a beautiful, terrible day :)

FROM LITERATURE:

As I was thinking about this resting to get up and fight another day, I was reminded of something Gaysie Cutter said in The Unforgettable Guinevere St Clair. An excerpt from the book, page 320-321, hard copy:

“You’re a child who needs answers, so let me tell you. I knew your mother. Vienna couldn’t possibly have known what was going to happen to her, but I do know this: She loved Jed St. Clair from the moment she met him. You are part of the greatest love story I have ever witnessed - then and now. That story is not over. And you take after her; you’re both fighters.

I considered this.

Gaysie nodded, the matter settled. “But now it’s time to rest awhile. Rest, rest. Soon it’ll be time to get up and fight some more.”

Jimmy punched the air like he was already thinking of more ways to annoy me.

Was this, I wondered, what it felt like to close a case?”

Where are you today? Getting fired up and ready to go? Or holy unachieving?

Amen.

Amy 💖

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The Last Part:

Waiting: Kaden and Cope’s due date (my oldest daughter) is THIS THURSDAY!

Eating: Watermelon, nectarines, cherries…summer produce is the bomb diggity

Listening: To a lot of Brandi Carlile. This song…! (thx for the introduction).

Finishing: A picture book and just typed THE END on a new manuscript

If you’d like to support my work with a paid yearly subscription, I will gratefully send you a signed copy of any one of my books 🙏 and then I will do cartwheels because you have made MY YEAR of writing possible <3

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

I’m kindof unable to say “grandma” yet!

Rereading classic literature from my childhood. I enjoyed Ralph and Sheila as much as ever, but now I’m also looking at structure, character and voice. Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume forever <31

2. “The first weapon I ever held was my mother’s hand” shares the 25 most iconic first sentences she’s ever read.

3. This BEST DIP EVER is our Ride or Die summer meal forever. Sometimes I cut the chives right from the garden. Readers and writers need to eat!

Best Dip Ever: Black Beans, Cilantro, Avocado

1 Can Black Bean (drained and rinsed)

1 Can Corn (drained)

1 Can Diced Tomatoes (my favorite is “fire roasted”)

5 Scallions chopped (green onions)

1/2 Red Onion chopped

1 Red Bell Pepper chopped

1 Avocado, chopped

1 Bunch Cilantro chopped

1/4 Cup Lime Juice freshly squeezed

2 Tbsp Garlic

2 Tbsp Honey

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Stir. Enjoy with good chips.

4. is a terrific doctor and teacher, and the reason I’m taking creatine, low dose estrogen replacement, and Magnesium L-T. I’m also trying to lift *heavy*2 and wear this weighted vest.3 Brain and body health!

5. NOTES TO SELF. Posted everywhere. This one’s been pinned to my cork board for years.

6. SPARK by Chris Baron: is out this week! GO HERE to see all of the cool pre-order stuff and to schedule a FREE online author visit with Chris and Caroline who wrote one of my favorite reads of the year, THE BURNING SEASON.

7. MOOCHIE (short for muchacho) AND WIN WIN are our spoiled miniature schnauzers. Their actual names are Artie and Winnie but we are a family who nicknames everyone. Our first schnauzer, Lord Tennyson, inspired my third novel, THE MCNIFFICENTS. I’m thinking Moochie and Win Win need a story, too…

it’s HOT in New Hampshire

8. A GOOD TELEVISION SHOW. We are enjoying The Gilded Age on Amazon Prime and have rediscovered The West Wing…is there a better written show than this one? I LOVE the characters - Sam, CJ, Josh, Toby, Leo, Jed, Charlie, Donnatella….what are you watching?

9. NOOM APP. I have always been averse to tracking my food - blah! But the Noom app (free trial) has been good for me. After just one week, I have more energy and my pants are fitting better. I’m sorry to repeat this cliche, but it’s made me more MINDFUL about what goes into my mouth. I like how you can see how much protein, carbs, and fat you’re eating. Do you have an app to track food intake? Preferable free?!? (myfitnesspal?)

10. MY BIKE. I love to ride my bicycle, I love to ride my bike…it makes me feel like a QUEEN (esp since I haven’t laced up my soccer shoes this summer). What’s riding my bike have to do with reading and writing? Everything! Movement helps us think, work through plot points, ponder, wrestle with the story. Maybe it’s the increased blood supply getting to the brain. I give bike riding five stars (easier on the joints and I’m *almost* flying down hills without applying my brake the whole time…childhood accident that’s left me a bit terrified :)

my other ride or die…he says “serious bikers don’t have pink bells on their bikes.” I want one.

