Amy Makechnie's Blog, page 5
February 11, 2025
Attention is the beginning of devotion
“Attention is the beginning of devotion,” Mary Oliver wrote in her essay, Upstream.
And, of course, this is so. The unnoticed can’t possibly be loved.
I read this line from this Atlantic article after reading ‘s 5 Love Notes, both featuring Mary Oliver’s poetry, and it stabbed me right in the heart.
If we do not notice, we cannot love. 1
In that spirit, here are some things I’ve noticed…
Heart attacking walls makes people feel seen and loved…
Listen, I don’t make the rules. This potato just jumped out at me and said - I love you!2
Painting our hearts is a way to be more self-aware ( -inspired!)
In the final weeks of her life, the writer Flannery O’Connor, who was deeply religious, described a prayer she “said every day for many years.” I think it is so beautiful.
O Raphael, lead us toward those we are waiting for, those who are waiting for us: Raphael, Angel of happy meeting, lead us by the hand toward those we are looking for. oh angel of happy meeting…
World Read Aloud Day was awesome. Along with the potato, kids are also my love language
Poetry. This one caught my breath.
A book with HEART? Try The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair: “Part mystery, part study of the human heart, and one pierced with rays of hope.” — Booklist (starred review)
Volunteers make the world go round. From my town’s free, independent paper:
Our beating hearts! (I pitched this as picture book idea, but the feedback was that I needed a protagonist…but isn’t the heart the hero?!)
working to make this more kid-centricPay attention. Attention is the beginning of devotion…
Love, Amy <3
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
Baby Bump Painting of the Week:
watercolor and black inkPainting these baby bumps “fruits” week by week is helping me pay attention to the miracle of life.
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!
1p.s. Noticing will make us much better writers
2potatoes are actually my love language
February 4, 2025
Two Habits I Had to Quit (before they ruined me)
Dearly beloveds,
We are gathered here to today to get through this thing called - LIFE - (name that song. Fun fact: I can say the whole intro, haha. so random.)
Anyway. It’s February, finally. January is always a rough one. It’s long, cold and dark in New Hampshire, and even though it was dead beyond dead, I kept the tree up until January 25th b/c I needed the twinkle lights. Are we all taking our Vitamin D???
Do you consider yourself an all-or-nothing person? Not me. For most things, I like to bounce my ball right in the middle. Not too much, not too little.
However, I recognized two habits that were starting to feel like TOO MUCH.
And ya’ll, we know this:
Habits are a good servant but a bad master
What I didn’t need is moderation. I needed them OUT OF MY LIFE.
Gretchen Rubin often talks about when we intentionally build good habits, they serve us well by making life easier and more efficient. But if we let habits take over without awareness or intention, they can control us in unhelpful ways. This was me and sugar. So we broke up.
Sugar
For two weeks, I completely quit consuming any added sugars (I did not count fruit, maple syrup or honey in some recipes).
What happened? The third day off sugar I was DYING for a fix. I needed it, and thought about it constantly. However, I soldiered through, eating grapes and having the occasional Olipop naturally flavored with probiotic and real fruit! By the end of the first week, I could walk by Gregor’s famed chocolate chip cookies he’d made at 7:30 in the morning (they were warm. WARM!) without gobbling one like an incredibly disturbed Gollum.
By the end of two weeks I felt in control of myself.1 In fact, I could sit in front of a plate of Gregor cookies while at dorm duty and feel nothing. I had my clementine.
After my self-imposed two week sugar strike, I intentionally ate a chocolate chip cookie. And promptly fell into a coma for two hours. Not even joking. Hmmm, this tells me something.
All in all, it was a good and needful experience and I’m thinking about doing it more often.
I’m back to my “one treat after dinner” some days of the week, and if I need to go cold turkey again, I know I can.
Have you ever done this?
The second habit I quit:
The Gmail app on my phone
On December 1st, 2024, I put a phone basket by the front door.
isn’t she precious? really, mom?I asked the family to experiment with me. And I had to ask them bc they are adults or nearly. “Put the phone here. Treat it like a land line.2 Let’s just try not having any phones upstairs on the second floor, okay? Please do this for me.”
It was a RAVING SUCCESS. No mindless scrolling in bed! The husband (the most resistant), teenager (second least willing), and young adult (surprisingly on board) all admitted to the benefits. These Teens Don’t Want Your Likes anyway.
