Amy Makechnie's Blog, page 10
February 13, 2024
It was dark ... inside the wolf
During the pandemic, I watched make a zine and thought it was the most clever, adorable little book I’d ever seen and I would make a zines all day every day for the rest of my time on earth … I did manage to make a couple!
They are clever and adorable and you can make your own from a single piece of paper, HERE.
The above zine is about “hooking your reader” from the beginning. There is such a thrill of reading a first sentence - paragraph - chapter and thinking THIS IS GOING TO BE SUCH A GOOD BOOK. This is every writer’s ideal scenario.
How Now, Brown Cow? (remember that title?)
Let be our guide. In a Masterclass “hook” she said:
Little Red Riding Hood.
Let’s start the story a different way.
It was dark inside the wolf.
If we were telling the story out loud, we could add even more suspense by pausing,
It was dark… pause for dramatic effect…inside the wolf.
ooooh, yes, I am all yours now, dear writer.
Hook the reader…and they will keep reading.
It’s that simple (hey, I didn’t say easy!)
In that vein, here are the first lines of the last 30 Newbery Award winners, compiled by Betsy Bird. May they inspire you to start your own irresistible story with a great hook…
Can you remember the last thing you read that gave you such a thrill and hooked your from the start?!
Amy ❤️
Good News and Story Links:By Best Dates Are…at the grocery store. So often the kids ask where we’re going together and this is the answer. And now I know it’s actually true love :)
Win the Books: Enter to win these NINE new release middle grade books coming out in January and February!
For the Love: Writing romance in middle grade? Sarah Allen and Alyson Gerber give us some writing tips!
Reading: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
Listening: Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs at the Grammy’s was magical
Let’s Launch: Looking ahead and seeking readers&reviewers to help me launch the paperback version of The McNifficents in August. Want to help? Send me an email amy.makechnie@gmail.com 🙏
Lit is 100% reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work: buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber. Thank you!
February 6, 2024
The future starts with the alphabet
I remember three big things about first grade:
The great sympathy I garnered when showing up with a cast and a banged-up face after falling off my bike
Mrs. Dornacker screaming and jumping onto a student’s desk when a mouse ran across the floor
The parent-teacher conference
I sat next to my mother (a purse on her lap) as Mrs. Dornacker smiled and first complimented me on my coloring skills (I had worked super hard on coloring Abraham Lincoln’s suit with a black crayon even though I was so sad he couldn’t wear a more colorful ensemble).
My teacher then said I was one of the best readers in the class! This was followed by telling me that at the beginning of the year I was behind, and one of the slowest-to-read-readers. I remember my mother and I both startled in surprise.
Apparently, I caught the reading bug and I caught on fast. Because once I discovered I could actually read books (thank you, Beverly Clearly), I never looked back. After Gym, Reading was always my most favorite subject (yes, I truly loved gym class).
This learning style has played out many many times. When something feels hard, I can actually feel my brain resisting. It feels slow to process and remember (esp anything of the math variety), but with enough practice and interest, suddenly, it can do the thing - and well (enough).
This may sound completely duh, but I’m still having to remind myself of this when something feels hard to learn (like ANY instructional manual).
Learning to read is HARD. Teaching someone to read is hard. Because of the great emphasis of reading, I find first grade to be absolutely magical (hats off to our schools, parents, and teachers who do this hard labor on the daily!)
Isn’t it remarkable that the brain can take shapes and turn them into letters and words and sentences and full paragraphs and stories that we all understand? I’m getting more passionate by the minute.
Tomorrow, February 7th, 2024 is WORLD READ ALOUD DAY. It was founded in 2010 by the nonprofit organization LitWorld to “position literacy as a foundational human right.”
I will be reading portions of my books out loud via zoom to seven different schools in Texas, New York, Georgia, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. I am excited to see these kids! They are always so thrilled to see your face pop up on the screen and read to them, recommend books, and answer questions. Then I get to tell them that THEY, TOO, can read and write their own stories. It is such a delight.
"The future starts with the alphabet."
— Irina Bokova, former UNESCO Director-General
Literacy is one of the best tools to break the cycles of poverty all over the world. 1 For instance:
Literacy improves health (we are far more likely to seek medical help, vaccinate, and understand misinformation when we can read).