And that’s a wrap, my friends! Tell me your “so lit” things. What are you reading and writing? Eating and watching?

Amy 💖

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If you’d like to support my work with a paid yearly subscription, I will gratefully send you a signed copy of any one of my books 🙏 and then I will do cartwheels because you have made MY YEAR of writing possible <3

The Last Part:

Nine days until Cope and Kaden’s baby is due!!! (Cope is my oldest daughter :) Baby is due on Pioneer Day which is fitting because Cope wore pioneer bonnets all through her childhood, hehehe. Are we excited? Oh my, we are excited. We don’t know the gender and are keeping the paparazzi informed via the “BBC” (Baby Bump with Cope) on my Instagram. This week, according to thebump.com, she’s the size of a small pumpkin. She feels like a large pumpkin.

I painted pumpkins using this book as a reference. Pumpkins are fun to paint, maybe not so fun to carry around in your stomach…

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

I started reading The Hobbit but gave up…maybe I start with Lord of the Rings?

2

Bone and muscle health!

3

Should I have an Amazon storefront? I’m so conflicted about Amazon but I still do a lot of recommending and shopping there. And wouldn’t it be nice to reap some of the benefits from that?

Hello readers, and happy hot July…

I’m writing a book right now (headed toward the finish line, hoping to nail the ending), and trying to keep the story moving quickly.

I’m remembering this piece of writing advice:

Start with a “what if” question.

What if two fourth-grade boys prank their strict principal, Mr. Krupp, by hypnotizing him? What if when they snap their fingers, he turns into Captain Underpants - the hero of their self-written comic books that Mr. Krupp confiscated!

What if there was a mouse who loved his little motorcycle and the only way to keep the motorcycle safe was to go to school with his pal, Ryan?

What if you spent every summer on a private island with your beautiful, perfect family, only to wake up to a foggy memory of a terrible accident and a devastating secret about the people you love most in the world - and that you, yourself, are the biggest liar of all?

What if a painful divorce leaves you adrift and so you embark on a year-long journey to rediscover pleasure, spiritual devotion, and balance, ultimately finding your way back to loving yourself? Also, what if you pray and eat a lot?

Do you recognize these stories?

The “what if” question gets to THE STORY right away, and in fiction (and even memoir), story trumps all. "Meaning” or “message” is simply a by-product of a story well told.

“What if” lets the reader experience and feel and live the story, too, instead of feeling like the writer is preaching or “hitting us over the head” with a lesson (ugh!)

To write great fiction means to trust that meaning will emerge as we put our unique and complicated characters in sticky, messy, complicated situations. They will - or they won’t - find their way out (which already sound like a good story to me!)

I have to be reminded of “what if” and “story first” again and again.

When you’re writing for kids, it’s tempting to start thinking about “imparting wisdom” or “what kids need right now” or even the adults who will first read and recommend your book before they buy or give it to a child. But this mindset can easily get in the way of the most important thing: the story.

Story is what I was reminded of when reading Captain Underpants. I was instantly delighted. I laughed. It was funny and so real. I was back in third grade again. Glorious.

Was there meaning? Yes, it’s there! But it’s the “what if” that keeps you turning the pages. And wow, who knew that meaning could be found with a wedgie? hahaha.

STORY FIRST. Always, last, and always.

What’s your “what if”?

Amy 💖

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writing stories is easy. said no one ever.

Shop my favorite “what if” stories at BookShop.org and get free shipping for (anti-) Prime1 Day!!!!

Favorite Middle Grade Fiction

Favorite Young Adult Fiction

Favorite Adult Fiction

Favorite Memoir

The Last Part:

Sibling Shenanigan Books for Summer: featuring The McNifficents! Thank you,

My Heart: breaks for Texas…NPR reporting

Pixar: what happens when “messaging” overtakes story…? (it’s not good)

Ran: a 5k with the family for the Fourth of July! Me and Cope placed first in our age groups, but COPE IS 37 WEEKS PREGNANT, whut?!?

Painting: I’ve fallen off the wagon. again.

Wearing: Chaco’s. All.Summer.Long.

Re-reading: We Were Liars, Ralph S. Mouse, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great

If you’d like to support my work with a paid yearly subscription, I will gratefully send you a signed copy of any one of my books 🙏 and then I will do cartwheels because you have made MY YEAR of writing possible <3

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

I haven’t broken up with Amazon, but I do like to support local bookstores by buying my books from them!