There’s been some backsliding, but don’t worry, I’m a really good nagger.
After Christmas, and even with the phone parked downstairs, I could still feel my dependance. Again, those Gollum vibes.
How I had to check my text messages and email every time I walked past my phone (all day).
So…Remove the Temptation (duh, I know, and I even wrote about having only “3 checks a day” but kept backsliding bc those techies have made the phone so dang addictive!)
My solution? Take the gmail app off my phone.
Ya’ll, this has been one of the best things I’ve done for my brain.
Instead of checking, skimming, deleting, absorbing, responding throughout the entire day…I can’t. I don’t have the choice. I have to stay in the moment with the book I’m writing or the book I’ve brought with me in the waiting room or the person I’m actually with. I can’t check email “real quick” in the car when I’m bored or curious. I have to look out the window or stare at my cuticles. And that’s good!
If I want to check email, I have to use my computer. I’m on my computer all day, but if I x out, I have to log back in and that’s one more barrier that’s good for me.
I feel like a new person who’s in control of herself again.
The huge upside besides my brain not feeling like scrambled eggs?
I delete a lot of email I don’t have time or need to read
It’s actually more fun to see what’s in my inbox
I am more likely to get into DEEP WORK and FOCUS
AND I am far more efficient with my time. Meaning, I’m writing more!
The Science SaysEvery time we get pulled out of the moment with a ping or notification or “quick instagram check”, it takes our brain time to readjust. By the time it’s almost back in the moment, PING, another notification! We are literally changing the physical, neural pathways in our brains, training ourselves to never get into the flow of things, to never get into DEEP WORK. Our poor kids, what are we doing to them?
I’ve wanted to take the app off of my phone for awhile but didn’t have the guts. GUTS ATTAINED. I’m never going back.
Take a minute to think about this: why do you do what you do? What reward does the habit solve for? It’s not necessarily the habit that’s “bad” but the deep need you’re trying to solve for (relief? acceptance? justification? love?)
Does sugar and a quick email check give us that quick dopamine hit we’re craving? It does for me. And I needed to stop!
Relatedly, had a funny post about never removing Wordle (made me laugh).
The point is: our lives are our own! And our habits should serve us, not become our masters.
repeat after me.If you notice habits taking over in a way that doesn’t serve your progress, then I’m urging you to DO something about it. Quickly. Chop off the head! Forget moderation. Cold turkey is sometimes the best solution.
And that is a personal revelation to me, being the queen and preacher of moderation and all that. Funny enough, going ALL IN, helped me become more moderate.
What about you? Is there something you’ve quit or haven’t but want to…?
Love,
Amy 💖
I’m curious…Readers, I want this newsletter to serve you. This poll is completely anonymous!
A Very Special Orange
My daughter is in her second trimester and the baby is as big as an orange. So exciting. And it’s fun to paint along with the baby bump even though I’m pretty critical of this orange (but never baby!)
The Last Part:Happy for World Read Aloud Day tomorrow!!! I love meeting so many middle schoolers around the country. This is a tech win.
Relieved: to have submitted my latest manuscript (boarding school mystery)
Running: inside. ugh. Sunday morning it was -6 degrees!
Reading: The Anxious Generation, a Scott Turrow novel and have just discovered the books of Maira Kalman. Obsessed.
Smelling: I got Gregor this Mediterranean cookbook for Christmas and he’s been COOKIN’! (after Winnie the baby Schnauzer chewed the cover off 😡)
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!
1I must say that if you have any experience with eating disorders, be very aware of any “all of nothing” diets or “challenges.” With certain personalities and brains, these kinds of challenges can lead to more harm than good. Personal experience with this one. It’s tricky.
2January 28, 2025
Books Will Always Save Us
I read a lot in January, more than usual. This makes me happy as I’m always trying to read more. It helped that it’s been absolutely frigid and hard to leave the house (see? I’m trying to be positive about -4 degree temps).
All fantastic reads:
Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva. Historical Fiction. 1843 London. Christmas is approaching and Charles Dickens is facing a terrifying writer’s slump. Bills are piling up. The threat of bankruptcy, shame, and “the poor house” is looming. Everyone wants something from him (his sticky-fingered children, wife, relatives, the London public, his publisher)! Meet his demons, some ghosts, his muse, and a small hungry child named Timothy. Can Dickens find his faith and grounding? Something he knows: books have always saved him. Audiobook read by Euan Morton in the most perfect British accent via free libby.app
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. Realistic Fiction. 1951-1975 Adirondack summer camp. When teenager Barbara Van Laar goes missing, a panicked thrilling drama unfolds (I loooove a good family drama) because you know who else went missing fourteen years ago? Barbara’s then-eight-year-old brother. I loved the character development and voice and mystery and want to write like Liz Moore.