Literacy promotes “lifelong learning” and builds skills
Literacy improves the economy and creates jobs “If all students in low-income countries had basic reading skills, 171 million people could escape extreme poverty.” On the other hand, illiteracy costs the global economy $1.5 trillion annually.
Literacy promotes gender equality “Women are the most powerful agents of change in their communities, and that power is even greater when they can read. For every 10% increase of female students in a country, the gross domestic product increases by an average of 3%.”
Literacy promotes democracy and peace (people participate and are less marginalized in their communities).
Literacy builds self-esteem and overall quality of life
"A word after a word after a word is power." – Margaret Atwood
I hope on this year’s marvelous World Read Aloud Day, you will celebrate the good fortune we have TO READ and learn; it’s a gift we should marvel more about.
So today, I am truly marveling. I am typing words because I can read - and you are reading these words because someone taught you to read, too.
Tell me - will you be reading out loud? Or quietly to yourself? Either way, all good (and tell me what books!)
Amy ❤️
p.s. I remember one more thing about first grade: the day a man from the zoo came in with a giant boa constrictor hanging around his neck. We all had to touch the snake. I did not want to, but I felt GREAT PRESSURE to do as I was told. I’ve never poked something so lightly and quickly in my life. So that’s four things :)
Good News and Behind the Scenes:Kidscreen: This week in San Diego!
Your Letters: make my days. This one was written in purple marker and so sweet (and also a little sad…kids carry heavy loads)…
Eating: Avocado toast (avocado, tomato, scallions, salt & pepper) on Trader Joe’s sourdough for big energy
Reading: What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski a middle grade mystery
Saving Jimmy: has a new book out and it looks fabulous!
Drawing: I painted this week and it was a reminder of how much I LOVE IT…so calming
Lit is 100% reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work, buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber. Thank you!
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January 30, 2024
#7 What to Read (watch and eat)
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow: Modern Mrs. Darcy recommended this one, so I acquiesced, not realizing it was fantasy. I would describe it more as grim and gothic, and it has enough “real world” that I quite enjoyed the mystery of it all: a haunted house that calls to a new warden (after the mysterious death of the current one), a brooding boy, a forgotten bad luck town, a love story. I liked it, didn’t love it, but there is no doubt that author Alix E. Harrow is a terrific writer. Her descriptions make me swoon with near envy… I saw this book all over the airports two weeks ago, meaning it’s selling well and being read by many!
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese: A few months ago my friend Mindy told me I should read The Covenant of Water, “but read his first book first.” I have avoided both Verghese books because they are so long and intimidating-looking, but my friends, this was only my loss. WOW WOW WOW. Cutting for Stone was published in 2009 and I’m JUST GETTING TO IT? Why did no one twist my arm and say AMY YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BRILLIANCE. I rarely listen to audiobooks but on a whim, I clicked Play…and that was that. It’s long: 23 hours 54 minutes, but I was hooked immediately, enthralled by the story of the brilliant Dr. Thomas Stone, the Indian nun Sister Mary Joseph and the secret union that begat twin boys, Marion and Shiva who are raised by the Indian doctors Hama and Ghosh. It is an epic and powerful love and coming-of-age story in a country in turmoil. There’s deep betrayal, grace, pain, and lots of anatomy. It will stick with me for a long time. I loved the details of medicine and surgery, and also the way Verghese can probe and articulate the breaking and redemption of the human heart. It’s so so good.
This book was very different from The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy, but it had the same effect: the writing, characters, setting, and story stopped me in my tracks. I’ll be getting my own paper copy to study and read and underline and dog ear...
Up next and reserved at the library:
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (recently acquired for film by Oprah and Mindy Kaling, no biggie) and What Happened to Rachel Riley by Claire Swinarski?
What did you read in January?
And:Watching: Suits, season 8. The language can be a turn off as nearly every lawyer has to use the same curse word in the exact same way to make a point (very uncreative), BUT, I think it has terrific acting and I’ve become quite attached to Harvey, Donna, and Louis. After months of getting through all EIGHT seasons, I’m on the hunt for a new show. Recommendations?
Eating: I’ve only made and devoured the cinnamon rolls from but I’d like to make everything she publishes. Drooling.
