Author, Tree Street Kids
Each heavy rain sets everyone on edge. Since the floods, the towering trees, the still-under-repair mountain roads, and the compromised bridges beneath our cars and tractors and feet feel fragile, like clay models built by a boy dreaming of other lands…
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The western North Carolina floodwaters had receded enough for my husband to make it to the town nearest our “holler.” There, he gathered with others at the local radio station, all desperate for any Wi-Fi connection that might enable them to get word to family and friends that they were alive and safe.
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We can tend to over romanticize the people who exhibit this virtue, especially in times of severe trial.
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Sylvia Plath said, “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” In her journal, she ends a long paragraph about having the guts to write, to make a creative life, with: “You big baby.” I’ve said this to myself after long paragraphs full of the same admonishments. But, “Don’t be a big baby” doesn’t help me.
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Hello, everyone, this is a quick note to let you know that the four books in my Tree Street Kids series for young readers (8-12) is 50% off today only, Monday, Nov. 28, at Moody Publishers. Here’s the direct link to get the special pricing. The series makes a great gift for kids and their […]
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Are your kids feeling as anxious as you are these days? This past year, maybe like no other, has been a test of…well…everything. My kids are grown now, and I can only imagine what 2020+ has been like for parents of young children. Oddly enough, my children’s book Jack vs. the Tornado, which released April […]
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My six-year-old proudly held up his Styrofoam cup full of dirt. I knew his teacher was using the planting of marigold seeds to teach the children about death and resurrection. “They’re my flowers,” he announced, despite no sign of life. He then pointed to the wooden barrel sitting on the corner of the patio where, […]
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Amanda Cleary Eastep I don’t recall how old I was when I realized Aslan the lion was an author’s fantastical version of Jesus. I had been raised in church and Sunday school, so although this connection should have been obvious, it didn’t quite dawn on me. But once it did . . . I felt […]
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As much as I hate the “tell us your name and something about you” exercise, I planned for this time of introduction with teen writers to be a little more creative . . .
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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…
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Amanda Cleary Eastep 