The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement by Sharon McMahon. Non-fiction. So many good stories! I mean, did you know about Inez Milholland? I didn’t! Queen.
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Nonfiction. I know I talk a lot about this book, but I love it because it’s been so life-changing - and so fascinating to read! This time I’m listening to it on the free libby.app
“We do not rise to the level of our goals. We fall to the level of our systems.”
Boom! What are you reading?
Amy <3
p.s. I link books to Bookshop.org because they ship from local, independent bookstores. I know Amazon is cheaper. I love Amazon too. I’m trying not to love it so much. But when it comes to books, I just can’t bear to give any more money to Bezos. Here is my Bookshop.org referral link for 20% off!
Poem ():
From
And Yet
(2022)Quote:
“We are the windows through which our children first see the world. Let us be conscious of the view.”
-Katrina Kenison Mitten Strings for God: Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry
Painted This Week:
My daughter Cope likes to follow me around talking in her BBC news voice. So I filmed her talking last week announcing her “lemon,” totally off the cuff. It was so funny. We are so weird. You can see it on Instagram here.
The Last Part:Thankful: I received another paid subscriber last week. Thank you so much, you know who you are :) I am soooo appreciative. It really does help me write more!
Feeling: Warm! It’s 20 degrees outside, sooo much warmer than yesterday. Perspective is everything.
Eating: Grilled cheese for lunch. Like every day. Send help. Or join me :)
Reading: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride on Kindle (I got one for Christmas…I’m scared of it. Learning how to use and eventually love?)
Still Taking: Creatine. 5mg a day per. My son says you have to take it EVERY DAY or it doesn’t work. Funky taste, drink with Emergen-C or orange juice.
Moving: Every day. Or the January demons will take me.
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!
January 21, 2025
The Sublime Art of Noticing
My dear readers,
I trust this correspondence finds you suitably intrigued (as Sherlock Holmes might greet you).
Imagine our great detective standing over a mundane piece of evidence – a partial footprint, a smudge of frosting, or a peculiar crease in a newspaper. All clues to cracking the case!
What others miss, he notices.
"You see, but you do not observe,"
he famously told Dr. Watson1 when explaining how Watson has seen the steps leading up to their apartment at 221B Baker Street countless times but cannot tell him the exact number of steps.
I can tell you that there are two granite steps on my front porch, but I cannot tell you how many steps lead from the entry way to the second floor.
Holmes's exceptional ability is simply the art of paying deliberate attention. The ability to notice small details helps Holmes solve crime (whereas in a Jason Bourne movie, Bourne absorbs every tiny detail to prevent an assassination or escape a trap).
I vow to be more deliberate. Although in the case of the stairs, how important is that, really? (I really am a Watson).
I’m convinced, dear readers, that the art of noticing is what separates good writers from great ones. It separates a great book from an okay one.
And since writing is a craft, meaning, you can get better with practice, we can all become better writers - and readers - if we practice noticing more.
This pondering on the word Notice came about after reading Rob Walker’s The Art of Noticing.
Instead of a gratitude journal, he decided to notice 3-5 good things and jot them down in his diary.
I forgot the “good things” part, and simply asked my daughter, “what three things did you notice today?”
First she groaned (she’s used to my games) and then…
Woah, what? She might have said the same thing had we been playing “Rose, Thorn, Bud” but suddenly, a really good and unexpected conversation opened up.
Which leads me to believe that noticing will not only help our writing, but our relationships.
I love this story about noticing: “The One Small Thing My Wife Does That Gets Me Every Time” by
Five Things I Noticed Today:
Chapped Lips
The smell of chocolate chip cookies baking at 8:30 a.m. (send help)
Cold, arctic air on my face when I stepped outside
The beautiful fuschia-like color of watercolor paint
Fourteen small, irregular-sized ice cubes in my glass at lunch time (how important is that? Sherlock & Bourne would notice!)