Running on: HUGE FAN of UCANN Edge gels (during long runs) and post-workout protein powder (cookies and cream). 26.2% off for only 24 more hours! They have a patented “livsteady” complex carbohydrate mix that keeps you full for hours after a work out and gives me awesome energy. No quick-sugar energy crashing.
Cover Image: Watercolor painting by Elizabeth Wade!
Drawing: nothing. honestly, I’ve totally failed on my January goals to draw.
Lit is 100% reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work, buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber. Thank you!
January 23, 2024
"things are things...we need to take care of the people."
Hello January Snowdrops,
Ten things I think are worthy of reading (or wearing) or celebrating!
“Legend has it that the snowdrop flower (Galanthus) bloomed from the tears of the Greek goddess Persephone, who wept as she emerged from the underworld, bringing life back to the earth after the cold, barren months of winter. The snowdrop is a petite, bell-shaped flower that pushes through the snow-covered ground, heralding the arrival of a new year and brighter days ahead.” Perfect-for-January earrings, & hand painted by Kelcey of Seed and Sky (I want them).
Young People Really Do Like Print Books. This makes me so happy!
‘s Writing With ADHD was a wee bit too relatable. Why can I start a load of laundry (I love doing this) and even fold it, but can’t put it away for three days? BUT guess what? It’s a super power for a writer to not always think in such a linear fashion! I don’t think I have ADHD, but…do I?
I AM INVINCIBLE (when I do my chores) Sometimes the thing that helps your writing most is not writing, but taking care of yourself. It doesn’t yield faster results, but it might yield better results in the long run
I’ve started to ask myself, when I pick up my phone, “what am I looking for?” Great questions from What are you looking for? Beyond the dopamine, what is in there that you’re seeking out? Where else could you find it?
“Um, Women Can Do That.” My cousin, Rachel, is a building inspector in a very male-dominated field. I just love her. And kindof want to write this picture book.
35-year-olds and 12-year-olds reading the same books? Who is YA for? 51% of Young Adult literature is purchased by people ages 30 and 44, and “78% of those buyers said that they intended to read the books themselves.”
Guinevere Hardcover Drops to $8.70 on Amazon…! It’s the lowest price I’ve ever seen - and you know I’m always happy to send a free and signed bookplate to put right into the front cover of the book.
In honor of the women we lost this month:
“It’s kind of like blowing dandelion seeds when you teach. You just don’t know where it’s going to go.” Suzy Norris was an incredible human, a wonderful neighbor, teacher, and friend. I’ll miss her ready smile, encouragement, and wildly-colored hats.
My most-treasured copy of BIRD BY BIRD from Suzy“Things are things, and people are people. And we need to take care of people.” I was so lucky to have such incredible female role models growing up, and Leslie Bartlett was one of the most influential. (When I got married, she approached the reception line and growled to my new husband, “If you hurt her, I’ll hunt you down like a dog” :) We adored this fierce, loving, spiritually uncompromising lady.
Have a happy week and may you seek and find all the things so lit…
Amy 💜
Lit is 100% reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work, buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber. Thank you!
January 16, 2024
Yours in Humble Pie
Last week I wrote about not holding back in our writing. Put in the good stuff now!
Save nothing!
There was an Annie Dillard quote from The Writing Life
“One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water.”
Irony: the very next day I received an email from wonderful literary agent, Zoe, who read my latest manuscript over the Christmas holiday (um, wonderful, right?)
Part of what she wrote1:
The main room for improvement I see has to do with the novel's pacing and how the mystery surrounding Benny's father unfolds.
For the first half of the book, (to quote Coach K!) "less equivocation." That conversation with Coach K, when Benny learns her dad's name, happens halfway through the novel - it should show up in the first quarter. Similarly, the chapter "Information" is so strong, so propulsive! But we need it MUCH sooner.
The second half has all of the reveals about Benny's dad… (this is Amy editing here bc you can’t know all of the reveals until you read it!!!)...That's a lot. Spread these out more, from page one on, and that will help readers become invested in the mystery from the outset, instead of halfway through the novel.
Welp, there you go.
I’m trying to practice what I preach, truly. I just don’t always get it right.
In this (first) draft, I was trying to keep the reader in suspense by dropping intriguing clues, and then speed things up in the second half with all the juicy reveals for a propulsive page turner. But as you can see, it’s not working yet. I’m waiting too long.
