Two stories and one picture from the other side

July 8, 2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

by Amanda Cleary Eastep We stepped up to our ankles in the cold water, careful to keep our footing on the gray and brown mosaic of smooth stones beneath our pale feet. This simple act was a pinnacle moment–leaving our shoes on the gritty sand of the “bonny, bonny bank” and walking together into Loch […]

Travels with a Plantser

May 28, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep I dragged the line on the Google map from the A1 highway to a road along the coast of the UK that looked like a long piece of birthday crepe paper that had been crumpled up and (uselessly) stretched out again. According to Google calculations, taking that squiggly route instead of […]

Keep Pedaling: the slow and steady climb to writer

May 8, 2018.Reading time 5 minutes.

I struggle with the “that’s it” part. I want to race myself and win. I want to master the incline like I have the writer thighs of Ernest Hemingway.

Saying Yes and Staying Humble: A Lesson from the Festival of Faith and Writing

April 21, 2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

I felt shook up. A little like I imagined author Kwame Alexander felt after the car accident that rolled him and his family over and over on the road one day, sending boxes of his father’s beloved books for the city book fair strewn across the road like litter…

Being Pierced and Embraced: an Easter book review

April 1, 2018.Reading time 5 minutes.

At our house church gathering on Good Friday, our spirited group quieted as the evening’s message was shared and our pastor said, his voice snagging on the sharp edge of truth, “You can’t believe…and not be changed.”

Book beauty is only cover deep, but truth goes to the bone

February 24, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep Have you ever seen a beautifully decorated cake and thought, “Wow, that’s too pretty to eat”? Well, if you’re an avid reader and on Instagram, you will at some point see gorgeous “bookstagram” posts of popular fantasy novels. These still lifes are composed of almost-too-pretty-to-read hardcover books strung with tiny lights […]

Childhood Dreams, Second Callings

January 28, 2018.Reading time 9 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep This is a dream come true moment. I remember crawling up there and asking my traveling companion to capture my “I’ll never forget this place, this lake, this rock” moment. Well, I’ve forgotten. I mean, I know I was in Scotland, but exactly where, I don’t recall now. But that’s OK, […]

9 of the Most Important Books I’ve Read

January 17, 2018.Reading time 10 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep In the corner of our fifth/sixth grade Lutheran classroom was a narrow bookshelf full of books that were ours alone. Our parochial school had a library, a place I loved to visit despite the taunts of the older students who worked the desk: “You’ll never read this book. . .it’s too […]

Obeying a Call (even if it means fishsticks)

January 13, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep The Small boys lived next door to us in the “new subdivision,” one round block of bi-levels and tri-levels on the outskirts of a small farm town. In the summer, all of us children scattered, bike wheels and skinny legs carrying us all the way to the other side of the […]

Friendly Advice 5 cents

December 13, 2017.Reading time 8 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep I had settled into a comfy writing spot at a tiny coffeehouse & bookstore in Fairhope, Alabama when two older women toddled in pushing a stand just like the one Lucy uses in the Peanuts comic to dole out “helpful” advice. They asked if they could take one of the chairs […]