In any case, I’m working on being a sharper observer, a person and writer who notices people’s life stories by the calluses on their hands, the wear on their shoes, the way they hold themselves. Every scuff mark is a potential clue, every nervous tic is a possible plot point in someone’s life.
Sherlock was notoriously objective and unemotional. We, too, can be shrewd2 and observing. But Sherlock also had a soft heart and often surprised the reader by protecting others - particularly women - from blackmailers and abusers. He could only do that because he noticed.
Sir Conon Doyle wrote four Sherlock Holmes books and fifty six short stories about Sherlock Holmes beginning in 1887 and they have stood the test of time! Holmes offers a masterclass in the art of paying attention (fun fact: Holmes is based off of Dr. Joseph Bell, one of Doyle's professors at the University of Edinburgh, who was known for his extraordinary powers of observation and deduction.)3
Sherlock Holmes stories aren't just mysteries – they're meditations on the power of truly seeing the world and people around us.
Noticing slows us down and makes us see. And everyone likes to be seen. So next time you see it, say it!
To the check-out girl: ooooh, I love your red lipstick!
To the bank teller: you’re so good with people!
To the librarian: ooooh, what wonderful glasses!
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is a book about noticing. Babies love it.
"In the great green room
There was a telephone
And a red balloon
And a picture of -
The cow jumping over the moon"
-Margaret Wise Brown, 1947 (and 48 million copies later)
Is the devil really in the details? (Where does that expression come from?) I think the art of Noticing is Divine. Even sublime.
What are three things you noticed today? Tell me about it. Or start writing.
Amy 💖
p.s. Thank you for subscribing! I NOTICE. Thank you to my three new paid subscribers in January - I NOTICED! It is so so thrilling to receive a paid subscriber notification, and helps me spend more time writing. So grateful <3
That Very Special LemonSpeaking of noticing…you wouldn’t necessarily have noticed yet (NO, NOT ME!) because at Week 13, a baby in the womb (fetus) is only the size of a lemon.
Announcing: our very own lemon. Cope is 13 weeks along…carrying a very special lemon. And I’m going to watercolor my way through it all :)4 Yay!
The Last Part:Happy birthday, Dad! My dad turned 75 yesterday. He is the the most wonderful dad in all the land. I love you, Steve P!
Relieved: to submit my latest manuscript (boarding school mystery) this week!
Intrigued: by this red sneaker/heel by Sarah Blakely, the founder of Spanx. Sarah is now launching Sneex. Cool.
Running: I ran outside once last week! Before the arctic blast returned! It was heavenly.
Reading: I just finished three GREAT books that I can’t wait to share with you next Tuesday!!!
Wearing: Okay, ya’ll, I really like having my nails done, but I have neither the time, patience or money to have them done by a professional on a regular basis. Enter Polish Pops. I’m on my second pair and looooving them. They last two weeks! Thanks, Jill and Angela. This has also helped my biting habit…
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!
1The quote "You see, but you do not observe" comes from "A Scandal in Bohemia," one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes short stories.
2Shrewd is an adjective describing someone who is mentally sharp, clever, and astute in practical matters. A shrewd person has the ability to understand situations quickly and use that understanding to their own advantage (but I don’t mean manipulative).
34It’s funny (?) how we so often compare women’s anatomy and babies to fruit. I would have drawn the baby…but a lemon was much easer. Look for next week’s painting - a peach!
January 14, 2025
Your Tiny Efforts = Major Breakthroughs
One day, while driving down a scenic New Hampshire road, I spied a huge patch of bamboo. It was taller than me, shooting straight up toward the sky. I’d driven past the bare spot dozens of times, but suddenly - there it was!
Bamboo is an interesting plant.
For the first five years, bamboo can barely be seen as it builds extensive underground root networks. And then within six weeks, it can explode ninety feet into the air.
The bamboo I drove past didn’t grow six feet overnight, but it seemed like it, especially because I can go weeks between passing it.
All of those years, without me noticing, the roots were being nourished by dirt, worms, water, and partial sunlight. Slowly, slowly, the plants were growing, dividing, and “taking root“ under the ground.
I’m rereading Atomic Habits. I love this book. James Clear uses the bamboo example in relation to our habits.
Every small act we take is enforcing a habit for, or against, the person we are slowing growing.
We don’t notice slow-growing roadside bamboo because the progress is slow and mostly hidden.
We don’t notice the tiny progress we’re making in life because it too, is slow.