If you wait too long, the reader starts getting antsy - and likely annoyed. Or horror of all horrors: STOPS READING.
Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now.
So now I need to revise and figure out how to invest the reader in the mystery from the beginning with actual information (not just vague clues) - and not waiting until it’s too late (when they’ve already put down the book).
Less equivocation! Just say it! Give us juicy reveals - and then keep them coming.
I love writing advice, and I sure love giving it. But that doesn’t mean I always know how to do it.
Take heart. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be special.
Back to the writing (and revising) desk.
Yours in humble pie,
Amy 💜
A Little Art Update:For my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary, I watercolored the five houses they’ve lived in as a married couple. I’m a beginner painter, for sure, but it was a special gift. I wish I had taken better photos of the process and finished product…
The inspiration was from taking Elizabeth Wade’s watercolor house class. I'll be painting more houses! Where is your creativity taking you these days?
Getting Through January:How do you get through January? It’s a tough month for many of us, me included. We need LIGHT. I light a candle at 5:45 am and as soon as 4 o’dark o’clock hits. Or five. It makes such a difference. Also, I have to get exercise every day and talk to humans (not just my dog, baby Artie). I don’t know if Vitamin D makes a difference, but I’m taking it, too. You?
Good News and Story Links:Congratulations: to my parent’s on their 50th wedding anniversary. As my mother says, “it wasn’t inevitable.” A quick 48 hours in Utah with my parents and four siblings was so good.
Watched on the plane: Gran Turismo (who’s more shocked, me or you?) and King Richard (LOVED the Williams sisters story) More next week with my “So Lit List.”
Finished reading on the plane: Starling House by Alix E. Harrow. I’m not a fantasy-genre gal, but this came highly recommended and Harrow is a great writer.
Started reading on the plane: The Perfect Story: How to Tell Stories that Influence, Inform, and Inspire by Karen Eber. There’s brain science!
In seven months: THE MCNIFFICENTS is launching in paperback. Ya’ll, I need a launch plan…
Trying out Tik Tok: There will not be dancing. Only book reviews, book talk, and stories. And I still feel ridiculous
Lit is 100% reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work, buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber. Thank you!
1bold is my emphasis, not Zoe’s
January 9, 2024
Craft Talk: give everything you have, right now
After the death of his mother at age eleven, my dad went to live with his aunt and uncle on Lanark Lane in Bear Lake, Idaho (his father had died of cancer five years earlier).
my father’s countryOne of my favorite stories regarding my dad is about a pair of shoes. Although he always had clothes to wear and food to eat, he was prone to wear his old, worn out shoes. Meanwhile, his nice, new shoes sat safely in the closet.
His Aunt Margie would become so indignant when she’d hear anything along the lines of, “that poor orphan boy, Steven, doesn’t even have a nice pair of shoes to wear.”
He did have a nice pair of shoes - in the closet! But there was something about saving the good stuff until…later. And anyway, why wear the new when the old still works?
There is a generational element here. The wartime slogan "use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without” is hardly (and sadly) a contemporary phrase.
My parents still have a green pot from their wedding reception fifty years ago (never mind the handle on the lid is broken so you can’t lift the lid off without using a pot holder and a knife to precariously lift the lid off that boiling pot of potatoes).
My friend Heide’s WWII-generation mother always scooped out the last of the egg from its shell with her pinkie finger (no egg left behind) before throwing the shell into the compost.
My 85-year-old father-in-law once dug through the dumpster to find his favorite very old torn coat that his wife threw out after insisting it wasn’t fit for any human to wear in public.
I’m surely far more wasteful than any of my ancestors, but I, too, am prone to some “saving” habits. How many times have I saved that dress or sweater or shoes for just the right moment until I no longer even like it that much or it’s so last season five years ago?
And sometimes that “saving the good stuff” bleeds right into manuscripts. Thrift, caution, and saving are virtues in one realm - but not in our writing life!
Put the good stuff in now. SAVE NOTHING.
Author Annie Dillard in The Writing Life
“One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water.”
If you’re holding back “the good stuff” for a later time, don’t. From personal experience, this usually means you’re just holding back good stuff. Put it in right now!
And when you do, something miraculous happens: the well refills. The brain keeps coming up with GOOD and BETTER STUFF.
