I started writing this while sitting in the historic Riverside Church in NYC. It’s where Martin Luther King Jr. preached six sermons. Where Maya Angelou spoke, and Barack Obama did too. Last September, this church and its history inspired me to write about the power of words and how a story is never just a story.

Words hold power.

Words strung together create stories.

And stories move people to do something.

Fall in New Hampshire. Because we had a wet, cool spring and a very hot, dry summer, the forecast calls for brown foliage…but I’m cheering on fall anyway. I love its cool nights and mornings, the lingering tomatoes clinging to vines, the colorful mums, the cute little pumpkins. Also, I’m coaching soccer again and I tell you - being on a soccer field every afternoon with female athletes and a soccer ball is truly glorious. SQUAD.

Want safer neighborhoods? INVEST IN LIBRARIES. A recent study published in the Journal of Cultural Economics examined what happened when a new library branch opened in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2013, they added the thirteenth branch, known as the Woodneath Public Library Branch.

The newly released Tuck Everlasting as a graphic novel1 by our very own . As in she illustrated the whole gook and it’s SO GORGEOUS! I’m in envious awe because I want to paint more and write words and THIS is just spectacular. Friends, Keep Drawing.

Being a writer is risky business says after The Handmaid's Tale was Banned in Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) Schools:

“Why? Artists of all kinds – but especially writers – are always among the first to face the firing squads when dictatorships are on the rise. They have no armies. They have no actual legislative or physical power. They have no voter base. They are isolated individuals, and thus easy to eliminate. Above all, they say things that autocrats don’t want to hear, and don’t want others to hear. This is true whether the autocrat is of the right or of the left, and whether religious or secular. Artists are a threat to such people because their art presents full humanity, in all its complexity – the good, the bad, and the ugly. This full humanity is what autocrats wish to destroy, in order to replace it with propaganda featuring perfect versions of themselves. To burn a book is to burn part of the human spirit. And book burnings – and book bannings – are on the rise.” 2

“You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.”
― Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men 3

What’s Your Unfair Advantage? “Every writer has an unfair advantage—a unique combination of gifts, experiences, and passions that sets them apart and attracts an audience. The trick is to identify what yours is, then put it to good use.” Weeks later, I’m still thinking about how good this is!

A New England lobster roll. Come visit me and we’ll drive to Eventide in Maine or Boston and eat brown butter lobster rolls4 while discussing BOOKS.

Stephen Colbert on the spiritual life. A fascinating, wonderful interview with Father James Martin. Colbert is a devoted Catholic and no stranger to grief. Take a listen to what he’s done with grief, and how he uses his innate gifts combined with hard work to bring joy to millions on the daily. I loved this interview on what it means to make art and make people laugh, despite the suffering in life.

A young missionary taught me that in Brazil, there’s a Portuguese expression: “pode deixar,” which translates to “You can leave it.” There is a time to strive and fight and FIX IT, and there is a time to Surrender. To stop trying to fix someone’s pain or life trajectory. Surrendering is terribly difficult. But those times are also among my most powerful experiences in life. Lay it down. “Give it to God,” as the expression goes. Pode Deixar basically means, “You can trust me. You are safe. You can leave it.”

Carry on, my friends,

Amy 💖

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

Watching: Less social media, more sunsets

Listening: To more people in real life

Reading: Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

Wearing: Barbie pink toenail polish. Pedicures are such a pleasure (except this last time, the technician told me “if you got Botox and fillers you would be much more beautiful.” okay 😂 )

Gearing Up For: School and library visits (in person and zoom). Be in touch - booking for the school year!

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!

An instant indie bestseller! ★ “As wise and wonderful as the original.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review ★ “­Woodman-Maynard achieves the seemingly impossible task of enhancing a much beloved classic . . . This faithful and beautiful adaptation is a must purchase.” —School Library Journal, starred review

UPDATE: As of end of September 2, Alberta has “paused” its controversial school book bannings. We await further clarification. POWER TO THE PEOPLE. Protesting is one of the purest forms of democracy.

Thanks for this quote,

Apparently they ship these lobster rolls?!!?