Meet Stella, the sixteen-year-old girl who dreams so deeply that she can't be sure which side of wakefulness is reality. Diagnosed with nightmare disorder, the condition becomes especially significant when her friends start disappearing on both sides. Someone is taking them and she has the peculiar means of finding out who, if she can avoid being taken herself.
Amy is the author of many books for young adults. She received an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and writes every day at home in California, where she lives with her husband, four boys, and dog.
Hey there! Thanks for checking out my website. Here’s a little about me:
Born in Northridge, California, I very well could be classified as one of the original valley girls, although you won’t catch me talking like one. Like, as if. But I did grow up in the sun and, to this day, still really enjoy a good boogie boarding session at the beach. I have 5 siblings and am sandwiched by brothers, which might have contributed to my highly competitive can-do attitude. You do not want to play me in Speed.
In school, I had a penchant for math, believe it or not. I was never in advanced Language Arts, but I always scored high in creative writing. For fun, during my time in college at Brigham Young University, I took a class specifically devoted to the craft. The final project was to write the first chapter of a novel. After I graduated, I finished that novel, and I was hooked. This was in 2001, right about the time my first son was born.
I haven’t stopped writing since. In 2012, I received my MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts shortly before the birth of my fourth son. My novels typically lean contemporary with a magical edge, and are inevitably served with a side of love, mystery, and humor. In my opinion there’s almost nothing better than a good, clean story that’s well-written.
Other loves of mine include: traveling—I’d hike to the top of anything for a view of another part of the world—and during the school year I enjoy teaching a daily Bible study class to high school freshmen. Before school. (Seriously, who are these kids?) Waterskiing is my go-to summer activity, and I absolutely love to eat (homemade biscuits and honey butter or strawberry shortcake with roadside strawberries—it’s a toss-up). Plus I can’t get enough of spending time at home with my boys, despite that I am consistently outvoted on movie night.
Things I hate: traffic, olives, and being cold. Put me in a car at rush hour while force-feeding me olives from a can with the windows open during winter—that would be the ultimate torture.
People are often shocked to learn I’ve written over 20 novels since that initial creative writing course, until I admit the first fifteen or so are pure olive. It’s been a learning process, and the best advice I can give any aspiring author is to work hard, but be patient with yourself.
I still live in California, and I still write every day.
xoAmy