When we aren’t trying to be so careful and cautious, our imagination is free to answer the call to action in the biggest possible way, to fix whatever pickle your hero has gotten herself into, to combat the villain’s great act of treachery. Time and time again I’ve been astonished at how well and quickly the brain reacts when I’m trusting enough to be gutsy with words, situations, and plot points…it keeps delivering.
Another fiction writer, James Salter, wrote on the inside cover of his first notebook for A Sport and a Pastime (1967), a quote from André Gide:
“Write as if this were your only book, your last book. Into it put everything you were saving—everything precious, every scrap of capital, every penny as it were. Don’t be afraid of being left with nothing.”
Salter later emphatically reinforced this phrase in his Light Years notebook with:
“SAVE NOTHING.”
Save nothing. Put it all in, right now! Who knows? It might very well be your only book, your last essay - you don’t know. But every piece will be far better because you didn’t hoard the good stuff for a later time. You spent it, shot it, played it, lost it, all, right away, every time.
Your turn. Now swim out as fast and as far and as furiously as you can possibly swim. Leave nothing in the lungs - EXPEND. EXHAUST. Put it all out there. And just wait - deliverance will come. You’ll still be able to save yourself every time.
Amy 💜
Good News and Story Links:Reading: Starling House by Alix E. Harrow (it’s so good)
Listening: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (it’s soooo good)
Running: my new yellow Saucony Triumphs are a triumph. I wore them immediately and did not save them for later. Great shoe if you like: lightness, stability, cushion
Drawing: with and this year!
Quit: Twitter (X) and it feels fabulous
Me and Artie: the kids are back in - and at - school (a little sad), which means Artie and I are on the writing couch again together!
who couldn’t find inspiration from this adorable creature?
Lit is 100% reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work, buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber. Thank you!
January 2, 2024
A Few Favorite Things
Hello book lovers,
Happy new year. Here are the thirty books I read in 2023. I loved them all and highly recommend (because life is too short to finish books we dislike). Caveat: There were two exceptions that were just meh for me…scroll to agree or disagree?
This lovely jpeg represents 9,518 pages, with the shortest book being Thoreau at Walden at 112 pages, and the longest being A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving at 637 pages. Both were excellent!
I surprised myself by reading and loving two middle grade graphic novels, The Tryout by Christina Soontornvet and Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J Krosoczka. Surprised because I rarely read graphic novels, but these were so good! (Hey, Kiddo is often on the banned book list, but one I’d definitely recommend for teens and older).
Other excellent middle grade reads: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (Newbery Winner), A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus, The Canyon’s Edge by Dusti Bowling, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodsoon, and Midnight Without a Moon by Linda Williams Jackson. All wonderful.
I got a great thrill out of I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai bc I am so familiar with boarding school life, and Makkai mentioned my school and the schools we compete against. It’s also the book that most influenced my current manuscript. She’s a terrific writer.
I absolutely adored John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed, a book of essays. Wow! Green is such an excellent writer. After writing some bestselling Young Adult literature, he’s now lending his voice to finding a cure for tuberculosis.
I couldn’t put down Yellowface by R.F. Kuang and as a writer, found it way too relatable.
Thank you for helping me launch The McNifficents into the world (yes, I read it many times). Please shelve it on Goodreads or leave an online review 🙏🙏🙏
I read two Ann Patchett books (both terrific) and some fantastic Young Adult: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys, Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume, and Absolutely True Diary by Sherman Alexie (I raved about this one in an earlier post and then read a really disturbing news article about Alexie. I still feel HIGHLY conflicted about even listing this book here…)
Some profound, uplifting, inspiring non-fiction: Silent Souls Weeping by Jane Clayson Johnson, Good for a Girl by Lauren Fleshman, and Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl.
If you want to write a mad good movie script, read Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. It will help your fiction writing, too. I love books about story structure. This one is SO GOOD.
The two books with the most hype that were the most disappointing: The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse and Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand. Just meh for me. This was my first Elin read - maybe I need to try a different book? which one?
My favorite read of the year? Such a hard decision! But if I had to pick one it would be… Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (the most shelved book on my 2023 Goodreads list). Factors for “favorite”: engaging storytelling, hard to put down, emotional resonance, smart writing, strong female protagonist, and stayed with me long after I finished. I love a book that can make me laugh and cry and rage all in the same paragraph. No, I still haven’t watched the series on Apple tv, but I plan on it!