The slowness of becoming is frustrating. We’re impatient, think our effort is wasted, that we’ll never get there. But not so! It all adds up. The end goal, really, is far less important than the trajectory we are on.
There are so many examples of this slow and steady “progress” - cancer and mold are slow growing and largely undetected until “suddenly” it’s everywhere. On a more positive note, how about conception to birth? In just nine months after the meeting of sperm and egg (miraculous in itself), a woman’s body grows a tiny human! If you’ve ever seen The Miracle of Life, well, you know it is a MIRACLE. Because that baby was once microscopic, dividing cells!
Atomic: 1. an extremely small amount of a thing…
the source of immense energy or power
Habit: 1. A routine or practice performed regularly; an automatic response to a specific situation.
There are things we want and need to accomplish this year.
There is a person we are evolving into being.
If we are the bamboo-
What are the best conditions for us to thrive in?
What support networks must we get into place?
Who do we need to be accountable to?
A slight tweak in the right direction repeated over time? That’s a habit.
Habits x Time = BOOM. Atomic. Big. Major Breakthrough.
I often tell people I wrote my first book during the baby’s nap time. We laugh together, but I’m not joking. That happened. It took years. But that nap time was the perfect, completely unreliable amount of time for me to start the habit of writing at a very furious, haphazard pace before baby howled.
It became a habit that I am still trying to feed every single day.
What habit are you trying to make or break?
MAKE IT SMALL.
Direction is more important than how fast or slow you are.
What’s your 1% better than yesterday? (1% is literally a teeny tiny step forward - like opening a Google doc and putting a title on it. Or unearthing your art journal. Or laying out your exercise clothes for the next day. It’s showing up. Consistently).
This week: remember the bamboo. You will probably not see progress for awhile, maybe for a long time, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. It is. And just wait - it’s going to SUDDENLY explode. And it’s going to be amazing.
Amy
The Last Part:Feeling: So sad about the fires in Los Angeles. I feel pretty helpless here in New Hampshire.
Feeling: Mighty hopeful see so many people and organizations helping others 💖
Listening to: Mr. Dickens and His Carol
Reading: Atomic Habits, The God of the Woods, and Both Things Are True
Eating: No sugar! I’ve gone five days so far and am going one more week. Um, is this a HABIT I’m forming?
Taking: Creatine. 5mg a day per Dr. Mary Claire Haver
Running: Inside on a treadmill. If it ever gets above 30 degrees again, I’ll be the first one out there.
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!
January 7, 2025
The Love List: 2024 Edition
Happy New Year, friends!
Are we going to read this year, or what?!
Goodreads tells me I read 36 books in 2024, six more than my stated goal. This number was purposefully lower than I wanted bc if you read more books than your goal, Goodreads sends you congratulatory messages and gold stars - which plays well into my “words of affirmation” love language. Know thyself, friends 😊 (underpromise and overdeliver :).
I enjoyed everything I read bc I rarely finish a book I don’t like (although three of these books were just okay for me - despite being big sellers).
In no particular order…
Five Favorite Reads:The Women by Kristen Hannah, audiobook through Libby, read by Julia Whelan, Historical Fiction. Although this could be 100 pages shorter (my frequent critique of KH, sorry!), it was an incredible story of the combat nurses who served in Vietnam. Frankie McGrath is an idyllic 21-year-old new nurse with zero experience who enlists in the Vietnam war after her brother is killed in action. This is the story of a terrible war that should have never happened, and the aftermath of coming home to America, where much of the country was hostile to veterans and dismissive of women’s contributions. I was surprised by how often I was brought to tears by this story. A lot of graphic surgery (which I enjoy).
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Young Adult. Couldn’t put it down.
Hello Universe by Erin Entrada, Middle Grade. Loved it.
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith, Memoir. SO GOOD.
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, Adult Fiction. See below.
My absolute #1 favorite book of the year? Cutting for Stone. Phenomenal storytelling and writing (love, tragedy, redemption, a lot of surgery). This story has stayed with me for months. Writers take note: Abraham V. does not churn out a book a year. He’s slow, thoughtful, and ponderous - and it shows in the best way.
These four may not have made my “top five” but they made my top ten!: Demon Copperhead (audio); What Happened to Rachel Riley; Lady Tan’s Circle of Women; and Tree, Table, Book.
