Historical Film, Adult Popsicles, and a Big Ebook Giveaway

I Found Historical Footage of My Next Novel

A weird thing about writing historical fiction is that sometimes you find historical evidence of the thing you made up. Kopp Sisters on the March (out September 17!) takes place at a National Service School, which was a military-style training camp for women in the run-up to WWI. I just found this video of one of the camps , and every shot in it matches a scene in my novel! (the clip ends at 11:42, but the whole thing is interesting. This camp was in San Francisco, you can see the Palace of Fine Arts in the background) Of course, I know so much about what went on at those camps from my resaerch, and I had historical photos to reference, but still--it's weird to see it all brought to life like this. Can't you just see the Kopp sisters in those uniforms?

Here's a Sketchbook Tour of Italy

I sketched my way through Italy in July to celebrate a very BIG birthday and it was amazing. I love making a travel sketchbook as a souvenir of the trip, but I also find that it's a lovely way to pass the time--while you're waiting for a train, while you're sitting in a cafe at lunch, while your friends go off to look at the millionth church of the trip...and you know, you don't have to be a great artists to do it. My first travel sketchbooks were mostly writing, a little collage (ticket stubs, bits torn out of tourist maps, etc), and very silly amateurish drawings. Anything goes!

Speaking of Sketchbooks, Here's How I Embrace My Mistakes

What happens when a page in a sketchbook goes horribly wrong? A sketchbook should be full of experiments and mishaps, but sometimes, we artists get focused on the results, and we want to be able to show our pretty travel sketchbooks to our friends when we get home. So what happens if, on one page, you try to draw a boat and it ends up looking like a turtle drawn by a five year-old? What do you do when you make a mess?

Embrace it, of course. But if you don't like that answer, I have some other ideas. One way to handle it is to collage over your mishaps . (Hey, maybe that's good life advice!) On my blog I shared some more suggestions.

Asked and Answered: Websites!

Ask me a question and win the book of your choice! This month's winner is Alycia from Grover Beach, CA

Alicia asks: I have 2 novels being shopped by my lit agent, at the moment I’m trying to decide whether a website is worth my time, energy or financial investment. Do you think an author’s website is worth having before they have anything published?

The short answer is YES. If you’re an aspiring author (or artist of any kind), you might have ambitions to put yourself out there in the world someday. This is the first step. It doesn’t matter how new, inexperienced, or aspiring you are. Grab your domain name and build yourself a home online, even if it’s a rudimentary, temporary home. You can do this in an hour for ten or twenty bucks.

If you're interested in the longer answer, you can read it all on my website!

Ask a Question &
Win a Book!

 Please go here to ask me a question and pick your prize. Even if you've entered before, please feel free to enter again and ask the same question or a different one. Only ten people entered last month. You have a really good chance of winning!

Could Someone Please Bring Me a Chocolate-Dipped Red Wine Popsicle Right Now

This is not a drill, people. Get the recipe from Spoonful of Flavor and after you make a batch, bring me one. (There are lots of less complicated boozy popsicle recipes here if you're in the market for such a thing)

This Podcast is My New BFF.

I've been listening to the Art Juice podcast at the gym lately. It's like working out with two funny, artsy, brilliantly honest British women who are happy to dish about their lives as artists and their struggles with their work while I sweat on the elliptical. Even if you're not a painter, you might appreciate their insights into the creative process.

The Book Tour is Coming Together!

At last--I have more dates to share! And if you're part of a literary series, a library event, or some other bookish gathering, please feel free to reach out to publicity@amystewart.com to see about setting up an event.

Mission Viejo, CA Sep 11: Literary Orange
Ridgewood, NJ Sept 16: Ridgewood Public Library
Pittsburgh, PA Sept 19: Mt. Lebanon Public Library
Richmond, VA Sept 20: Chop Suey Books
Arlington VA Sept 21 One More Page Books
Portland, OR Sept 23: Powell's Books
St. Paul, MN: Sept 26: Bell Musuem (Wicked Plants)
Tulsa, OK: Sept 28 Tulsa Botanic Garden (Wicked Plants)
Orland Park, IL: Oct 10 Palos Reads

Some of these are ticketed events. More tour dates are on my website. Please confirm details with the venue.

I'm Giving Away 100 Ebooks! 

Do you read Kindle books? My publisher is giving away 100 copies of Kopp Sisters on the March on Goodreads! Please go enter anytime in August.

Would You Like a Signed Book?

Signed copies of most of my books are available at Eureka Books, the bookstore my husband and I own. I'm taking pre-orders for Kopp Sisters on the March now, and we'll ship them as soon as they come in.

What Are You Reading?

When I was in Italy I read if on a winter's night a traveler, a famous novel by a famous Italian author. It was the most gloriously funny book about books, and about reading--so much so that I basically read the entire thing aloud to my husband. It's that kind of book. Sophisticated, intellectual, weird--and amazing. Read it.

What are you reading? Tell me about it on Goodreads or Litsy.