Not on my Goodreads list, but I also finished and fully enjoyed reading The New Testament, King James Version. As John Drury writes, the KJV retains its power and appeal because "it has the intrinsic value of a classic and is an enduring masterpiece." I also enjoyed studying with biblehub.com for the many different translations.
What a good year of reading! How about you? Favorite reads and recommendations?
Other 2023 highlights:
January: We survived. I am so grateful because it could be…otherwise
February: I turned 48; yes, I’m embracing every age even with all of the night time serums I own 😊 Brynne and I launched bmakandmaisiedesigns.com; our cards are at Proctor Academy bookstore and Morgan Hill Bookstore
March: Flew to Georgia for the TomeCon literary festival and explored Savannah and some of South Carolina with my mom and sister 👧. Signed a “shopping agreement” with a script writer and producer for The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair (we will see)!
April: Paige finished Driver’s Ed 🚗
May: Taylor Swift with Brynne and Paige 🔥
June: The McNifficents launched into the world 📚 at Morgan Hill Bookstore and Gibson’s
July: Kids all home and so much fun. My son-in-law, Kaden, lived with us all summer and I think(?) he still likes us
August: Sweet Lord Tennyson, our miniature schnauzer died. What a heartbreak, but we had fourteen good years with “Tenny.” Utah family reunion and a shout out to King’s English Bookstore. Brynne and I painted a big campus map for Proctor Academy (super fun). 26 years of marriage; so much happiness.
Sept: Cope and Kaden moved to Cambridge England for school, a reading at Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough, NH.
Oct: One year writing this newsletter. Thank you for subscribing! Turned in a manuscript (rejected two months later) boooooo….
Nov: Paige home after two months at sea, Wrote a novel for NaNoWriMo; accountability buddies for the win. Nelson is accepted into the film program at BYU!
Dec: Christmas and cookies and kids home (except the Englanders). Parted my hair in the middle and wore Glossier’s cranberry red lipstick for New Year’s; seeking guts to leave the house with it on 🤓. Rejected manuscript submitted to editor #2, new novel submitted to literary agent (if I’m not patient by the end of my life, it’s hopeless)
Coming in 2024…a presidential election (yikes), McNifficent paperback launch, a book deal (manifesting), a family reunion in New Hampshire, glasses (it’s time, ya’ll!), wearing sunscreen on my face every day, less Diet Coke, more strength training, more running in Saucony shoes, candles every night, more reading, more drawing with !
And that’s a wrap, my friends. We made it. Well done.
Happy New Year 🎉
Amy
Lit is 100% reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work, buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber. Thank you!
December 12, 2023
The Greatest Plot Twist of All...
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 gluing another piece of something hour after hour, day after day to pay off his own father’s debt.
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 were born. When Dickens began to write, he finished A Christmas Carol in less than six weeks, his characters now fully formed.
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
Our worn and beloved copy of A Christmas Carol, the 180-year-old classicFor 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 (I’m guessing we mostly tell the story orally or watch it on the screen or play), A Christmas Carol is as popular now as it was one hundred and eighty three years ago in 1843. For many, it 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
And, hey, who doesn’t feel like Scrooge 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!'
Bah humbug. Go ahead. Feel it. I won’t begrudge you.
Just don’t stay there. Because we Scrooges must evolve and put down the chains we forged or there is no story, no happy ending.
Thankfully, Scrooge has his ghosts reminding and warning him to get out of his own way. And finally he does - 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 everything good or “not great” with how we talk about “self-care” these days, and I wonder - how much are we really caring for self if it doesn’t leave room for caring for others?
We live in a fallen world, a selfish one, a world at war, with epidemics of sadness, depression, and loneliness. We spend a lot of time on self. 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.
Chills.
“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.
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?!)
_
Notes:
https://time.com/4597964/history-char...
https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/202....
https://www.writerstheatre.org/charle...
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes...
https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/117341...
Good News and Fun Stuff…
ICYMI: I have a few books left - mostly paperback! Thanks everyone, for getting in touch! Such JOY to sign and put books in the mail for you…
WRAD: World Read Aloud is on Feb 7. I have some afternoon spots. 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.