The Ups and Downs of 2024:In January, my parents celebrated their 50 wedding anniversary. My siblings and spouses were all there. 50 years! We’ve been incredibly blessed by this union and example <3
I did some art, painted some things.
I was lucky enough to travel to NYC, Cape Cod, Montreal, England, Scotland, and Iceland, and Iowa.
The McNifficents came out in paperback (and sold better than hardcover, following the middle grade book trend).
I had more school and library visits - and LOVED them.
Family reunions in New Hampshire, and Idaho, where my brother Eric married Mel. After the sudden death of Eric’s wife, Cassie, eight years ago, it’s been a long hard road…hang on, friends. Good things come.
Running, summer soccer, and strength training. I feel so lucky to have a body that can still do these things!!! Saucony is my go-to running shoe (and I still need a new pair of cleats…)
Gregor and I celebrated 27 years of marriage. I literally thank God for him every day.
Teen and Adult Children. What an amazing, surprising thing to have my children become some of my closest, best friends.
The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair was optioned for a series!!! More to come (God willing and the river don’t rise…)
Vaseline is the only lip product I’ll ever need. Am I right? It’s also the best for winter running - slab it all over your face (over sunscreen)!
Within the last month, at age 49, I got glasses for the first time. Ya’ll, my world is clear again! I’m no longer scare myself as a night driver.
I also got a pessary which has been life changing. A pessary, um, keeps the pelvic floor in place for us women. Cannot recommend more highly.
I continue loving my $13 Little Book Light, especially while wearing my most favorite pajamas in all of my life (matching pajamas with my three girls!).
I was gifted a KINDLE for Christmas. As a staunch PAPER COPY ONLY gal, my daughter, Cope, promises I will love it and will no longer feel compelled to haul around ten books (but where’s the fun in not hauling ten heavy books with you?)
(I shall return and report on the kindle.)
A New Beta Reader: I recently shared my new young adult draft with a 13-year-old girl I just met in a dormitory that I supervise on Thursday nights (ya’ll, my life is delightfully weird). Her comments via Google doc are totally on point and hilarious. For instance, her feedback on a piece of teenage dialogue? “No.” Writing tip: share your work with your target audience!
2024 wasn’t all peachy, but it was a good year. There were/are hard things. We lost a neighbor, friend, and loved ones: Suzy, Dave, Sarah. My daughter and her senior class lost their classmate weeks before school started. It has been devastating. We love you, Patrick.
After living with us for eight years, my father-in-law, Arthur, moved to an assisted living facility. Navigating hospitals, insurance, and a new home has been time consuming, draining, and emotional. I’m also thankful.
Book sales are down and disappointing across the entire publishing industry, esp the middle grade category. In 2024, my publisher was slow to acquire any of my drafts. But this is the year to sell a story! Right?!
I love reflecting on a past year. I’m glad to be here. I’m grateful to be alive. I’m grateful you’re here.
What about you? Any good things in 2024? Books? Shows? Travel? Relationships? I’d love to hear it all.
Amy 🕯️
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
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!
December 24, 2024
Merry and Bright
Ten share-worthy stories and quotes of the season:
The Miracle of the Oil. When I had small children, my mother-in-law brought over a menorah and told the story of Hanukkah. We were captivated by the story of the Maccabees (a Jewish priest named Mattathias and his five sons, including the famous Judah Maccabee, led a rebellion against the Seleucids to restore Jewish religious practices and reclaim the Temple, to purify it and rededicate it to God). Part of this process involved relighting the menorah, a candelabrum that was meant to burn continuously. However, they found only a small jar of consecrated oil—enough to burn for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, giving them enough time to prepare more oil. Thus, the miracle of Hanukkah. Christianity is directly tied to Jewish history, and I so wish I had kept that menorah…
“One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
“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!
"But it was not only that the spirit of the season had touched him; it was not only that he found himself in the most comfortable place in the world. It was that the house was a home." — Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
“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
“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
“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
"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 (haha…this one makes me laugh!)
"Hey! Unto you a child is born!" — Barbara Robinson, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever a line delivered by Gladys Herdman, the youngest and feistiest of the Herdman siblings who played the Angel of the Lord in a small town’s Christmas pageant that was irreverently endearing. My favorite Christmas story growing up.
"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 light of the season (and experience zero murders)…
See you in the new year!
Amy 🎄
20% paid subscription for 1 year
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
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!
December 17, 2024
Cookies, Book Lights & Orange Garlands
Hello my friends!
