Time to Dive Into a New Writing Project?

If Your New Year's Resolutions Involve Writing...
Maybe I Can Help!

Big news for the new year!

I'm teaching a series of writing classes on Skillshare, which is an online teaching platform that works on a subscription model, like Netflix. The first two courses are live now, and you can get two months free through this link.

The people at Skillshare approached me about teaching a couple years ago, but I couldn't get my head around the idea at the time. Then I took a class on the platform--Jim Richard's class on sketching people--and do you know what I really liked about it?

I liked how SMALL the class was. Bite-sized lessons, each only five or ten minutes long, and many of the courses are only half an hour in total. Skillshare is about teaching one particular discreet skill, and then another, and then another.

That really appeals to me. I tend to think small: one page at a time, one drawing at a time, one event at a time--the way I keep from getting overwhelmed is to break everything down into really small, manageable bits. 

That's how I get books written. And now I've realized--that's how I can teach, too.

Usually, when I teach a writing workshop, it lasts for two or three days (or two or three months!) and covers SO MUCH. But these classes are going to be different. They're going to tackle one small building block at a time....just like I do every day.

So. The first two classes are very New Years Resolution-ish, and both of them try to answer the two most common problems I hear about from aspiring writers:

"I want to write a book, but I don't know where to start." This class, Start Your Book Today, is my answer to that.

What I also hear a lot is, "I wish I could write, but I'm just not disciplined enough." Build Great Writing Habits will, I hope, put the "I'm not disciplined enough" myth to bed once and for all.

Next up will be some more concrete, nuts-and-bolts topics, from storytelling techniques to research methods to the revision process. It's everything I do, one bit at a time.

And...people ask me a lot if I would teach a travel sketching class, so I'm going to give that a try when I'm in Mexico next month. Stay tuned!

Your reviews would mean a lot to me. I just launched these classes, and no one has seen them yet. I'm telling you about it first. If you're already a Skillshare member, you can follow me here to be notified of new classes and updates. And if you'd like to sign up, two free months is more than enough time to check out my classes and anything else you might be interested in. I'd really appreciate it if you'd post a review, share your project, or put a comment in the discussion.

And please feel free to just reply to this email and let me know what you'd like me to teach next. I'm really enjoying making these videos. It's been fun to have a new project, and to try putting my ideas out into the world in a totally different format.  I'm already at work on the next class.

Asked and Answered: Audio Books

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

Mac asks: How involved are you in identifying readers for the audio versions of your books? Do the artists ever come to you to ask how to pronounce character or place names?

I was given what they call "narrator approval" for my audio books. What that meant in reality was that they sent me three audio clips for three different narrators they liked. All three of them sounded like they were 22 years old and on their way to a yoga class in Santa Monica.

I said, "Uh, my protagonist was born in Brooklyn in 1878. She was six feet tall, weighed 180 pounds, and was in her mid-thirties when this story began. We need someone who can talk like an adult."

That's when they sent me Christina Moore. Chris is not exactly six feet tall, as you can see from this picture, but she has a big voice and she knows how to use it. Also, she's from Bergen County, NJ, where the books are set, so she understands the accents. I think she does a great job (especially with Norma--I love to listen to her version of Norma) and I collect a lot of compliments on her behalf.

She and I are in touch regularly, but she doesn't ask me for help with pronounciation. For that, the audio book company has a research team. When Chris gets my manuscript, she goes through it and marks any words she has questions about. The researchers go through them and give her some direction.

That usually works great--except for that one time when I made up lyrics to a song, but had no idea how the melody might go! (Kopp Sisters on the March, p. 162) Neither did the research team, naturally. I asked the musicians in my family to record a melody for me to send to Chris, and they sang something haunting and beautiful--but ultimately the audio book team came up with their own way of doing it.

Anyway, I think Chris is amazing. Here she is in New Jersey, where we did an event together. She reads from my book and I just sit in the audience and enjoy it. I wish we could go on the road together all over the country!

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 nine people entered last month! You have a very good chance of winning!

Is It 2020 Already?

Here we are in the new year, and I'll be on the road soon! 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.

Details & links to come! These are just preliminary details so you can save the date.

Portland, OR: Jan 23 Ledding Library
Lakewood, WA: March 28 Pierce County Library
Newport Beach, CA: April 4 Literary Orange
Ellsworth, ME: May 2 Ellsworth Public Library
Portland, ME: May 3 Sherman's
Wyckoff, NJ: May 6 Oasis fundraiser
Redding, CA: May 29 Wicked Plants exhibit

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

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. 

What Are You Reading?

I've loved all of Elizabeth Strout's novels, so there was no question that I would love this one, too. If you haven't read the others, start with Olive Kitteridge, but explore her other books as well--because her characters tend to wander out of their own books and into the others. Olive reminds me a little bit of Norma, which is why I'm fond of her.

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