Thank you for reading Lit With Amy Makechnie. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
December 5, 2023
Signed Books for Holiday Gifts + News
Hello my little elf friends,
Happy December and Giving of Books ❣️ (obviously one of my favorite gifts OF ALL THE TIME).
Want to play Santa with me? Please help me gift some books!
A month ago I went to a literacy event and bought a whole bunch of books to bring with me. I didn’t sell them all - which is great news if you’d like to gift one (or all) of my books for Christmas. They are the best priced I’ve seen anywhere!
I have hard cover and paperback books of:
The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair: (A ten-year-old girl is determined to find her missing neighbor, but the answers lead her to places and people she never expected—and maybe even one she’s been running away from—in this gorgeous debut novel - *starred Kirkus Review)
Ten Thousand Tries: (A middle school soccer whiz’s determination to keep things from changing is tested when his father’s ALS symptoms worsen in this “heart-tugging and uplifting” story about growing up and facing loss *starred Kirkus Review)
The McNifficents: (A senior Miniature Schnauzer employed as a very distinguished nanny has his paws full trying to prove he’s still the dog for the job in this sweet and “chaotically entertaining” middle grade novel that’s The Secret Life of Pets meets The Vanderbeekers series. -Kirkus Reviews)
Hardover: $12
Paperback: $9 (no paperback McNifficents yet)
You know what would be really cool? An autographed set…just an idea 😊
If you want to gift someone (ideas: a child, adult, librarian, book club, teacher) one of my books, let me know! I will WRAP, PERSONALLY AUTOGRAPH, and SEND/DELIVER anywhere in the U.S. until December 23 because I have helper elves named: children home for Christmas. The above price includes shipping and a bookmark!
If you don’t have a specific child in mind, you can “sponsor” a child from my (or your) local elementary/middle school or from CLIF (Children’s Literacy Foundation), a REALLY AMAZING literacy organization in New Hampshire and Vermont, that gives books to underserved communities and kids.
Sound fun? I think so! Be in touch ASAP❣️
You can email me here: amy.makechnie@gmail.com
Merry Christmas, happiest of holidays, and THANK YOU for making my day - and (I hope) someone else’s, too ❣️
Amy
Writing to you from the snowy woods of New Hampshire…
my neck of the woods…the last bit…Reading: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill and Revelations (the number of religious splinter groups from this book is amazing and enormous and a cautionary tale…)
Support Bookstores: Up to one-third of bookstore sales happen between Thanksgiving and Dec 31. Source from your local bookstore or Bookshop.org and (seriously) keep your local store's doors open
More Book Gifts: Middle Grade books for Christmas compiled by author
Launched: Maddie’s Ghost audiobook by author by Carol Fisher Saller
WRAD: World Read Aloud on Feb 7 is one my favorite days. Check out this link for a list of participating authors and illustrators - INCLUDING YOURS TRULY. My day is quickly filling up with virtual school reading, which makes me grateful and happy. Be in touch if you want in on the fun!
this is me as a frog, reading aloud, courtesy of litworld.orgTHANK YOU for subscribing and being a patron of the arts <3
November 28, 2023
#6 What to Read
from Elizabeth Wade on EtsyHello my friends.
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are full of pie and gratitude.
I am happily full of both (the best part of black friday is choosing which pie to eat first for breakfast).
And now it’s the last week of November (how?) and also the last week of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). With three days to go, we are sprinting to the finish line! Did you give it a try? Is it a someday goal?
The NaNo challenge is to write 1667 words every day in the month of November, and by November 30th, you’ll have your 50,000 word novel! BOOM.
We could list all of the reasons it can’t be done, why we don’t have time. It’s the middle of a holiday, for one! True true. Or we could say yes we can.
The phone being the first order of business: hide it, turn off notifications, bury it deep in the earth for a couple of hours a day and there you go: 1667 words.
If writing a book in a month had a recipe, it would include:
*a dream
*some resolve
*a pinch of discipline
*heaps of creative juggling while writing in parked cars or a waiting room (my setting today)
Here’s what you leave out (besides the phone): the demons that taunt you to stop.
It can be a minute-by-minute fight inside your head. BUT SILENCING AND PERSEVERING through the chatter is possible because the demons are not the boss of us.
