AmiMaxine

Cataloging Your Books

Maybe you’re like me – you’ve got a healthy set of bookshelves back home, and you’ve got a TBR list longer than you can ever manage to complete in your lifetime. And it Just. Keeps. Growing. Maybe you’ve strolled through a bookshop, found a book you wanted to buy, but then thought…wait, do I alreadyContinue reading “Cataloging Your Books”

Culloden

I first became aware of the Battle of Culloden while in a Scottish Literature course in college, and the battle has cropped up in various other places over the years – in research, in art, in television and movies – and now in my book Wherever Would I Be. Thus, I thought it might beContinue reading “Culloden”

Dunvegan Fairy Flag

A few years ago, I went on a road trip through Scotland with my bestie. Dunvegan Castle was on our itinerary because this was my bestie’s ancestral home. We spent some time walking the grounds, took a seal tour (in a really tiny boat!), and then walked through the castle itself. I can only imagineContinue reading “Dunvegan Fairy Flag”

Shop Small

Let me preface this post by saying that I fully understand that not everyone has the time and/or the means to do so – but this is my plea post about shopping small – if you can. I’m a big proponent of shopping local whenever I can, partly because I like to know my moneyContinue reading “Shop Small”

A Story A Day: Month Twelve

For this month, I chose (kind of) at random stories from the Friday Flash Fiction series by Tin House, the “the singular lovechild of an eclectic literary journal and a beautiful glossy magazine” that got its start in 1999. I say ‘kind of’ because I scrolled through their list and chose any story that IContinue reading “A Story A Day: Month Twelve”

Good Storytelling

It’s the Thanksgiving holiday, which means that I get a nice long weekend to…well, catch up on work. But also! Binge-watch (for the fourth…or fifth time?) what quickly became one of my most favorite shows: Ted Lasso. I’m very much a character-driven storyteller and story consumer, so when everyone started talking about this show (aContinue reading “Good Storytelling”

Social Media

I think the fact that I’m still typing away in blog format tells you all you need to know about my age and feelings on all of these new social media apps. I remember when TikTok first came around, and I said no – for the first time. Partly, I was too tired to dealContinue reading “Social Media”

First Drafts

I think this is a tweet all writers need to see:

Meet Lucy’s (Adopted) Family

When writing Wherever Would I Be, it was really important to me that Lucy’s adopted family be loving and as trauma-free as an adopted family could be. This family was to be a safe haven for these children. Lucy’s father, Luca, was a foster child himself, bounced around from home to terrible home before he wasContinue reading “Meet Lucy’s (Adopted) Family”

Hummingbirds

I once had the extreme privilege of co-directing a study abroad to Costa Rica in 2015 (I had to look up the date, and my jaw fell at the realization this trip was that long ago!). I had always wanted to do a study abroad, but I didn’t have the money or the time inContinue reading “Hummingbirds”