If you want signed & personalized copies of my books for the holidays, order from Gibson’s — I’ll sign as many as you buy!
If you want an author visit for 2025, get in touch; I adore visiting with my stuffed dog and bag of book treasures. Adaptable for any age group.
(If you need bookish gift ideas, check out A Book Lover’s Gift Guide)
Here are ten things so lit (literary and otherwise):
Um, not to be dramatic (just kidding, let’s be dramatic) but where has this $13 Little Book Light been all of my life? (oh, right, Amazon. But check your local bookstore!) Good-bye reaching-reaching-waking-myself-up-bedside-lamp or headlamp (sexy sight that it is). I love this little light for reading before sleeping.
This $10 Date Stamper is great fun and so satisfying. We can now all play librarian to our heart’s content. I use it to “date” artwork, journal entries, and write letters. A kid would love this. And also anyone older than that. Like me.
Christmas cookies. Making, baking, delivering. We call it The Great Cookie Express and everyone is old enough to help. My favorites: soft sugar cookies, candy cane kiss cookies (OMG), peanut butter kiss, snowballs, and ginger.
Substack Cookie Queen, writes:
“What I learned when writing the book, American Cookie, was that cookies are expressions of love, small squares of a nostalgic place in time, stains in a beloved old family cookbook, remembrances of cookie jars and a childhood past, little dots connecting the holidays in our lives. Cookies are timeless, precious, and remind us of people dear.”
get ready for the cookie express!Stringing Dried Citrus. Ya’ll this is so fun, easy and beautiful. My creative daughter, Brynne, made a hanging citrus garland for her room. It was so pretty that I forgave her for using my last grapefruit. Simply thread a needle with twine or a similar string, then carefully poke the needle through the center of each orange slice. See this for a how-to-visual.
Onions: this from : "I thought deeply about how wild it is that cutting an onion can make you cry, like how fragile and weird and tender is that? And how powerful. Man, onions are one powerful vegetable." Isn’t that so good? Big respect to the onion.
Put Big Dreams First. writes: “So here’s another idea. Put these big dreams on your schedule first.” When you’re freshest, when you have a chunk of time, when you can focus. “And when you carve out time for things, you make progress — and that progress itself is often motivational enough to nudge you to find more time.” Another great Vanderhack.
Make a Zine (“zeen”): I used to have my anatomy students make zines - it’s a great way to learn anything, and they are so fun. I learned how to make a zine from who has a terrific collection. While I prefer hand-drawing, I finally figured out how to make a digital zine (and felt like a genius :) for school visits; the kids were thrilled to have their own little McNifficent book. Here’s a pdf McNifficent zine you can print out…
Mcniff Zine3.43MB ∙ PDF fileDownloadDownloadChristmas cards: Brynne and I have cards for sale at our local bookstore, Morgan Hill Bookstore in New London, New Hampshire. Restocked today!
“The day will come when, after harnessing the ether, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And, on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” —Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
St. Lucia Day was December 13th. Lots of people are familiar with the girl with the crown of candles—but don’t know her story. Read it here and marvel at Brooklyn Swenson’s gouache painting. The holiday falls during the darkest time of the year and is a symbol of the return of light.
BONUS: The Story of Christmas: many people, especially kids, no longer know the reason we celebrate Christmas, but every Dec 24th, we gather around the lit Christmas tree and read from Luke 2 and Helaman 14, where the prophecy of Christ’s birth is written. Beautiful.
Happy December.
Amy 🕯️
the last part:Listening: two audiobooks via free Libby app: Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year by Beth Kempton (lovely) and The Women by Kristin Hannah (terrific; harrowing)
Reading: What Does it Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella. What happens when a novelist has incurable brain cancer and then writes a book where the main character - a novelist - has incurable brain cancer? A moving, short, and brave story…
the last last part…p.s. I’m days away from finishing my latest draft (a boarding school mystery!)
20% paid subscription for 1 year
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
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!
December 10, 2024
What Goes Around Comes Around?
My son recently told me this story…
he really said that to me. and the mom was happy.
Happy December. May it be filled with stressful-that-brings-joyful-experiences…
Amy <3
Tell me something good…or stressful :)
Let’s break this little story down:I had a super fun time drawing the story for you. I also have some observations:
drawing is hard
telling a story with pictures is hard
my process: write the story first in notebook, then lightly sketch in pencil on watercolor paper, read and read, go over the pencil in black non-smudge ink like Sharpie or LePen, apply some light watercolor.