And every once in awhile, like those rare moments on a run when you crest the hill after a steep climb and find the flow and nothing is hurting…wow.
Finally, you can let go and let God…or something that feels like it.
Like I said, it’s rare, which is why it’s so valuable - and so good. That rarity is enough of a thrill that you’ll keep climbing that hill. ie: writing that draft.
It’s a habit. And imagine if we consistently showed up for ourselves? Imagine if we believed the things we told ourselves we would do?
I struggle with this on the daily, in a hundred different ways.
The rough draft will be rough and have dozens of loose threads, typos, plot holes and characters named Brian who are suddenly named George three chapters later, but who cares, bc WE HAVE A ROUGH DRAFT and the magic of the premise is still there.
Last week I listened to the always-inspiring Ruta Septys say, “I tell myself that I’m not a writer - I’m a rewriter.” Which pretty much sums it up for me. Of course, to rewrite, you must have something to rewrite.
I heard Ann Patchett say that she cannot move on to another sentence unless the one before it is just right. I have a lot to learn from Ann Patchett, but my first 50,000 word draft in one month? I have to get it on the page - and quickly - before I lose my nerve.
And knowing that first draft is going be rough clears the way to write free and wild. There’s no time for editing or criticizing oneself into a deep dark hole of self-doubt. It’s only about getting the words on the page. Because remember dear writer: your stuff starts out just for you. And we are on our own side. RELENTLESSLY.
So that’s exciting.
Hey. I’m on your side, too. RELENTLESSLY.
Are you writing?
Amy ❣️
Book Recommendation:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by is a fantastic read. It’s read widely in schools across the country, and it’s banned plenty of places, too. In my mind, it qualifies as one of those *essential* pieces of literature. I will be thinking about it for a long time. BTW, it won the National Book Award in 2007, which is a really big deal. Is it a true story? Kindof. Our hero, Junior, is a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. A determined Junior leaves his troubled school and home life “on the rez” to attend an all-white local high school “where the only other Indian is the school mascot.” How does he get to school and back? He hitchhikes or walks the twenty miles.
It’s funny, heartbreaking, and wonderfully written. I really loved it. Thank you, Sherman, for persevering through the first draft and the second and the ones after that.
Part-Time Indian is another terrific example of ONLY YOU CAN WRITE THAT STORY (something else Ruta Sepetys speaks and writes about).
*after posting this, I received a message about Alexie and the allegations against him + his own statements that he has caused harm to women. You can read about it on NPR. This is incredibly disappointing as I found this book so moving. I am now conflicted about championing his work in any way - including a social media post and writing about it here. I am disgusted by his behavior and do not condone in any way. I will always stand with and believe women. Do I even keep this post up, promoting his work?*
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley) was written in 1950, the same year my father was born (73 years ago), and was turned into a superb Alfred Hitchcock film in 1951. It’s lost none of what Paula Hawkins calls the “power to disturb.” Two men, successful architect Guy Haines and Charles “Bruno” Anthony, meet on a train one night. Bruno (a mentally disturbed alcoholic) has a fiendish proposal: he’ll murder Haines’ estranged wife if Haines will murder Bruno’s father. The hypothesis: under the right circumstances, ordinary people are capable of extraordinary crimes…it’s a page-turner written with incredible skill!
Another read I will be thinking about for a long time (wondering what you and I are capable of…)
That’s all she read in November (bc I was writing 1667 words a day and EATING PIE and being grateful).
What did you read?
Behind the Scenes:Submissions Wanted: If you love middle grade and YA literature, the School Library Journal is seeking guest posts.
Reading: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. Coincidentally, I just found Barnhill’s 11/23 NYtimes Opinion piece entitled Rebuilding Myself After Brain Injury, Sentence by Sentence.
Watched: NYAD on Netflix. Based on Diana Nyad’s death-defying swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, in her 60’s. A true story starring Jodie Foster & Annette Benning, I’M INSPIRED and will never say I CAN’T or IT’S TOO LATE ever. again.
Watching: Gilmore Girls with Paige (2nd time) and Suits with Gregor (1st ever, we’re in season 2. Megan Markle is good!)
Face Wash: Juno & Co. Cleansing Balm. I have very dry skin; this is so nourishing. Obsessed. Just thought you should know :)
Cover Image: Watercolor painting by Elizabeth Wade!
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