So I did all of that. It also took me a couple of hours - which I had bc I was on “dorm duty” all weekend in a girl’s dormitory (my life is cool, man!)
But after I proudly showed my creation to two readers, they couldn’t quite follow the story b/c my pictures were too close together. The order was obvious to me, but not the reader. ergh.
(Ohhhh…so this is why graphic artists use the little boxes? So the reader can follow along and not get lost.)
So I cut them all out and glued them onto white cardstock, took photos with my iphone, sent to my gmail, transferred to Substack.
Should I be scanning?
Do I need a scanner? what kind?
Maybe the story isn’t complete. For instance, I don’t say what Nelson spent the rest of his $320 on…I don’t actually know. I just loved the story he told me over the phone!
It felt very Charles Dickens-esque.
This kind of storytelling is fun and very new to me.
I keep thinking about the “Visual Narration” master’s program at Boston University. People/artists get advanced degrees to tell stories like this (but at a much more advanced level!)
Maybe I take a few classes or do my own “artist-in-residence” a-la Amy Stewaret, writer of (very inspiring!!!)
I had to fight some inner resistance doing all of this. Was it worth my time? Drawing these little stories?
I don’t love my handwriting. I want it to look like . sigh.
But remember when Truman Capote pffed at Harper Lee for writing her “little bird book”?
So we beat on…”boats against the current".
Comic strips are no joke. Graphic books and visual narration stories rock - they use all sorts of different skills and different parts of the brain.
onward
would you like a signed book for Christmas?Order from Gibson’s Bookstore and I will sign your book! (leave a note when you order online) - and I can always send a free bookplate.
the last part: Giving: The great three-book Giveaway is ending soon!
Drinking: Steamed oat milk with a dash of cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, honey
Smelling: The Christmas tree we cut down together…this is happiness
Reading: The Last Love Note by Emma Grey and a new-to-me Substack A Writer’s Diary by that’s chock-full of writerly wisdom …!
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
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!
December 3, 2024
Let's Go Get a Christmas Tree
Here’s a story from the weekend:
I need to learn to draw faces. And draw in general1. The point is, we had an EXPERIENCE!
Good or bad, this is what I tell myself: Everything is either a good time - or a good story.
Hike the mountains, sled down the hills, jump in the lake, cut down the Christmas tree. The complaining and sighing in the backseat is a ruse, something the cherubs are obligated to do, but they will appreciate all the experiences long after they’ve forgotten about being inconvenienced, tired, and always starving. It’s what my siblings are still talking about - those experiences together in the old station wagon with no air conditioning.
books are also experiences.Every year for Christmas, my mother gives all of her children and grandchildren a book. It’s become a favorite tradition of my own: carefully musing and choosing book(s) for each family member and then watching each person open their wrapped book, holding my breath for their (hopefully) gleeful reaction.
When we give someone a book, we’re sharing an experience with them. A story we have loved, that will transport the next reader to a different setting, plot, a world full of characters they did not know before. A loved book is its own amazing experience.
A Gift Guide for Book Lovers Here.
I love what author and teacher recently wrote:
When given a chance, readers will find each other.
When given time to read, kids will fall in love with books.
When kids are surrounded by great books to read, they will read them.
When we read aloud to them, they will fall in love with story.
I hope I always remember the day we cut down the tree together, carried it home, and laughed a lot (while also reminding the teens that when they drive a car, they should fill it up…okay mom and dad…) and if there’s ever a day that I don’t remember - well, the kids might. And at least I wrote about it and drew some pictures…
Happy December. May it be filled with joyful experiences - and many many books.
Amy <3
Tell me something good…are you having experiences or loving a book?
The Last Part:Giving: HERE’S a giveaway for my three great books going on right now!
Watching: A Man on the Inside with Ted Danson. I rarely watch comedies, but this makes me happy.
Watched: Wicked. Does it live up the hype? Yes, yes, a hundred times yes. It is so good! Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey. WOW.
Eating: Please save me from the leftover Thanksgiving pie. Too late! I ate it all.
Smelling: Snow! New Hampshire is blanketed in white.
Reading: Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout. Quite possibly my favorite living writer. And the Substack .
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
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!
1a year-long Skillshare membership is 50% off for cyber Monday…maybe it’s still going?!
